2023-08-09 08:12:33
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s military junta leaders, who had been in power for two weeks, have named a government and rejected calls for negotiations in what analysts described as an attempt to secure their power and show their resolve. of running the country in West Africa amid a growing regional crisis.
The junta has appointed a prime minister and other members of a cabinet. He also refused to admit mediation teams scheduled to arrive on Tuesday from the United Nations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), citing “obvious security reasons in this threatening environment,” according to a letter. Viewed by The Associated Press
ECOWAS has threatened to use military force if the junta does not reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum by Sunday, a deadline the junta ignored.
“The establishment of a government is significant and indicates, at least to the public, that they have a plan, with the support of the entire government,” said Aneliese Bernard, a former US State Department official specializing in African affairs who now heads Strategic Stabilization Advisors, a risk consultancy.
The junta said on Monday that civilian economist Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine would be prime minister. Zeine is a former finance and economy minister who left office when his government was ousted by an earlier military coup in 2010 and later worked at the African Development Bank.
Mutinous soldiers overthrew Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, on July 26, saying they would do a better job of protecting the country from jihadist violence. Groups associated with al Qaeda and the Islamic State group have ravaged the Sahel region, a vast expanse south of the Sahara desert.
But most analysts and diplomats believe that motive is without weight and that the uprising was the result of a power struggle between the president and the head of his presidential guard, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, who says he now runs the country.
The coup was a setback for many Western countries that saw Niger as one of their last democratic partners in the region to combat the extremist threat. Niger’s partners have threatened to cut off the millions of dollars in military assistance it was receiving if constitutional order is not restored.
But for now, diplomatic efforts have yielded little, as the junta tightens its grip on power.
Niger’s capital Niamey appeared more tense on Tuesday with security force checks on vehicles. The junta closed airspace on Monday and on Tuesday temporarily suspended permission for diplomatic flights from friendly and partner countries, according to the Foreign Ministry.
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