Military cooperation between France and Gabon, where some 400 French soldiers are stationed permanently, has been suspended since the August 30 military coup, according to French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornou.

“As far as the military presence is concerned, these are soldiers who have been training and have always been with the Gabonese army. At the moment, their activities are suspended, pending the clarification of the political situation,” the minister explained in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper published in its online edition last Friday night.

The French forces, called pre-positioned, guarantee the protection of French nationals and are ready to contribute to joint operations with forces of Gabon and neighboring countries such as Cameroon, while also participating in trainings and exercises.

On Wednesday, military coup leaders announced an end to “the regime” in Gabon and placed the president, in power for 14 years, under house arrest immediately after announcing his victory in Saturday’s election.

At the same time, the French defense minister appeared to make a distinction between the military coups in Gabon and Niger, where the military has been holding the democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum imprisoned since the end of July.

“France condemns all military coups (…) However, we cannot equate the situation in Niger, where the military overthrew a democratically elected president, with that in Gabon, where the military’s motive is precisely the non observance of the electoral law and the Constitution (…) I weigh my words”, however “there are doubts” about the elections in Gabon, Mr. Lecornou told Figaro.

Diplomatic bravado between Niger’s military regime and France continued yesterday, with Niamey denouncing “meddling” by Paris, which still does not recognize the junta.

While the Nigerian military has demanded since Thursday that the police expel the French ambassador, the French defense minister stressed that “it is Niger’s responsibility to guarantee the security of the French embassy. This is international law and must be respected. As it is France’s responsibility to guarantee the security of the Niger embassy in Paris.”