France – Niger

France is withdrawing its forces and ambassador from Niger after the coup, President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday in an interview with French television. The ambassador will return home shortly, while French soldiers will leave Niger in the coming months, Macron said. He explained that France “will not be held hostage by the coup plotters”. “France has decided to recall its ambassador. In the coming hours, our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,” Macron said in the interview. The last of 1,500 French soldiers will leave Niger “before the end of the year”, the president said. Macron stressed in the interview, broadcast on French television channels TF1 and France 2, that he still considers the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum to be Niger’s legitimate leader. /ritzau/AFP/