What will the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Catherine Vautrin, decide in the coming days regarding the kidnapping followed by the murder of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Kidal on November 2, 2013? As the perpetrators of the crime, all close associates of Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of Malian jihadists, now more than ever covet power in Bamako, will the French military’s secrets be revealed, as promised several times by Emmanuel Macron to the families of the two RFI journalists?
By Nathalie Prévost
The story unfolds in northern Mali, but for France, the fronts are almost reversed. While in 2013, Operation Serval was targeting jihadists with the help of Tuareg separatists, thirteen years later in 2026, it seems that Paris, still allied with the latter, finds itself, in practice, on the side of Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of Al Qaeda’s Sahel branch, who had been its number one public enemy for years.
In Paris, justice proceeds at a slower pace, less brisk than the shifting alliances of the Tuareg fighters. Judge Valéry Muller, who inherited the investigation into the murder of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon at the anti-terrorism division, officially submitted a request on January 12th for the end of the communication of classified or unclassified information. The Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans promised to make her decision by mid-May.
The lifeless bodies of the two journalists, shot dead, were discovered by a Serval patrol 12 km from Kidal, the Tuareg stronghold in the north, not far from the broken-down pick-up truck in which they had been abducted an hour before they were killed. They were in Kidal to report on the “reconciliation” in Azawad (the name given to northern Mali by separatists), a few months after the successful reconquest led by the French army.
As the investigating judge seeks to update the information on two key figures still alive: Zeidane Ag Hita (direct leader) and Hamadi Ag Mohamed (member of the commando). Indeed, Zeidane Ag Hita, who recently took a photograph at the Tessalit camp abandoned by the Malian army, has become an important leader, negotiator in the release of hostages, and right-hand man of Iyad Ag Ghali.
The magistrate is also looking to learn more about two phone lines in Italy and Algeria, very active before and during the abduction of the RFI team. He has also requested the disclosure of “any information” on the members of the commando, their accomplices, and their sponsors, on the role played by Ansar Dine, Iyad Ag Ghali’s armed group, in the operation claimed by the latter’s cousin. Finally, at the request of the civil parties, he once again demands any intervention report drafted by the special forces on the crime and any document indicating a discussion between a sponsor and one of the members of the commando to reproach them for “mishandling the merchandise.” This phrase had been publicly cited by François Hollande, the President of the Republic at the time of the events, who later retracted it during his questioning by the judge.
