Hilarious!! France learns that their ally Qatar is also the ally of their enemy in Mali

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH !!!  Glorious !   I love it when top honchos in the Western hemisphere are proven to be nothing but clowns  and total idiots for all to see.  Qatar is the main paymaster of the Al Qaeda in Mali.

Besides what you read below,  I had just a few days ago  read or heard something that either Qatar Airlines or Qatar Airways and private Qatari planes are lifting the Mali Al Qaeda terrorists fleeing the French forces and are  taking them to the safety of  neighboring  countries away from death or capture.  I am unable to find that bit of news when I did a search just now.....but I am confident that that's what I read from either an African online source or at some blog.

Ségolène Allemandou writing at France24:
....Oil-rich gulf state Qatar has a vested interest  in the outcome of the north Mali crisis, according to various reports that have been picked up by French MPs, amid suspicion that Doha may be siding with the rebels to extend its regional influence.
Since Islamist groups exploited a military coup in the Malian capital of Bamako in early 2012 to take control of the entire north of the country, accusations of Qatari involvement in a crisis that has seen France deploy troops have been growing.
Last week two French politicians explicitly accused Qatar of giving material support to separatists and Islamists in north Mali, adding fuel to speculation that the Emirate is playing a behind-the-scenes role in spreading Islamic fundamentalism in Africa.....

From MiddleEastOnline:
The Leader of the ruling Socialist party    in France, Harlem Desir, slammed on Sunday "a form of indulgence" from Qatar "towards the terrorist groups who occupied northern Mali," asking the Gulf Emirate for a "policy clarification ".
Desir noted that "political statements of a number of Qatari officials had challenged the French intervention" in Mali.
"There is an attitude that is not cooperative and that can be considered as a form of leniency towards the terrorist groups who occupied northern Mali. This attitude coming from Qatar is not normal," added Desire at a weekly political programme on one of the Jewish community radio in France, Radio J.
"We need a policy clarification from Qatar who has always denied any role in funding terrorist groups. On the diplomatic level, Qatar should adopt a much stronger, and firmer position towards these groups who threaten the security of the Sahel region,” added Desire.
Qatar has a vested interest in the outcome of the north Mali crisis, according to various reports that have been picked up by French MPs, amid suspicion that Doha may be siding with the rebels to extend its regional influence...........

David Roberts writing at RoyalUnitedServicesInstitute:
Claims that Qatar is supporting a range of Al-Qa'ida-affiliated groups   in the Sahel are not new. In June 2012 the French satirical magazine Canard Enchaine quoted French Military intelligence sources asserting that Qatar was financially supporting various groups such as Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its splinter group the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). The reports are vague but usually refer to financial support from Qatar, while some refer to Qatari planes landing at Gao disgorging arms and even Qatari Special Forces entering the fray.
None of these accusations ring true given the general thrust of Qatari foreign policy. Ironically, however, it is Qatar's recent actions particularly in Libya that make these accusations seemingly plausible..........
......Examining exactly what Qatar is doing in Mali is difficult. Qatar never enlightens anyone of its foreign policy strategies or tactics and nor are there sufficient reliable sources of information in and around Mali.

The best one can say is that in addition to a lengthy history of interaction in the region, the Qatar Red Crescent Society increased its capabilities in Mali in 2012 evaluating the state of the plight and their potential response. This occasionally involved entering Mali from Niger to get to the critical city of Gao. According to an AFP article this in and of itself involved seeking safe passage from the MUJAO, an Al-Qa'ida offshoot.

The very fact that the two organisations came to this safe passage agreement may well be a root cause of much of the subsequent supposition, with many assuming the transit agreement to be a signal of deeper connections. Yet this is what the Red Cross/Crescent does; it sticks to its central tenet of neutrality in a conflict and deals with the realities on the ground by making tactical deals to obtain access when it can.

There is no open source evidence available whatsoever that can back up assertions made by Sciences Po's Sub-Saharan African expert Roland Marchal who suggests that Qatari Special Forces may have entered Northern Mali to train recruits of Ansar Dine, which is part the Al-Qa'ida movement there. Indeed, aside from the Canard Enchaine assertion - which has even been partially retracted - there is nothing on which to base other assertions of Qatar financially supporting Al-Qa'ida affiliates in Mali other than supposition.....