The government of Burkina Faso has suspended all broadcasts of the French media house, France 24 in the country.
This decision is contained in a release signed by the country’s Minister of communication, Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo on March 27th.
In the release, the Minister accuses the French channel of serving as a communication agent for the terrorist group AQMI whose leader intervened a few days ago on the media.
They had aired an interview with Yezid Mebarek, also known as Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi, who claimed the title of “Emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” in 2020 after a French raid killed his predecessor.
He noted that by offering the head of AQMI Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb a platform to reach a wide audience, France 24 is offering a space of legitimacy to terrorist actions and hate speech in the country. This, he says, also means the channel legitimizes the barbaric actions of the terrorist group.
