Paris 19 May (ANA)  - New French President Emmanuel Macron is due to travel to Mali in West Africa, at the end of his first week in office. French soldiers have been fighting Islamic militants in the north of the former French colony since 2013. He is due to review some of the 4,000 anti-insurgent troops France has deployed in the region.

This is Mr Macron's second foreign trip as president. He visited German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin a day after his inauguration on Sunday. As president, he is expected to continue his predecessor's policy regarding military presence in West Africa. France retains a strong influence in its former colonies.

Mr Macron has talked about writing a new page in his country's relationship on the continent, and of breaking away from the old neo-colonial networks.(ANA)

FA/ANA/19 May 2017-------