French President Emmanuel Macron has told the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that Paris was ready to provide logistics and intelligence assistance if the bloc undertook military intervention in Niger, media reported on Thursday.
Macron reportedly reached out to his ECOWAS counterparts via video link on September 24 and told them that French Ambassador to Niger Sylvain Itte could not possibly hold his post another week and neither could the French navy ship remain on standby in the port of Dakar forever, with a view to deploying contingents from Senegal and Ivory Coast to Benin via Abidjan.
According to the outlet, Macron asked his ECOWAS counterparts directly if they "really count on intervention" and said that France was ready to contribute logistics and intelligence.
A few days later, Macron officially announced that France recalled its ambassador and would withdraw troops from Niger by the end of the year.