as opposed to enslaved workers. hello again. biden says the leader of isil has died following a large-scale operation in syria. the terrorist blew himself up before u.s. forces could arrest him. president biden: america has reached the capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where they hide.

i will take decisive action to protect this country and continue working with allies and partners, including kurdish members. >> turkey's president is talking with his ukraine counterpart regarding increasing russian tensions. on four aids of boris johnson have resigned following accusations over party gate. a west african regional block has decided not to impose sanctions on military leaders but wants a firm date for

elections. heads of state met in ghana to discuss recent cruise. -- coups. in new york, two police officers were killed in the line of dut rescue in morocco have been digging for two days to reach a child's trapped in a well -- reach a child trapped in a well. the five-year-old fell down on his way home from school. they have been able to give him water and oxygen. coming up next on al jazeera is inside story and then i will be back after that. stay with us. ♪

>> tensions are growing over european military iervention afte danish soldiers were ordered to leave. this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program. a decade of military intervention in mali is starting to unravel. it danish soldiers have been ordered to leave and now they have expelled a french ambassador after what they call

offensive comments. many are being accused of exploding maladies resources. >> because of the illegitimacy of the pool to talk government, -- coup d'état government, molly is so isolated they only have one partner, wobbler. everyone else wants malley to return to democracy. >> germany's commitment is also in doubt. but the army is staying put for now.

>> achieving our goals is only possible in a limited way. we welcome support to restore previous statement -- status. there are no completed troop withdrawal plans yet. >> in 2012, mali -- france was sent into remove isil troops and announced they would end their operation in 2022. danish soldiers have been asked to leave. they say they were never

invited. in germany, members of parliament has questioned having soldiers in mali. let's introduce our panel. a warm welcome to all of you. the expulsion of the french ambassador. what do you make of it? >> it depends on who you are speaking to and how they want to look at the issues regarding expulsion. some say it is freedom at last

for mali because since after the independence from french colonial masters, they have not been independent at all. but given the impression of france in mali, it seems they have been in a security vacuum. this creates a place for terrorist groups to get stronger in much of the country, especially in the saharan region. what to look at is how this will

have consequences on security. and that's not even talking about the economic impact because when they are facing this crises compounded by the pandemic, they are also looking to lose support from france. nick: the timeline is that in 10 yearseradicate the threat and it seems the situation has not gotten any better, it has gotten worse. >> definitely.

there are some interesting components. france and germany reassessing their presence in the country. and also, the reaction from the military of mali, renegotiating the presence of european forces in the country. in the even mentioned something in the statement that was on national tv, that was shared in national tv, they were speaking

about how france and the statements from france actually violates the development of friendly relations between nations which is within the framework of international law but also what is important is the reaction of friends before -- of france before that what that's trying to europeanize the military presence in mali and what is happening is on the first intention of decrease the presence within the barakan operation but also push forward towards the takuba task force which many european countries are in it what now france is trying to do is they're going to need to to talk and speak to other european countries because both at the legal framework is that both barack and their presence and presence of other european countries in the country have specific goals one is not only security which is not doing well at all but also in terms of nation building in northern mali which we haven't seen any any results from that and also in terms of the political structure and also in , terms of development which actually mounted the frustration of the people in mali. already the failure in in

fulfilling the goals of their presence and agreement military agreements with with the government of mali is already illegal for renegotiating the -- nick: all right. let's examine the european mission a little. denmark's troops have been ordered out and germany is reconsidering their position. what do you make of the future of european intervention in the sahara? >> not bright for the simple reason that france used to be in afghanistan, like the united states. france is operating as the framework nation. from what i have heard from

previous speakers, we'll -- we are dealing with the government that is illegitimate who took power by force and wasn't elected and who is partnering with a mercenary group that has a track record of human rights abuse. nick: you were talking about the involvement of russian mercenaries and we will get to that in a second but what will happen if there is a wholesale pullout? how bad could it be and what would happen? >> there will be a security void

