President Macron says France will end its military presence in Niger and pull ambassador after coup

2024-12-26 00:37:23 source:lotradecoin contracts category:Contact

PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that France will end its military presence in Niger and pull its ambassador out of the country after its democratically elected president was deposed in a coup.

The announcement is a significant, if predicted, blow to France’s policy in Africa, after French troops pulled out of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso in recent years after coups there. France had stationed thousands of troops in the region at the request of African leaders to fight jihadist groups.

France has maintained some 1,500 troops in Niger since the July coup, and had repeatedly refused an order by the new junta for its ambassador to leave, saying that France didn’t recognize the coup leaders as legitimate.

Tensions between France and Niger, a former French colony, have mounted in recent weeks, and Macron said recently that diplomats were surviving on military rations as they holed up in the embassy.

Other news Want a place on the UN stage? Leaders of divided nations must first get past this gatekeeper Pentagon says surveillance flights, not counterterrorism ops, have restarted in Niger US military resumes drone flights and manned counterterrorism missions out of Niger bases

In an interview with France-2 television, Macron said that he spoke Sunday to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, and told him that “France has decided to bring back its ambassador, and in the coming hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France.”

He added, “And we will put an end to our military cooperation with the Niger authorities.” He said the troops would be gradually pulled out, likely by the end of the year.

He noted that France’s military presence in Niger was in response to a request from Niger’s government at the time.

The military cooperation between France and Niger had been suspended since the coup. The junta leaders claimed that Bazoum’s government wasn’t doing enough to protect the country from the insurgency.

The junta in August gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave. After the deadline expired without France recalling him, the coup leaders then revoked his diplomatic immunity.

The junta is now under sanctions by Western and regional African powers.

In New York on Friday, the military government that seized power in Niger accused U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of “obstructing” the West African nation’s full participation at the U.N.’s annual meeting of world leaders in order to appease France and its allies.

More:Contact

Recommend

Beyoncé takes home first award in country music category at 2024 Billboard Music Awards

Beyoncé is taking home her first country award after her eighth studio album "Cowboy Carter" garner

Tim Walz’s Daughter Hope Walz Speaks Out After Donald Trump Wins Election

Hope Walz shared an inspiring message following the 2024 U.S. election.The daughter of the Democrati

The Colorado funeral home owners accused of letting 190 bodies decompose are set to plead guilty

DENVER (AP) — The husband and wife owners of a funeral home accused of piling 190 bodies inside a ro