Macron: Diplomates français retenus en otage au Niger
French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that the French ambassador, Sylvain Itté, and other diplomats are being held hostage at the French embassy in Niger by the country’s military junta.
“As we speak, we have an ambassador and diplomatic members which are being literally held hostage at the French embassy, and food is prevented from being delivered,” Mr. Macron told reporters during a visit to Burgundy.
“They’re eating military rations,” he added.
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The military junta, known as the Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie (CNSP), took over Niger on July 26 and carried out a military coup to oust President Mohamed Bazoum and Niger’s government from power.
The CNSP demanded that France expel Mr. Itté from Niger on Aug. 25 and gave 48 hours to remove him. But France, opposing the coup, didn’t comply with the demand, and said the junta isn’t Niger’s legitimate authority.
Mr. Itté refused to leave his post after having received a letter from the Nigerien Foreign Ministry asking him to leave Niger, and accusing him of ignoring an invitation for a meeting with the ministry.
The letter also cited “actions of the French government contrary to the interests of Niger.”
Nearly 1,500 French troops are based in Niger to help local forces fight Islamic terrorists. However, the military cooperation has been suspended since the military coup, whose leaders claimed that Mr. Bazoum’s government wasn’t doing enough to protect the country from the insurgency.
France and most of Niger’s neighbors have condemned the military coup.
The military junta is now under sanctions by Western and regional African powers.
But anti-French sentiment has risen in Niger since the coup, and it further soured when France ignored the junta’s order for Mr. Itté to leave. Protests have erupted.
Mr. Macron on Friday said that all decisions as to how to respond to the tense situation in Niger will be coordinated with Niger’s democratically elected leader, President Bazoum.
The July 26 coup in Niger was one of eight in West and Central Africa since 2020. France’s forces have been kicked out of neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso since coups in those countries. This has reduced its role in the fight against Islamist insurgencies.
France is not the only country with concerns. West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS has slapped sanctions on Niger and threatened military action as a last resort. The United States and European powers also have troops stationed in the country.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
