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Niger says US to submit plan to 'disengage' troops
Niger says US to submit plan to 'disengage' troops
by AFP Staff Writers
Niamey, Niger (AFP) Mar 27, 2024

Niger on Wednesday said the United States will shortly submit a proposal to "disengage" its soldiers from the country, after the regime said it was withdrawing from a 2012 cooperation deal with Washington.

Interior minister General Mohamed Toumba met US ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon on Wednesday to discuss the issue, his ministry said in Niamey, the West African nation's capital.

FitzGibbon told the minister that Washington had "taken note of the decision" by Niger to withdraw from the military agreement and would be "coming back with a plan" on the "methods for disengaging" the more than 1,000 US troops based in Niger, according to the ministry's statement.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to comment on the Nigerien interior ministry's assertion and said the status of US troops remained "broadly" the same for now.

The United States has been "in touch with the transition authorities to seek clarification" on statements about the troops, Miller told reporters.

"We have been having these conversations, but I don't think it would be productive for me to read them out," he added.

Niamey's announcement that it is breaking with the United States came on Saturday after a three-day visit by a senior US delegation to renew contact with the junta.

In mid-March, Niger said that the 2012 cooperation agreement had been "unilaterally imposed" by Washington.

US troops have been stationed at a $100 billion desert drone base to combat the jihadist violence plaguing much of West Africa.

After General Abdourahamane Tiani seized power in a July coup, the regime ousted troops from former colonial power France and sought deeper military and political partnerships with Russia.

Neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso made similar moves and joined a joint defence pact with Niger, exiting the wider West African bloc ECOWAS.

Tiani on Tuesday spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the "strengthening" of their security agreements after Moscow announced in mid-January its intention to "intensify" military cooperation.

A Russian delegation also visited Niger last December.

Niger regime chief talks 'security cooperation' with Putin
Niamey, Niger (AFP) Mar 26, 2024 - The head of Niger's military regime General Abdourahamane Tiani spoke on Tuesday by telephone to Russian President Vladimir Putin about "strengthening security cooperation", according to an official communique.

The two countries had already agreed in January to strengthen military ties when Niger Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine led a delegation to Moscow.

Niger, one of the world's poorest countries, had been a frontline partner of the West in battling jihadists in the Sahel but has embraced Russia as a fledgling defence partner since the elected president was ousted last year.

The two heads of state "talked of the need for strengthening security cooperation... to face current threats," said the Nigerien communique read out on public radio.

They also discussed "projects for multi-sector and global strategic cooperation," it added without further explanation.

A statement from the Kremlin added the two expressed "readiness to start a political dialogue and to develop mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields".

"There was also an exchange of views on the situation in the Sahara and Sahel regions, with an emphasis on coordinating actions to ensure security and combat terrorism," Moscow said.

General Tiani, who has led Niger since the July coup, thanked Putin for Russia's "support" for the Sahel country and its struggle for national sovereignty.

A Russian delegation also visited Niger last December.

The United States still stations some 1,000 troops in Niger although movements have been limited since the coup and Washington has curbed assistance to the government.

A senior US delegation went to Niamey in mid-March to renew contact with the junta, but said they failed to meet Tiani.

The new regime has denounced military cooperation with the West, shunning colonial ties with France.

Niger had previously been an important base for France's military efforts to quell Islamist extremism stemming from the Sahel region.

Niger joined neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso at the start of the month in announcing the creation of a joint force to battle the long-running jihadist rebellions raging in the three nations.

They had announced in January their intention to withdraw from regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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