According to mediators, two and a half weeks after the military putsch in West African Niger, the putschists agreed to negotiations with the West African group of states Ecowas.
This was announced by the head of a delegation of Islamic clerics, Nigerian Sheikh Bala Lau, after a meeting with Niger’s new ruler, General Abdourahmane Tiani. The Nigerian delegation traveled to the Niger capital Niamey on Saturday amid tensions between Niger and the currently Nigerian-led bloc Ecowas.
Sheikh Lau said the team discussed all issues, including Ecowas’ call for the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum, who was ousted by the July 26 coup. Tiani assured them that the doors were open to a diplomatic and peaceful resolution of the matter. For his part, Tiani defended the motives for the coup.
Diplomatic efforts have priority
At a special summit on Thursday, Ecowas leaders ordered a military stand-by force to be activated to restore constitutional order after the coup d’état in Niger. At the same time, diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution should continue to have priority. Niger’s new rulers have so far refused to receive official Ecowas delegations. A group of Islamic clerics traveled to Niger on Saturday.
Niger, a country with around 26 million inhabitants and one of the poorest populations in the world, was one of the last democratic partners of the USA and European states in the Sahel region on the southern edge of the Sahara before the coup. France and the US have important military bases in the country, which is also on a key migration route to Europe. On July 26, the military ousted the president and suspended the constitution. The putschists have since appointed their own interim government.
Bazoum receives a visit from his doctor
Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held for more than two weeks, received his doctor’s visit for the first time on Saturday. According to the doctor, the 63-year-old, his wife and his son are doing well, said Presidential Advisor Abdourahamane Insar of the German Press Agency. Before that, there had been international concerns about the situation of the president and his family, who have had no electricity, fresh food or running water since early August. The United Nations, governments and human rights organizations have criticized the prison conditions.
Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu reiterated French support for Ecowas’ moves against the coup plotters in Niger. In an interview with the regional newspaper “Var Matin” on Sunday, the minister said there was full support from France for the latest decisions by the West African community of states. When asked if he feared armed action in Niger, Lecornu replied, “No.”
The former colonial power France, which is present in Niger and in neighboring Chad with around 2,500 soldiers, strongly condemns the coup and regularly emphasizes that it does not recognize the new rulers. Paris wants a return to constitutional order around President Mohamed Bazoum.
Soldiers “accustomed to complicated situations”
Lecornu said soldiers on the ground are used to complicated situations. France is active in the fight against terrorism in Niger at the request of the legitimate Nigerien rulers. For Paris, Niger was one of the last local partners in the anti-terrorist fight in the Sahel after France was pushed out of Mali and Burkina Faso as a result of military coups.
Thursday’s announcement of Ecowas further raised many questions. Although Ecowas spoke of the use of the task force, but gave no details on the composition of the force or a possible timetable for a deployment. So far, of the 15 Ecowas member states, Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin and Guinea-Bissau have agreed to provide troops for a possible military intervention.
Cape Verde spoke out against an operation. Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, which, like Niger, have been suspended from Ecowas after military coups, want to provide military support to the military junta in Niger in the event of an intervention.
Ecowas has carried out interventions in the past, but always acted at the invitation of the respective state, as most recently in Gambia in 2017. The deployment of such riot troops is regulated between the African Union and the respective regional economic blocs such as Ecowas, but is linked to scenarios such as preventing serious human rights violations.
