A former Malian government official on Tuesday took responsibility for tweets sent from Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s account which criticised the United States for the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
One of the tweets said that President Donald Trump “threatens world peace and has made of the US a rogue state”.
Tiegoum Maiga, a former spokesperson for Keita, made the admission on his own Twitter account absolving the current administration of blame.
“It was neither pirates, nor hackers, (but) a regrettable handling error,” Maiga said.
Maiga said he left his job in November last year but had forgotten he still had access to the president’s Twitter account.
Maiga, a brother of former Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, added that the opinions in the tweets were meant for his personal account and he did not intend to be a nuisance.
On Monday, the government said that the tweets, which have since been deleted, were an unfortunate mistake and the account was temporarily hacked by ill-intentioned individuals.
Soleimani, who spearheaded Iran’s Middle East operations as commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport. His killing ratcheted up tensions between Tehran and Washington sparking fears of a surge in conflict in the Middle East.
The US and Mali have enjoyed a strong relationship over the years based on shared goals of strengthening democracy and reducing poverty through economic growth.
