new demonstration in Ouagadougou against the French presence

Several hundred people demonstrated in Ouagadougou on Friday, January 20, against the French presence and notably demanded the departure of Luc Hallade, the French ambassador to Burkina Faso, noted an AFP correspondent.

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At the call of the Collective of Pan-African Leaders (CLP), which brings together organizations favorable to Captain Ibrahim Traoré, in power since the end of September, the demonstrators gathered on the Place de la Nation, in the center of Ouagadougou. They asked “the departure of the French ambassador” and the closure of the French army base at Kamboinsin, on the northern outskirts of the capital, where 400 special forces personnel are stationed.

“We are here to express our total and unwavering support for President Ibrahim Traoré, the Defense and Security Forces engaged in the fight against terrorism and in the quest for the total sovereignty of our country”said Mohamed Sinon, one of the main leaders of the collective: “We are a pan-African movement and we want cooperation from Burkina Faso with Russia, but also the strengthening of ties of friendship and cooperation with Guinea and Mali”.

giant posters

The demonstrators, mostly dressed in white, carried signs that read: “French army, get out of here”, “France gets out” or “Out the arsonist diplomats”. Giant posters of the Malian presidents, Assimi Goïta, and Guinean, Mamady Doumbouya, who came to power like Captain Traoré thanks to coups d’etat, as well as that of the Russian president, Vladimir Poutine, were also brandished by demonstrators or carefully erected on a podium, amid Burkinabe flags.

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France, a former colonial power, is regularly contested in Burkina Faso, a country plagued by jihadist violence, partly behind two coups in 2022. In October and November, demonstrators gathered in front of the French Embassy and the military base of Kamboinsin, and in December, the Burkinabe authorities demanded the departure of the French Ambassador, Luc Hallade, after remarks deemed offensive. At the same time, the Ouagadougou authorities have repeatedly affirmed in recent months their desire to strengthen their relations with Moscow.

On January 10, Paris dispatched the Secretary of State to the French Foreign Minister, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, to Ouagadougou to meet Ibrahim Traoré there. “France does not impose anything, it is available to invent a future together”she hammered, assuring not to want “influencing any choice or decision” and “no one can dictate their choices in Burkina”.

The World with AFP

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