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Burkina Faso’s government said Monday it had asked former colonial ruler France to withdraw its troops from the country hit by the riots within a month.
France has deployed about 400 special forces soldiers in junta-controlled Burkina Faso, but relations have soured and tensions have risen in recent months.
“We are terminating the agreement that allows French troops to be stationed in Burkina Faso,” government spokesman Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo told Radio Television du Burkina.
“This is not the end of diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and France,” he added.
“This dismissal is normal and foreseen in the terms of the contract,” a spokesperson said.
The junta and the country as a whole “want to be the protagonists in reclaiming our territory,” he said, echoing the call of coup leader Col. called for the reclaiming of the occupied lands.
Burkina Faso’s state news agency made the request late Saturday.
AFP on Sunday obtained a copy of a letter sent to Paris by the Burkinabe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dated last Wednesday, calling for “complete termination and closure of the agreement”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that Paris was waiting for an explanation from Ouagadougou on the call to withdraw.
“I can’t be more specific”
He claimed there was “great confusion” about the report and urged Traoré to take a public stand.
“At this stage, we don’t know how we can make it clearer,” a government spokesman said Monday.
Since the latest military government seized power in September, there have been several demonstrations calling for the French ambassador and French troops to leave.
In October, protesters stormed the French Cultural Center in the capital Ouagadougou.
France’s foreign ministry has confirmed that the military government has asked to replace French ambassador Luc Hallard after reports of a deteriorating security situation in Burkina Faso upset him.
At the same time, Burkina Faso, like neighbor Mali, appears to be increasingly looking to Russia as a partner.
“Russia is the rational choice in this dynamic,” said Burkinabe Prime Minister Apollinaire Kilem de Tembera, who met with the Russian ambassador last week and visited Moscow in December.
“I believe our partnership must be strengthened,” he added.
Burkina Faso is reeling from jihadist violence that swept through neighboring Mali in 2015.
The riots have claimed thousands of lives and displaced at least two million people from their homes.
Paris fears a repeat of its disastrous clashes with Mali, which withdrew its troops last year.
Paris’ preferred option appears to be a redeployment south of neighboring Niger, where nearly 2,000 troops are already stationed, should French forces withdraw from Burkina Faso.
Niger, the world’s poorest state according to the United Nations Human Development Index, is struggling with two jihadist emergencies and is looking to increase its military numbers.
Both France and the United States have significant military bases in vast arid nations, while Germany has logistics bases.
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