The new military rulers had been demanding the exit of the French ambassador and troops after President Macron refused to recognise the coup.
French President Emmanuel Macron says his country will withdraw its ambassador and troops from Niger in the wake of the July coup that overthrew democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Macron said in a televised interview on Sunday.
He added that military cooperation was “over” and French troops would withdraw in “the months and weeks to come” with a full pullout “by the end of the year”.
“This is definitely a small victory for the government in transition, and perhaps an embarrassment for the French who have seen Mali, Burkina Faso and now a third country in the Sahel where it is being asked by the government in place to leave the country,” Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque, reporting from Senegal’s capital Dakar, said, referring to the Sahel countries that have expelled French troops.
“He [ambassador] has essentially been held hostage inside the embassy. The Niger security forces wouldn’t let anyone in or out. He has been surviving on the food rations inside the embassy.”
The regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed sanctions in the wake of the coup, and warned that it could intervene militarily in Niger if diplomatic efforts to return Bazoum to power fail, as a last resort. But the ECOWAS dialed back its rhetoric as regional countries – Mali and Burkina Faso – threw their weight behind the new military rulers.
The three Sahel countries – Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso – have witnessed coups in recent years. They formed a mutual defence pact on September 16 against against possible threats of armed rebellion or external aggression.
France has maintained some 1,500 troops at its base in Niger and refused a request by the new military rulers for its ambassador to leave.
Thousands of people have protested in recent weeks in the capital Niamey, including outside a military base housing French soldiers. The new rulers had been demanding the exit of the French ambassador and troops after Macron refused to recognise the coup.
With tensions mounting, Macron said he told the ousted Bazoum on Sunday that “France has decided to bring back its ambassador, and in the coming hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France.”
Macron reaffirmed France’s position that Bazoum was being held “hostage” and remained the “sole legitimate authority” in the country.
“He was targeted by this coup d’etat because he was carrying out courageous reforms and because there was a largely ethnic settling of scores and a lot of political cowardice,” he argued.
He noted that France’s military presence in Niger was in response to a request from Niger’s government at the time.
Niger’s military rulers ended military cooperation with France after the coup after claiming that Bazoum’s government wasn’t doing enough to protect the country from the armed rebellion in the country’s West, which falls under the semi-arid Sahel region.
In the last decade, the Sahel region that stretches to central Mali, northern Burkina Faso and western Niger has become the epicentre of violence by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
Western countries had partnered with Bazoum to tackle growing influence of armed groups, and poured millions of dollars of military aid and assistance to shore up Niger’s forces.
Meanwhile on Friday, the military government accused UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of “obstructing” the West African nation’s full participation at the UN’s annual meeting of world leaders in order to appease France and its allies.
Read More: France to withdraw ambassador, troops from Niger after coup: Macron
