「仏軍は出ていけ」　ニジェールで数千人が抗議

【ニアメーＡＦＰ＝時事】西アフリカ・ニジェールの首都ニアメーで２日、旧宗主国フランスの駐留部隊撤退を要求する数千人規模の抗議集会が開かれた。７月にクーデターを起こした軍部隊も仏軍の撤退を求めている。（写真はニジェールの首都ニアメーの仏軍が駐屯する基地近くで、仏軍部隊の撤退を求める軍政支持者）
　集会は仏軍駐留に反対する複数の民間団体の呼び掛けに応じ、仏軍駐屯地の近くで行われた。参加者は「仏軍は出ていけ」などと書かれたバナーを掲げていた。ニジェールには約１５００人の仏軍部隊が駐留している。
　ニジェールでは軍部隊が７月２６日、２年前に民主的な選挙によって選ばれたモハメド・バズム大統領を大統領警護隊が拘束。フランスはバズム氏支持の立場を打ち出しており、軍部隊との関係が急速に悪化している。
　軍部隊は８月３日には、フランスとの軍事協力協定の破棄を通告。その後、シルビアン・イッテ駐ニジェール大使の国外追放と、同大使の外交特権剥奪を発表している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/09/05-16:20）

Thousands rallied Saturday in Niger's capital Niamey to demand that former colonial ruler France withdraw its troops as sought by a junta which seized power in July.
The protesters gathered near a base housing French soldiers following a call by several civic organisations hostile to the French military presence in the West African country.
They held up banners proclaiming French army leave our country.
The demonstration was boosted by fresh arrivals in the afternoon and a dense crowd formed at a roundabout near the French military base on Niamey's outskirts.
Niger's military regime had fired a new verbal broadside at France on Friday, accusing Paris of blatant interference by backing the country's ousted president, as protesters held a similar rally.
President Mohamed Bazoum, a French ally whose election in 2021 had stoked hopes of stability in the troubled country, was detained on July 26 by members of his guard.
Relations with France, the country's former colonial power and ally in its fight against jihadism, went swiftly downhill after Paris stood by Bazoum.
On August 3, the regime announced the scrapping of military agreements with France, which has about 1,500 soldiers stationed in the country, a move that Paris has ignored on the grounds of legitimacy.
The agreements cover various timeframes, although one of them dating from 2012 is set to expire within a month, according to military leaders.
The military rulers have also announced the immediate expulsion of the French ambassador Sylvain Itte and said they are withdrawing his diplomatic immunity. They said his presence constituted a threat to public order.
But French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday hailed Itte's work in Niger and said he remained in the country despite being given a 48-hour deadline to leave Niger last Friday.
Article 22 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states that embassy premises are inviolable and that agents of the host state may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.