{"id":5711,"date":"2023-09-20T16:37:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T16:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/?p=5711"},"modified":"2023-09-20T16:37:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T16:37:51","slug":"macron-says-french-ambassador-literally-being-held-hostage-in-niger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2023\/09\/20\/macron-says-french-ambassador-literally-being-held-hostage-in-niger\/","title":{"rendered":"Macron Says French Ambassador ‘Literally Being Held Hostage’ in Niger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Link to Article: Macron Says French Ambassador ‘Literally Being Held Hostage’ in Niger<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of coups in Niger begins in the mid 70s when Lieutenant Colonel Seyni Kountche lead a group of militia against Hamani Diori, ending his 14 year rule. Years later Ibrahim Bare Mainassara takes over ending the second major coup of Niger in 1996. Shortly after Mainassara was killed, after the coup in 1999 Daouda Malam Wanke seized power and called for a presidential election. Mamadou Tandja would win this election and be named prime minister of Niger. In 2010 Tandja would be captured following a fire fight, and would be forced to hold another election to elect a new leader for the Nation. Which would be won by Issoufou. Bringing us to the present day, concern of instability among the people of Niger causes members of the presidential guard to detaine leader Bazoum inside the presidential palace. French ambassador Sylvian Itte was told to leave the country when Bazoum fell. The French government refused to comply resulting in a stranded French government worker living off of military rations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the instability of the Niger government, French governing individuals have struggled to come to a diplomatic solution to this problem. The French government reportedly has not recognized the current Nigerien government as official causing them to not comply with the demands of their governing body. “I will do whatever we agree with (Former president) Bazoum because he is the legitimate authority and I speak with him everyday” said French president Emmanuel Macron . Neighboring Nations of Niger have taken a similar stance to the French. What precedent does this miscommunication set for governing bodies around the world, and what could this mean for Itte? Fortunately for Itte the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has threatened military action toward Niger’s new regime if all diplomatic solutions fail. If Macron’s unwavering stance doesn’t change, the likelihood that action of force by the ECOWAS will use will become very high. That could lead to turmoil for citizens and loss of innocent human life. The question needs to be asked, is this necessary? If agreements can quickly Itte will be a free man and contention for the people of Niger will be kept to a minimum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that France is acting as somewhat of an international “bully.” Niger is occupied by the French government therefore the sovereignty of the nation will be impacted by French governmental decisions. In other words Niger has to comply because France is big and powerful. France essentially bosses Nigerien government officials into doing what they want. That is what causes the refusal to send Itte home in the first place. Begs the question that if French government officials were ordered out of a powerful nation such as The United States, the French government wouldn’t be so reluctant to comply. France can flex their power because Niger is small and helpless. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Link to Article: Macron Says French Ambassador ‘Literally Being Held Hostage’ in Niger The history of coups in Niger begins in the mid 70s when Lieutenant Colonel Seyni Kountche lead a group of militia against Hamani Diori, ending his 14 year rule. Years later Ibrahim Bare Mainassara takes over ending the second major coup of Niger in 1996. Shortly after… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":261,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/261"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5711"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5720,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5711\/revisions\/5720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}