Burkina Faso arrests eight NGO employees accused of espionage

DAKAR (Reuters) -Eight employees of the International NGO Safety Organisation have been arrested in Burkina Faso on charges of espionage and treason and will be brought before a prosecutor, security minister Mahamadou Sana said late on Tuesday.

Four foreign and four local staff, including a country director, are accused of collecting sensitive information in the West African country, which has seen a surge in jihadist attacks over the past decade.

Sana held a press conference in which he said the organisation had violated the country's legislation by gathering details on military operations and the movement of insurgents, and by calculating death tolls after attacks.

Anthony Neal from INSO told Reuters the Netherlands-based organisation, which collects, analyses and shares information with both international and national NGOs, disputes the ministry's allegations.

He said the information his organisation provides allowed humanitarian NGOs to inform their planning decisions in order to keep staff safe.

Sana also accused INSO of operating after Burkina Faso had ordered its suspension at the end of July. Neal denied the accusation and said INSO kept a team there to maintain contact with authorities after the country director was detained on July 28.

Neal said INSO also continued to pay its staff after consulting authorities about their contractual obligations.

"We continue to try to open that direct engagement and to address any of the concerns the authorities may have," he added.

(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Ayen Deng Bior and Ed Osmond)

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