US orders evacuation of some embassy staff, families from Niger

[Kamaji]

US orders evacuation of some embassy staff, families from Niger

By Reuters
August 3, 2023

The United States ordered the evacuation of some staff and families from its embassy in Niger after military officers seized power there, the State Department said on Wednesday, even as the mission will remain open and senior leadership will continue working from there.

Niger is a key Western ally in a fight against Islamist insurgents.

Foreign powers have condemned the takeover, fearing it could allow the militants to gain ground.

“Given ongoing developments in Niger and out of an abundance of caution, the Department of State is ordering the temporary departure of non-emergency US government personnel and eligible family members from the US Embassy in Niamey,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

“The United States remains committed to our relationship with the people of Niger and to Nigerien democracy. We remain diplomatically engaged at the highest levels,” Miller said.

He said the embassy remains open for limited, emergency services to US citizens.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity prior to the announcement, said US personnel would be moved out of Niger by aircraft chartered by the State Department and military aircraft would not be used. The official said “core” staff will remain at the embassy.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/08/03/us-orders-evacuation-of-some-embassy-staff-families-from-niger/

[mountaineer]

Dagny Taggart
@DagnyTaggart963
Niger military asks  US ambassador to leave the country in 48 hours.
They are also expelling Nigerian ambassador.

Dagny Taggart
@DagnyTaggart963
Authorities in Niger demanded the German ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours - AFP

Niger’s junta invites Mali and Burkina Faso to aid its defense, asks the French ambassador to leave
By CHINEDU ASADU
Updated 5:17 PM EDT, August 25, 2023

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Niger’s junta authorized troops from neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso to come to its defense and asked the French ambassador to leave the country Friday, raising the stakes in a standoff with other West African nations who are threatening force to reinstate Niger’s democratically elected president.

The junta leader, Brig. Gen. Abdrahmane Tchiani, signed two executive orders authorizing the “security forces of Burkina Faso and Mali to intervene on Niger territory in the event of aggression,” senior junta official Oumarou Ibrahim Sidi said late Thursday, after hosting a delegation from the two countries in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.  ...

France has consistently acknowledged only the authority of Niger’s elected President Mohamed Bazoum, still detained by the junta. Paris reiterated Friday night that “only legitimate elected Nigerien authorities” have a say about the fate of its ambassador.

The invitation of troops from Mali and Burkina Faso as well as the expulsion of the French ambassador show “a very strong alignment” between the regimes of the two countries and that of Niger “in terms of having a very strong anti-Western and pro-authoritarian orientation,” said Nate Allen, an associate professor at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. ...

Associated Press

Kicking out the western and/or more civilized nations.

[bigheadfred]

If the Islamists take hold I would expect to see genocide levels of murder.