Following an interview with the leader of the al-Qaeda militant group’s North Africa branch, 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 worse, it is providing a space for the legitimisation of terrorist actions and hate speech,” Burkina Faso’s minister of communication, Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo, said in a statement.
According to him, the government had thus decided to “halt sine die the spread of France 24 programmes on national territory in entire responsibility and in the name of the superior interest of the nation.”
After France assassinated his predecessor in an air raid, Yezid Mebarek, the head of Aqim, was interviewed by the media outlet, earlier this month.
After the coup in October of last year, relations between Burkina Faso and France have deteriorated.
French troops fighting the Islamists in Burkina Faso were removed, and their place was filled by Russian mercenaries.