2023-08-04 05:27:00
Overthrown on July 26, Mohamed Bazoum warns of the effects that the putsch could have, in particular on the influence of the Wagner group in the Sahel.
By NB with AFP The elected president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, warns about the role of the Wagner group in the coup. © – / AFP Published on 08/04/2023 at 05:27
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The coup in Niger could have “devastating” consequences for the world and bring the Sahel region under the “influence” of Russia, via the mercenaries of the Wagner group, writes President-elect Mohamed Bazoum in a column published Thursday evening in the Washington Post. Therefore, “I call on the US government and the entire international community to help restore constitutional order”, adds Mohamed Bazoum in a first long public statement since he was overthrown on July 26 by the military. putschists.
“I am writing this as a hostage,” says Mohamed Bazoum, who has been sequestered since his government was overthrown on July 26 by putschist soldiers. “This blow […] has no justification and if he succeeds it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the whole world”, he underlines. “In the troubled region of the Sahel, in the midst of authoritarian movements that have imposed themselves among some of our neighbors, Niger is the last bastion for the respect of rights”, he continues in this text published in English. READ ALSO “France no longer has any room for maneuver today in the Sahel”
“An autocratic junta without vision and without allies”
Burkina Faso and Mali, neighboring countries also ruled by the military “employ criminal mercenaries like the Wagner group” to “address security problems” rather than “build their own capacities”. However, “the entire central region of the Sahel could come under Russian influence via the Wagner group, whose brutal terrorism has been clearly exposed in Ukraine”, continues Mohamed Bazoum, democratically elected in 2021. READ ALSO Niger: “The jihadists must rub their hands”
An organization linked to the Wagner group recently broadcast a message allegedly from the leader of these mercenaries, Evgueni Prigojine, who affirms that the putsch in Niger was part of the “fight against the colonizers”. And young people favorable to the putschists raised Russian flags in the streets of the capital Niamey. American officials, however, say they have “no indication” of Wagner’s involvement in the events in Niger, but fear that these mercenaries, established in Mali and suspected of being in neighboring Burkina Faso, are trying to take advantage of the situation.
“This coup must stop and the junta must release all those it holds illegally”, further urges Mohamed Bazoum, saying he fears for the future of his country “under an autocratic junta without vision and without reliable allies”.
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