Paris, Oct. 5 (EFE). – France begins this week the withdrawal of its 1,500 troops stationed in Niger due to tensions with the junta following the July coup, which also led to the departure of the ambassador in Niamey and the evacuation of the French community in this Sahel country.
In a statement published this Thursday, the French Defense Ministry said that the withdrawal of soldiers and military equipment, which begins “this week”, must allow the return of all soldiers to France “before the end of the year”.
The Ministry of Defense stressed that coordination with the Nigerian Army was “essential” for the successful execution of the operation.
In this regard, he stated that “all precautions have been taken so that the movements develop in good order and safety.”
The withdrawal was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron on September 24, following two months of tension between Paris and the military junta stemming from the July 26 coup against President Mohamed Bazoum.
Last week the ambassador in Niamey returned to France, whose departure was demanded by the junta and who had been surrounded by his diplomatic legation for several weeks.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna denounced this Wednesday the “inadmissible conditions” in which Bazoum is being held by the coup plotters who are holding him “hostage,” insisting that her country continues to demand “the restoration of constitutional order.” “
Colonna explained that the return of French troops would “certainly” be negotiated with the junta, but that this did not mean “at all a change in the fundamental position” of France on the legitimacy of Bazoum as president and in support of the action of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS ).
But the minister justified this return by saying that the 1,500 French soldiers who were in Niger to fight against terrorist groups in the Sahel at the request of the authorities overthrown in the July coup “cannot fulfill their mission under the current circumstances “.
“We will not cooperate with coup regimes,” said the head of French diplomacy. The French military contingent in Mali also had to withdraw in 2022 due to the confrontation with the military junta there, which also emerged from a coup. France maintains a military presence in the Sahel region of Chad.
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