France accused as parcel bomb wounds Russian in Central Africa

Bangui, Central African Republic (AFP):

The head of the Russian cultural centre in the Central African Republic was badly wounded after opening a parcel which carried a bomb. Russia alleged that France was behind the blast.

France denied the claim by the head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that Paris was involved and should be designated a “state sponsor of terrorism.”

Central Africa has been battling civil war since 2013 with massive French intervention which is resented and finally receding. At the same time, Russia is trying to gain strategic influence in Africa.

The last French troops deployed in CAR left on Thursday following a chill in relations caused by closer ties between Bangui and Moscow and the deployment of Russian forces, which some countries say includes Wagner mercenaries.

“The head of the Russia House (cultural centre) received an anonymous parcel on Friday, opened it and an explosion happened,” the embassy said.

The centre’s head Dmitry Sytyi was hospitalised with “serious injuries,” it added.

“I have already requested the Russian foreign ministry to initiate the procedure to declare France a state sponsor of terrorism,” Prigozhin was quoted as saying in a statement released by his company, Concord.

He called for a “thorough investigation” into “the terrorist methods of France and its Western allies — the United States and others.”

France’s top diplomat has denied Prigozhin’s claims.

“This information is false and is a good example of Russian propaganda and the fanciful imagination that sometimes characterises it,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said during a visit to Morocco.

Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said it was unclear if Sytyi would make it.

“Russian doctors are doing everything they can in the Bangui hospital to save him,” Prigozhin said.

Before losing consciousness, Prigozhin claimed Sytyi saw a note that allegedly said: “This is for you from all the French, the Russians will get out of Africa.”

Prigozhin said Sytyi first received a parcel from Togo on November 11. It contained a picture of his son residing in France and a note saying “next time he will receive his son’s head” if the Russians do not leave Africa.

Prigozhin said Sytyi opened a new package on Friday because he had thought it would contain his son’s head.

“If Dmitry Sytyi remains alive, he will continue the struggle and see with his own eyes how those who made the attempt on his life will burn in the flames of history,” Prigozhin added.

“If he dies, he will forever remain a symbol of this struggle.”

France, the former colonial power, dispatched up to 1,600 troops to CAR after a coup in 2013 unleashed a civil war between religious militant groups, the French and their African allies.

Over the last few years, friction has grown between the two nations over French interventionist policies and a mounting Russian military presence.

In 2018, Moscow sent ‘instructors’ to the country, and in 2020 followed this with hundreds of paramilitaries to help President Faustin Archange Touadera defeat rebels advancing on the capital.

France, the UN and others say they are mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner group, who have been accused of atrocities and looting of resources elsewhere on the continent.