Relations continue to be strained between Burkina Faso and France. Four French civil servants, intelligence agents according to a Burkinabè source, computer maintenance technicians according to a French diplomatic source, were arrested in Ouagadougou at the beginning of December, we learned Tuesday evening.
“We are in the process of verifying the real field work of four French nationals presented as agents of the DGSE (French foreign intelligence). They are currently before investigators,” said the Burkinabè source.
Holders of “diplomatic passports”
For its part, a French diplomatic source declared that “on December 1, four French officials, holders of diplomatic passports and visas, were arrested in Ouagadougou by the Burkinabè police. These four technicians were in Burkina Faso to carry out a computer maintenance operation for the benefit of the French embassy. “On December 14, they were indicted and transferred to the Ouagadougou prison and correctional facility,” she continued.
The same source adds that “the French consulate general was able to exercise consular protection and visit them”. “The French government takes note of the ongoing legal proceedings, but rejects the accusations that these technicians were sent to Burkina Faso for reasons other than their computer maintenance work. He requests their return to France without delay,” concludes this diplomatic source. According to a European diplomatic source, these French people “are known to their Burkinabè colleagues”.
The magazine Young Africa wrote Tuesday that the four men are accused of “espionage.” “The sister country of Togo is helping to find a solution,” the Burkinabe source also indicated.
French media suspended
Relations between France and Burkina have deteriorated considerably since Captain Ibrahim Traoré came to power in September 2022 through a coup – the second in eight months. Ouagadougou denounced a 1961 military agreement with France in March, after obtaining the withdrawal of French forces. The French ambassador to Ouagadougou, recalled after the coup d’état of September 2022, has not been replaced since. Burkina Faso has also suspended several French media including The world, Radio France international, France 24, Young AfricaAnd LCI.
In its desire to diversify its partnerships, Burkina Faso has notably moved closer to Moscow this year. In addition to a rapprochement in the military field, Russia has notably promised to build a nuclear power plant in this Sahel country. In November, Ouagadougou was one of the first African countries to receive free Russian cereals, as promised a few months earlier by Vladimir Putin.