The six French soldiers detained since Wednesday July 28 at the airport of Bata, the economic capital of Equatorial Guinea, where they had landed their helicopter to refuel, were authorized to leave the territory Friday evening July 30, said to AFP the French army.
Read also: Badly acquired: the vice-president of Equatorial Guinea definitively condemned
"
The helicopter which was stranded in Bata has just landed in Libreville
", the capital of neighboring Gabon, the spokesperson for the army staff, Colonel Pascal Ianni, told AFP.
"
The six soldiers landed on Friday at 22:00 (21:00 GMT) with their helicopter
", assured a French military source.
The six soldiers landed in Bata on Wednesday because their helicopter "
had no more oil
", according to Colonel Pascal Ianni.
“
We are faced with an incident such as we have already known.
They hold the helicopter and the crew,
”he continued.
Read also: On Facebook, the secret war of the French army in the Central African Republic
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation of Equatorial Guinea, quoted Thursday by the official agency, "
this helicopter did not have a permit or authorization to fly over Equatorial Guinean airspace and much less to land at the Bata airport
”.
The ministry had denounced a "
serious violation of international aeronautical standards, a direct provocation and an attack on national security
".
The French soldiers were heard at the central police station in Bata, the Equatorial Guinean state radio station TVGE said Wednesday evening.
An unarmed helicopter
The helicopter that had been blocked, of the Fennec type, unarmed, was providing a logistical link between Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, and Libreville, the capital of Gabon, which houses the military base of the French elements in this country.
This incident coincides with a decision Wednesday of the French justice definitively condemning in a part of the case of the “ill-gotten gains” the vice-president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, nicknamed Teodorin, 52 years old, son of the president Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who directs with an iron fist for 42 years this Central African country.
The Equatorial Guinean authorities denounced a “
biased and discriminatory
” decision and a “
judicial farce
”.
On Monday, Equatorial Guinea announced the closure of its embassy in London after sanctions, considered by Malabo as "
illegal
", imposed for acts of corruption by the United Kingdom against Mr. Obiang.
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