Just in:French ambassador to Niger jets out to Paris after standoff with junta

The French ambassador in Niger has officially left the West African country barely one month after the military government ordered his removal.

The French envoy was flown out of Niger early Wednesday morning, according to the country’s presidency.

President Emmanuel Macron said last week that France’s ambassador in Niger, Sylvain Itte, is being held hostage at the French embassy by the military junta that removed President Mohamed Bazoum from power.

“As we speak, we have an ambassador and diplomatic members which are being literally held hostage at the French embassy, and food is prevented from being delivered. They’re eating military rations,” Macron told reporters during a visit to Burgundy.

Recall that Niger’s ruling military regime had ordered police to expel France’s ambassador, a move that highlights further downturn in relations between Paris and its former colony.

The visas of Sylvain Itte and his family were cancelled and police instructed to expel the envoy, the junta said in a statement dated Aug. 29

The junta in Niger followed similar steps by neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso amid a wave of anti-French sentiment.

On Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron announced that French troops would leave Niger by the end of the year while adding that the French ambassador to Niger would also join them immediately.

“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Macron said in a televised interview on Sunday.

The French government has openly condemned the coup, Abdourahamane Tchiani, a former commander of the presidential guard, while saying it only recognised the deposed Bazoum as the leader of Niger. This has further angered the military regime.

Macron had reiterated France’s stance that Bazoum was being held “hostage” and remained the “sole legitimate authority” in Niger.

Niger hosts 1,500 French troops as part of a regional counter-insurgency force.

The military commanders declared in August that it has terminated the military accords with France, a decision that Paris dismissed as illegitimate.

The French ambassador to the West African country was also expelled but refused to leave even after military officials suspended diplomatic privileges and immunities.