Mali – The story of an embedded Chadian journalist

Abdel-Nasser Mahamat Ali Garboa alias Abdelnasser Garboa is a Chadian journalist covering the war in Mali. He was the one who took the picture of the remains of Abu Zeid and and he shared it on Twitter . But for him, covering a war is not always easy especially when you are embedded with the army of your country.

So I would have liked to know a little more about you, your journalistic career, and how did you find yourself covering the war in Mali?

From the first day of my writings, I decided to take the name of Abdelnasser Garboa. I started journalism at the age of 19 years to the only daily newspaper in Chad, “Le Progrès” which belongs to one of my uncles, Mahamat Hissene. In 2000 I entered the University of Ngaoundere in Cameroon to study law. While I was in second year, the lure of journalism attract me towards writing the first Cameroonian private daily “Mutations”. Mutations had passed the daily periodicity and was searching correspondents in the north of the country was covered by very few private media. It was in March 2002. I then covered restructuring operations bases organs of the ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM). In 2005, Chad was then faced with the rebel army who swore to have the skin of President Idriss Déby. Not wanting to settle for terse press the Government on the balance sheets of battles, unmet also small visits to battlefields after a confrontation. I ask the Minister of National Defence at the time, General Bichara Issa Djadallah, to incorporate me in a combat unit leaving for the East. He became my request and allow me to embark with General Daoud Abakar Abdelkerim Kareinkeïno alias, one of the most iconic warlords Chad. He was Director General of the Gendarmerie. This was my first experience of war coverage. I spent three months with them to skim the areas east of the country behind the elements of the United Front for Change and those of the Union of Resistance Forces. This experience gave me a better understanding. I first learned about the geography of this part of the country almost every bastion of rebellion. I got to know our soldiers and to appreciate them. I also learned to understand the issues, people and practices of this bloody conflict. My way ofdealing with this conflict of information has completely changed. My greatest gain is to know what it looks like when you talk about movement forces belligerence. It was a unique experience. Regarding the war in Mali, the first day of the announcement of the entry of our troops in action I thought that I should do something. I went to the Ministry of National Defense and then to the General Staff of the Armed Forces to cover how to deploy our units. I was the first to interview the commandant of forces and the one of the operations. During the creation of a pool of journalists to support our troops, I volunteered and then, the adventure began. For me, journalism is always synonymous with great coverage and extensive survey.

Twitter live coverage of the war of Abdelnasser Garboa in Mali

My other question relates to your use of Twitter and social networks in general: how do you use it?

I admit, that before the war in Mali, I used very little Twitter, I was much more on Facebook where I shared stuff with friends in France, Cameroon and the rest of the world. The need of Twitter came when I started covering Mali. I found there was a lack of information onthe operations of Chadian soldiers on the ground. While our forces Gao jumped on, no French press mentioned it. There was a total blackout maybe because it is the will of the French General Staff that put forward the French and Malian soldiers. But when I arrived in Gao on January 27, there was no Malian soldier in this city. It was sickening for Chadians. It was the same when we arrived in Menaka, and into Kidal. No communication as made on the operation of Chadian soldiers. So Chadian journalists decided to redress this imbalance. The problem is that the state media is not very credible in the eyes of many people. So I tried to give a different look. But I do admit that is a subjectiv point of view since I fully support the operation of Chadian soldiers and I will ensure that no information that would undermine the moral of the troops is released. In these kinds of operation must be very careful. I respect the facts, but the role of the army is crucial.

When you posted the picture of what is believed to be Abu Zeid’s dead body, did you know the impact it would have?

I knew that Abu Zeid was a wanted emir and that his picture would be an important shot. But the impact of its propagation was beyond my imagination. There was an unecessary controversy created by Le Drian about the reliability of it. Many of my fellow did not like the dismissive attitude of the French minister.

Screenshot of Paris Match Magazine with the picture taken by Abdelnasser Garboa

But how did you know it was him?

Why would I not believe a soldier who descends from a mountaintop claiming to have killed Abu Zeid and showing a photo of his corpse? Does my support to these soldiers is worse than the French or American press for their soldiers in Afghanistan or Iraq? More, who dared to ask for a DNA test to the USA following the assassination of Bin Laden? It was not difficult to identify Abou Zeid. His dead corresponded to the pictures of him circulating on the net. I trust my senses more than anything else. And in the end, François Hollande gave me reason but after twenty days.

