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Niger Prepares for Weekend Anti-French Protests


FILE -A person holds a paper that reads 'We no longer want France' as Nigerien women demonstrate by hitting and carrying kitchen utensils in support of the putschists in front of French Army headquarters, in Niamey, Niger August 30, 2023.
FILE -A person holds a paper that reads 'We no longer want France' as Nigerien women demonstrate by hitting and carrying kitchen utensils in support of the putschists in front of French Army headquarters, in Niamey, Niger August 30, 2023.

NIAMEY — Nigerian civil society groups in opposition of the presence of French forces in the West African nation have called for a three-day sit-in, starting this weekend.

The protests, organized by the M62 grouping are set to take place in central Niamey, Niger’s capital, where demonstrators will demand the departure of the French contingent – amid souring relations between the nation’s new military rulers and France, a colonial ruler and traditional ally.

The M62 group has received support from the Patriotic Front for the Sovereignty of Niger, another civil society group calling for a "permanent" sit-in.

Organizers of the protests said demonstrations will commence Saturday and will continue "until the departure of all French soldiers."

France has approximately 1,500 troops stationed at an airbase near Niamey, whose mandate is to fight jihadist insurgency.

Relations between the West African nation and its former colonial ruler have deteriorated since President Mohamed Bazoum, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, was toppled in a coup on July 26.

Paris has stood by Bazoum and refused to recognize the new rulers in the troubled Sahel state.

FILE - Nigerien soldiers stand guard as supporters of Niger's National Council of Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) protest outside the Niger and French airbase in Niamey on August 30, 2023.
FILE - Nigerien soldiers stand guard as supporters of Niger's National Council of Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) protest outside the Niger and French airbase in Niamey on August 30, 2023.

Relations between the two nations worsened this week when Niger’s junta stripped Sylvain Itte, France’s ambassador off diplomatic immunity and ordered police to expel him, according to a letter seen Thursday by AFP.

French authorities refused to cave into the demands by Niger’s military government, arguing the junta had no legal right to make such an order.

Residents of Niamey Thursday said cars leaving the French embassy in the West African nation were systematically searched by security forces.

France’s military spokesman Col. Pierre Gaudilliere Thursday warned that French military personnel are "ready to respond to any upturn in tension that could harm French diplomatic and military premises in Niger."

"Measures have been taken to protect these premises," Gaudilliere said.

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