Niger’s tailors rush to make Russian flags after coup

Will the lights go out in Europe if Niger were to prevent France from mining more of its uranium? DW asked experts in Niger and Europe about the energy supply chain in the wake of the coup.

Exactly six weeks after the coup in Niger, FRANCE 24 interviewed Abdel-Fatau Musah, the West African bloc ECOWAS's Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security. He insisted that ECOWAS was not discussing any kind of transition with the junta in Niamey and that instead the bloc continued to demand the release of President Mohamed Bazoum and the immediate restoration of constitutional order.

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Niger's coup leaders have tried to expel France's ambassador, but Paris says it doesn't recognize their authority to order him out. Macron said on TV he was "literally" a "hostage," stuck in the French Embassy in Niamey.

A video purporting to show the French Ambassador to Niger being booed as he is forced to leave the Embassy has been widely shared since Thursday, at a time of heightened tensions between coup leaders in Niger and France. This video, however, has nothing to do with that. It actually shows another coup-hit African country, as Emerald Maxwell explains.

Three West African countries ruled by military juntas have signed a mutual defense pact. Mali and Burkina Faso had previously promised to come to Niger's aid in the event of an attack.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said on Tuesday he was seeking to re-establish constitutional order to address political and economic problems in neighboring Niger following a July coup and welcomed any support for the process.

The political crisis in Niger has disrupted aid efforts, the UN's humanitarian chief in the West African nation, Louise Aubin, told DW in an exclusive interview. The current wave of insecurity in Niger has also hampered the UN's aid operations there, Aubin added.

The foreign minister of Mali told the UN General Assembly that any military intervention in Niger would threaten Mali's security. The juntas in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso signed a mutual defense pact last week.

The French president said military cooperation with the West African nation would end and France's soldiers stationed there would return home by the end of the year.

The German and US defense ministers have said they see no immediate need to leave Niger, following France's decision to withdraw troops. Niamey's junta has been more focused on the former colonial power's presence.

The French diplomat left the capital Niamey for Chad early Wednesday, Paris said. The military junta had ordered his expulsion some weeks ago.