France will withdraw its 1,500 soldiers from Niger by end of
the year, following a July 26 coup in the country, President Emmanuel Macron
said on Sunday.
France will also withdraw its ambassador, Sylvain Itte in
the next few hours, Macron added.
He said France, Niger’s former colonial master, refused to
“be held hostage by the putchists”.
Observers said the move dealt a huge blow to French
influence and counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel region.
France’s exit, which comes after weeks of pressure from the
junta and popular demonstrations, is likely to exacerbate Western concerns over
Russia’s expanding influence in Africa.
The Russian mercenary force Wagner already present in
Niger’s neighbour Mali.
The French president has refused to recognise the junta as
Niger’s legitimate authority but said Paris would coordinate troop withdraw
with the coup leaders.
“We will consult with the putschists because we want things
to be orderly,” Macron said in an interview with France’s TF1 and France 2
television stations.
French nuclear power plants source a small amount – less
than 10% – of their uranium from Niger, with France’s state-owned Orano
operating a mine in Niger’s north.
Macron said he still regarded democratically elected
President Mohammed Bazoum, currently held prisoner by the coup leaders, as
Niger’s legitimate leader and had informed him of his decision.
Niger’s military rulers responded swiftly in a statement
read out on national television.
“This Sunday, we
celebrate a new step towards the sovereignty of Niger,” said the statement from
the military rulers, who seized power by overthrowing President Mohamed Bazoum
on July 26.
“This is a historic moment, which speaks to the
determination and will of the Nigerien people,” the Niger statement added.
Earlier Sunday the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation
in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) said on its website that the military rulers
had banned “French aircraft” from flying over the country’s airspace.
It was not clear if this would affect the ambassador being
flown out.
French influence over its former colonies has waned in West
Africa in recent years, just as popular vitriol has grown.
Its forces have been kicked out of neighbouring Mali and
Burkina Faso since coups in those countries, reducing its role in a region-wide
fight against deadly Islamist insurgencies.
Until the coup, Niger had remained a key security partner of
France and the United States, which have used it as a base to fight an Islamist
insurgency in West and Central Africa’s wider Sahel region.
France’s military base in Niger’s capital, Niamey, had
become the epicentre of anti-French protests since the July 26 coup.
Groups have regularly gathered on the street outside to call
for the exit of troops stationed in the capital. On one Saturday this month, tens
of thousands rallied against France, slitting the throat of a goat dressed in
French colours and carrying coffins draped in French flags.
Pro-coup demonstrators in Niamey have waved Russian flags,
adding to Western countries’ fears that Niger could follow Mali’s lead and
replace their troops with Wagner fighters.
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