2023-08-12 21:47:46
Niger
Concerns regarding the health of President Bazoum, sequestered
Overthrown during the July 26 coup, the President of Niger Mohamed Bazoum, still sequestered, received a visit from his doctor this Saturday.
PostedAugust 12, 2023, 11:47 PM
The EU, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have expressed concern over Mohamed Bazoum.
Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum, sequestered in his presidential residence in Niamey since a coup that overthrew him, received a visit from his doctor on Saturday, according to one of his advisers, when a mediation of Nigerian religious leaders met with members of the military regime.
“The President of the Republic”, Mohamed Bazoum, “had a visit from his doctor today”, who “also brought him food”, as well as his son and his wife detained with him, affirmed an adviser to the ousted president on July 26. “He is doing well given the situation,” he added.
Several representatives of organizations and countries allied with Niger before the coup had expressed their concern regarding the conditions of confinement and the state of health of the ousted president. African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat expressed “serious concern” when the European Union (EU), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed their concern.
According to the NGO Human Rights Watch who spoke to Mohamed Bazoum, he described his family’s treatment as “inhuman and cruel”, without electricity or human contact, and had only pasta and rice to eat. , according to the American media CNN.
Mediation
On the same day, Nigerian Muslim religious leaders arrived in Niamey to meet with officials of the military regime. The religious leaders were received by the newly appointed civilian Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, then by the head of the military regime, General Abdourahamane Tiani, according to Niger national television.
This is a delegation led by Sheikh Bala Lau, the leader of Izala, a Salafist-inspired Islamic movement in Nigeria. The military regime refused on Tuesday to host a joint delegation from ECOWAS, the African Union (AU) and the UN. This Nigerian mediation comes when ECOWAS continues to favor a resolution of the crisis by diplomatic means, following having however given its agreement for the deployment of an intervention force to restore Mohamed Bazoum in his functions.
Meeting postponed
On Saturday, a meeting of the ECOWAS Chiefs of Staff was due to take place in Accra, Ghana, to brief their leaders on “the best options” following their decision to activate and deploy their “standby force”. to restore constitutional order in Niger. A meeting postponed indefinitely for “technical reasons”, according to regional military sources.
The timetable and terms of a possible West African military intervention have not been disclosed. But according to Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, whose country will contribute to this force, it should be able to intervene “as soon as possible”. According to one of Mohamed Bazoum’s relatives, the military regime brandished “the threat” to attack him if an armed intervention took place.
(AFP)Show comments
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