France, Feb. 3 -- France's top spy chief warned this week that militant jihadist groups in the Sahel are pursuing expansion into the Golf of Guinea, with a focus on Cote d'Ivoire and Benin. In a rare public appearance, Bernard Emie, head of the General Directorate for External Security (DGSE) revealed intelligence purportedly showing a meeting between top al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb commanders.

"The agenda of this meeting was the preparation of a series of large scale attacks against military bases," said Emie during a speech on Monday alongside Defence Minister Florence Parly at the d'Orleans-Bricy airbase.

"This is where leaders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) devised their expansion plans for the countries of the Gulf o...