The Central African Republic opened an investigation on Tuesday, February 22, following the arrest the day before in Bangui of four soldiers from the corps of the Foreign Legion of the French army operating under the banner of the United Nations (UN) and accused on social networks of having wanted ” murder “ The head of state.
This announcement comes on the very day that France and the United States accused, through the voice of their ambassadors before the UN Security Council, of the “mercenaries” of the Russian private security company Wagner to have “executed” and “massacred” dozens of civilians. And run a campaign “systematic” from “terror” in the Central African Republic where they fight the rebels alongside the regular army.
The fourth “legionnaires” arrested on Monday in front of Bangui airport were heavily armed and in fatigues, “of French, Italian, Romanian and Bulgarian nationality”and were traveling in an unmarked vehicle without the UN logo, said the public prosecutor of Bangui on Tuesday evening when announcing the opening of“a regular investigation to shed light on the facts”.
They were escorting French General Stéphane Marchenoir, chief of staff of the peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic (Minusca) to the airport, where he was taking a plane to Paris, the French army and the UN.
But they were immediately accused on many private accounts on social networks, with many photos of their equipment, of having wanted ” murder “ Central African President Faustin Archange Touadéra, whose convoy was to pass through the same place, which Paris and the UN immediately strongly denied, denouncing a ” disinformation “ and an “rough handling”.
Increasingly strained relationships
On board a “suspicious vehicle”in possession of four automatic pistols, three assault rifles, a machine gun and grenades, the four men were “less than 30 meters from the passage of the presidential convoy”assured the prosecutor Lengande, adding: “The vehicle had been tracked by the police intelligence services for two months. »
A senior UN official in the Central African Republic met with President Touadéra in order to obtain ” as quickly as possible “ the release of the four soldiers, indicated the spokesman of the UN in New York.
This incident occurred at a time when relations between France and its former colony are increasingly tense, exacerbated by a fierce war of influence between Paris and Moscow, in this country in civil war since 2013.
France accuses the Central African Republic of being ” partner in crime “ an anti-French campaign orchestrated by Moscow, in particular by countless trolls on social networks and in certain media. And Moscow reproaches Paris for accusing Wagner’s paramilitaries of having seized the country’s power and resources.
