Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's official Twitter account had posted Monday that "no one is around to tell Trump that he committed a fuck-up" by ordering the assassination.
Mali govt anti-US Twitter comments an 'unfortunate mistake'
A former Malian government official claimed responsibility Tuesday for embarrassing tweets from the president's account which labelled the US assassination of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani as a "fuck-up".
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's official Twitter account was at the centre of the mess-up
Soleimani was killed on Friday in a US drone strike in Iraq ordered by President Donald Trump, triggering fears of a retaliatory strike and an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
The Malian presidency account added that Trump "threatens world peace and has made of the US a rogue state".
The tweets, which have since been deleted, were widely shared.
ADVERTISEMENT
But the government walked back from the comments on Monday night, saying the account had been "temporarily pirated by ill-intentioned individuals" and calling the posts "an unfortunate mistake".
The author of the affair turned out to be a former spokesperson for Keita, Tiegoum Maiga, who outed himself on his own Twitter account.
"It was neither pirates, nor hackers, (but) a regrettable handling error," he said.
Maiga, also the brother of former Malian Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, said he left his job in November but had forgotten he still had access to the president's account.
His tweets were meant for his personal account and he had "no desire to be a nuisance," Maiga said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The US also suffered a PR fiasco on Monday, when it said a draft letter describing steps to move its military out of Iraq had been mistakenly sent out.
bur/siu/eml/pma
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
Recommended articles
Otu allocates ₦100m to improve school children's nutrition, learning, health
JAMB warns UTME candidates against sharing details with fraudsters
Ex-attorney general Adoke cleared of money laundering charges
Court permits Nigerian to amend $150m case against Google, GoDaddy
Delta monarch declared wanted over Okuama killings regains freedom
Tinubu endorses 3 frameworks to educate Nigeria's out-of-school children
Anxiety as APC confirms Ganduje's chairmanship status
Mysterious illness kills 8 people in Sokoto - no one can explain why
Child labour problem in Nigeria worst in Southeast, Northwest
Pulse Sports
Lionel Messi's son breaks the internet after scoring five goals for Inter Miami
Naija Stars Abroad: Onyedika, Boniface, and Osimhen shine across Europe
Victor Osimhen and Tobi Amusan make list of Forbes’ 30 under 30 Class of 2024
ADVERTISEMENT
![The woman was recorded, among others, while bathing [BI]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "The woman was recorded, among others, while bathing [BI]")