Former aide tweets anti-Trump post on Malian president’s account

An ex-aide to Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been forced to apologise following the revelation he authored a series of anti-Trump tweets published on the president’s Twitter account.

The former presidential spokesman, Tiegoum Maiga, said the tweets was meant for his personal account, but had not realised he was still logged in to the president’s account.

The posts condemned the actions taken by US President Donald Trump in Iran regarding the recent assassination of Gen Qasem Soleimani outside Baghdad airport, Iraq, saying Mr Trump “threatens world peace and has made the US a rogue state”.

The tweets have since been deleted but had already been widely shared.

Following the publication of the tweets, the Malian government scrambled to limit any damage that could have been caused, saying the account had been “temporarily pirated by ill-intentioned individuals”.

However, Mr Maiga followed this by explaining “It was neither pirates, nor hackers, [but] a regrettable handling error”.

Mr Maiga no longer works for the government having left his post in November.

Photo credit: Reuters | Jonathan Ernst