2023-08-22 19:09:47
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In this text, the PSC takes “note of the decision of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States)”, to “deploy a force” in Niger, an option which makes the continental organization skeptical. He is asking the AU Commission for “an assessment of the economic, social and security implications” of such a deployment, while clearly displaying his preference for the diplomatic route.
«Application progressive des sanctions»
The CPS says it supports the “efforts of ECOWAS in its sustained commitment to the restoration of constitutional order by diplomatic means”, then claims to support a “peaceful restoration” of constitutional order “in Niger. He also “invites” “the military junta in Niger to cooperate with ECOWAS and the AU for a peaceful and rapid restoration of constitutional order”.
The PSC also calls on its member states to “fully implement the sanctions imposed by ECOWAS” once morest Niger, while asking for their “progressive application” and that their “disproportionate effect on the citizens of Niger” be minimized.
Twelve soldiers killed
In Niamey, national television announced on Tuesday that twelve soldiers had been killed on Sunday in the Tillabéri region (southwest), in an ambush by suspected jihadists.
Read also: In Niger, the coup opened the door to jihadists
The soldiers who overthrew President Bazoum, elected in 2021, mainly justified their coup d’etat by the “deterioration of the security situation”. For its part, ECOWAS maintains that it wants to “restore constitutional order in Niger”. It repeats its preference for a diplomatic solution but still agitates the threat of the use of force.
Among Niger’s main international partners, France, which deploys some 1,500 soldiers for the anti-jihadist fight in Niger, has shown its full support for ECOWAS, while the United States has called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
The military in power in Niamey denounced on August 3 a series of military agreements with France, some of which are accompanied by a month’s notice. On Tuesday, Abdoulaye Seydou, leader of M62, a civil society coalition opposed to France’s military presence, said his movement would not give France “a second” to withdraw its troops when that deadline expires. .
On the sidelines of the BRICS summit currently being held in South Africa, the director general in charge of Africa at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wu Peng, affirmed that the situation in Niger “must be resolved through peaceful dialogue, through ECOWAS and the African Union”.
Also read: In Niger, the junta carried by anger once morest a “sick democracy”
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