NIGER: PARIS-NIAMEY DIPLOMATIC BRUT. MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS NIGER DOES NOT NEED AUTHORIZATION TO EXPEL THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR

The Paris-Niamey showdown is getting more complicated; the new Nigerien authorities do not intend to caress the former colony in the direction of the hair. The new Nigerien authorities  hardened its tone following the refusal of the Quai d’Orsay to recall its ambassador and made it clear that it did not need France’s approval to expel Sylvain Itté.

 In a press release published on Friday evening August 26, the Nigerien foreign minister declares that Niger does not need any authorization to remove the French ambassador from its territory when the 48-hour period expires.

M. boukari Yaou Sangaré reminds in this regard «to those who are agitated and who still doubt the expression of its sovereign will, that Niger has no need of an authorization or an interpretation of the Vienna Convention of 1961, to exercise his prerogatives and get him to leave the (French) ambassador Sylvain Itté, after this 48-hour period».It should be noted that the expulsion of diplomat Sylvain Itté, notified at the end of last week, is the culmination of a tension that has developed between France and Niger, since the putsch carried out against Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.

The new Nigerien authorities question the «actions of the French government, contrary to the interests of Niger». reacting immediately to this decision, Paris indicates its refusal, justifying itself not to recognize the legitimacy of the CNSP and that the only leader whose authority it recognizes and who is able to make this decision remains the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum.

The military in power also stressed that «only the French ambassador to Niger is declared persona non grata» contrary to the false information which announced the expulsion of the German, Nigerian and American ambassadors.

Chika AMEKA