France has hit back at Niger Republic following the coup crisis in the West African nation.
France, on Friday rejected the Niger junta’s
move to scrap bilateral military pacts, saying the West African country’s
“legitimate” leadership alone was entitled to do so, The Agance France, AFP,
reports.
“The legal framework of France’s defence
agreement with Niger is based on accords that were signed with the legitimate
Nigerien authorities,” the foreign ministry said after the junta in Niamey said
it was cancelling military cooperation agreements with Paris.
Recall that the military junta in Niger
Republic cut off ties with Nigeria, France, and other countries on Friday,
after the peace talks delegates sent by the Economic Community of West Africa
States failed.
According to a report on Friday by Radio
France International, the “delegation from the ECOWAS arrived in Niamey, with
the aim of establishing a dialogue with the junta in order to obtain the return
to constitutional order. The first contacts on site were positive.
“But at the end of the evening, the CNSP
spoke through the voice of Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, the same who spoke
on July 26, when the soldiers announced that they had overthrown President
Mohamed Bazoum.
Also, the Niger Coup leaders, on Thursday,
revoked a raft of military cooperation agreements with France.
The country further suspended broadcasts of
French state-funded international news outlets France 24 and RFI earlier on
Thursday – drawing condemnation from the French foreign ministry.
A decision about the revocation of five
military deals with France dating between 1977 and 2020 was read out on
national television late on Thursday by junta representative, Amadou Abdramane,
Reuters reports.
Abdramane added that a diplomatic notice will
be sent to France to that effect. There was no immediate response from France.
Some locals have accused the former colonial
ruler of interfering in their affairs.
On Sunday that the Chairman of the Economic
Community of West African States, Bola Tinubu, had met with some fellow ECOWAS
leaders to discuss appropriate ways to restore democracy in Niger.
The leaders of the West African regional bloc
met to discuss sanctions to be placed against the military personnel who
toppled President-elect Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023.
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