Niger junta announces end to military relationship with United States.

A screengrab from a video of Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, front center, making a statement on state TV in Niamey, Niger, courtesy image.

Niger’s junta has ended a military agreement that allowed US personnel to be deployed in the country.

Saturday’s announcement came in the week that a delegation from Washington had been in Niamey for talks with the country’s military leadership.

The US used its base in Niger to monitor regional jihadist activity.

This latest announcement by the junta, in power since last July, comes as it moves closer to Russia and after French troops were kicked out in December.

“The US presence on the territory of the Republic of Niger is illegal and violates all the constitutional and democratic rules which would require the sovereign people… to be consulted on the installation of a foreign army on its territory,” Niger’s military spokesperson Col Amadou Abdramane said in a damning statement on national television.

He also alleged that the US delegation had accused Niger of making a secret deal to supply uranium to Iran. Col Abdramane described the accusation as “cynical” and “reminiscent of the second Iraq war”.

And finally, he suggested that the US had raised objections about the allies that Niger had chosen. “The government of Niger therefore strongly denounces the condescending attitude combined with the threat of reprisals by the head of the American delegation against the government and the people of Niger,” Col Abdramane said.

Following the coup last year, the United States largely suspended military aid to Niger, with activity at the base limited to surveillance for protection of U.S. forces. Phee said in an interview with The Washington Post last month that she had emphasized the importance of a swift democratic transition to the Nigerien government, saying that U.S. assistance would remain suspended until Niger sets a timeline for restoring democracy.

The Nigerien government has so far refused to set a date for presidential elections, and President Mohamed Bazoum, who had been democratically elected, remains held under house.

Niger, along with neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — which are also led by military juntas — has grown increasingly close with Russia, which has made concerted efforts in recent years to expand its influence in the region, especially via security partnerships. Niger has “state-to-state” relations with Russia, Abdramane said Saturday, adding that all agreements between the two countries had been made transparently. In December, Russia and Niger announced that they had signed new security agreements, but it was not clear at the time what the agreements involved.

In Burkina Faso, Russia has in recent months deployed a few hundred troops from the Africa Corps — which is described by Russian officials as the successor to the Wagner mercenary group — while about 1,000 Russian military personnel are estimated to be fighting with the Malian army.

Abdramane emphasized in his statement that Niger’s relations with Russia, along with Iran, stretch back decades, and criticized the United States for trying “to deny the sovereign people of Niger the right to choose these partners and the type of partnership able to help it truly fight terrorism.”

Invest or Donate towards HICGI New Agency Global Media Establishment – Watch video here