Pressure from the international community is mounting on the putschists who seized power in Niger on July 26.
In a few hours, Sunday, August 6, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ultimatum will end; it says it is ready to intervene militarily in this country. On July 30, she gave the Nigerien junta seven days to restore President Mohamed Bazoum to office, or risk using “force”. The latter has been kidnapped since the coup.
In Paris, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that it supported “with firmness and determination” the efforts of ECOWAS to defeat the putsch attempt. “The future of Niger and the stability of the whole region are at stake.”
On Friday, the chiefs of staff of the member countries of ECOWAS “defined the contours of a possible military intervention” against the Nigerien junta, according to an official of the regional organization. “All aspects of a possible intervention have been discussed at this meeting, including the resources needed, but also how and when we will deploy the force,” said the Commissioner for Political Affairs and Security. , Abdel-Fatau Musah, after a meeting in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
The “Coup Too Many”
In Niger, rallies in support of the putschists took place across the country on Friday and Saturday, with demonstrators waving Nigerien and Russian flags or portraits of the perpetrators of the coup, national TV and local journalists reported. .
In Paris, around 30 people showed their support for Mr. Bazoum, including his Prime Minister, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou.
“I remain optimistic because I know how much Nigeriens value democracy and the stability of their country. A happy ending is still possible. As you know, in any negotiation, anything can happen until you reach the end of the set deadline. The last minutes are crucial. “, he said, to the World, assuring that President Bazoum is in “very good health”.
From the French capital, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou prefers to believe in fruitful discussions between all parties: “As long as the ultimatum has not come to an end, there is still hope. »
However, several West African armies, including that of Senegal, have said they are ready to send soldiers. A source close to the Ivorian delegation in Abuja also mentioned a dispatch of troops, without specifying the possible number of men mobilized.
The head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, said on Saturday morning on France Info that the threat of recourse to intervention by ECOWAS should be “taken very seriously. In another interview with RFI, a radio whose broadcast was interrupted in Niger, she considered that it was “the coup d’etat too many”, after those, in recent years, in Mali and Burkina Faso.
His colleague in the armed forces, Sébastien Lecornu, assured Agence France-Presse that Paris knew that “the situation was fragile in Niger”. “What may surprise is that the trigger for this coup d’etat [takes its source in] a personal dispute” between General Abdouharamane Tiani, leader of the putschists and the presidential guard, and President Bazoum, a- he added.
Mali and Burkina Faso in support of Niger
In Mali and Burkina Faso, faced with jihadist violence like Niger, the military putschists warned that they would stand in solidarity with their neighbor and that any military intervention would be considered “a declaration of war” against them.
In Nigeria, where President Bola Tinubu has raised his voice against the Nigerian junta, 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.” “.
“We categorically refuse any military intervention”, also reacted Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, assuring that a military intervention in Niger would be “a direct threat to Algeria”. “Two countries [Mali and Burkina Faso] are ready to go into battle,” he recalled in a television interview, warning that in the event of a military intervention “the whole Sahel will be set ablaze “.
The Niamey putschists, for their part, promised an “immediate response” to “any aggression”. The diplomatic solution continues to be preferred according to Abdel-Fatau Musah, the commissioner in charge of political affairs and security of ECOWAS, joined on this point by Benin, a neighboring country of Niger and a member of the regional organization.
Several Western chancelleries also advocated dialogue, including Germany, which called for continued “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.
In Niamey, citizen “watch brigades” have been 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 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 to the movement of suspicious individuals”.