Niger’s military rulers on Friday revoked the diplomatic immunity of France’s ambassador and ordered police to expel him from the African country.
A letter sent by Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said French Ambassador Sylvain Itte ‘no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic staff of the embassy’.
The document also said the diplomatic cards and visas of the ambassador’s families have been cancelled.
The credentials of the French ambassador to Niger were withdrawn by the Niger military, which gave Itte 48 hours to leave the country last week. The deadline expired on August 28.
The new military rulers say the ambassador refused to meet with them. They say the French government’s behaviour is ‘contrary to the interests of Niger’.
President Emmanuel Macron has said France’s ambassador to Niger will stay in the coup-hit African country despite the ultimatum by the new military leaders to leave.
Macron has also stated again France’s support for Niger’s ousted president Mohamed Bazoum. He dismissed calls from some in the United States and Europe for Western powers to give up on Bazoum.
The French Foreign Ministry in Paris said on Thursday that the people involved in the military coup in Niger had ‘no authority’ to ask France’s ambassador in Niamey to leave.
‘We constantly evaluate the safety and operating conditions of our embassy,’ the ministry added.
Macron said last week that the ambassador would stay in the Sahel country.
Hundreds of women protested outside the French embassy and a military base in Niamey, calling for France to remove its troops and military bases from the country.
They banged on pots, pretended to sweep and chanted anti-French slogans.
Others gathered in front of the 101 Squadron airbase to protest and show support for Niger’s defence and security forces.
They also demanded the withdrawal of French troops stationed at the base.
Ousmane Naomi, one of the protest organisers, stated: ‘We are here to convey to France that times have changed.
‘They must respect us and acknowledge our importance.’
Massive protests in support of the military also emerged on the streets of Niamey.
Niger’s neighbour such as Mali and Burkina Faso have warned against any military intervention, warning that it would be a ‘declaration of war’ against them too.
Burkina Faso’s government on Thursday approved a bill authorising the dispatch of troops to neighbouring Niger, which faces threatened military intervention.
The draft law was approved in a meeting of Burkina’s military-dominated government, according to a statement seen last Thursday.
It gave no details about the deployment of the force but said the decision had been made ‘by a joint agreement’ between the two countries.
Defence Minister Kassoum Coulibaly said: ‘What affects security in Niger fundamentally affects security in Burkina Faso.’
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday that a military intervention in Niger would be a ‘disaster’ that could trigger a new migration crisis.
Speaking before a meeting of European Union Foreign Ministers,Tajani said: ‘We need to work day by day for a diplomatic solution.’
Asked if he feared military intervention could lead to a migration crisis, Tajani replied: ‘Yes, of course.
‘To have a war in Niger (means) more people leaving this country, as in Sudan – there are more and more people leaving Sudan.’
The impoverished Sahel region, which lies south of the Sahara, has suffered a series of coups in recent years.
Military administrations have replaced pro-Western leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea as well as Niger.
The upheavals have led to the creation of new military governments hostile to France, a former colonial power in West Africa that has troops across the region.
Earlier this month, the military rulers scrapped a series of Niger’s cooperation agreements with France in a bid to bring to a close the French military presence across the country and the subsequent looting of the resources of the impoverished nation.
France has between 1,000 and 1,500 troops in Niger, who are claiming to be fighting the so-called war on terrorism. In Niger, there are not only French forces but American and European soldiers as well.
Burkina Faso and Mali have already expelled French troops, many of whom are now stationed in Niger.
The French president recently admitted the failure of France’s policies across various parts of Africa.
‘France and its diplomats have faced particularly difficult situations in some countries in recent months, from Sudan, where France has been exemplary, to Niger …,’ Macron said last Monday.
Meanwhile, people in Gabon have taken to the streets in droves to celebrate the military’s toppling of the pro-France government of President Ali Bongo.
Last Wednesday, the people in the capital Libreville and some other cities gathered to celebrate, a few hours after a group of senior military officers announced they had seized power and placed the newly re-elected president under house arrest.
The military takeover came minutes after the results of the presidential election showed that President Bongo had won a third term in an allegedly rigged election, further extending his family’s 55-year rule in the oil-rich central African nation.
The coup leaders allege that the election held over the weekend was not credible, prompting them to seize power due to ‘election fraud’.
Germany also condemned the coup while acknowledging there were legitimate concerns with the polls that preceded the military take-over of the central African nation.
Germany’s foreign ministry said: ‘It is not up to the military to intervene by force in the political process.
‘Gabonese people must be able to autonomously and freely decide their future.’
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the United States was deeply ‘concerned’ by events in Gabon.
Kirby said all US embassy personnel and troops had been accounted for after the officers toppled the pro-West government of President Bongo.
He told a press briefing: ‘It’s deeply concerning to us.
‘We will remain a supporter of the people in the region, a supporter of the people of Gabon and of their demand for democratic governance.
‘We’re watching this closely.’
‘I think it’s too soon to call this a trend,’ said Kirby, adding that the United States would ‘remain focused on promoting democracy on the continent’.
