The French foreign ministry says it received a letter from the Burkinabe authorities in December requesting the departure of France’s ambassador from Burkina Faso.

The French ministry’s spokeswoman confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday by email that it had received such a letter, but declined to give further details or say how it had responded.

The Burkinabe government has declined to comment officially on reports it sent this request to Paris last month.

“We have indeed received a letter from the Burkinabe transitional authorities. This is not standard practice and we have no public comment to make in response,” the French foreign ministry spokeswoman said over email.