APA-Niamey (Niger) – From New Delhi, India, where he attended the G20 summit this weekend, the French president responded to accusations by Nigerien authorities that France was “insincere” about the total withdrawal of its troops stationed in Niger.
At a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 summit that ended Sunday in New Delhi, the French president responded to new accusations made the day before by Niger’s transitional authorities. In a communiqué published on Saturday, September 9, the military junta and the transitional government had accused France of preparing a military intervention against Niger by the member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), on the one hand, and of “devious, delaying tactics” regarding the total withdrawal of French troops stationed in the country, on the other.
Speaking to the press, Emmanuel Macron first recalled that “French troops are in Niger at the request of the country’s authorities”.
“We are in Niger to fight terrorism at the request of Niger and its democratically elected institutions, namely President Bazoum, his government and his parliament. In fact, our effective action has drastically reduced terrorist attacks on the soil of Niger, at the cost of the lives of several French soldiers. (…) If we redeploy, I will only do so at the request of President Bazoum and in coordination with him,” said President Macron. And he insisted that since the coup at the end of July, France’s position has been simple: “We condemn it and we demand the release of President Bazoum and the restoration of constitutional order. And we do not recognize the legitimacy of the putschists’ declarations, since President Bazoum has not relinquished power”.
According to the French President, it is only with President Bazoum that France will discuss the modalities of redeployment or any other question relating to the situation of French soldiers in Niger. “I will only do so at the request of President Bazoum and in coordination with him, and not with officials who today are holding a president hostage,” the French head of state continued.
In his response, President Macron also pointed out that since day one, the day after the military seizure of power by the Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie (CNSP), France has been “coordinating” with all the leaders of the region. “We fully support the positions of ECOWAS, which has also condemned this coup. It has imposed sanctions, as has UEMOA, and ECOWAS is continuing its work to free President Bazoum and resolve this crisis. France is at his side, supporting him,” declared Emmanuel Macron, before concluding that “I do not intend to do anything as long as the situation remains as it is, since the only person with whom we have legitimately spoken is President Bazoum.
In a statement broadcast on national television and radio on Saturday evening, the spokesman for the CNSP and the transitional government accused France of continuing to deploy its troops in several ECOWAS countries as part of the preparations for the “aggression against Niger” it is planning in collaboration with this community organization. According to Colonel Abdramane Amadou, as of September 1, two A400 M military transport aircraft and a Dornier 328 were deployed as reinforcements in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as two more Super PUMA multi-role helicopters and some 40 armored vehicles in Kandi and Malanville in Benin. On September 7, he added, a French military ship docked in Cotonou with military personnel and resources on board, while at the same time about a hundred rotations of military cargo aircraft unloaded large quantities of war material and equipment in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Benin.
In the same press release, the CNSP and the transitional government also denounced and condemned “the lack of sincerity as well as the underhanded and dilatory maneuvers of the French authorities” regarding the total withdrawal of their troops from Niger, maneuvers which, according to the Nigerien authorities, aim to “weaken in the long term the patriotic fervor of the Nigerien people in their struggle for the total withdrawal of French troops from Niger, in order to then better succeed in a military intervention against our country.
AYB/ac/lb/abj/APA