Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron finally announced to pull out the French Diplomats and troops from Niger.
“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France”, Macron told France 2 TV Sunday.
Macron also said that the French troops would return home in “the months to come, adding:
“We will put an end to our military cooperation with the Niger authorities.”
Macron’s announcement came after huge protests in the Nigerien capital, Niamey against the presence of French diplomats and troops after the country’s pro-French president, Mohamed Bazoum, was ousted in a military coup in July this year.
Anti-France protests were backed by the ruling Janata who led the successful coup against Mohamed Bazoum.
Niger’s military government, which seized power on July 26, 2023, had accused Emmanuel Macron of using divisive rhetoric in his comments about the coup and seeking to perpetrate France’s neo-colonial relationship with its former colony.
The ruling Junta in a statement dated August 29, 2023 had given 48-hour ultimatum to the French Ambassador in Niger, Sylvain Itte, to leave the country. The protests started after Sylvain Itte refused to leave the country, saying “France does not recognise the new rulers”.
Announcing the withdrawal of the French forces from Niger, Macron said that military cooperation was “over” and that 1,500 French troops stationed in the country would withdraw in “the months and weeks to come” with complete pull-out “by the end of the year”.
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