Macron Capitulates to Niger Demands

Sept. 25, 2023, (EIRNS)—France will pull its military and diplomats from Niger after a successful coup by anti-French forces, President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, Sept. 24. The move will see around 1,500 soldiers leave by the end of the year.

“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Macron told France 2 television on Sunday. “And we will put an end to our military cooperation with the Niger authorities,” he continued, adding that French troops would return home in “the months to come.”

The Junta had demanded in August that French Ambassador Sylvain Itté leave, and revoked his diplomatic immunity when Paris refused. Last week, Macron claimed that the Nigerien military was holding Itté “hostage” by blocking food deliveries to the French Embassy. He also at first rejected the withdrawal of the French troops.