Algeria says Mali should spend money on economy, not Russian mercenaries

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- Reports pointing to the increased activity of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group in Mali are continuing to raise concern in Africa's Sahel region, particularly in countries that border Mali.

Security reports and frequent accounts from the local population in northern Mali point to the mercenary group's presence and heightened activity in the region.

Residents of Mauritanian border villages have raised alarm about the threat Russian mercenaries pose to the weekly joint markets -- concerns Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune addressed in a recent interview with Le Figaro.

During a conversation about the overall instability of the security situation in the Sahel, Tebboune told the French newspaper Russia's Wagner elements now pose a threat to the security of the peoples and countries of the region.

He said the money that the Malian government is spending on Wagner Group mercenaries would have been more beneficial to the local population had it been directed to support economic projects in the Sahel instead.

In the region, 80% of the problems are economy-related, he said, while only 20% are security-related.

Tebboune said the "terrorism issue" does not weigh on his mind as much as the dire economic situation of the region's population.

With this remark, he appeared to suggest that "the solution to the security issue is closely linked to the solution to the economic and social problems", Algerian security analyst Qassem Ras al-Maa told Al-Mashareq.

Tebboune "offers a logical and objective reading of the current situation", he said, presenting one outlook on the future of stability in the Sahel region.

This does not necessarily please the Malian government, he added, which is clinging to the security-centred approach.

"Tebboune is calling on the rulers of the Sahel region to create alternatives for the population by providing food and education for the youth to prevent them from joining terrorist groups," Qassem said.

"This, in his opinion, is the primary challenge."

'Messages' from Algeria

If Tebboune's statements on the Wagner Group in Mali "came as an annoying surprise to the ruling authority in Bamako", as Malian TV journalist Omar Sidi Mohammed put it, they were "necessary", Mauritanian analyst Mohammed el-Amine al-Dah said.

The Algerian president's interview sent "several messages", al-Dah said, foremost "to respond to some of the accusations leveled against the Algerian regime of facilitating the movement of Wagner elements".

Secondly, al-Dah said, it clarified that "Algeria does not want to see any military activity in Mali that would affect the course of negotiation it has sponsored since 2015 between the Malian government and the armed Tuareg groups".

Finally, he said, Tebboune wants to send the message that "he does not want a military force that might disrupt or curtail" the role of the Joint Operational Staff Committee of the Chiefs of Staff of Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger.

The committee is based in the Algerian province of Tamanrasset on the borders with Mali and Niger.

Tebboune's statements on Wagner Group activity in Mali did not go over well within the Malian interior, even though they were made by Algeria, a political ally, Sidi Mohammed told Al-Mashareq.

"The Malian press close to the Bamako government reported that the Malian Foreign Ministry had asked the Algerian embassy to provide clarification on these statements," he said.

This came amid the Algerian special envoy's visit to the Sahel region for the same matter, he said.

"The controversy stirred by Tebboune's statements is due to the fact that they may represent a pivotal shift in Algeria's position on the issue of co-operation between Russia and Mali," he said.

This is especially noteworthy since Algeria was a facilitator of rapprochement and co-operation between Bamako and Moscow, he said.