France wantonly seeks to drag Algerian ANP forces into Libya’s turmoil

The French Defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Tuesday that Paris might send troops abroad to fight extremist armed groups while expressing the hope that the Algerian military would join in the campaign, an idea strongly opposed by the Algerian authorities as a matter of principle.

After Mali and Central African Republic, Le Drian urged action to deal with the crisis in Libya. In this connection, the French authorities are seeking to persuade Algeria to send troops into Libya as a back-up force but the Algerian state authorities have already brushed aside such a contingency stressing that that the Algerian armed forces would never intervene outside the national borders in consistence with the constitutional laws of the country.

During his visit on Monday to Tunis, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal reiterated such a cardinal principle saying that Algeria would never interfere in other countries’ internal affairs including those of Libya, hoping that the brotherly Libyan people could transcend their current divergences and achieve peace, cohesion and stability with no foreign armed intervention.

“We need to act in Libya and mobilize the international community” said Le Drian to daily newspaper Le Figaro published on Tuesday.

“Today, I am sounding the alarm about the seriousness of the situation in Libya”, said Le Drian. “The south is a sort of hub for terrorist groups where they come to resupply with weapons and reorganize”.

Concerns including chaos in Libya, Islamic State recent conquests in Syria and Iraq, the rise of Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon have led to fears of “gateways between the various caliphates”.

President François Hollande said last week that France will take part in any international coalition to fight terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq.

He also called on the UN to organize support for the Libyan authorities to restore their state.

“France will be part of the international coalition in Syria and Iraq”, confirmed Le Drian to Europe 1 radio station on Tuesday, as Nato coalition is taking shape.

Although Le Drian didn’t  clarify  if  there will be a French military intervention on the ground in the Middle East, he added that French forces in Mali could move up to the Libyan border. 

Le Drian said that the situation will be discussed later on Tuesday with his European counterparts at a meeting in Milan, Italy.