The now former French ambassador to Niger, Sylvain Itté, left Niamey in the early hours of Wednesday, September 27, aboard a plane specially dispatched by the French authorities. As announced by Emmanuel Macron last Sunday, all that remains is the withdrawal, by the end of the year, of the 1,500 French soldiers stationed in the country, for the end of military cooperation between Niger to be definitively recorded. and the former colonial power.
For the former ambassador, declared persona non grata a month ago by the new Nigerien authorities, as well as the few diplomats who remained confined with him in the Niamey embassy, it is certainly a real sigh of relief! After nearly two months of high tensions between Niamey and Paris and weeks of ordeal in the premises of the chancellery placed under blockade by the Nigerien security forces, they were finally able to leave Niger to return to France.
According to diplomatic sources, the ambassador and six (6) collaborators left Niamey around 4 a.m. [03:00 GMT] aboard a French plane which first transited through Chad before continuing on to Paris. As a reminder, since last weekend, the Nigerien sky has been closed to French planes. Which implies that the French authorities had to negotiate with their counterparts in Niger to benefit from a special authorization. This is what President Macron announced on Sunday, September 24, during the interview he gave to the channels TF1 and France 2 and in which he announced the recall of the ambassador as well as the withdrawal French soldiers in Niger.“We are ending our military cooperation with the de facto authorities of Niger, because they no longer want to fight terrorism. We will consult with the putschists because we want it to be done peacefully,” declared Emmanuel Macron who recognized, at the same time, “ the de facto authorities ” of Niger while until then Paris was stubbornly insisting on only recognize former President Bazoum, “as the only legitimate president” of the country.
From quarrels to negotiations
There will also be negotiations for the departure of the 1,500 French soldiers stationed in Niger. In a press release published the day after the French head of state’s announcement, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP) and the government said they “take note” of the announcement made by Emmanuel Macron while specifying that they were waiting that “ this declaration be followed by official acts emanating from the competent French authorities ”.
This is now done in the case of diplomats and all that remains is the timetable for the withdrawal of French troops from Niger. “ The Government of the Republic of Niger recalls that it must be established within a negotiated framework and by mutual agreement for better efficiency ,” indicated the spokesperson for the CNSP in the aforementioned press release. According to several sources, contacts between Nigerien and French military officials have already begun in this direction, and well before Macron’s announcement, as evidenced by the meeting held at the beginning of September in Zinder between the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Moussa Salaou Barmou, and officers of the French forces in the Sahel (formerly Barkhane).