2023-08-07 04:51:49
ECOWAS has planned to meet Thursday in Abuja on Niger. Earlier, the Malian army announced the dispatch to Niamey of a joint Mali-Burkina Faso official delegation to “show the solidarity of the two countries” with the perpetrators of the coup. It is a decisive week for Niger, the day following the expiration of a West African ultimatum demanding the return to constitutional order. Follow the situation live.
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3:48 p.m .: the ECOWAS meeting will be held Thursday in Abuja
The leaders of ECOWAS will meet Thursday in Abuja for an “extraordinary summit” on Niger, announced the West African organization, the day following the expiration of its ultimatum to the putschists demanding the restoration of the ousted Nigerien president.
West African States (ECOWAS) has convened another Extraordinary Summit of the Authority on the political situation in the Republic of Niger. The Summit will hold in Abuja, on Thursday, August 10, 2023.
— Ecowas – Cedeao (@ecowas_cedeao) August 7, 2023
“The leaders of the West African organization will look into the political situation and recent developments in Niger”, according to the press release from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had threatened to possible use of force if President Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated by Sunday August 6.
Read alsoIn Niger, an uncertain armed response following the expiry of the ECOWAS ultimatum
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1:08 p.m .: Germany in favor of a negotiated solution
Even if the ECOWAS ultimatum expired on Sunday evening, “mediation discussions are continuing” with the soldiers who took power in Niamey, assured a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry.
“ECOWAS has always emphasized that it will first exhaust its mediation efforts (…) we believe that the mediation efforts are only at their beginning because the sanctions are only beginning to produce their effects”, added this spokesperson, Sebastian Fischer, during a regular press briefing in Berlin.
There is, according to him, “no automatism” between the end of the ECOWAS ultimatum and an armed intervention in Niger.
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12:03 p.m .: Air France suspends its connections with Bamako and Ouagadougou until August 11
The French airline is suspending flights to and from the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso until August 11 due to the closure of Nigerien airspace.
The airline has warned that “longer flight times” to and from several sub-Saharan destinations will be expected.
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11:27 am: an official Mali/Burkina delegation sent to Niamey in “solidarity”
The Malian army has announced the dispatch to Niamey by Mali and Burkina Faso of a joint official delegation in “solidarity” with Niger, the scene of a military coup at the end of July and under the threat of a West African military intervention.
“Burkina Faso and Mali are sending a delegation to Niamey, led by the Malian minister” Abdoulaye Maïga, one of the strong men of the Malian junta, indicated the Malian army on social networks. “Objective: to show the solidarity of the two countries to the brotherly people of Niger,” she added.
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11:14 a.m .: Chinese embassy advises nationals to leave Niger
Chinese nationals in Niger should leave for a third country or return home if there is no reason to stay in the West African country, the Chinese Embassy in Niger said in a statement released. on its website.
The embassy added that Chinese nationals with short-term plans to visit Niger should refrain from traveling unless necessary.
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11:08 am: Italy “hopes” for an extension of the ECOWAS ultimatum
Italy “hopes” that the West African ultimatum demanding the reinstatement of overthrown Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum and which expired on Sunday “will be extended”, said its foreign minister, stressing that “the only way out is diplomatic “.
“I hope that the ultimatum of the states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which expired last night, will be extended,” said the minister, Antonio Tajani, in an interview published Monday by the daily La Stampa.
“We have to find a solution: it is not said that we will not find a solution that is not war”, he hopes.
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5:24 a.m .: power cuts worsen in Niamey
For the past week, the Nigerien capital has suffered major power cuts, a direct consequence of regional sanctions following the July 26 putsch. On Wednesday, Nigeria announced that it would cut the electricity supply to its neighbour, in line with the sanctions decided by Niger’s West African neighbors.
Normally, Niamey is already subject to regular power cuts due to grid failures.
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1:23 am: closed airspace in Niger
The military who took power in Niger closed the country’s airspace. “Faced with the threat of intervention which is becoming clearer from neighboring countries, Niger’s airspace is closed (…) until further notice”, reports a press release from the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP). , who took power).
This press release was published shortly before the expiration, Monday at midnight Niamey time (23:00 GMT), of the ultimatum sent on July 30 by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the military to restore President Bazoum to his duties, on pain of armed intervention.
The CNSP specifies that “any attempt to violate the airspace” will lead to “an energetic and instantaneous response”.
He also claims that a “pre-deployment for the preparation of the intervention has been made in two Central African countries”, without specifying which ones. “Any state involved will be considered co-belligerent.”
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The essential of the day of August 6
Some 30,000 Niger coup supporters gathered in Niamey on Sunday, a show of force hours from the end of a West African ultimatum demanding the military who seized power to restore ousted President Bazoum, under penalty of the use of “force”.
This show of force took place on the day of the expiration of the ultimatum set on July 30 by ECOWAS to the soldiers who took power to restore President Bazoum to his duties.
With AFP and Archyde.com
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