The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Thursday ordered the deployment of a “standby force” to restore constitutional order in Niger, and which should intervene “as soon as possible”, according to Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
ECOWAS, which nevertheless still hopes to reach a peaceful resolution to the crisis, has not specified any timetable, nor the number or origin of the soldiers making up this “standby force”.
But Thursday evening, on his return to Abidjan, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said that the heads of state of ECOWAS had given the green light for the operation “to start as soon as possible”.
Mr. Ouattara said that Côte d’Ivoire “will provide a battalion” of 850 to 1,100 men, alongside Nigeria and Benin in particular, and that “other countries” will join them.
“The putschists can decide to leave tomorrow morning and there will be no military intervention, everything depends on them,” insisted Mr. Ouattara.
France, for its part, gave “its full support to all the conclusions” of ECOWAS and reiterated “its firm condemnation of the attempted putsch in Niger, as well as the kidnapping of President (Mohamed) Bazoum and his family”.
ECOWAS does not, however, rule out the diplomatic channel to restore Mr. Bazoum, the elected president overthrown on July 26, in office and detained since.
At the end of the Abuja summit, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who holds the rotating presidency of ECOWAS, stressed that he hoped “to reach a peaceful resolution”, adding that resorting to force as a “last resort” was not excluded.
He had declared a few hours earlier that the negotiation with the military regime in Niger should be the “basis” of the “approach” of the organization.
And the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Touray, reaffirmed “the continued commitment to the restoration of constitutional order, through peaceful means”.
The threat of the use of force had been brandished for the first time on July 30 at a previous ECOWAS summit: a seven-day ultimatum had been issued to the soldiers of Niamey to restore President Bazoum, under penalty of armed intervention. But nothing happened when it expired on Sunday.
Since then, the new masters of Niger have seemed closed to attempts at negotiations by ECOWAS.
On Tuesday, a joint delegation of ECOWAS, the African Union (AU) and the United Nations tried to go to Niamey. In vain, the soldiers blocked their way, citing “security” reasons.
In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the authors of the coup d’etat also announced the formation of a new government, a few hours before the start of the Abuja summit.
The government formed in Niamey is led by a civilian prime minister, economist Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, and includes 20 ministers. Those of Defense and the Interior are generals of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP) which took power, respectively General Salifou Mody and General Mohamed Toumba.
The announcement of its formation confirms the determination of the military regime that overthrew Mohamed Bazoum, and appears as a sign of defiance towards the leaders of ECOWAS.
But not all West African countries are hostile to the new power in Niger: neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, also led by soldiers, have shown their solidarity with Niamey.
They even claimed that if the country was attacked by ECOWAS, it would be “a declaration of war” for them.
On Tuesday, they sent joint letters to the UN and the AU calling for their “responsibility” to prevent “any military intervention against Niger, the extent of the security and humanitarian consequences of which would be unpredictable”.
In Niamey, Thursday afternoon, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the capital to chant slogans hostile to France, the United States, considered “enemies of Niger”, before dispersing in the evening.
In its efforts to restore President Bazoum, ECOWAS can count on the support of Western powers, first and foremost the United States and France, which had made Niger a pivot of their system in the fight against armed jihadists. who sow death in a destabilized Sahel.
The United States on Wednesday expressed concern about the conditions of detention of Mr. Bazoum, detained since the coup in his presidential residence.
The number two of American diplomacy, Victoria Nuland, went to Niamey on Monday to meet the perpetrators of the coup, a meeting in which General Tiani had not participated. She hadn’t met Mr. Bazoum either.
The discussions “were extremely frank and at times quite difficult”, she admitted.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, also expressed his concern, demanding the release of Mohamed Bazoum and denouncing “the deplorable conditions” in which he would live with his family”.
The new masters of Niamey consider ECOWAS as an organization “in the pay” of France, a former colonial power and unfailing ally of President Bazoum. They have made it their main target since taking power.
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08/10/2023 23:39:54 – Abuja (AFP) – © 2023 AFP