NIAMEY, Niger
Niger's junta has demanded
that the top United Nations official there leave the country within 72 hours
over accusations that Niger was excluded from the annual U.N. gathering of
world leaders in New York last month.
Niger military officers ousted
President Mohamed Bazoum in July, suspending the constitution, dissolving all
former institutions and declaring General Abdourahamane Tiani as the West
African country's new head of state.U.N. resident coordinator Louise Aubin
In a statement dated October
10, Niger's foreign ministry accused the U.N. of using "underhanded
manoeuvres" instigated by France to prevent its full participation in the
high-level U.N. General Assembly meeting last month and in subsequent meetings
of U.N. agencies that were held in Vienna and in Riyadh.
As a consequence, the
government has ordered U.N. resident coordinator Louise Aubin to leave, said
the statement.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres deeply regrets the move, said his spokesman Stephane Dujarric,
reiterating "the unwavering commitment of the United Nations to stay and
deliver for the people of Niger."
"The decision ... hampers
the ability of the Organization to effectively carry out its mandates and
disrupts the essential work we do for the people of Niger, where 4.3 million
are in need of humanitarian assistance, mostly women and children,"
Dujarric said.
No one from Niger addressed
the gathering of world leaders in New York last month after competing claims
were made by the junta and Bazoum's government for the country's U.N. seat.
U.N. accreditation issues are
dealt with by a nine-member committee, whose members include the United States,
China and Russia. The committee is not due to meet until October or November,
when it will make a decision.
The French mission to the
United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment
on the accusation by the junta.
The junta is following a
pattern seen in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, which also grew hostile to
the U.N. and former colonial ruler France after their militaries seized power.
Niger has already kickedout French troops and the French ambassador.
Burkina
Faso expelled its U.N. resident coordinator last year and Mali
ended a U.N. peacekeeping mission that had been there for a decade.
All three countries are
struggling with an Islamist insurgency that has spiralled in recent years,
prompting power grabs by army officers who promised to improve security.
The coups have been
accompanied by accusations that France exerts too much influence in its former
colonies, and a shift toward Russia as a strategic partner instead. France has
denied exercising undue influence.
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