France will "very soon" start to evacuate its nationals from Niger, where a coup last week has unleashed anti-French protests. Meanwhile, France's foreign minister has denied there are any plans for military intervention.
"In the face of a deteriorating security situation in Niamey, and taking advantage of the relative calm in Niamey, an operation of evacuation by air is being prepared," said a message sent out by Paris's embassy said on Tuesday.
Sent to French citizens, it added that the evacuations "will take place very soon in a very limited span of time".
There are an estimated 600 French nationals in Niger, not counting visiting tourists or French residents currently outside the country. The foreign ministry said France was also offering to evacuate other European nationals.
Niger became the third Sahel country in less than three years, following neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, to be shaken by a military coup, when President Mohamed Bazoum was toppled on 26 July by elite troops from his own Presidential Guard.
In all three nations, jihadist insurgencies have strained fragile governments, stoked anger in the military and rained economic blows on some of the world's poorest countries.
The overthrow of elected presidents in the former French colonies has been accompanied by anti-French, pro-Russian demonstrations.
Destabilisation is perilous
Niger's junta on Monday accused France of seeking to "intervene militarily" to reinstate Bazoum, which French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna denied.
"It's wrong," Colonna told France's BFM news channel of the allegation, adding it was still "possible" to return the president to power.
"And it's necessary, because destabilisation is perilous for Niger and its neighbours," she said Monday evening.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday vowed "immediate and uncompromising" action if French citizens or interests were attacked, after thousands rallied outside the French embassy in Niamey. Some tried to enter the compound but were dispersed by tear gas.
Colonna said the demonstration had been "organised, not spontaneous, violent, extremely dangerous, with Molotov cocktails, Russian flags appeared, anti-French slogans (that were) an exact copy of what you can hear elsewhere".
Declaration of war
Meanwhile, Junta-led Burkina Faso and Mali warned late Monday that any military intervention in Niger to restore deposed President Mohamed Bazoum would be considered a "declaration of war against their two countries.
The warning came a day after West African leaders, supported by their Western partners, threatened to use "force" to reinstate the democratically elected Bazoum and slapped financial sanctions on the putschists.
In a joint statement, the governments of Burkina Faso and Mali warned that "any military intervention against Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali".
They said the "disastrous consequences of a military intervention in Niger... could destabilise the entire region".
The two also said they "refuse to apply" the "illegal, illegitimate and inhumane sanctions against the people and authorities of Niger".
At an emergency summit on Sunday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded that Bazoum be reinstated within a week, failing which it would take "all measures" to restore constitutional order.
"Such measures may include the use of force for this effect," it said in a statement.
Sanctions
The bloc also slapped financial sanctions on the junta leaders and the country, freezing "all commercial and financial transactions" between member states and Niger, one of the world's poorest nations, which often ranks last on the UN's Human Development Index.
Niger however is considered essential in the fight against jihadist groups that have ravaged parts of the Sahel region for years.
Former colonial power France and the United States have between them deployed 2,600 soldiers in Niger to help battle the jihadists.
(with AFP)
