Supporters of the ruling military junta in Niger are demanding the withdrawal of the French army from the country. Photo: AFP via Getty Images
France will withdraw its soldiers from Niger, dealing a huge blow to French influence and counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel region.
President Emmanuel Macron's announcement on Sunday came after two months after the coup d'etat in the West. An African country that overthrew its pro-Western president.
The French leader said 1,500 soldiers would be withdrawn by the end of the year and that France, the former colonial power in Niger, refused to “be a hostage to the putsch.”
France's exit, which comes after weeks of pressure from the junta and popular demonstrations, is likely to heighten Western concerns about Russia's expanding influence in Africa. Russian Wagner mercenaries are already present in Niger's neighboring Mali.
Mr Macron has refused to recognize the junta as the legitimate authority in Niger, but said Paris would coordinate the withdrawal with the coup leaders.
«We will consult with the putschists because we want everything to be in order,» Macron said in an interview with French television channels TF1 and France 2.
The French ambassador has also been recalled and will return to France in the next few hours, Macron added.
He said Niger authorities «no longer want to fight terrorism» after the coup.
< img src ="/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/9df4dcb4934d1e02148688b17b5ce8dd.jpg" /> Colonel Ibro Amadou Bacharu (right) waves from his car during a rally against the French army. Photo: ISSIFOU DJIBO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock < p>Niger's military rulers quickly responded in a statement read on national television:
“This Sunday we celebrate a new step towards the sovereignty of Niger,” said a statement from the military rulers who seized power by overthrowing President Mohamed Bazoum, July 26.
“This is a historic moment that speaks of the determination and will of the people Niger,” Niger said in a statement.
France's influence over its former colonies in West Africa has waned in recent years, along with the rise in popularity of vitriol. Its forces were driven out of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso after coups in those countries, reducing its role in the region-wide fight against deadly Islamist insurgents.
Before the coup, Niger remained a key security partner. France and the United States, which have used it as a base to fight an Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa.
Niger's military leaders ordered French ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave the country after they ousted Bazouma in July .
But a 48-hour ultimatum demanding his departure, issued in August, remained in force as the French government refused to comply or recognize the military regime as legitimate.
Earlier this month, Mr Macron said that the ambassador and his staff were «literally hostages» of the mission, subsisting on military rations and no food delivered.
Who are the leaders of Niger's military junta?
In an interview on Sunday, Mr Macron reiterated France's position that Mr Bazoum was being held «hostage» and remained the «sole legitimate authority» in the country.
“He was targeted by this coup because he was pursuing bold reforms, but also because there was predominantly ethnic score-settling and great political cowardice,” he said.
The coup against Mr. Bazoum It was the third such coup in the region in as many years, following similar actions in Mali and Burkina Faso in 2021 and 2022, which also led to the withdrawal of French troops.
But the coup in Niger is particularly painful for Mr Macron after he sought to make Niamey a special ally and the center of France's presence in the region following the coup in Mali. The US also has more than 1,000 troops in the country.
Mr Macron regularly speaks by phone with Mr Bazoum, who remains under house arrest at the presidential residence.
The French president has spoken repeatedly about it. speak of a historic reversal of France's post-colonial influence in Africa, but analysts say Paris is losing influence across the continent, especially in the face of the growing presence of China, Turkey and Russia.
Mr Macron said Jihadist attacks had become causing «dozens of deaths every day in Mali» since the coup, and now such attacks have resumed in Niger.
«I am very concerned about this region,» he said.
«France, sometimes alone, took full responsibility, and I am proud of our army. But we are not responsible for the political life of these countries and take all the consequences upon ourselves.”
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