In Niger, supporters of the coup besieged the French military base: “Leave our country”

The situation around Niger, which has survived a military coup more than a month ago, continues to be turbulent. Supporters of the new government staged a rally of thousands demanding the withdrawal of French troops from the African country. Demonstrators gather near the base where the French contingent is stationed.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Niger’s capital, Niamey, to call for the withdrawal of French troops, as demanded by the military that seized power in the country.

Demonstrators rallied near a base housing French soldiers on Saturday after calling on several civilian organizations hostile to the French military presence in the West African nation, according to Agence France-Press.

The protesters were holding signs reading “French army, leave our country.”

The march was reinforced by new arrivals in the afternoon, and a dense crowd formed at the roundabout near the French military base on the outskirts of Niamey.

According to a reporter for the Arab channel Al Jazeera from Niamey, demonstrators expressing disappointment that there is still a French presence in the country are starting to take matters into their own hands. Although the protests that have taken place over the past few days have been “relatively calm and organized,” demonstrators were seen on Saturday “overcoming barriers set up by security forces, police and military” and approaching the base, with some trying to force their way inside.

The military fortified the area around the French base, where about 1,500 French troops are stationed, and warned against a forceful invasion and the consequences that could follow.

“We want to fight to remove all military bases from our country,” one of the protesters, Dubu Kambu Hamidou, told Al Jazeera. “We don’t want that. Because terrorism has existed here for more than 13 years. They don’t want to fight terrorism.”

Niger’s military regime dealt another verbal blow to France on Friday, accusing Paris of “flagrant interference” in support of the country’s ousted president as protesters held a similar rally.

As Agence France-Press recalls, Nigerian President Mohammed Bazum, a French ally whose election in 2021 raised hopes for stability in the troubled country, was detained in late July by his security guards and placed under house arrest.

Niger’s relations with France, the African nation’s former colonial power and ally in its fight against jihadism, deteriorated rapidly after Paris backed ousted President Bazum.

Already on August 3, the new regime announced the termination of military agreements with France, which has 1,500 soldiers stationed in Niger, a move that Paris ignored on grounds of “legality”. The agreements cover various time frames, although military leaders say one of them, dating from 2012, expires within a month.

The military authorities also announced the immediate “expulsion” of French Ambassador Sylvain Itte from Niger and announced that they were depriving him of diplomatic immunity. They stated that his presence constituted a threat to public order.

But French President Emmanuel Macron praised Itte’s work in Niger on Monday and said the ambassador remained in the country despite being given a 48-hour deadline last Friday to leave Niger.

Article 22 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states that the premises of an embassy are “inviolable” and that agents of the receiving State “may not enter them except with the consent of the head of mission”.

And Macron said on Friday that he was in daily contact with his ousted Niger colleague Bazum. “We support him. We do not recognize those who carried out the putsch. The decisions we will take, whatever they may be, will be based on exchanges of views with Bazum,” the French President said.

Niger also found itself embroiled in a confrontation with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This regional bloc threatened military intervention if Bazum could not be returned to his post through diplomacy. The other day, Macron said: “I call on all states in the region to pursue responsible policies.” France, he said, supports ECOWAS’s diplomatic actions and – when the alliance so decides – its military actions.

Analysts say France may not leave Niger alone, especially after its forced departure from neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso following military coups there. “If this crisis is not resolved through diplomacy, there is a risk of clashes between the two sides,” said Kane Umaru, a public relations analyst in Niamey. “It is important for the junta to force the French ambassador to leave, otherwise it will look weak in the eyes of its supporters. The French government seeks to provoke the junta by questioning its legitimacy.”