Madagascar police claim to have arrested six people, including foreign nationals, as part of an investigation into an attack, plotted to assassinate President Andry Rajoelina, reported Reuters.
“Several foreign and Madagascar nationals were arrested on Tuesday, July 20, as part of an investigation into an attack on state security,” prosecutor Berthine Razafiarivony said in a statement.
Razafiarivony said the suspects were planning to eliminate and neutralize some big personalities, including the president.
“At this stage of the investigation, which is ongoing, the prosecutor-general’s office assures we will shed light on this case,” she added.
The statement added that investigations were ongoing. The extent to which the assassination plot advanced remained clear.
As per diplomatic sources, Madagascar police arrested two French nationals on Tuesday. The two are reported to be retired military officers, according to the Taratra, a local news agency operation to the communications ministry.
On June 26, which marks Madagascar’s Independence Day, the gendarmerie announced they had successfully foiled an assassination attempt on General Richard Ravalomanana, who is also President Rajoelina’s right-hand man.
The 47-year-old Rajoelina first seized power in March 2009 from Marc Ravalomanana with the support of the military. He became the president of the Indian Ocean island country in 2019 after a hard-fought election and a constitutional court challenge from his rival and predecessor Ravalomanana.
Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, stretched across an area of 587,000 square kilometers (nearly 227,000 square miles). The small African nation is heavily dependent on aid from foreign countries, and nine out of 10 people live on less than $2 a day.
The government had imposed a lockdown in the country since the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year and its southern region is in the grips of a famine. About 42,561 coronavirus cases have been reported in the country so far, including 937 deaths.
