France, Aug. 15 -- Malian authorities were on Friday searching for possible accomplices in what they say is a foreign government-backed plot to destabilise the country. This follows the arrest of a French national suspected of working for French intelligence services along with several Malian soldiers.

In a statement read on national television, Security Minister General Daoud Aly Mohammedine announced the arrests of what he described as a small group of marginal members of the Malian armed forces for criminal offences.

"Military personnel and civilians, with the help of foreign states, wanted to break up the rebuilding of Mali," he said.

Mali's ruling junta seized power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021. Since then, President Ass...