Burkina Faso suspends distribution of French newspaper Le Monde
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The transitional government of Burkina Faso on Saturday announced the suspension of the distribution of the French newspaper, Le Monde, in the country following an article it published about last Sunday's attack on the town of Djibo in the north of the country.
The transitional government is "outraged" by the publication on Friday 1 December 2023 of a "tendentious article" on the website of the newspaper Le Monde entitled: "Au Burkina, la propagande fait rage après l'attaque djihadiste sur Djibo" ("In Burkina, propaganda rages after the jihadist attack on Djibo"), said Burkina Faso government spokesperson Jean-Emmanuel Ouédraogo in a statement issued by the government information service.
Mr Ouédraogo explained that in an "intellectual balancing act", the newspaper attempted to place the Burkinabe state and the hordes of terrorists who attacked Djibo on 26 November on an equal footing, but did little to hide its penchant for these men without faith or law who rape, pillage and kill innocent people by legitimising terrorist rhetoric and propaganda.
"Contrary to the peremptory assertions of the newspaper Le Monde, the government of Burkina Faso has never engaged in propaganda in the war we are waging against terrorism. On the contrary, it has always made it its duty to speak the truth to the people about the conduct of the fight against terrorism, and its communication on the events in Djibo has not departed from this rule of ethical governance," said the government of Burkina Faso.
It added that it was "regrettable" that Le Monde was trying to sell to the public the idea of a war of numbers in what was an "unambiguous victory" of the Defence and Security Forces and the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP) over the forces of evil.
"The people of Burkina Faso are at a pivotal stage in their struggle for independence and sovereignty, and the government understands the feverishness of the occult organisations that support all these pseudo-jihadists who, in the absence of military success, are trying to use words to turn bitter defeats into victories", he said.
French media such as Radio France Internationale (RFI), France 24 and Jeune Afrique have already been suspended in Burkina Faso.
-0- PANA TNDD/IS/BBA/MA 3Dec2023
