Niger breaks off military cooperation with US – gov’t
By Eratus Ndueh
Niger’s government has announced a complete dissociation of its military cooperation agreement with the United States “with an immediate effect.”
The move came just a day after senior US military officials led by Under Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee, left Niger following a three-day visit to renew contact with the military junta that ousted the president and moved closer to Russia.
Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane speaking on state television on the evening of March 16, accused US officials of not following diplomatic protocol and not informing Niger about the composition of the delegation.
He added that Niger regretted the “intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right of choosing their partners and partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism.”
Abdramane said the government considers illegal the presence of US troops on Niger’s territory because “it was not democratically approved and imposes unfavorable conditions on Niger, particularly in terms of lack of transparency on military activities.”
Last December, the West African country and Russia signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen defense cooperation, while canceling two security and defense partnerships with the EU last year.
