Situation in Niger After Military Coup
On July 26, Niger's presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum. The guard's commander, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, proclaimed himself the country's new leader.

French Ambassador to Niger Reportedly Returns to Paris

© AFP 2024 -A woman walks past the French Embassy building in Niamey
A woman walks past the French Embassy building in Niamey - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 27.09.2023
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The French ambassador to Niger arrived in France on Wednesday afternoon, days after President Emmanuel Macron announced his surprise recall from the rebel-held African country, state media reported.
RFI radio quoted the French Foreign Ministry as saying that top diplomat Catherine Colonna received Ambassador Sylvain Itte in Paris "to thank him and his team for their service to the country done in difficult conditions."
Macron accused the Nigerien military in mid-September of holding French diplomatic staff hostage at the embassy in Niger’s capital Niamey. A defiant Colonna said in an interview on the same day that the ambassador would stay in the country "as long as we want him to."
Protesters hold an anti-France placard during a demonstration on independence day in Niamey on August 3, 2023. Security concerns built on August 3, 2023 ahead of planned protests in coup-hit Niger, with France demanding safety guarantees for foreign embassies as some Western nations reduced their diplomatic presence.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 28.08.2023
Situation in Niger After Military Coup
France Rejects 'Paternalism' and 'Weakness' in Africa, Macron Says
The former French colony saw an elite military force depose the French-backed President Mohamed Bazoum in late July. The rebels demanded that France call back its ambassador and withdraw troops from Niger’s soil but Paris refused initially, saying it would only take orders from the legitimate authorities.
Niger has also been the scene of massive demonstrations in support of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, formed by coup leaders and calling on France to end its military presence in the West African nation.
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