Following an interview with the head of al-North Qaeda’s Africa wing, Aqim, Burkina Faso authorities have ordered France 24 broadcasts to be taken off the air.
“France 24 is not only acting as a mouthpiece for these terrorists, but it is also providing a space for the legitimization of terrorist actions and hate speech,” said Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso’s minister of communication, in a statement.
He stated that the government had decided to “suspend indefinitely the transmission of France 24 programs on national territory in all responsibility and in the name of the superior interest of the nation.”
The interview with Aqim’s leader, Yezid Mebarek, aired on France 24 earlier this month after France killed his predecessor in an air raid.
Burkina Faso’s relationship with France has deteriorated since the October coup.
Burkina Faso expelled French troops who had been fighting the Islamists in vain, instead inviting Russian mercenaries in their place.
