Junta leader accuses ICoast, Benin of 'destabilising' Burkina
In a speech lasting more than 90 minutes, Captain Ibrahim Traore outlined the major directions he wanted to take the country over the next five years.
Picture: Pixabay.com
ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST - Burkina Faso's junta leader lashed out at neighbouring Ivory Coast and Benin on Thursday, accusing them of trying to destabilise the country amid diplomatic tensions in West Africa.
On Saturday, the military leaders ruling Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger entered a new "confederation" - severing ties with regional bloc ECOWAS, an organisation they accused of being manipulated by France, their former colonial ruler.
In a speech lasting more than 90 minutes, Captain Ibrahim Traore outlined the major directions he wanted to take the country over the next five years.
On the diplomatic front, he attacked the "imperialists", and accused them of wanting to plunder and destabilise Burkina Faso, as well as some of his West African neighbours.
"We have nothing against the Ivorian people, but we do have something with those who run Ivory Coast", he said, claiming that Abidjan was hosting "a centre of operations to destabilise" Burkina Faso.
"We will show you physical evidence", he added.
Traore, who has made the sovereignty of his country a cardinal point of his governance and turned his back on France, criticised Ivory Coast for still being an ally of Paris.
He also criticised Benin, saying that his neighbour hosted "two French bases" in the north of the country.
He claimed that these bases were a "centre of operations for the terrorists" who regularly strike Burkina Faso.
These accusations, rejected by Paris and Cotonou, were made earlier this year by Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine.
"After Niger, it is now Burkina Faso's turn to blow this nauseating trumpet of misinformation, which doesn't fuel patriotism but rather resentment among the population and ultimately threatens the peaceful coexistence of the people", said Benin government spokesman Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji on his Facebook page.
According to Houngbedji, since 2022 Benin has set up small "military camps called forward operational bases" in border towns in Burkina Faso and Niger to counter "terrorist attacks" that are "the work of people" from the two countries.
Also in his speech, Traore said Burkina Faso would revoke mining licences and take over gold and other mineral mines.
Last weekend, Burkina Faso and its neighbours Niger and Mali formed a confederation known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
At the end of May, Burkina Faso adopted a charter allowing the military regime to remain in power for a further five years.