The ambassador in Niamey is only provided with military food, President Macron bemoaned.
Two weeks after Ambassador Sylvain Itte’s credentials were withdrawn, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his displeasure on Friday that France’s envoy in Niger is still being held hostage by the military regime in Niamey.
When Macron visited Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy, he told reporters that the ambassador and diplomatic employees there were “literally being held hostage.”
He claimed that the Nigerien police were preventing food delivery when he said, “They.” He is consuming meals meant for soldiers.
The president further stated that the ambassador “cannot go out, he is persona non grata, and he is being refused food.” When asked if he would think about bringing Itte home, Macron replied that he would do “whatever we agree with President Bazoum, because he is the legitimate authority and I speak with him every day.”
On July 26, a group of Nigerien generals deposed Mohamed Bazoum from power. At the end of August, the military administration removed Itte, but the ambassador insisted that only Bazoum’s government was legitimate and resisted departure. Since then, tens of thousands of Nigerien citizens have demonstrated in front of the French embassy against the former colonial power, calling for the expulsion of the ambassador as well as the 1,500 soldiers Paris still has stationed there.
In response, Macron argued that Itte’s removal constituted a “provocation” and that the military government lacks legitimacy. As a result of Brussels’ rejection of Niamey’s current administration, the EU has backed Paris.
Although they have vowed to do so, a number of ECOWAS members that border Niger have not yet sent soldiers to help restore Bazoum. Mali and Burkina Faso, meantime, have said that any attack on Niger would be a declaration of war against them as well and have signed a pact with Niamey committing them to sending military assistance in the case of such an attack.
