France has suspended counterterrorism cooperation with Mali and ordered two staff members of the West African nation’s consulate to leave, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has said.

The two staff members from the Malian embassy and consulate in Paris have been declared persona non grata, France’s foreign ministry added, while Mali declared five French embassy staff members persona non grata.

The suspension announced on Friday comes after a French man, Yann Vezilier , was arrested in Mali last month on charges of plotting a coup.

Mali’s army said at the time that some civilians and soldiers had obtained “the help of foreign states” in their attempt to destabilise the country.

Mali’s security minister, General Daoud Aly Mohammedine, said Vezilier had acted “on behalf

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