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00:00 In West Africa, Washington says it has sent a delegation to Nyeme in Niger, a former ally
00:06 in the fight against Islamist extremism, to pull its soldiers out of the country.
00:12 It is currently a regional hub with more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers stationed there.
00:17 But the junta that took over the country in July 2023 had announced it was ending the
00:22 two countries' military agreement earlier this year.
00:26 Channel 24 reporter Cyril Payen joins me on set.
00:30 Welcome to the set, Cyril.
00:33 Walk us through the U.S. presence in Niger until now.
00:36 I remember about 20 years ago, there was no one.
00:39 And now it's an important regional hub.
00:41 Well, it did increase during this past 20 years very much indeed regarding the Jihadist
00:49 threat in the region.
00:50 It looks like very much now we are living the final act or the checkmate of the American,
00:55 the U.S. strategy, especially in this part of West Africa, namely Niger.
01:00 And this six months after the French, we were traditional allies as the former colonial
01:07 power here, get kicked out also by the junta after the coup, the military coup of 26 August
01:15 '23.
01:17 So final act, yes, because it looks very much that -- and this is why the American delegation
01:21 is in Niamey, as you stated, trying to earn, to win time, to get more access to the country.
01:28 It looks like it's really, really the final act, and which is -- emphasizes on the presence,
01:33 the huge influence now of Russia, Moscow, which is really kicking out all the West from
01:39 this part of the world.
01:41 Now, what happened in August of last year is that the president at the time, President
01:47 Bazoum, was arrested.
01:50 Do we know about his whereabouts, about the conditions in which he's being held?
01:53 Well, it will be nine months tomorrow that he has been held in the very room of the presidential
02:00 palace, where he was deposed by the very presidential guard, which are now in power, who took the
02:07 lead in the country.
02:08 And it's quite -- this is Mohamed Bazoum, so the elected president of Niger.
02:13 And it was really a huge, huge surprise for experts of the region after the domino effects
02:19 of many coups in West Africa, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea, of course, that Niger was
02:26 one of the last stable country.
02:29 And it turned to be not anymore the case in like a few days.
02:33 So it's very unique, too.
02:34 You have this elected president.
02:35 Maybe it's beyond the radar now, but who has been taken hostage for nearly nine months
02:40 with his wife.
02:41 He has no access to telephone, no outside people, just a doctor.
02:45 We can visit him twice a week, and we give some -- a few news from him.
02:49 But so far, he's stuck here.
02:51 There will no -- there won't be any international community pressure, but as we know, it is
02:56 totally out of the radar.
02:57 A trial, maybe?
02:58 They tried -- the junta is trying to institutionalize his case and to put him on trial and to lose
03:05 immunity for treason.
03:07 But as for now, he refused to resign and he's stuck here.
03:10 So it's quite unique.
03:11 And this is the reality now of the Niger, nearly a few months after this military push.
03:17 Well, the region that's turning more and more to Russia for its safety.
03:20 Thank you so much.
03:21 Cyril Bayard there with the analysis of what's going on in the region.