On Friday, President Emmanuel Macron said that the French ambassador to Niger is effectively being held captive within the embassy and that military authorities are obstructing food deliveries to the mission. According to Macron, the ambassador is subsisting on “military rations” in the eastern town of Semur-en-Auxois.
“As we speak, we have an ambassador and diplomatic staff who are literally being held hostage in the French embassy,” he said.
“They are preventing food deliveries,” he said, in an apparent reference to Niger’s new military rulers. “He is eating military rations.”
After toppling President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, Niger’s military authorities informed the French ambassador Sylvain Itte that he must leave the nation.
But despite a 48-hour deadline to depart set in August, the French government refused to abide by it or acknowledge the legitimacy of the military dictatorship, leaving him in place. The majority of Niger’s neighbours and France both denounced the coup.
Macron said the envoy “cannot go out, he is persona non grata and he is being refused food”. Asked whether France would consider bringing him home, Macron said: “I will do whatever we agree with President Bazoum because he is the legitimate authority and I speak with him every day.”
Around 1,500 French troops remain in Niger, and the French government stated earlier this month that any redeployment could only be discussed with Bazoum.
The nation’s new leaders have revoked agreements for military cooperation with France and ordered the troops to depart right once. The EU, which has backed Macron’s refusal to comply with the demand to recall the French ambassador and called it “a provocation,” has supported Macron’s stance for weeks.
Similar to France, the EU “does not recognize” the government that seized power in Niger, stated EU spokeswoman for international affairs Nabila Massrali last month.
An “epidemic” of coups, as described by Macron, have occurred in the poor Sahel area south of the Sahara in recent years, with military administrations taking the place of elected governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger.
