2023-10-11 14:52:02
COTONOU, Benin (AP) — French troops have begun leaving Niger more than two months after a group of mutinous soldiers overthrew the country’s democratically elected president, the military said Wednesday.
More than 100 troops left on two flights from the capital Niamey on Tuesday, in the first of several rounds of departures between now and the end of the year, French military spokesman Colonel Pierre Gaudilliere announced. All soldiers will return to France.
Nigerien state television broadcast images of a convoy leaving a base in Ouallam in the north, indicating that it was heading to neighboring Chad, to the east.
The departure comes weeks after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would withdraw its military presence in Niger and withdraw its ambassador, in the wake of the coup that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum in late July. Some 1,500 French troops were operating in Niger, training their military and carrying out joint operations.
Also on Tuesday, the junta that governs Niger gave the UN coordinator there, Louise Aubin, 72 hours to leave the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The junta cited the UN secretary general’s “deceptive maneuvers” to prevent him from participating in the body’s General Assembly, held last month in New York, as one of his reasons.
The military wanted Niger’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Bakary Yaou Sangare, who was appointed foreign minister after the coup, to speak on behalf of the country at the General Assembly. However, Bakary did not receive the necessary credentials after the foreign minister of the ousted government sent a letter to the world body “informing it of the end of Mr. Bakary’s functions as Niger’s permanent representative to the United Nations,” the UN spokesman said. Stephane Dujarric.
The UN did not immediately respond to the junta’s request that Aubin leave the country.
Since taking power, Niger’s military has whipped up anti-French sentiment among the population and has said the withdrawal marks a new stage of sovereignty.
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Correspondent Angela Charlton contributed to this story from Paris.
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