Burkina Faso expels French Embassy’s military attaché
In another ex-colony, French President Emmanuel Macron claims that France's ambassador to Niger is living like a hostage in the embassy.
-
French President Emmanuel Macron reacts as he delivers a speech during the National Roundtable on Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry in Paris on March 16, 2023. (AFP)
According to L'Agence d'Information du Burkina (AIB) on Friday, Burkina Faso has decided to expel the French embassy’s military attache Emmanuel Pasquier for “subversive activities".
A source said Pasquier and other employees of France’s military mission in Ouagadougou were given two weeks to leave the nation, adding that the mission would be closed.
Meanwhile, in another former French colony, President Emmanuel Macron stated on Friday that France's Ambassador to Niger is "literally held hostage" at the French embassy, claiming that military governors are preventing food delivery to the mission and that the ambassador was living on "military rations".
"As we speak, we have an ambassador and diplomatic staff who are literally being held hostage in the French embassy," Macron expressed.
"They are preventing food deliveries," the French President stated, adding that "he is eating military rations."
Earlier, a Nigerien court ordered the expulsion of French Ambassador Sylvain Itte following a petition from the country's post-coup authorities.
Read more: France bans cultural collaboration with Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso
The Nigerien Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Ambassador Itte's diplomatic immunity had been revoked and that the police had been ordered to expel him.
However, Macron announced that the ambassador would remain in the country despite the pressure.
He reiterated that the "legitimate authority" over the country belonged to Mohamed Bazoum, whom he spoke to every day, and remarked that the ambassador would leave the country if that was the agreement reached with Bazoum.
The interim governments of Mali and Burkina Faso issued a joint statement saying the authorities of the two countries warned that any military intervention in Niger to restore deposed President Mohamed Bazoum would constitute a declaration of war against their own countries, adding that the consequences of a military invasion would destabilize the entire Sahel region.
After Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger is the third country in less than three years to be rocked by a military coup.
Just like those African leaders who were toppled by military juntas, Bazoum was also backed by Western powers.
