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."
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.