You said you offered more a subjective point of view, but until which point ? How do you remain neutral when you are “embedded” with the Chadian army representing your country?
To support an operation does not mean we should distort information. I try to just report the facts. I do not want to dig up dirt at ay price. I report what I see and what I hear, officially. It must be remembered that our confines are also shared by all our French colleagues when they cover the war of their soldiers. It’s very strict and controlled. Of course, we must not fall into war propaganda. But I think some stories deserve to be told later, at the end of the conflict, with more details.

What do you think of the war in Mali coverage in foreign media?

Foreign media are very far from the ground. France wanted a clean and mute war. They sendreporters to cover patrol missions and not real combat operation. We have an advantage as Chadian journalists to be able to cover Chadian soldiers conducting raids on the ground in direct contact. This is essential to publicize these conflicts. We have great images that we can’t all broadcast for obvious reasons.

NB: Today, there are still doubts about the killing of Abu Zeid even if he has been replaced by AQIM. According to the Long war journal, AQIM has neither denied nor confirmed Abu Zeid ‘s death.

Interview by Lilia Blaise

War in Mali: the necessity of cautious news

Some say they are dead, other don’t. In less than a week, Chadian newspapers announced the death of one of the key members from AQIM terrorist group and also the death of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the leader of the attack in In Amenas. But in France, the news has still not been confirmed. And AQIM has just stated that Abu Zeid is dead but not Belmokhtar. Since the beginning of the war in Mali, how much can we trust the media?

Screenshot of a twit pic on twitter by the caricaturist Damien Glez

It was allover Twitter, the news was spreading on the web faster than any other and some media took the information for granted. Two leaders of terrorist groups were killed by Chadian troops according to the news of Friday march 2nd. It has been four days and the French Minister of Defense has still not confirmed it. According to the AFP news agency, the chief of staff of general army forces Edouard Guillaud said that Abu Zeid is “likely” dead, but his corpse has not been found yet. And AQIM has just confirmed on Monday that Abu Zeid was killed but not Belmokhtar which shows once more that there is more to the story than what we think.

From Chad, the general commanding Chadian troops in northern Mali said Sunday that he was not able to confirm the death of Mokhtar Belmokhtar. Even so, the Chadian government announced it on Chad’s national state television one day before. Every global media took the news, quoting different sources, a “report”or the Chadian government. Somehow the news has not been verified and today, French media remain cautious to release anything.

The press release by the Chadian army about the killing of the two terrorist on the National Chadian TV:

Why is it so difficult to verify such crucial information? On one side, we have the French media and the French news agency based in Paris and who are quite dependent of the army press releases. On the other side, Chadian troops are fighting in the mountains which are difficult to access even for the journalists including those who are embedded.

The American media are the most distant from the conflict and must write news gathered from external sources rather than on direct field observations out of Mali. The best informed recent article was the the WSJ and was written by correspondents based in Ghana and Paris. The only information is therefore coming from the army or anonymous sources according to Sahara media. The website said these sources are “generally well-informed”, but did not give any more details.

It was Chadian general Zakaria Ngobongue who confirmed the killing of Belmokhtar on Saturday after Chadian President Idriss Déby announced the killing of Abdelhamid Abu Zeid on Friday.  According to the Algerian website El Khabar, the Chadian army said in a statement  that ”Chadian troops in Mali completely destroyed the basic rule of jihadists in the Adrar Mountains in a series of Aafogas, specifically in Omatetaa Valley”. Official news and army news seem to be not so reliable, the following days showed. As an official from the Chadian ministry said to the Wall Street Journal, the killed ones were identified by their followers and buried immediately because  “It’s not in our culture to go around with bodies, they are not trophies.” Hassan Syllan, the Chadian Communication Minister, said to the newspaper. Still, according to Hassan Sylla, the fact that Mali and France have not confirmed shows that the research for a body seems to be in jeopardy .

Coverages by the BBC and Al Jazeera of Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s death.

