Niger Says US Will Submit Plan to ‘Disengage’ Troops

 

The State Department refused to comment on the statement from Niger

by Dave DeCamp March 28, 2024 at 1:55 pm ET 

CategoriesNewsTagsNiger

Niger’s Interior Ministry has said that the US will submit a plan to “disengage” its troops from the West African nation, AFP reported.

Earlier this month, Niger’s military-led government, which took power after a July 2023 coup, said that it was ending its military agreement with the US and that the US military presence in the country was no longer legally justified.

Despite the order, the US is looking to stay in the country and has said it’s seeking clarification from the Nigerien government, known as the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP).

US Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon met with Nigerien Interior Minister General Mohamed Toumba on Wednesday to discuss the issue. Niger’s Interior Ministry said FitzGibbon said the US had “taken note of the decision” by Niger to withdraw from the military agreement and would be “coming back with a plan” on the “methods for disengaging” its troops in the country.

But when asked about Niger’s statement, the US State Department refused to comment. “I don’t want to get into what – from our perspective, at least – are private diplomatic conversations,” said State Department spokesman Matt Miller.

The US has about 1,000 military personnel in Niger, including 650 troops and a few hundred civilian contractors, and a major drone base that cost over $100 million to build, known as Air Base 201.

The US is also preparing for the possibility of getting kicked out, as The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that the US was in talks with other West African states to base drones on their territory, including Benin, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana.

https://news.antiwar.com/2024/03/28/niger-says-us-will-submit-plan-to-disengage-troops/