A group supporting the military junta that ousted President
Mohamed Bazoum of Niger Republic has demanded the exit of French armies and
other foreign forces from the country.
The group, known as the National Movement for the Safeguarding
of the Fatherland (MNSP), declared its unwavering support to the National
Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland against France and other
countries opposing the junta.
“The MNSP condemns with the utmost energy the latest actions of
the French army on Nigerien soil tending to release terrorists and demands the
unconditional departure of the French army and foreign forces on our soil.
“The MNSP strongly condemns the draconian sanctions taken by
ECOWAS against Niger and its people and therefore calls for the lifting without
delay of these inhuman measures against the populations who pay the costs,”
Niger’s news agency, Agence Nigérienne
de Presse, quoted the MNSP as saying on Sunday.
Recall that the junta had on August 4 scrapped the country’s
military pacts with France, accusing the latter of “careless attitude” and
reacting unfavourably to its removal of President Bazoum.
The junta’s disposition towards France is despite the economic,
educational, military investments and interventions in Niger, as contained in
information published on the France Diplomacy official website.
In view of the security challenges in the Sahel-Saharan region,
France and Niger have maintained significant cooperation in the areas of
security and defence.
According to the French government, it remains at the frontline
in strengthening Niger’s expertise in the “fight against serious crime
(terrorism, various types of trafficking).”
A military operation code named “Operation Barkhane, was
launched in August 2014, with an air base in Niamey. Through that operation,
France “engaged in support of the Nigerien armed forces and the G5 joint force
with which it conducts joint cross-border operations.”
The operation which started on 1 August 2014 and terminated on 9
November 2022 was led by about 3,000 French military personnel against Islamist
terrorists. Over a thousand of them were still based in Niger before the coup
d’etat occurred.
“This operational cooperation is supplemented by a permanent
structural cooperation system led by a network of seven military cooperation
officers involved in six projects, in training advice and the
operationalization of the armed forces.
“Internal security cooperation has seven cooperators and
essentially targets the fields of training and capacity building, in
coordination with the EUCAP-Sahel-Niger mission,” the France Diplomacy website
shows.
In terms of economic relations, Niger exports metals, metal ores
and various chemical products to France with the latter’s import from Niger
hitting EUR 51 million in 2019.
Amid the development, the junta’s president and Head of State,
Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, received a large delegation of Islamic
scholars from Nigeria, led by Sheikh Bala Lau Abdulahi.
The Islamic scholar told the junta that President Bola Tinubu
was willing to resolve issues amicably.
“We have expressly asked
to allow us to meet the new authorities of Niger in order to discuss the ways
and means of resolving this situation peacefully. He authorized and encouraged
us to do everything to favor the dialogue and mutual understanding that has always
existed between the peoples of Niger and Nigeria, who have shared everything
for millennia,” he said, according to the Nigerien News Agency (ANP).
But the Niger government insisted on the removal of sanctions
imposed on them.
“We remain open to conduct this mediation and manage to reduce
all these constraints and return to a normal situation,” the junta said.
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