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France Moves to Strip Citizenship From Pro-Russian Activist With Record of Antisemitic Barbs
Activist Kémi Séba is seen at a 2023 conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo: Reuters/Maksim Konstantinov
The French authorities have launched proceedings to strip the citizenship of a prominent pan-Africanist writer and activist with a long record of viscerally antisemitic comments who is also closely aligned with the Russia’s ruling regime.
The activist, Kémi Séba — who was born in the city of Strasbourg to parents who immigrated from the west African state of Benin — revealed on social media last Thursday that he had received a letter from the French Ministry of Interior informing him that the procedure to remove his nationality had been initiated due to his “constant and current resolutely anti-French posture, likely to seriously harm French interests and likely to characterize manifest disloyalty towards the country of which you are a national.”
The 42-year-old Séba, whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, has been closely associated in the past with Dieudonné, a French antisemitic agitator who bills himself as a comedian, and Alain Soral, a notorious far right Holocaust denier. In 2006, Séba first made himself known when he led a Black nationalist group known as Tribu Ka on an antisemitic demonstration in the historically Jewish Marais quarter of Paris. While the group subsequently disbanded, Séba continued with his activities, serving short prison sentences in 2009, 2011 and 2014 for violent behavior.
Séba has frequently invoked antisemitic tropes in his writings. In one article published in 2009, he accused international institutions including the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the International Monetary Fund of being “controlled by the Zionists who impose on Africa and its diaspora living conditions so execrable that the concentration camp of Auschwitz can seem like a paradise on earth.”
During the 2010s, Séba moved to Africa, where his activism saw him expelled in turn from Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. In 2018, the US authorities began monitoring his activities as he drew closer into Russia’s orbit, joining forces with Yevgeni Prigozhin, the late head of the Wagner mercenary group, to spread pro-Moscow propaganda throughout Africa. “Two influencers serve as vital nodes of Prigozhin’s network: French-Beninese Kémi Séba and Swiss-Cameroonian Nathalie Yamb,” a Nov. 2022 State Department briefing noted. It further observed that “Séba’s anti-western narratives intensified following Russia’s further [Feb. 24, 2022] invasion of Ukraine. In February 2022, Séba gave an exclusive interview to Prigozhin’s RIA FAN and posted a Facebook video (over 1.6 million views) defending Russia’s actions and blaming the West and NATO for destroying the USSR, encircling Russia, and arming former Soviet republics to threaten Russia the same way the West ‘destroyed and dismantled’ Africa.”
Under Article 25 of the French civil code, individuals who attained French nationality through immigration can have their citizenship stripped if they act in a manner deemed by the authorities to run counter to the national interest.
Séba responded defiantly to the proceedings against him on social media. “You still don’t understand that the more you persecute me, the more my political message is gaining popularity,” he wrote.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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