2023-08-11 18:09:05
Supporters of the military regime gather in Niamey, Niger, on August 11, 2023, near the French base where 1,500 soldiers are positioned. – /AFP
Thousands of supporters of the military regime resulting from a coup in Niger gathered on Friday August 11 near the French military base in Niamey, chanting slogans hostile to France, noted journalists from Agence France -Press (AFP). “Down with France, down with ECOWAS”chanted the demonstrators during this rally which is held the day after a summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which gave its agreement to a possible military intervention to restore the president, Mohamed Bazoum, overthrown on July 26.
ECOWAS ordered Thursday, August 10 at the end of its summit in Abuja, Nigeria, “immediate activation” of its intervention force with a view to “restore constitutional order” after the coup. Nigerian President Bola Tinubu stressed that no option had been ruled out to ensure a rapid return to constitutional order in Niger, including the use of force as a last resort. ECOWAS added, however, that it favored a peaceful resolution of the crisis and that no option that would achieve this result had been ruled out.
ECOWAS chiefs of staff will meet in Ghana on Saturday, AFP learned on Friday from regional military sources.
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For his part, the president of the African Union, the Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, questioned the putschists on Friday about “the urgency of stopping the escalation with the regional organization [de la Cedeao]the distrust of him and the continuation of the sequestration of the president [Bazoum] in worryingly deteriorating conditions”.
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