Some 36 Italians, four Bulgarians, two Austrians and one citizen each from Britain, Niger, Hungary, Senegal and Nigeria were also on the Boeing 767 flight, as well as military personnel.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani greeted the arrivals as they came down the steps from the plane.
He told Rainews24 that about 40 Italians had opted to remain in Niger, most of them experienced NGO staff who know the country well.
“We are satisfied because we have managed to bring back to Italy all our compatriots who had asked to return,” Tajani said.
He also ruled out the option of a Western military intervention in Niger to restore democracy after the coup there.
“I think we must apply pressure for the return of democracy in Niger but any Western military intervention is to be ruled out because it would be seen as a new colonization,” Tajani said.
Shawn Crowley, the Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Rome, thanked Italy for its help in getting the Americans out.
“They had a very traumatic experience,” Crowley said.
“So it’s really been fantastic to have the citizens brought to safety.”
A military junta overthrew Niger’s democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and his government on July 26 in the seventh military takeover in less than three years in West and Central Africa.
With the risk of conflict escalating, France, the former colonial power, Italy and Spain said they would evacuate citizens by air.
The first two French flights left Niger on Tuesday evening and landed in Paris early on Wednesday with more than 350 French people on board, as well as citizens of a number of other nations, the foreign ministry in Paris said.
“Things could have turned ugly but it still is nice to be back here,” a French evacuee who gave his name as Charles told Reuters TV.
“We will see how things evolve over there in the coming days and weeks.
“For us, who care about it quite a lot, we will follow this closely.”
The recent coups in the region have come amid a wave of vitriol aimed at former colonial power France that resulted in its troops having to withdraw from Mali and Burkina Faso this year and last.
Many of those soldiers are stationed in Niger.
The US, Germany and Italy also have troops in Niger on counter-insurgency and training missions.
“It is a fragile context (in Niger) so obviously this situation is complex,” Bianca Ghiselli, from Italian NGO Doctors for Human Rights, said.
“It is a tense situation that we hope will be resolved as much as possible,” she said as she returned to Rome.
AAP
