2023-08-19 20:26:15
Niger’s new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani, who came to power in a coup, assured Saturday evening that the transition period could not exceed three years while warning foreign countries against military intervention against his country.
“Our ambition is not to confiscate power“, said General Abdourahamane Tiani in a televised address. According to the new strongman of Niger, the duration of the transition “cannot go beyond three years“. “If an aggression were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park that some believe“, he warned, the day after a decision by ECOWAS saying it was ready for armed intervention.
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The ECOWAS delegation met the overthrown President Bazoum
The West African delegation that arrived in Niamey on Saturday afternoon met the president ousted at the end of July, Mohamed Bazoum. This one “a and moral“, assured a source within the Economic Community of West African States, specifying that the ousted president has “always not“of electricity.
His conditions of detention worry the international community and many countries, such as the United States or France, have regularly called for his release since the coup.
This delegation, which landed at midday in the capital, is led by former Nigerian President Abdulsalami Abubakar. The latter had already gone to Niamey on behalf of ECOWAS on August 3, but had met neither the new strongman of Niger, General Abdourahamane Tiani, nor the overthrown president.
On Friday, the commissioner for political affairs, peace and security of the regional organization, Abdel-Fatau Musah announced that this mission aimed to “continue to follow the peaceful path to restore constitutional order“.
“Ready to intervene“
“We are ready to intervene as soon as the order is given. The day of the intervention has also been fixed“, said Mr. Musah, at the end of a two-day meeting of the West African Chiefs of Staff in Accra, Ghana. According to him, were agreed at this meeting “the strategic objectives, the necessary equipment and the commitment of the Member States“for this possible intervention.
This military option has been brandished by ECOWAS for several weeks. On August 10, West African leaders ordered the deployment of a “standby strength“, the outlines of which were drawn on Friday in Accra. Neither the terms nor a possible timetable have however been made public.
Another diplomatic initiative took place on Friday: Nigerien military-appointed Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine met with a UN delegation led by Leonardo Santos Simão, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for West Africa and the Sahel.
“We must first listen to the authorities, their point of view to study together a way so that the country returns as quickly as possible to normality and constitutional legality. We are convinced that it is always possible through dialogue“, declared Mr. Simão at the end of this meeting.
Voluntary civilian auxiliaries
In Niamey, the new regime remains inflexible for the moment and had affirmed that an armed intervention would be a “unlawful and senseless assault“.
More than three weeks after the coup, the conditions of detention of deposed President Mohamed Bazoum are worrying the international community and “deteriorate” according to the President of Nigeria Bola Tinubu. In an interview with the New York Times, the new Prime Minister of Niger for his part assured Friday evening that he “nothing will happen” to Mr. Bazoum.
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In the hours following the coup, France was asked to support a possible intervention by the Nigerien army to free Mr. Bazoum, we learned on Saturday from a source familiar with the matter.
“But the loyalists changed sides and joined the putschists. The conditions were therefore not met to satisfy this request for support“, said this source, who did not specify the nature of the assistance that Paris could potentially have provided.
About 1,500 French soldiers are stationed in Niger, under defense agreements between the two countries, in particular for the fight against jihadists who have regularly bereaved the country with their bloody attacks for several years.
On Tuesday, at least 17 soldiers were killed in an attack near Burkina Faso, the deadliest since the coup. Also earlier this week, at least 28 civilians died in violence in several villages near Mali, according to a local official source who did not specify the nature of this violence.
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