French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that he spoke on a daily basis with Niger's ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been removed from power in a coup.
"I speak every day to President Bazoum. We support him. We do not recognise those who carried out the putsch. The decisions we will take, whatever they may be, will be based upon exchanges with Bazoum," said Macron.
Macron's comments were published on the Elysee's social media platform and were made as he spoke about educational matters to reporters in southern France.
Niger's military government, which seized power on 26 July, accused Macron on Friday of using divisive rhetoric in his comments about the coup and of seeking to perpetrate France's neo-colonial relationship with its former colony.
On 26 August, Niger's military government placed a 48 hour deadline on France's ambassador to leave the country. France has refused the demand and on Thursday Niger ordered its police forces to expel the ambassador.
Colonel Pierre Gaudilliere, the French military's spokesman, said that "The French military forces are ready to respond to any upturn in tension that could harm French diplomatic and military premises in Niger."
(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)