France seeks government as PM vows to ‘guard against’ extremes

ABIDJAN: Several thousand people rallied in support of Burkina Faso’s ruling junta Wednesday, days after the military authorities said they had uncovered a “plot” to overthrow the government.
Demonstrators carried giant posters of junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore and Burkinabe and Russian flags.
With placards bearing slogans such as: “Down with imperialism and its local lackeys” and “Full support for President Ibrahim Traore and the people of Burkina Faso,” they gathered in a central square in the capital Ouagadougou.
It was one of the biggest pro-junta demonstrations since Traore seized power in a September 2022 coup in the west African country, which has been battling jihadist attacks for a decade that have killed tens of thousands of people.
On April 21, the junta claimed to have undone a “major plot” planned by masterminds in neighboring Ivory Coast, with the arrests of several top army officials.
Traore has regularly accused Ivory Coast of harboring his opponents, allegations its neighbor rejects.
Over more than a year, the junta has detained several dozen military officers, including former gendarmerie chief of staff Evrard Somda, accusing them of plotting or of attempting to destabilize republican institutions.
Authorities regularly repress dissent, notably within civil society and the media, claiming it as part of the anti-militant battle.
Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo addressed the rally which was also attended by several ministers and MPs and called by the National Coordination of the Civilian Vigil (CNAVC), a coalition of pro-junta civil society groups.
“We must stand up more than ever because when the people stand up, the imperialists tremble,” the prime minister told the crowd.
Rallies condemning the “hypocrisy” of former colonial powers also took place in Burkina’s second biggest city Bobo Dioulasso and in Boromo.
“We, peoples who love justice and sovereignty, affirm our unwavering solidarity with the heroic struggle of the Burkinabe people for their emancipation,” a CNAVC spokesman said.
“This mobilization is proof that the people are committed to their leaders,” Ghislain Some, CNAVC secretary general, said.
“The people are standing up, mobilized and united behind captain Ibrahim Traore. We will never be able to harm our president or destabilize our country. We are a shield,” Some said.
Adama Kima, one of the organizers, said on national television that the rally was also to denounce remarks attributed to US Africa Command chief General Michael Langley accusing Traore of using the country’s gold reserves for personal protection at the expense of the well-being of the people.
Like its neighbors Niger and Mali, Burkina Faso under Traore has turned away from its former colonial master France and moved closer to Russia.
All three of those Sahel states have been battling violence by militants linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group for a decade.
The three junta-led countries quit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at the beginning of the year, accusing the regional bloc of being subservient to France, and have formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), originally set up as a defense pact in 2023 but which now seeks closer integration.

AMSTERDAM: Israel cannot be forced to allow the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to operate in Gaza, the United States said on Wednesday at a World Court hearing in The Hague.
Israel last year passed a law that banned UNRWA from operating in the country, as it said the organization had employed members of Hamas who took part in the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The UN said in August that nine UNRWA staff may have been involved in the assault and had been fired. Another Hamas commander, confirmed by UNRWA as one of its employees, was killed in Gaza in October, according to Israel.
The United Nations General Assembly in December asked the UN’s top court to give an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligations to facilitate aid to Palestinians that is delivered by states and international groups, including the United Nations.
At the third day of hearings on the matter, the US said Israel had the right to determine which organizations could provide basic needs to the population of the occupied Palestinian territories.
“An occupational power retains a margin of appreciation concerning which relief schemes to permit,” US State Department legal adviser Joshua Simmons said.
“Even if an organization offering relief is an impartial humanitarian organization, and even if it is a major actor, occupation law does not compel an occupational power to allow and facilitate that specific actor’s relief operations.”
Simmons also stressed the “serious concerns” Israel has about UNRWA’s impartiality.
UN and Palestinian representatives at the opening of hearings on Monday had accused Israel of breaking international law by refusing to let aid into Gaza.
Since March 2, Israel has completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the Gaza Strip, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in Jerusalem on Monday that Israel had submitted its position in writing to the hearings, which he described as a “circus.”