Niger gave the French ambassador, Sylvain Itté, a period of 48 hours this Friday to leave its territory for refusing to meet with its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bakary Yaou Sangare, appointed by the military junta that took power on July 26 after a coup. After the announcement of expulsion to the French country, the local government communicated the same letter to the embassies of Germany, the US, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.
This has been communicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Niger to the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, in a diplomatic note to which EFE has had access.
Although the Nigerian Executive reproaches the French ambassador and the other four for their refusal to attend the meeting with Sangare, scheduled for this Friday, it also accuses the expelled governments of "other acts contrary to the interests of Niger", without giving more details.
France was one of Niger's main economic and military partners, but after the coup that ousted the president, Mohamed Bazoum, it became a symbol of Western domination for the military junta and its social bases.
For his part, the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, insisted this Friday on the use of peaceful means to resolve the crisis in Niger during his visit to Benin, where he met with his counterpart from that country, Olushegun Adjadi Bakari, to try to find a solution that avoids military intervention.
The situation in the Sahel as a consequence of the coup d'état in Niger will be one of the main issues that the European Union (EU) Defense Ministers will address in the informal meeting that Toledo will host on August 29 and 30.
