The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the French ambassador to Niger, Sylvain Itté, had landed in Paris during the day of Wednesday September 27. The head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, “received him at the Quai d’Orsay to thank him for his action and that of the teams around him in the service of our country, in difficult conditions”, underlines -he in a written statement.
“The ambassador and six collaborators left Niamey around 4 a.m.,” according to a diplomatic source.
The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, announced his repatriation on Sunday September 24, on TF1 and France 2, during an interview devoted mainly to purchasing power. This decision ends two months of standoff with the military junta, led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, who seized power on July 26 in Niamey, the capital.
The Nigerien military regime ordered his expulsion at the end of August, leading to the withdrawal of his immunity and his diplomatic visa. Sylvain Itté and his team have since remained locked up in the French compound, risking expulsion if they leave and seeing their food and water reserves running out.
France continues to support the overthrown government
Not recognizing the military regime in place and not wanting to give in to the “injunctions” of the junta, France has until now refused to “recall its ambassador”. But Paris, which was counting on an intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to restore Mr. Bazoum and constitutional order, had few options left to maintain itself in Niger.
As Emmanuel Macron repeated on Sunday evening, France, however, continues to consider the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum, detained since the end of July with his wife and son at the presidential residence, as “the only legitimate authority” in the country.
A few hours after the departure of the French ambassador from Niamey, the head of state reaffirmed on Wednesday his “support” for President Mohamed Bazoum. The Elysée said that Mr. Macron had spoken with Hassoumi Massaoudou, Nigerien foreign minister of the toppled government, and that he had recalled “France’s determination to continue its efforts with the heads of state of the ECOWAS and its European and international partners for a return to constitutional order in Niger”.
The repatriation of the ambassador also means that Paris is ending its “military cooperation with Niger”. At the beginning of August, a week after the junta took power, the generals denounced several military cooperation agreements with France, the former colonial power.
One of these texts contained a month’s notice, and the regime claims that French soldiers deployed in Niger for the anti-jihadist fight are present “illegally” in the country. Demonstrations have since taken place regularly in the capital to demand their departure.