Former colony bans French state TV
Facts
- Burkina Faso's government on Monday suspended state-funded France 24 broadcasts in the country after the TV channel aired an interview with Yezid Mebarek, the head of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), earlier this month.[1]
- This comes as relations between Paris and Ouagadougou have collapsed since the military took over Burkina Faso last October, with the junta rescinding a military deal and giving France one month to withdraw its troops in January this year.[2]
- France 24, which has also been suspended in Mali for a year, relayed on March 6 written answers from the leader of the AQIM to some fifteen questions put by its journalist Wassim Nasr.[3]
- In the interview, Mebarek stated that the withdrawal of French troops from both Burkina Faso and Mali was a victory for his group. He also described the Russian private military Wagner Group as a colonial force in the region.[4]
- Radio France Internationale (RFI) has also been suspended in Burkina Faso since December on allegations that the media outlet had disseminated a "message of intimidation" attributed to a "terrorist chief."[5]
- Jihadist insurgency linked to al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State group has unsettled the once-peaceful West African country of Burkina Faso for seven years, killing thousands and displacing around 2M people.[6]
Spin
Narrative A
As if France's failure to help its former colonies fight jihadist insurgency wasn't enough, now its state-owned France 24 media outlet is unacceptably acting as the mouthpiece for dangerous terrorists, threatening Burkina Faso and its people by giving a platform to jihadist groups. Burkina Faso’s government had no choice but to suspend France 24 in order to maintain stability in the country.
Narrative B
Burkina Faso’s government is making outrageous and defamatory remarks regarding France 24 and mischaracterizing the network’s broadcast of its interview with Abu Obeida Youssef al-Annabi. The country has a history of suppressing journalists and curbing press freedom, and it should not suspend channels without notice.
