NIGER’S MILITARY RULERS ORDER POLICE TO EXPEL FRENCH AMBASSADOR

Fri 01 September 2023:

Niger’s military junta revoked France’s ambassador’s diplomatic immunity and ordered police to expel him from the West African country.

The mutinous soldiers that deposed Niger’s president over a month ago gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to depart the country. The deadline passed on August 28 with France refusing to recall Itte.

According to the communique sent by Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this wee Itte “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic staff of the embassy.”

The document also says the diplomatic cards and visas of the ambassador’s families have been canceled.

After Itte first was told to leave Niger, French President Emmanuel Macron said the envoy would remain in his post. Macron spoke out firmly against the coup leaders while insisting that France, Niger’s former colonial rule, is not the country’s enemy.

Around 1,500 French military personnel are stationed in Niger, where they have trained and collaborated with local security forces to quell an expanding jihadi insurgency connected to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Since the coup, the activities have stopped, and jihadi attacks have increased.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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