The Guardian-France to withdraw ambassador and troops from Niger
September 24, 2023 3 min 635 words
法国决定撤回尼日尔的大使以及驻军，这一决定在尼日尔的政变后被宣布。尽管政变领导人下令法国大使撤离，但法国总统马克龙两个月来坚守立场，直到现在才宣布撤回大使。法国总统的声明似乎结束了对政变的两个月的抵抗，尽管政变领导人下令法国大使撤回，巴黎仍将其保留在尼亚美。尽管马克龙没有详细说明撤回计划，但他表示：“法国已决定撤回其大使。接下来几个小时内，我们的大使和数名外交官将返回法国。”法国的军事合作被宣布“结束”，法国军队将在“未来几个月和几周内”撤离，最终在年底前全部撤出。马克龙还表示：“我们将与政变者进行磋商，因为我们希望这一切都能和平解决。”法国在尼日尔部署了约1500名士兵，作为撒哈拉地区的反恐行动的一部分。马克龙表示，政变后的当局“不再愿意与恐怖主义作斗争”。政变领导人曾要求法国大使西尔万·伊特离开该国，这一要求是在他们于7月26日推翻总统穆罕默德·巴祖姆之后提出的。但在8月发布的48小时最后通牒期限内，法国政府拒绝遵守这一要求，也拒绝承认军事政权的合法性。法国总统马克龙本月早些时候表示，大使和他的工作人员在使命中“实际上被扣为人质”，没有食品供应，只能吃军粮。在采访中，法国总统再次重申了巴祖姆被扣为人质的立场，并表示巴祖姆仍然是该国“唯一的合法权威”。他认为，巴祖姆之所以成为政变的目标，是因为他正在进行勇敢的改革，以及存在着广泛的族群报复和大量政治懦弱。尼日尔的政变是该地区连续第三次政变，前两次分别发生在2021年的马里和2022年的布基纳法索，也迫使法国军队撤离。然而，尼日尔政变对马克龙来说尤为沉痛，因为他试图使尼亚美成为法国在该地区的特殊盟友和据点，而此前发生的马里政变后，尼亚美成为法国在该地区的特殊盟友和据点。美国在该国也驻有超过1,000名士兵。马克龙经常与被软禁在总统府的巴祖姆通电话。法国总统一再谈到要在非洲改变法国的后殖民印记，但分析人士表示，巴黎在整个非洲大陆的影响力正在减弱，尤其是在中国、土耳其和俄罗斯不断增强的影响力面前。西非国家经济共同体曾威胁动用军事力量恢复巴祖姆的权力，但迄今为止，尽管法国坚决支持，这些威胁尚未付诸实施。马克龙表示：“我们不是来成为政变者的人质的。政变者是混乱的盟友。”他还表示，在马里发生政变后，圣战分子袭击每天都造成“数十人死亡”，现在这种袭击已经在尼日尔重新开始。“我对这个地区非常担忧，”他说。“法国有时是独自承担所有责任的，我为我们的军队感到自豪。但我们不对这些国家的政治生活负责，我们会承担一切后果。” 这篇报道揭示了法国决定从尼日尔撤回大使和军队的背景和动机。这一决定是在尼日尔发生政变后做出的，政变推翻了亲巴黎的总统。报道中指出，法国总统马克龙在面对政变领导人的驱逐命令两个月后才宣布此决定，尽管政变领导人要求法国大使撤离，巴黎仍坚守立场。马克龙表示，法国将在未来几个月内撤回军队，但他希望这一过程能够和平进行，因此将与政变领导人进行磋商。报道还提到，法国在尼日尔部署了约1500名士兵，用于反恐行动，但政变后的当局不再愿意与恐怖主义作斗争。此外，报道还强调了马克龙坚持认为被废黜的总统仍然是该国的唯一
France will imminently withdraw its ambassador from Niger followed by the French military contingent in the next months, Emmanuel Macron has said in the aftermath of the coup in the west African country that ousted the pro-Paris president.
The French president’s announcement appeared to end two months of defiance over the coup, which had seen Paris keep its ambassador in place in Niamey despite him being ordered by the coup leaders to go.
“France has decided to withdraw its ambassador,” Macron told French television in an interview, without giving details over how this would be organised. “In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France.”
Niger’s military rulers have banned “French aircraft” from flying over the country’s airspace, according to the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) website. It was not clear if this would affect the ambassador being flown out.
Macron added that military cooperation was “over” and French troops would withdraw in “the months and weeks to come” with a full pullout “by the end of the year”.
He added: “We will consult the putschists, because we want this to be done peacefully.”
France keeps about 1,500 soldiers in Niger as part of an anti-jihadist deployment in the Sahel region. Macron said the post-coup authorities “no longer wanted to fight against terrorism”.
Niger’s military leaders told the French ambassador, Sylvain Itte, he had to leave the country after they overthrew the president, Mohamed Bazoum, on 26 July.
But a 48-hour ultimatum for Itte to leave, issued in August, passed with him still in place as the French government refused to comply, or to recognise the military regime as legitimate.
Earlier this month, Macron said the ambassador and his staff were “literally being held hostage” in the mission, eating military rations with no food deliveries taking place.
In the interview, the French president reaffirmed Paris’s position that Bazoum was being held “hostage” and remained the “sole legitimate authority” in the country.
“He was targeted by this coup d’etat because he was carrying out courageous reforms and because there was a largely ethnic settling of scores and a lot of political cowardice,” Macron argued.
The coup against Bazoum was the third such putsch in the region in as many years, following similar actions in Mali and Burkina Faso in 2021 and 2022 that also forced the pullouts of French troops.
But the Niger coup is particularly bruising for Macron after he sought to make a special ally of Niamey, and a hub for France’s presence in the region after the Mali coup. The US also has more than 1,000 troops in the country.
Macron regularly speaks by phone to Bazoum who remains under house arrest in the presidential residence.
The French president has repeatedly spoken of making a historic change to France’s post-colonial imprint in Africa but analysts say Paris is losing influence across the continent especially in the face of the growing influence of China, Turkey and Russia.
The Economic Community of West African States threatened military action to restore Bazoum but so far its threats, which were strongly supported by France, have not transferred into action.
“We are not here to be hostages of the putschists,” said Macron. “The putschists are the allies of disorder,” he added.
Macron said that jihadist attacks were causing “dozens of deaths every day in Mali” after its coup and that now such assaults had resumed in Niger.
“I am very worried about this region,” he said.
“France, sometimes alone, has taken all its responsibilities and I am proud of our military. But we are not responsible for the political life of these countries and we draw all the consequences.”