Nicked gift: France's President Francois Hollande receives presents during his visit to Mali before he was given a baby camel which now has been reported as stolen
In a plot straight out of a madcap Gallic comedy film, a Malian refugee said he wanted the young dromedary back.
Mr Hollande was hailed a hero on Saturday when he arrived in Timbuktu, Mali, which until a few days before had been in the hands of Al-Qaeda backed terrorists.
As a token of thanks for the part French troops played in defeating the Islamist radicals, Mr Hollande was presented with the camel.
The pair were pictured together, although the camel screeched constantly, and was far from impressed with the portly French head of state tried to pat him on the head.
Now it has emerged that the camel, who had not been named, actually belonged to a farmer, whose house was destroyed by French shelling during their attack on Timbuktu.
The true owner of the camel is now living in the Ambra refugee camp, on the border with Mauritania.
This effectively means that the animal is stolen property, and Mr Hollande and his entourage had no legal right to take it out of the country.
A furious Malian calling himself Said Toureg has now threatened to file a lawsuit, saying on Twitter: 'Paris will witness unprecedented judicial activities regarding the stolen camel... there are reports stating that the owner of the camel has filed a lawsuit in the Ambra camp.'
A diplomatic Mr Hollande is now said to be prepared to respect the request from Mali, with France's BFM TV news channel reporting: 'It was decided to resend the camel back to his native country Mali because of the difficulty of surviving in France's cold weather.'
French forces carried out a lightening military campaign in Mali, forcing a terrorist army to retreat, and now Mr Hollande has pledged that his military will withdraw by March. This has led to Mr Hollande being described as a 'liberator' by ordinary Malians.
The Elysee Palace had no immediate comment on the camel scandal, which came as the country's defence minister announced that it has killed hundreds of militants in Mali.
Jean-Yves Le Drian also told a French radio station that the conflict was a 'real war with terrorists'.
Just one French soldier has so far died in action in Mali. 'It's a real war ... when we go outside of the centre of cities that have been taken, we meet residual jihadists,' said Mr Le Drian.
The French-led troops have taken the key city of Gao and control the capital of Timbuktu, but plans to move forward on the last major city in control of the Islamist militants, Kindal, have been hampered by sandstorms.
President Francois Hollande said France may start pulling out of west Africa nation at the end of March. That will depend on an increase in the deployment of African forces, which are meant to take over the international effort to secure Mali.
The country currently has 4,000 soldiers deployed in Mali fighting alongside 3,800 local soldiers, but is expected to keep a rapid reaction force in Mali to back up the U.N. force.
Mr Le Drian said French aircraft are continuing airstrikes every night on suspected militant arms depots and mine-making sites. On the ground, troops have found war material, weapons manuals and makeshift laboratories for constructing improvised explosive devices.
'We discovered preparations for a true terrorist sanctuary,' he said.
France launched a swift military intervention Jan. 11 against Islamist extremists who had taken over northern Mali, where they imposed a harsh version of Shariah law.
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