Madagascar President Andre Rajoelina publicly questioned on Sunday the possible involvement of France in a coup plot in his country, two weeks after the arrests of people the authorities said were suspected of involvement in a "plan to liquidate several Malagasy personalities, including the head of state."

The Public Prosecution Office said on July 22 that it had arrested 6 people, including two French nationals, stressing that the physical evidence in its possession indicated that these individuals had drawn up a plan to eliminate or neutralize a number of Madagascar personalities, including the head of state.

"If they want to kill me, it is because of my obligation to protect our nation," Rajoelina said in an intervention on public television.

He added that among the plotters of the assassination there was a French colonel who commanded units in Chad, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

He called on the President of Madagascar to allow the judiciary to continue its work, stressing, "I have no personal problem in my relations with France."

"We have to wait for the results of the investigation, which will reveal whether it was a single act or not, and the investigation will answer all of that," he said.

The head of state, who was elected in 2018, condemned the plan to overthrow the state, stressing that differences of opinion do not justify committing a murder.

"In the biography of the mastermind of the plan and his business cards, he wrote that he is an advisor to the Archbishop of Antananarivo (the capital), but all I can say is that I received a letter from the Vatican expressing his solidarity after this assassination attempt," Rajoelina said.

The list of defendants in a plot to assassinate Madagascar's President André Rajoelina included French "Philip F." and "Paul R", who appeared before a judge on 4 August, their lawyers announced.

The judge decided to formally charge them and detain them in a high-security prison, after their detention for two weeks.

They were accused of endangering state security, conspiring to kill the president, and cooperating with criminals.

According to the Madagascar Companies Directory, Philip F. runs an investment and advisory firm for international investors in Madagascar.

This former colonel in the French army had settled on the island in early 2020, according to several sources.

As for "Paul R", he is a Frenchman from Madagascar who knows President Rajoelina well and was his diplomatic advisor until 2011. He presents himself on the Internet as an advisor to the Archdiocese of Antananarivo, which has distanced itself from him, stressing that it is not "responsible for people who use her name without express authorization."

And “Paul R.” was born in 1963 and had the rank of captain when he left the gendarmerie in 1994, according to a source in the French gendarmerie.