The pressure of the international community increased on Saturday on the putschists who took power in Niger, on the eve of the end of an ultimatum from the West African bloc (ECOWAS) which said it was ready to intervene militarily in a country plagued by jihadist violence.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has indicated that it supports “with firmness and determination” the efforts of ECOWAS to defeat the putsch attempt. “The future of Niger and the stability of the entire region are at stake.”
On Friday, the chiefs of staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) “defined the contours of a” possible military intervention “against the Nigerien junta, according to an official of the organization regional.
“All the elements of a possible intervention have been worked out at this meeting, including the necessary resources, but also how and when we will deploy the force,” said the Commissioner for Political Affairs and Security. , Abdel-Fatau Musah, following a meeting in Abuja.
On July 30, four days after the coup that overthrew elected President Mohamed Bazoum, ECOWAS had given the putschists seven days, i.e. until Sunday evening, to restore him to office, under penalty of using “strength”.
In Niger, demonstrations in support of the putschists took place across the country on Friday and Saturday, during which the Nigerien and Russian flags, portraits of the perpetrators of the coup were very visible, according to national TV and local journalists.
In Paris, around thirty people expressed their support for Mr. Bazoum, including his Prime Minister, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou.
“For the ultimatum, there is still time, we still hope that the negotiation will prevail and that there will not necessarily be a military intervention”, he said, assuring that President Bazoum, sequestered since the day of the putsch on July 26, was in “very good health”.
Several West African armies such as Senegal have said they are ready to send soldiers, as has Côte d’Ivoire, according to a source close to the Ivorian delegation in Abuja who did not specify the possible number of men mobilized.
The head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna said Saturday morning on France info that it was necessary “to take very seriously the threat of recourse to intervention” from ECOWAS. In another interview with RFI, she felt that with Niger, it was “one coup d’etat too many”, after those in recent years in the Sahel of Mali and Burkina Faso.
His colleague in the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, assured AFP that France knew that “the situation was fragile in Niger”. “What may surprise is that the trigger for this coup d’etat comes above all from a personal dispute” between General Abdouharamane Tiani, leader of the putschists and the presidential guard, and President Bazoum, he said. -he adds.
In Mal and Burkina Faso, faced with jihadist violence like Niger, the putschist soldiers warned that they would stand in solidarity with their neighbor and that any military intervention would be considered as “a declaration of war” against them.
In Nigeria too, 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. “.
The Niamey putschists for their part promised an “immediate response” to “any aggression”.
The diplomatic solution continues to be favored according to Mr. Musah, joined on this point by Benin, a neighboring country of Niger and a member of ECOWAS.
Several Western chancelleries have also advocated dialogue, notably Germany, which has called for the continuation of “mediation efforts”.
The putschists must return to “institutional legitimacy, we are ready to help them”, estimated Algerian President Abdelamdjid Tebboune, in an interview on national television on Saturday evening, extracts from which were published on the Facebook page of the presidency. .
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, calm on Saturday, citizen “watch brigades” were 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 of Niger 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 the movement of suspicious individuals”.
08/05/2023 18:29:11 – Niamey (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
