MADRID, Oct 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, regretted this Wednesday that the military junta of Niger has given the organization’s resident coordinator, Louise Aubin, a deadline of 72 hours to leave the territory due to the organization’s “clandestine maneuvers”. United Nations should prevent their participation in international forums.
“Aubin was an exemplary leader of the UN team in Niger. She led a team that worked impartially and tirelessly to deliver humanitarian and development assistance in accordance with the plan agreed with the Government of Niger,” he said.
Guterres has warned that the decision to order his resignation “impacts the organization’s ability to carry out its mandates effectively and disrupts the essential work” it does for the people of Niger, where 4.3 million people need humanitarian assistance. mainly women and children.
“The order to leave the country violates the legal framework applicable to the United Nations, including in view of the obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and the privileges and immunities granted to the Organization,” it said in a statement.
Likewise, the Secretary-General reaffirmed “the United Nations’ unwavering commitment to support and assist the people of Niger through continued humanitarian and development operations.”
Guterres spokesman Stéphane Dujarric has promised that unity will continue in the African country: “We will stay and deliver. We will continue to provide humanitarian assistance across the country. We have warned of an impending food crisis and will continue to do so with limited resources throughout the season. of scarcity,” he explained.
In this sense, Dujarric specified that the staff currently in Niger totals 1,249 members, including 1,099 nationals and 150 internationals.
The National Council for the Protection of the Homeland (CNSP) – the body’s official name – announced its decision after expressing “dismay” at the actions of Guterres, whom it accuses of “continuing to orchestrate at the behest of France , in continuation of all the obstacles already put forward to prevent the full and complete participation of Niger in the various meetings of the UN General Assembly.
“This sponsored sabotage continued in Vienna on the occasion of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from September 25th to 29th in Vienna and the IV Extraordinary Congress of the Universal Postal Union from October 1st to 5th in Riyadh,” he said in denounced in a letter shared on his social networks.
Junta spokesman Amadou Abdramane accused Guterres in September of “failing in his mission by blocking Niger from participating” in the UN General Assembly and of doing so “with the connivance of France and the community’s heads of state.” West African States (ECOWAS)”.
The announcement comes a few weeks after the departure of French Ambassador Sylvain Itté from the country after Niamey made several demands on the matter and bilateral relations deteriorated following the July coup.
A group of soldiers led by Abourahmane Tchiani, head of the presidential guard, then deposed elected President Mohamed Bazoum. Niger has experienced four more coups since independence from France in 1960, as well as several failed attempts, the last of which occurred in 2021, days before the now-ousted president took office.