The Burkina Faso authorities confirmed this Monday that they had requested the departure of French troops based in Ouagadougou within a month, the day after a request for “clarifications” from French President Emmanuel Macron, in this new episode of tensions between the two countries.
“What we are denouncing is the agreement that allows the presence of French forces in Burkina Faso. It is not about the end of diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and France,” said the Burkinabe government spokesman, Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo, in his speech. . in an interview on Radio-Télévision du Burkina (RTB).
“The French forces are based in Ouagadougou at the request of Burkina Faso and its authorities. This denunciation is in the normal order of things, it is provided for in the terms of the military agreement,” he continued, indicating that the denunciation left “one month to the other party to accede to this request”.
Burkina currently hosts a contingent of nearly 400 French special forces, the Saber force.
A request “not related to a particular event”
In a letter from the Burkina Faso Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed to Paris and dated Wednesday, of which our AFP colleagues have had a copy, Ouagadougou “denounces and terminates in its entirety the agreement” of December 17, 2018 “relating to to the state of the French armed forces that intervene” in the anti-jihadist fight in the Sahelian country.
On Sunday afternoon, Emmanuel Macron said he was waiting for “clarifications” from Burkina Faso. In the evening, the French presidency had added to expect confirmation of Burkina Faso’s position at the “highest level”.
“At the current stage we don’t see how to make it clearer,” Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo said on Monday.
According to him, this request for the French forces to leave “is not linked to a particular event.” “It is linked to the will, today, of the transition authorities and of all of Burkinabé, to be the first actors in the reconquest of our territory,” he added, specifying to expect “especially material support” from friendly countries to help. security forces
Ouagadougou calls for the replacement of the French ambassador
France, a former colonial power, has been in dispute in Burkina for several months. In December, the Burkinabe authorities had asked Paris to replace the French ambassador in Ouagadougou, Luc Hallade, under scrutiny for having reported, in particular, on the deteriorating security situation in the country.
On Monday, Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo said the government had “received all guarantees that the French authorities will grant this request this week.”
Since coming to power in September after a coup, the second in eight months, Captain Ibrahim Traoré and his government have shown their willingness to diversify their alliances, particularly in the fight against the jihadism that has plagued this country since 2015. .
Reconciliation between Ouagadougou and Moscow
The new authorities have begun a rapprochement with Russia in recent weeks.
“Russia is a choice of reason in this dynamic” and “we believe that our partnership should be strengthened,” stressed the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Apollinaire Kyélem de Tambela, two weeks ago after an interview with the Russian ambassador Alexey Saltykov. In early December he had made a discreet visit to Moscow.
This request to leave recalls the precedent of neighboring Mali: last summer, the junta in power in Bamako had ordered French forces to leave the country after nine years of presence. Multiple sources report that the Malian authorities began incorporating the Russian Wagner paramilitary group in late 2021, whose actions are denounced in several countries, which the junta denies.
“If there is someone who should be drinking serum, it is the Russian Evguéni Prigojine, the leader of the Wagner group, which intends to make Burkina Faso its new Eldorado. ‘Come, the field is free’, this seems to be the message sent to the Russian bear,” the Burkinabe private newspaper “L’observer Paalga” interpreted on Monday.
The north of the country victim of multiple terrorist attacks
In Burkina, authorities say behind the scenes in Paris that they do not want to hire the services of Wagner, whose liaison team has come to prospect in this mineral-rich country, according to several French sources.
Burkina Faso, particularly in its northern half, has been facing attacks by groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) organization since 2015. They left thousands dead and at least two million displaced.
Source: BFM TV
