Niger's Junta Orders French Ambassador's Expulsion

Niger's military junta has revoked the diplomatic immunity of the French ambassador to Niamey, Sylvain Itte, and has ordered police to expel him from the country after insisting to stay despite the regime's 48-hour period for him to leave.

The decision was primarily influenced by Paris officials not heeding the junta's demands of recalling its ambassador, saying they do not recognize the coup plotters as the country's legitimate leaders, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier this week, the Nigerien Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a communique saying Itte no longer has diplomatic immunity in the country, adding that the diplomatic cards and visas of the ambassador and his family have been canceled.

The French government has yet to respond regarding the expulsion order as of this report.

Macron: Itte Insists to Stay

French President Emmanuel Macron said Itte insisted on remaining in his post when he was first told to leave Niger. The president also spoke out against the coup leaders while insisting that France, which once colonized Niger, was not its enemy.

Since Niger's president, Mohamed Bazoum, was toppled from power, the junta has leveraged anti-French sentiment among the population to solidify its support base. This resulted in people chanting "Down with France" at the almost daily rallies in Niamey, with some of them held in front of a French military base in the capital city, which currently billeted some 1,500 troops aimed at helping the military push back al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.

Since the coup, insurgents have killed 17 Nigerien soldiers and wounded 24 so far.

Niger vs. ECOWAS

The Nigerien junta also faces an external threat in the form of the West African bloc ECOWAS, which has since made preparations for a military intervention should all avenues of diplomacy fail.

Meanwhile, the junta has since appointed a new government and said it would return Niger to the system of government prescribed by the constitution within three years, a timeline that ECOWAS rejected.

A Diplomatic Dilemma

According to Verisk Maplecroft senior analyst Mucahid Durmaz, the expulsion of Itte from Niger and the revocation of his diplomatic immunity puts France in a challenging position since Paris said it would support ECOWAS's efforts to restore democratic rule in Niger, but it is also faced with the need to protect its diplomatic staff.

"If Paris recognizes the military authority in Niger, which is the heart of the matter, it could potentially limit the reputational damage that France is facing in its former African colonies," he said.

At the same time, he thinks France is unlikely to use the junta's moves against the ambassador as a reason to launch a military intervention backed by ECOWAS troops.