2023-08-19 00:38:52
A “possible” diplomatic mission might go to Niger on Saturday to try to find a peaceful solution to the crisis that is shaking the country, where a coup d’etat took place on July 26 and where the ECOWAS force is said Friday ready to engage in armed intervention.
The commissioner for political affairs, peace and security of the regional organization, Abdel-Fatau Musah, announced a “possible” diplomatic mission to Niamey in order to “continue to follow the peaceful path to restore constitutional order”. .
“We are ready to solve the problem peacefully, but it takes two to tango,” Musah said. But “we are not going to be the ones who knock on the door when they slam it on us”, he added, however, speaking following a meeting of the chiefs of staff of the West African armies have been meeting since Thursday in Accra, more than three weeks following the coup that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger on July 26.
Previous delegations from the Economic Community of West African States have so far failed to meet General Abdourahamane Tiani, the new strongman in the country where the ECOWAS force said it was ready on Friday. to an intervention.
“We are ready to intervene as soon as the order is given. The day of the intervention has also been fixed,” Musah said. According to him, at this meeting were agreed “the strategic objectives, the necessary equipment and the commitment of the Member States” for this possible intervention.
On August 10, ECOWAS ordered at a summit in Abuja the deployment of its “standby force” to restore constitutional order in Niger, without revealing the terms or the timetable.
At the same time, ECOWAS continued to favor the path of dialogue with the military regime. Calls for a peaceful resolution to this crisis have also multiplied in recent days, particularly from the United States.
The flags of Niger and Mali during the extraordinary meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Accra, on August 17, 2023 in Ghana
AFP
The new military regime in Niamey remains inflexible for the time being and considers that an armed intervention once morest their country would be an “illegal and senseless aggression”.
“Serious consequences”
And the soldiers who took power continue to hold the deposed president sequestered, whom they intend to prosecute for “high treason”.
Asked regarding the fate of Mr. Bazoum, who is worrying the international community, the new Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine assured the New York Times on Friday evening that “nothing will happen to him because we have no tradition of violence in Niger. “, adding also that the Nigerien military has “no intention” of collaborating with Russia, nor with the mercenaries of the Wagner group.
“The conditions of President Bazoum’s detention are deteriorating. Any further deterioration in his state of health will have serious consequences,” warned Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who currently chairs ECOWAS, during a meeting Thursday with the President of the European Council Charles Michel, according to comments reported Friday by an EU official.
For his part, Charles Michel “reiterated the support and the full support of the EU for the decisions of ECOWAS, as well as the firm condemnation of the unacceptable coup in Niger”, according to this official.
“The EU will not recognize the authorities resulting from the putsch. President Bazoum, democratically elected, remains the legitimate head of state of Niger”, he insisted.
From Geneva, the declared desire to prosecute Mr. Bazoum for “high treason” was denounced by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
“This decision is not only motivated by political considerations once morest a democratically elected president, but it has no legal basis since the normal functioning of democratic institutions has been hindered,” he said. declared.
In his press release, Mr. Türk underlined that the election in 2021 of President Bazoum constituted “the first democratic transition in the history of the country, marked by coups d’etat”.
Calling on the generals to release him and “immediately restore constitutional order”, the official told them that they “might not arrogate to themselves the right to defy – on a whim – the will of the people”.
Also from Geneva, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has called for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to relieve the transit centers set up in Niger, where thousands of migrants are stuck.
Due to its geographical position, Niger is one of the main transit countries in the region for migrants.
At least 28 civilians were also killed earlier this week in violence in several villages in southwestern Niger, near Mali, according to a local official source. The origin of this violence was not indicated.
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