Niger junta gives French ambassador 48 hours to leave

The military rulers who seized control in Niamey on July 26
have given the French ambassador 48 hours to leave Niger, the country’s
minister of foreign affairs said in a statement Friday, AFP reports.

Faced with “the refusal of the French ambassador in Niamey
to respond to an invitation” from the minister for a meeting Friday and “other
actions of the French government contrary to the interests of Niger”, the
authorities have decided to withdraw their approval of Sylvain Itte and ask him
to depart within 48 hours, the statement said.

This decision follows a series of statements and
demonstrations hostile toward France since the Nigerien army overthrew
President Mohamed Bazoum, who has since been detained with his family.

The military leaders accuse Paris of wanting to intervene
militarily in Niger in order to reinstate Bazoum and claim that the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is an organisation in the pocket of
former regional colonial power France.

ECOWAS has imposed heavy economic sanctions on Niger
following the coup and has threatened the use of armed force to restore
constitutional order.

France has some 1,500 troops stationed in Niger to aid in
fighting jihadist groups that have plagued the country along with the wider Sahel
region for years.