5 ay önce

Niger blames France of destabilisation amid regional tensions

Niger's military ruler, General Abdourahamane Tiani, has accused France of plotting to destabilize the country and using neighboring Benin as a base for attacks.

AFP

General Abdourahamane Tiani, has defended the decision to close the border with Benin and vowed to protect the country's sovereignty. / Photo: AFP

The head of Niger's military-run government has accused France of wanting to "destabilise" the country — seven months after driving out French soldiers engaged in the fight against terrorism.

"This sick desire to destabilise Niger has spread through the repositioning of all the agents of the French DGSE (intelligence services) that we chased out of our territory," he said on Saturday in a two-hour interview on Niger public television to mark the 64th anniversary of the country's independence.

Since seizing power on July 26 last year, the new government led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, former head of the presidential guard, has reset its international partnerships.

It asked former colonial power France late last year to withdraw its troops stationed in the Sahel nation to fight jihadist groups.

"They have been repositioned in Nigeria and Benin," he said, referring to a "destabilising action" carried out by "groups of subversive agents dressed in civilian clothes" and "with elements of the Beninese armed forces themselves dressed in civilian clothes".

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Reopening Benin border

Niger regularly accuses neighbouring Benin of harbouring "French bases", which Beninese authorities and France have always denied.

These accusations have been at the root of diplomatic disputes for months with Benin, which took a hard line in the heavy sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States after the coup.

Despite the lifting of sanctions in February, Niamey has refused to reopen its border and has cut off a pipeline that was to export crude oil via a Beninese port.

"The day we know that there is no threat from Benin, we will take the appropriate measures" to reopen the border, Tiani said.

While Niger is at odds with Benin, it has forged closer ties with neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, two countries also governed by military regimes that came to power in coups.

Gathered within the confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States, the three countries could soon benefit from Niger's oil, Tiani said.