Out of the impasse in Niger, without recognizing the de facto authorities and in a climate of growing hostility, this is what Paris is trying to do. After five weeks of tensions with the perpetrators of the coup d’état on July 26, France finally began discussions on the redeployment of part of its forces engaged in this Sahel country, on Wednesday, September 06, 2023.
After initially refusing to comply with the injunctions of the Nigerien military, who made the departure of the French soldiers their political fuel, the Ministry of Armies and several concordant sources admitted, Tuesday, September 5, the World opened a discussion on the modalities of the «withdrawal of certain military elements».
At the beginning of August, the junta gave France a month to withdraw from Nigerien territory, after having denounced the military cooperation agreements that until now linked Paris and Niamey. On Saturday, September 2, on the eve of the expiration of the ultimatum set by the putschists, thousands of pro-junta Nigeriens demonstrated again against the presence of the French military, a few steps from the base they occupy in Niamey with other foreign detachments.
