Nigerian Interior Minister Mohamed Toumba said that the US will soon hand over to the Nigerian authorities the plans for the withdrawal of the US contingent from the country, Western media reported. He said this after a meeting with the US Ambassador to Niger Kathleen Fitzgibbon, AFP reported.
According to the Nigerian Ministry of Interior, the ambassador informed the minister that Washington had taken into account the decision of the new authorities to terminate the military agreement with the US, and added that proposals would soon come from the US on the way in which the withdrawal of US troops would be carried out.
In mid-March, Nigerian authorities said that Washington had imposed a 2012 military cooperation agreement on Niamey. and declared it invalid.
There are currently about a thousand American military personnel on the territory of Niger. Among other things, they control a drone base in the center of the country. The declared purpose of this military presence is to help in the fight against extremists.
Earlier, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced the conclusion of a military pact - the Alliance of Sahel States, agreeing to form joint forces to fight jihadists.
The authorities of these countries terminated defense cooperation agreements with France and forced its military contingents to leave their territory.
Also at the end of January, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced that they would immediately withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS): ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Mali and Niger for military coups, and the three countries, in turn, called these measures illegal.
On July 26, a coup d'état was carried out in Niger.
General Chiani was declared the new leader and promised to hand over power to civilians in the coming three years.
Western countries and many countries in the African region criticized the coup. Authorities in Mali and Burkina Faso supported the putschists.