May 14. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The prime minister appointed by the Niger coup junta, Ali Lamine Zeine, has blamed the United States for the breakdown of the military cooperation agreement, which has led to the imminent departure of American troops, for its inaction against terrorism.
“Americans have remained on our soil doing nothing while terrorists killed people and burned towns,” he explained in an interview with The Washington Post, adding that this behavior “is not a sign of friendship.”
Zeine has set the example that the Biden Administration is capable of defending its allies on other fronts, such as in Ukraine or Israel, although in Niger the inaction of US troops against the activity of jihadist groups has prevailed.
Likewise, it has disfigured Washington’s position after the coup d’état of July 2023, which led to the fall of the then president, Mohamed Bazoum, and has compared the reaction that other countries, such as Russia, Turkey or the United Arab Emirates, had to the change. of command.
Zeine has recounted other negative gestures by the United States towards Niger, such as the visit of the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, to the country, when she threatened Niamey with imposing sanctions if it signed an agreement to sell uranium to Iran or with cutting military cooperation if it continued to move closer to Russia.
“First, he comes here to threaten us in our own country. That is unacceptable. And he comes here to tell us who we can have relations with, which is also unacceptable. And he has done it all with a condescending tone and disrespect,” says Zeine to the aforementioned newspaper remembering the episode with Phee.
Niger’s military junta confirmed in April that it was holding talks with the United States aimed at outlining a ‘roadmap’ for the withdrawal of US troops amid a review of bilateral relations.
Military activity was already very limited in the country after Washington broke its cooperation agreements with Niamey and stopped, among other programs, the flight of drones, which is key to collecting intelligence information and preparing attacks, not only in Nigerien territory but also in other areas of the Sahel region.
The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) operates mainly from Djibouti and the Agadez base in Niger, where the vast majority of military personnel deployed in the country are located and from where air and drone operations against terrorist groups are carried out.
If the expulsion of the US military from Niger materializes, Washington would be forced to rearticulate its military deployment in Africa, with Chad as the most likely destination, given that the junta established in 2021 has been the only one that has not cut its ties in recent years. ties with France, another of the traditional partners in the region.
The 2023 coup d’état, which overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and brought to power a military junta, the National Council for the Safeguard of the Fatherland (CNSP), included Niger within an increasingly large group of regimes. Africans critical of the Western presence and inclined, on the other hand, to rapprochement with Russia.
Add Comment