. it could be incredibly dangerous but it depends on how you define security void. [indiscernible] i think security vacuum is the option everyone would want to avoid. nick: so should european troops stay there? >> i think it depends on the mandates, the policies of the

eu. nick: it just depends on the security situation on the ground and how dangerous it will be for the region and internationally. >> that is what i am coming to. if you continue because it's illegitimate government especially one that has been suspended, then you may be right but also looking at the wider implication not just on the saharan region but how it will destabilize west africa. and then you may have the biggest mistake of an exit without a plan which would further compound the security

system that is already established that is becoming a factor for insurgents. so the countries that surround mali, especially the sahab region, it will begin to experience an increase of insurgencies. guinea is already under military regime. nobody knows the ripple effect of a sudden withdrawal. nick: i will go back to you in a second. there is the scenario of

afghanistan. you can pour as much as you want into the region but it makes extraction difficult and maybe worse. >> mali is a special case. you can compare it with myanmar but we are talking about minerals they are our -- miller rules -- minerals there are more and more important to other countries. they have one of the largest lithium mines in the world and

lithium carbon increase last year by 500%. i think that is why generals decided to stick around for a while because their decision to extend the election for five years is too much. but i do not see there would be a security void but i think the chinese and australians would come in as a replacement. nick: and we have these russian mercenaries and the european groups saying this is incompatible with their mission. >> this group has generated news

stories in libya and syria and i think what they are after is securing resources, not about protecting the population. they might provide protection to government players but i don't know how long they can sustain that. i do not know that the current government can keep power without issuing a modicum of security to the population. nick: and i suppose the russians would potentially expect support for the positions. >> yes.

on one hand it provides economic commercial opportunities for russian companies and at the same time it is part of russia's defense diplomacy to assert their role on the diplomatic scene. and now you have two account -- now you have to deal with russia. so it is true that here vladimir putin achieved his goal of going where the gaps are and getting a seat at that table. nick: what about breaking the commitment to hold elections.

he said they are trying to make all of this seem like a fight between mali and old colonial power. >> they had a roadmap they were supposed to respect and it brought up all sorts of issues and now it has become making west africa [indiscernible] if you reflect on what happened in another place, after a coup

d'état, they called for russia to be their friend. so this greatly affects stability in the region. and given the potential consequences, it will also weaken the economy. nick: comparing to the colonial past, that left a deep scar. but it is like being between a rock and a hard place. >> there is this feeling that

they are damped if they do and damped they don't. it is not talked about a lot within the context that france also has tensions with the key country so it is about how algeria is increasing collaboration with putin and how that influences the russian fighters inside the country. french intelligence says there are 450,000 russian fighters and westerners in the country.

these people are very efficient and can clean out all of northern mali within six months, which is ambitious. algeria's tension with france and how that facilitated the enabling of the russian fighters . nick: we are short of time but i want to talk about the accountability of the current government because they are barely in control beyond their major cities.

how do they expect to do better without outside help? >> that's why it is important not to get the wrong end of the problem. the problem isn't france and european partners. it's a government that doesn't have a plan forward. the day after tomorrow, the protection will just be russian mercenaries. this is the afghanistan conundrum. france came with good intentions with invitation to prevent a cuddly -- come -- to prevent a collapse.

but after years, even with the best of intentions, france became part of the problem. it is not a colonial power by it is perceived and presented as part of the problem, which is what we saw in afghanistan where the coalition saw a problem and tried to build a stronger afghan government and at the end were perceived as just a much -- just as much as a problem. nick: is there a way out of this? is there way for the europeans to maintain their mission in mali? >> mali lacks the capacity to address the security challenges

of the country so moving out the french or eu will not solve the problem. they should communicate with france and have a gradual process of cooperation and dialogue. so [indiscernible] to see how this could be better handled under the circumstance. nick: we have run out of time.

thank you very much for being with us. and you can watch this program any on al jazeera.com. and for further conversation, you can check out inside story on facebook and twitter. ♪oggccccc''''''exçñ # ♪

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