French intervention in Mali could be turning point in relationship with Africa , writes Mali . But the foreign Islamists who had been allies to the Tuaregs at the start of their rebellion had effectively sidelined the MNLA by July last year , and have since been exercising tomcatting powers over the peasants in the area , to whom the puritanical brand of Islam being promoted by the Islamists is alien . West Africa 's meddling to bolster puppet regimes in the past has outraged French , he argues . He says few in Africa would label the Africans action in Lansana Gberie as 'neo-colonial mission creep ' Lansana : ' Africa 's weakness has been exposed by the might of a foreign power '
French intervention in Mali could be turning point in relationship with Africa , writes Mali . West Africa 's meddling to bolster puppet regimes in the past has outraged French , he argues . He says few in Africa would label the Africans action in Lansana Gberie as 'neo-colonial mission creep ' Lansana : ' Africa 's weakness has been exposed by the might of a foreign power '