⁍ Mali’s interim prime minister said on Monday he was open to talks with Islamist militants.

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⁍ But former colonial power France signalled opposition to the idea.

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⁍ Ousted former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said earlier this year that his government was prepared to negotiate.

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– France’s foreign minister is visiting Mali for the first time since last August’s coup, and he’s bringing a message of support for the African country’s new government. But Jean-Yves Le Drian is also making one thing clear: He’s opposed to talks between the government and al-Qaeda-linked militants, reports Reuters. “Let’s say things very clearly: There are peace accords … and then there are terrorist groups that have not signed the peace accords,” Le Drian says. “It is simple.” Interim Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, meanwhile, says his government is open to talks with militants who seized northern Mali in 2012. “The conclusions of the inclusive national talks … very clearly indicated the necessity of an offer of dialogue with these armed groups,” Ouane says. “We need to see in that an opportunity to engage in far-reaching discussions with the communities in order to redefine the contours of a new governance of the areas that are concerned.”