France ready to ‘respond’ after Niger military orders police to throw French envoy out
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Niger military regime strips France envoy of diplomatic immunity, tell police to throw him out amid tension between the two countries
Niger military regime strips France envoy of diplomatic immunity, tell police to throw him out amid tension between the two countries.
The French military has said that it is ready to respond if any renewed tensions in Niger target its military and diplomatic facilities in the conflict-hit West African country.
“The French army is ready to respond to any renewed tension that would target French military and diplomatic facilities in Niger,” the French General Staff told Anadolu in a written statement on Friday.
“Measures have been taken to protect these premises,” he said.
Amid tensions that have risen in the weeks following the ouster of Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, the military administration’s Foreign Ministry last week gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to “leave Nigerien territory.”
Ambassador Itte refused to comply and remained at his post, a move that was hailed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
This comes after Niger military authority ordered the expulsion of the French ambassador Thursday in a letter addressed to the French Foreign Ministry.
The envoy “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as member of the diplomatic personnel in the French embassy,” according to their letter, dated Tuesday, to the foreign ministry in Paris.
“(His) diplomatic cards and visas and those of the members of his family have been cancelled. The police have been instructed to proceed to his expulsion,” it said.
The move follows a coup in the troubled Sahel state on July 26 that toppled a close French ally, President Mohamed Bazoum.
Relations with France spiralled downwards after Paris stood by Bazoum and refused to recognise Niger’s new rulers.
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On Friday, the authorities gave French envoy Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave the country.
France refused the demand, saying that the government had no legal right to make such an order.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron singled out Itte for praise after he remained at his post.
French military spokesman Colonel Pierre Gaudilliere on Thursday warned that “the French military forces are ready to respond to any upturn in tension that could harm French diplomatic and military premises in Niger”.
France has around 1,500 troops in Niger, many of them stationed at an airbase near the capital, that are deployed to help fight a bloody jihadist insurgency.
On August 3, Niger’s new rulers denounced military agreements with France, a move that the government in Paris has also ignored on the grounds of legitimacy.
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