A Swiss citizen working on a U.S.-funded aid project has been nabbed in Burkina Faso, according to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Switzerland and a foreign official on Tuesday.
At press time, he motive for the arrest was not immediately made clear, but the foreign affairs department had revealed that the FDFA was well aware of the Swiss citizen’s arrest in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso, has experienced two coup in recent years leading to the elations between the authorities and Western powers to grow extremely strained.
Denmark had just on Monday, announced it was closing its embassies in Mali and Burkina Faso. A move that had come after Mali’s decision to expel Sweden’s ambassador earlier this August following a diplomatic dispute.
A foreign official focused on Sahel issues had said that the Swiss citizen was working on a U.S.-funded aid project in Niger and Burkina Faso as the chief of party for a United States-based nonprofit, Winrock International.
The Swiss citizen was initially detained in Niger, along with a British citizen but both were soon released. The Swiss citizen thereafter traveled to Burkina Faso, where he was arrested and detained, according to a statement by the foreign official.
Winrock International has local/ domestic offices in Arkansas and Virginia, and going by its website, the organization works on water security and resilience in Burkina Faso and Niger.
