Thousands of people in Niger's capital on Saturday protested for the immediate departure of US soldiers from the north, after the military junta in Niamey said it was withdrawing from a military agreement with Washington. 

Niger's government announced on Saturday that it was breaking off "with immediate effect" its military cooperation agreement with the United States. The declaration came just a day after a senior US delegation left Niger, following a three-day visit to renew contact with the military junta that ousted the president and moved closer to Russia.

West Africa’s regional bloc known as ECOWAS has lifted travel, commercial and economic sanctions imposed on Niger that were aimed at reversing the coup staged in the country last year, a senior official announced Saturday.

Niger's ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held in detention since a July 26 coup, must be freed immediately, the court of the West African bloc, ECOWAS, ordered on Friday. 

The last French troops deployed in Niger left on Friday, an AFP journalist reported, marking an end to more than a decade of French anti-jihadist operations in west Africa's Sahel region.

France is planning to close its embassy in Niger for an indefinite period as it is unable to carry out diplomatic tasks due to restrictions imposed by the ruling junta, a French embassy letter to its Niger staff dated Tuesday and seen by Reuters on Thursday showed.

Mali and Niger accuse Paris of having a “hostile attitude” and violating international cooperation rules

The punitive measures, the European Union council claims, contribute to efforts to prompt a return to constitutional order in Niamey

France has begun withdrawing its troops from Niger after being ordered out of the West African nation by the leaders of the July coup that ousted the pro-Paris president, the military said Tuesday. 

French troops will begin withdrawing from Niger "this week", Paris said Thursday, after a falling-out with the military junta in power since a July coup.

Niamey has won big against neo-colonialism, but its enemies could now resort to a covert technique they've already used in Africa.

President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday that France will end its military presence in Niger and pull its ambassador out of the country after its democratically elected president was deposed in a coup. 

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have signed a Sahel security pact

President Macron lamented that the envoy in Niamey has been reduced to military rations

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 June.

Niger's military junta said it revoked the diplomatic immunity of France's ambassador and ordered police to expel him from the country, according to a statement. The French foreign ministry has said the junta, which seized power last month, has "no authority" to expel the French ambassador. 

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a strengthening of France's diplomatic efforts amid a changing world order in his annual address to French ambassadors on Monday.

My country Niger is never normally "front page news" but that all changed on 26 July.

Niamey cited hostile actions by Paris, as it braces for a possible attack by ECOWAS