Why did the global media rush to make this announcement? For l’Expression, an Algerian newspaper, it is because some of the news agencies in the United States said they had “very reliable” sources about this without really quoting anyone. Reuters News agencybased its information on a Chad press release but specified that Washington had not confirmed the news. But it also shows that somehow in a world where news is supposed to be more reachable than ever, some is simply impossible to verify. What was the right thing to do? While the Media had to speak about it, they should have stayed in the conditional tone rather than preenting it as a beaking news. Being cautious is therefore the only deontological solution rather than giving unclear and incomplete information. This bring us back to a similar same issue previously raised on this blog, which is the difficulty for journalists to cover a war where information devices d contents are extremely controlled. For instance, why does the French army publish its own videos on its Facebook pages? It was in order to communicate but not to give an impartial information. It may be also the case that the Chadian army is more eager to show they are winning in the war rather than to speak of several Chadian soldiers dead on the field. 26 of them died in battles on the 22th of February on the frontline. Among the other African countries, Chad has sent the biggest contingent in Mali and it confirmed during the Cedeao summit that it was impatient for the fight to come to an end.

Lilia Blaise

On the same subject: The war in Mali by Al Jazeera: Malian speak project and the invisible war

The other images of Mali on Twitter

War is also a field for photojournalists who try to tell stories through pictures. Some of them, far from Gao’s battles try to show daily life in the country. But they are not the only ones, bloggers, citizens and NGO’s as well also post pictures on the social network. Here are a Twitter pics’s review of pictures behind the war.

Mali – “Libya could play an important role in the terrorist reorganization”

Tarik Hafid is an Algerian journalist for Le SoirdAlgérie an independent daily newspaper. He comments on the situation in Mali from Algeria. According to Mr Hafid, the next terrorist threat could come from Libya.

How are Algerian media currently covering the situation in Mali?

Tarik Hafid: The Algerian media has been closely following what’s been happening in Mali for several years. In the early 2000s, the Algerian press was the first to draw attention to the establishment of certain leaders of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC, which later became AQMI) in the area around Azawad. These forecast have unfortunately been confirmed. Algerian media are still very critical of the France’s military action in Mali. Many newspapers do not hesitate to use the word “neocolonialism”. One another thing is sure for the Algerian press, the current Malian government has not political control or military control.

Since the hostage crisis in In Amenas, what has been the situation in Algeria? 

TH: We must first recall that Algeria has been facing the phenomenon of terrorism for more than two decades. The hostage’ situation of In Amenas certainly resulted from the specific nature of the target, the status of the victims, the organization of the terrorist group and the reply of the Algerian army. So it is important not to consistently link the security situation in Algeria with what is happening in Mali. Terrorists have different strategies for each countries they are in. But they also have an overall strategy for this region in particular. It is thanks to the drugs produced in Morocco and ransom money which enables them to buy weapons in Libya to be effective in Mali, Algeria and Nigeria. But we must remain watchful, as Islamist terrorism is indeed able to spread.

Map of Aqmi activities in Sahel by l’Express.

Do you struggle to get information about what is happening in the field?

TH: For a journalist, working in a country like Mali requires huge financial and logistical resources. Since the beginning of the French military operation, most of the news is provided by embedded journalists. So for the Algerian media, most of the work is done remotely.

What do you think is next for the “Serval” operation and the stabilization of Mali? What will be the impact on Algeria?

TH: It’s difficult to comment on the future events in light of what’s happening right now. Regarding Mali, I think the security should stabilize on the security policy. But I do not think that France will leavethe country soon. In my opinion, Paris should be more involved in its  policy  to put an end to the conflict between the central government in Bamako and communities of Azawad. Moreover, it seems that France could reinforce its presence in Niger in order to closely monitor its interests. But I think that in the future, the real danger will come from Libya. After the defeat of northern Mali, AQIM  and Mujao will surely be moving to Libya. This country offers several advantages for terrorist groups: lack of security, tribalism, availability of weapons of all types and ease of recruitment for new members. The south of Libya is also on the axis of the drugs’ trade. In my opinion, the next basis of terrorist groups in the Sahel will be located in Libya.And Algeria will have to be all the more vigilant on its borders. Moreover, we must learn from previous events, as the terrorist group who attacked In Amenascrossed the Libyan border to Algeria.

Interview by Lilia Blaise