Niger’s ruling junta said discussions are under way that are expected to result in the rapid withdrawal of French troops, after the West African country ended a military cooperation agreement with its former colonial ruler.
“The government has already revoked the deals that allow for the French troops to operate on our territory,” Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine told reporters in the capital, Niamey, on Monday. “They’re here illegally. Talks are underway, which should allow for a swift withdrawal.”
Ties between Niger and France have frayed since soldiers seized control of the country on July 26 and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. The junta on Aug. 3 gave France a month to pull its 1,500 troops out, becoming the third West African nation to sever defense links that were forged to combat a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the Sahel.
Talks are currently underway, a French defense ministry aide said, without specifying the nature of the discussions. France has so far refused to recognize the junta’s authority to request the withdrawal of its troops or its ambassador.
There have been nine coups in sub-Saharan Africa in the past three years, creating a belt of countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea that are more friendly with Russia than with the West.
Military leader Abdourahamane Tiani said on Aug. 17 that regional sanctions against Niger and backed by France are part of “a plan to dismantle our country.” France has demanded Bazoum be returned to office and said it supports efforts by the Economic Community of West African States to overturn the coup.
The regional bloc has said it would use all means necessary, including force as a last resort, to restore constitutional order in Niger. Zeine played down the threat, saying that military action isn’t backed by all of the bloc’s members.
“Out of the 15 Ecowas members, maybe three or four are behind a military intervention,” Zeine said. “All the dispositions are in place and we’re ready to defend ourselves if it comes to it.”
Economic and financial sanctions imposed by the bloc following the coup should be lifted soon, Zeine said, after visiting Nigeria for talks with Ecowas mediators over the weekend.
Niger’s neighbors closed land and air borders, froze the nation’s assets at the regional bank and cut access to the regional bond market, among other steps aimed at compelling the junta to reinstate Bazoum. Nigeria, Niger’s southern neighbor, ratcheted up pressure on the military government by cutting its electricity supply to the country.
Last month, Niger gave the French ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, a deadline that France ignored, pushing Niger to revoke Ambassador Sylvain Itte’s diplomatic status and instruct police to expel the envoy.
“As far as the ambassador’s concerned, I think there’s nothing more to be done,” Zeine said. “His behavior was inappropriate for a diplomat.”
French troops withdrew from neighboring Mali after a 2020 coup in the former colony and the deployment of the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-linked Russian private military company. It left Burkina Faso earlier this year after falling out with the military leadership.
Bloomberg
