BREAKING: What French Ambassador And Six Colleagues Did In Niger Today After Weeks Of Tension

BREAKING: What French Ambassador And Six Colleagues Did In Niger Today After Weeks Of Tension

The French Ambassador to Niger left the capital, Niamey, early Wednesday, following weeks of strained relations between France and the post-coup regime in Niger, which had demanded his expulsion.

“Around 4:00 am (0300 GMT),” the ambassador and six colleagues departed Niamey,” revealed a diplomatic source from the French embassy. A source from Niger’s interior ministry confirmed the departure, stating that the plane was en route to Chad.

This move comes two months after a coup in Niger ousted its pro-Paris president, leading to a deterioration in relations between France and its former colony.

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French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a TV interview on Sunday that France’s ambassador to Niger, Sylvain Itte, would leave “in the next hours,” without providing further details.

Niger’s military leaders, who had overthrown the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, welcomed the announcement but stated they were awaiting official actions to follow.

In August, they had instructed Itte to leave the country after stripping him of diplomatic immunity and visa. However, a 48-hour ultimatum for his departure came and went, with him still in place, as the French government declined to comply or recognize the military regime as legitimate.

Paris maintained that only Bazoum’s ousted government could issue the directive for the envoy to leave.

Born in the Malian capital Bamako in 1959, Itte has served as ambassador to Niger for a year. His diplomatic career spans 35 years, and he has previously served as ambassador to Uruguay and Angola.

Emmanuel Macron also announced in his Sunday TV interview that French troops would withdraw from Niger “in the months and weeks to come,” with a full pullout “by the end of the year,” which was another demand of the Niger regime. He stated that military cooperation was now “over.”

France maintains approximately 1,500 soldiers in its former West African colony as part of an anti-jihadist deployment in the Sahel.

The coup against Bazoum marked the third such overthrow in the region in as many years, following similar actions in fellow former French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso in 2021 and 2022, respectively. These events also led to the withdrawal of French troops.

Macron asserted on Sunday that Niger’s post-coup authorities “no longer wanted to fight against terrorism.” He also reiterated France’s position that Bazoum was being held “hostage” and remained the “sole legitimate authority” in the country.

While Niger welcomed Macron’s announcement on Sunday as “a new step towards sovereignty,” it emphasized that the timeframe for the pullout “must be set out in a negotiated framework and by mutual agreement.”

Niger, like Burkina Faso and Mali, has faced jihadist attacks for several years. In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have participated in demonstrations and gatherings in Niamey, calling for the withdrawal of French troops from the country. The United States, which has approximately 1,100 military personnel in Niger, has stated that it will “evaluate” its future steps in light of France’s announcement.

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