2023-08-06 00:32:53
The pressure of the international community is increasing on the putschists who took power in Niger, a few hours from the end of Sunday of the ultimatum of the West African bloc (ECOWAS) which said it was ready to intervene militarily in a country plagued by jihadist violence.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that it supports “with firmness and determination” the efforts of ECOWAS to defeat the putsch attempt. “The future of Niger and the stability of the entire region are at stake.”
On Friday, the chiefs of staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “defined the contours of a” possible military intervention “against the Nigerien junta, according to an official of the organization regional.
“All the elements of a possible intervention have been worked out at this meeting, including the necessary resources, but also how and when we will deploy the force,” said the Commissioner for Political Affairs and Security. , Abdel-Fatau Musah, following a meeting in Abuja.
On July 30, four days after the coup that overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum, ECOWAS gave the putschists seven days, i.e. until Sunday evening, to restore him to office, under penalty of using “strength”.
Bazoum in “very good health”
In Niger, demonstrations in support of the putschists took place across the country on Friday and Saturday, during which the Nigerien and Russian flags, portraits of the perpetrators of the coup were very visible, according to national TV and local journalists.
In Paris, around thirty people expressed their support for Mr. Bazoum, including his Prime Minister, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou.
“We still hope that the negotiation will prevail and that there will not necessarily be a military intervention”, he said, assuring that President Bazoum, sequestered since the putsch of July 26, is in “very good health”.
Several West African armies, including Senegal, have said they are ready to send soldiers. A source close to the Ivorian delegation in Abuja also mentioned a dispatch of armed forces, without specifying the possible number of men mobilized.
The head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna said on Saturday morning on France Info that it was necessary “to take very seriously the threat of recourse to intervention” by ECOWAS. In another interview with RFI, she considered that with Niger, it was a “coup d’etat too many”, after those in recent years in Mali and Burkina Faso.
“The whole Sahel will be set ablaze” –
In Mali and Burkina Faso, faced with jihadist violence like Niger, the putschist soldiers warned that they would stand in solidarity with their neighbor and that any military intervention would be considered as “a declaration of war” against them.
In Nigeria too, voices are being heard against intervention.
“The victims will be innocent citizens going about their daily lives,” the Northern Senators Forum said in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Suleiman Kawu Sumaila, adding that people in the north of the country would be “negatively affected. “.
Map of member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) including those targeted by sanctions after a coup
AFP
“We categorically refuse any military intervention”, also reacted the Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, assuring that a military intervention in Niger would be “a direct threat for Algeria”.
“Two countries (Mali and Burkina Faso) are ready to enter the battle”, he recalled during a television interview, warning that in the event of a military intervention “the whole Sahel will be set ablaze “.
– “Watch Brigades”
The Niamey putschists for their part promised an “immediate response” to “any aggression”.
The diplomatic solution continues to be favored according to Mr. Musah, joined on this point by Benin, a neighboring country of Niger and a member of ECOWAS.
Several Western chancelleries have also advocated dialogue, notably Germany, which has called for the continuation of “mediation efforts”.
Relations between the junta in Niger and the former colonial power France have deteriorated in recent days.
The putschists denounced Thursday evening cooperation agreements in the field of security and defense with France, which deploys in Niger a military contingent of 1,500 soldiers for the fight against terrorism.
Demonstration of support for the putschists of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP), on August 3, 2023 in the streets of Niamey, in Niger
AFP
In Niamey, calm on Saturday, citizen “watch brigades” were set up on several roundabouts in Niamey to “monitor the external threat”.
In a decree read Thursday evening on television, the junta had called “the population of Niger to be vigilant with regard to spies and foreign armed forces”, and invited citizens to transmit to the authorities “any information relating to the entry or the movement of suspicious individuals”.
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