France expected to announce Mali exit
President Emmanuel Macron is due to hold a news conference shortly where he is expected to announce the withdrawal of French troops from Mali ahead of an EU-Africa summit in Brussels.
Mr Macron held a working dinner last night in Paris with the leaders of Niger, Chad, Mauritania and several European states.
Mali's junta leader was not invited to Paris.
Elysee officials say it's become impossible for France to continue its anti-insurgency deployment in Mali, because of growing hostility from the military authorities in Bamako.
Relations deteriorated after Mali's military rulers reneged on a deal to organise elections this month and also accepted the deployment of Russian private military contractors.
Source: BBCÂ
