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French ambassador to Burkina Faso, Luc Hallade, is still at work in the capital Ouagadougou, according to a French diplomatic source, contradicting the announcement made by Burkina Faso’s military junta that he had been expelled.
French ambassador to Burkina Faso, Luc Hallade, is still at work in the capital Ouagadougou, according to a French diplomatic source, contradicting the announcement made by Burkina Faso’s military junta that he had been expelled.
The former French colony has seen a surge in anti-French sentiments in recent times. The West African country is said to be seemingly closer to Russia now in a bid to detach itself from the western forces. Recently, there was a report that Ambassador Luc Hallade was asked to leave. But the junta did not give any further details.
Earlier, United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator in Burkina Faso, Barbara Manzi, was also declared persona non grata by Burkina Faso, which of late has been in news due to the violence perpetrated by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. The violence the country has been facing took the lives of thousands of people and dislocated millions.
The current military regime overthrew a previous junta last year. The previous junta had cited the same reason for seizing power from a civilian government months earlier. Since the new junta leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traore seized power in September, and anti-French feeling was at their peak.
The new junta leader is keen to work with other countries, notably Russia. Last month Burkinabe Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela visited Russia in a mission to strengthen relations and consolidate efforts to combat extremists in the region. www.trendsnafrica.com gas reported about the visit, which got international coverage because of the West African country’s shift in strategic matters.
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French forces left Mali last year after relations with the junta frayed. The French still have several hundred special forces troops stationed in the country.
