2023-09-15 19:34:52
He would only eat “military rations”. The French ambassador to Niger, whose expulsion the ruling junta has been demanding for several weeks, is “taken hostage”, says Emmanuel Macron.
The military, who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and took power on July 26, ordered the expulsion of the French ambassador at the end of August, after Paris refused to comply with an ultimatum demanding his departure. France has since continued to oppose this departure, arguing that this government had no authority to base such a request.
“In Niger, as I speak to you, we have an ambassador and diplomatic members who are literally taken hostage at the French embassy,” declared the head of state during a trip to Semur-en -Auxois (Côte-d’Or). “We are preventing food from being delivered. He eats with military rations,” he added, in an allusion to the soldiers who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and took power on July 26.
“Nothing very new”
Ambassador Sylvain Itté “no longer has the possibility of going out, he is persona non grata and we refuse to allow him to eat,” insisted Emmanuel Macron. Asked about a possible repatriation of the ambassador to Paris, the head of state reiterated: “I will do what we agree with President Bazoum because he is the legitimate authority and I speak to him every day.”
“Since August 28, the ambassador has been stuck in his embassy,” a diplomatic source told Le Parisien, specifying that Sylvain Itté was not “taken hostage” but “hostage of his embassy.” “If he comes out, he will be arrested,” she added. “There is nothing very new”, indicated this source, even if “the situation has gradually deteriorated”: “before the staff ate what was in the fridge, now these are military rations,” she explained, saying that there was “nothing very extraordinary” about it.
For its part, the Quai d’Orsay simply indicated to Le Parisien that “the ambassador is at work at the embassy”, and that there was “no new development on this point”.
Video. The French ambassador to Niger is “taken hostage”, says Emmanuel Macron
On September 10, Emmanuel Macron stressed that a possible redeployment of French forces stationed in Niger would only be decided at the request of President Bazoum. The new power in place has denounced the military cooperation agreements with France and is banking on “a rapid departure” of the approximately 1,500 French soldiers present in the country.
Emmanuel Macron also confirmed that France “will continue to welcome, obviously” artists from the Sahel while voices were raised in the world of culture against an administration directive requesting the suspension of all collaboration with artists. artists from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
However, he conceded that for Nigerien artists who do not yet have their visa, the situation looks complicated because access to French consular services is no longer possible. “It’s not that we’re banning it, it’s that we can’t give it (the possibility of accessing the embassy, editor’s note) because of the putschists and for security reasons,” said President.
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