An interview on France 24 with the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has prompted the junta in Burkina Faso to cut off the French channel’s broadcasting on its territory, as Radio RFI was suspended a few months ago.
A statement signed by the government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said on Monday that allowing the head of AQIM to express himself on a communication channel, “provides a space for legitimizing terrorist actions and hate speech conveyed to satisfy the evil aims of this organization on Burkina Faso.
The text went on to say that the government had decided in all responsibility to suspend the broadcasting of France 24 programs throughout the country.
This decision comes in response to France 24’s broadcast on 6 March of written answers by Abu Obeida Youssef al-Annabi, the head of AQIM, to some 15 questions put by journalist Wassim Nasr.
Jihadist groups linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda have been carrying out repeated violence in Burkina Faso for several years, killing 10,000 civilians and soldiers according to NGOs.