The military regime resulting from a coup d’état in Niger asked Togo on Monday, November 6, to play mediator in its negotiations with the international community, in particular with the West African countries which sanctioned it in the summer. Nigerien Defense Minister General Salifou Moby met during the day with Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé in the Togolese capital Lomé.
After the July 26 coup, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed strict financial sanctions on Niger to push the military who overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum to restore constitutional order.
General Mody denounced these “cynical” sanctions, and thanked Togo for continuing to speak with the military regime after the coup, unlike many other countries. Although a member of ECOWAS, Togo has taken several bilateral initiatives to dialogue with the Nigerien military regime.
“We have never closed our country to our friends. (…) Niger remains open, even if arrangements have been made so that we can no longer speak with them,” General Mody told the press after his meeting with President Gnassingbé. “We asked the President of the Republic of Togo to be a mediator, to facilitate this dialogue with our various partners,” he added.
Withdrawal of French forces
France, Niger’s former colonial power, engaged in a standoff with the military regime after the coup, then began in October, at its request, to withdraw its approximately 1,500 soldiers deployed in the country.
“We ask Togo, our brother country, in view of what it continues to give us, to be our guarantor” within the framework of the agreement governing the French military withdrawal, which is “progressing” and taking place “normally », added General Mody.
The Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Dussey, for his part indicated during a press conference that his country was ready to “help as a facilitator” in the dialogue between Niger and the international community, thanking General Mody “to have designated, alongside the United States of America, Togo as the guarantor country for the withdrawal of French forces.”
The ruling junta in Niamey has rejected demands from ECOWAS to restore constitutional order and insists on the need for a transitional period of maximum three years to do so, as the country faces two jihadist insurgencies in the south. -east and west.
Togo regularly attempts to position itself as a mediator in the region. In 2022, he notably participated in efforts to free 49 Ivorian soldiers held prisoner in Bamako, Mali, after being accused of being mercenaries.
