Niger breaks the military cooperation agreement with the United States

The government of Niger has announced that "without wasting time" it is canceling its military cooperation agreement with the United States.

Mar 17, 2024 - 11:16

The statement issued by the military leadership of Niger has said that the government has decided to "condemn without wasting time" the agreement involving American soldiers and civilian employees of the Ministry of Defense of the country Pentagon located in Niger.

The statement was read yesterday on the national television of Niger by the spokesman of the military administration Colonel Amadou Abdramane.

The decision was taken a few days after a high-level US delegation, which included the head of the country's African Command, General Michael Langley, completed his three-day visit to the African nation.

The Pentagon delegation met with several senior officials of Niger, including Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamime Zeine in a move aimed at influencing the continuation of the agreement, but did not succeed in meeting with the country's leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani.

According to Colonel Abdramane, Niger is disappointed by the intention shown by the US delegation to deny the free people of Niger the right to choose their partners and the kind of cooperation that can really help them fight terrorism, and he added that the Americans did not follow diplomatic protocol when they went to Niger and they did not even inform their hosts about the agenda of the talks and the date of their arrival.

The United States still has 1,000 troops stationed in Niger at a drone base built at a cost of $100 million.

The Pentagon's activities in the center have been limited since the military coup that occurred in Niger in July 2023 while Washington has restricted its aid to the country's military government.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a rare visit to Niger a year ago in the hope of giving a boost to president Mohamed Bazoum, a key Western ally in the so-called security effort to fight extremism. .

Just four months after Blinken's visit, the army removed Bazoum from power and placed him under house arrest.

After assuming the reins of the country's leadership, the military rulers in Niger took a strong stance against the country's former colonial power, France, and forced the withdrawal of the country's soldiers who had been in Niger for almost a decade.

In the past, the Niger Army worked closely with the United States.

But now it has shown a desire to have cooperation with Russia, but without having full cooperation with Moscow, as is the case with its neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also led by military regimes.../