PARIS (Reuters) -A French man arrested in Mali is a member of the French embassy in the capital Bamako and accusations against him are “unfounded”, the French foreign office said in a statement to Reuters on Saturday.
The embassy worker, named as Yann Vezilier by the Malian government in a statement on Thursday, was arrested in recent weeks alongside two generals and other military personnel and accused of participating in an alleged plot to destabilise the West African nation.
“Dialogue is underway to clear up any misunderstanding,” the ministry statement said. It added that his arrest was in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
France’s once close relationship with its former colonies in West Africa’s Sahel region has soured in recent years since a series of military coups overthrew governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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