“Now the Islamists are only a few kilometers from the capital Niamey,” said the president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday on franceinfo.
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“The big winners today are the Islamists”estimated Thursday October 5 on franceinfo Jean-Louis Bourlanges, MoDem deputy and president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, while the French troops deployed in Niger will begin their withdrawal from the country “during the week”according to the army general staff.
>> France is “not in the logic of leaving Niger”, says the Nigerien Minister of the Interior
Emmanuel Macron announced on September 24 the end of military cooperation with Niger and the gradual departure of the 1,400 French soldiers present in the Sahel country, “by the end of the year”thus complying with the will of the new authorities who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum.
“We have no reason to impose our military force”
“We were in Niger because our friends in Niger had asked us to be there. Now, they don’t want it. I hope that the evacuation will be done in good order”, declared Jean-Louis Bourlanges. However, according to him, “now the Islamists are only a few kilometers from the capital Niamey”. “We have no reason to impose our military force. We are here to help, not to impose ourselves”continued the MP. “Let us hope that African states will not want this situation to persist for long.”
Also questioned about Azerbaijan’s victorious offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, Jean-Louis Bourlanges believes that “It is the territorial sovereignty of Armenia which is the next step” because it is a “operation characterized as ethnic cleansing”.
“The Armenians know that if they don’t leave, they will die”he added. “By delivering weapons, we contribute to peace. We need a resolution from the UN Security Council and for the Americans to stop their indifference or their duplicity.”
Watch the full interview on video: