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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

France denies any involvement in failed coup attempt in Niger

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Outcome reported
  • French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot denied that France had any role in the failed coup attempt in Niger and called the accusations fantasies.
  • Niger’s coup attempt killed at least three presidential guards and was suppressed with help from Russian Africa Corps mercenaries.
  • Nigeria and Benin also denied involvement, as Niger continues to align with Mali and Burkina Faso through the Sahel States Alliance.

France has rejected accusations that it helped organize last weekend’s failed coup attempt in Niger. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot dismissed the claims as “pure fantasies” in an interview with French radio station RFI.

pure fantasies

· Jean-Noël BarrotFrance’s foreign minister rejected accusations that France was involved in Niger’s failed coup attempt.

“France had neither the intention nor the means that it could have or wanted to mobilize,” Barrot said. He described the accusations as a familiar attempt to wrongly blame France for something that, he said, simply did not exist.

Governments in the region, including Nigeria and Benin, also denied involvement on Friday. At least three members of Niger’s presidential guard were killed during the failed coup attempt, which was put down with the help of Russian Africa Corps mercenaries.

France had neither the intention nor the means that it could have or wanted to mobilize

· Jean-Noël BarrotBarrot explained why he said France could not have been involved.

The Russian role carries particular weight because Niger, led by General Abdourahmane Tiani since the 2023 coup, belongs to the Alliance of Sahel States with Mali and Burkina Faso. The three countries have cut many of their military ties with France and deepened cooperation with Moscow.

as usual, a way of wrongly pointing to France as responsible for something that simply does not exist

· Jean-Noël BarrotBarrot characterized the accusations against France.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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