(Reuters) - The head of a Russian mercenary group accused France of attempting to assassinate the head of a Russian representative office in the Central African Republic who was taken to hospital on Friday after opening a mail bomb.
A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in the African country said Dmitry Syty, head of the "Russian House", had suffered serious injuries when the package, from an anonymous sender, exploded.
Syty was taken to a hospital in the capital Bangui on Friday, the Russian Embassy said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner, a Russian private military company staffed by veterans of the Russian armed forces that has fought in the Central African Republic (CAR), blamed France for the attack.
The French Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Prigozhin's allegations.
France is the former colonial ruler in CAR, a gold- and diamond-rich country of 4.7 million people whose government is fighting several rebel insurgencies.
"Before losing consciousness, Dmitry Syty managed to say: 'I saw a note: This is for you from all the French, the Russians will get out of Africa'," Prigozhin, who styles himself as a strong supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a statement posted on Telegram.
He did not say how he knew what Syty had said.
"I have already applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation to initiate the procedure for declaring France a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as a thorough investigation of the terrorist methods of France and its Western allies - the United States and others," Prigozhin said.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Hundreds of Russian operatives, including many from Wagner Group, have arrived in CAR since 2018 and have been working in close coordination with the country's army to help it fight rebels.
Prigozhin said doctors were fighting to save Syty's life, calling him "a patriot of Russia and the Central African Republic".
It was not clear how Prigozhin was linked to Syty.
"Russian House" is not only a cultural centre but also hosts Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian federal agency that says on its social media channels that it deals with "the affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States, compatriots living abroad, and international humanitarian cooperation".
WAGNER GROUP
The European Union has imposed sanctions on Wagner, accusing it of carrying out clandestine operations on the Russian government's behalf.
Last year, a United Nations report said Russian military instructors and local troops in the Central African Republic had targeted civilians with excessive force, indiscriminate killings, occupation of schools and large-scale looting.
Russia has said Wagner neither represents the Russian state nor is paid by it, and has denied that Russian instructors took part in killings or robberies.
Prigozhin said Syty had received a package on Nov. 11 containing a photograph of his son, who lives in France, as well as a note saying Syty would receive his son's head next if "the Russians do not get out of the African continent and open the doors for the French".
"Despite all the instructions for observing security measures, Dmitry Syty, being in a state of emotion and thinking that the head of his son was in the package, opened it," Prigozhin said.
The Russian Embassy said it had tightened its own security measures following the attack, TASS reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Russia of feeding anti-French propaganda in Africa to serve "predatory" ambitions in troubled African nations, where France has suffered military setbacks and a wider loss of influence over recent years.
Wagner Group has deployed in several countries in the region, including in CAR and in Mali.
Relations between Russia and Western nations are at rock-bottom over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Frances Kerry)
