While news blackouts are nothing new in the world of journalism and war, in his piece, "In Mali, a war 'without images and without facts' ", asks in this "culture of secrecy" is the French army among other things keeping quiet the rumors of abuse and summary executions by the Malian army.
International journalists who have flown to Mali are kept far from the front lines. No journalist has been embedded with the Special Forces that have carried out the first assaults. Most reporters who receive the authorization to accompany the troops are limited to coverage of marginal stories, such as military preparations on the Bamako airport or the "progress of the troops to the North," very far from the battlefields.
The roads to the North are blocked by a succession of checkpoints manned by the Malian army. "They are very nervous," says Gérard Grizbec, a reporter with the public service TV channel France 2. "They have received stern orders from the French forces: 'Don't let yourself being overtaken by journalists.' They usually ask us where we're going, check our passport, and request an accreditation of the Malian Communications Ministry."
And then they often turn the media away.
