2023-08-15 14:42:00
A West African military meeting to discuss a possible armed intervention in Niger, to restore President Mohamed Bazoum overthrown by a coup, will take place from Thursday in Ghana, Russia and Mali calling for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
This meeting initially scheduled for August 12 had been postponed and will finally take place on August 17 and 18 in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, according to a regional military source and a source within the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS).
It will be held a week after the organization’s decision to deploy a “standby force” to restore Niger’s president Mohamed Bazoum, who was overthrown by a military coup on July 26.
On Tuesday, during a telephone conversation, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Malian counterpart Assimi Goïta, who came to power by a putsch in 2020, stressed “the importance of resolving the situation” in Niger, “only by means peaceful politico-diplomatic”.
Mali, a neighboring country of Niger, very quickly showed its solidarity with the military in power in Niamey.
The latter also raised their voices on Monday evening in the face of the threat of armed intervention.
They recalled Niger’s ambassador to Abidjan for “consultation”, after remarks by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara who, according to them, “apologized for armed action” against their country.
“Senseless Aggression”
Thursday, after the ECOWAS summit in Abuja which had endorsed the deployment of the “standby force”, President Ouattara had declared that the heads of state agreed that a military operation “start as soon as possible deadlines”, pledging to provide a battalion.
The military regime in Niamey denounced Mr. Ouattara’s “eagerness” to “see this completely illegal and senseless aggression against Niger take place”.
On Tuesday, a container was placed across the road that connects Benin to Niger at Malanville, the only land border between the two countries, according to the testimony of several inhabitants on the Benin side.
According to these sources, this container – which completely blocks the passage – would have been placed on the Niger side to prevent a possible military intervention by this border.
On Monday, ECOWAS for its part denounced a “new provocation” by the military in power in Niamey who announced their intention to prosecute ousted President Mohamed Bazoum “for high treason” in court.
The military regime claims to have gathered “evidence”, based on “exchanges” that Mr. Bazoum would have had with “nationals”, “foreign heads of state” and “heads of international organizations” .
“Media hype”
Denouncing a “media hype”, the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS), of Mr. Bazoum, affirmed on Tuesday that these accusations were “a pure false invention (…) to prevent the return to a constitutional life normal”.
The overthrown president has been detained since the coup in his presidential residence, with his son and his wife.
But the path of dialogue has not been abandoned: on Saturday, a delegation of Nigerian Muslim religious leaders, led with the agreement of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, also head of ECOWAS, went to Niamey to “appease the tensions created by the prospect of military intervention”.
According to this mediation, which was received by Niger’s new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani, the soldiers are ready to “explore the path of diplomacy and peace in order to resolve” the crisis.
And if ECOWAS brandished the threat of armed intervention last week by deploying a “standby force”, it repeated its preference to favor the “diplomatic way”.
Since July 30, this landlocked Sahelian country undermined by the violence of various armed jihadist groups has been under heavy financial and trade sanctions imposed by ECOWAS.
On Tuesday, the Sahel Alliance, an international platform coordinating aid to the region, said it was “particularly concerned” by the implications of the coup “on the most vulnerable populations and by the information relating to the increasing restriction of human and civil rights”.
The Sahel Alliance brings together several countries and international institutions such as France, Germany or the United States which have suspended their aid programs in Niger.
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08/15/2023 14:41:03 – Niamey (Niger) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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