1695587917 Macron announces the end of the military mission in Niger

Macron announces the end of the military mission in Niger and the return of the French ambassador

Macron announces the end of the military mission in Niger

French President Emmanuel Macron announced this Sunday the end of the French military mission in Niger and the return to France of his ambassador Sylvain Itté. The decision comes two months after a coup junta seized power that does not want to recognize France as a legitimate power.

Itté, whose diplomatic immunity had been lifted by the military junta and declared persona non grata, will withdraw immediately. The withdrawal of the 1,500 soldiers who were in the African country to combat terrorism must be completed “by the end of the year,” said Macron.

“France has decided to return our ambassador and in the next few hours he will return to France together with several diplomats,” Macron said in an interview with the channels TF1 and France 2. “And we are ending our military cooperation with the DE.” de facto authorities. from Niger because they no longer want to fight terrorism.”

The president said he spoke that same Sunday afternoon before the television interview with the ousted Mohamed Bazoum, whom France sees as the only legitimate president. He added that the military withdrawal would take place in an “orderly manner in the coming weeks and months.” This will be done in a “coordinated” manner with the putschists, he said, so that “it can be done calmly”.

Ten days ago, Macron denounced that Ambassador Itté had been held hostage by the coup junta and prevented from leaving the embassy and receiving food from abroad. Talks between the French and Nigerian militaries about the withdrawal began earlier this month.

By announcing the withdrawal of the ambassador and troops, Macron is giving in to the fight he has been waging with the coup plotters since the overthrow and imprisonment of Bazoum at the end of July. At the same time, it is confirmation of a reality: neither the ambassador nor the military could work in Niger and there was little point in maintaining the mission.

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France, which intervened in the Sahel in 2013 at the request of regional countries to stop the advance of jihadists, has been forced to withdraw its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and the Central African Republic in recent years. Now Niger is joining us.

The “epidemic of coups” – as Macron called it – in the former French colonies in Africa was underpinned by anti-French sentiment. This happened against the backdrop of Chinese strength on the continent and Russian agitation through the Wagner mercenary group.

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