The secretary collaborates with the African Union for the release of Bazoum
MADRID, 2 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, has reported this Tuesday that he has called the deposed president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, to whom he has reiterated his “unwavering support” after the coup.
“I have conveyed our continued unwavering support for the democratically elected president in Niger and for the rule of law and democratic governance,” the secretary said on his X social network account, formerly known as Twitter.
Hours before, Blinken has contacted the president of the African Union Commission, Musa Faki Mahamat, to work on the collaboration of the United States with the aforementioned regional body “to see the immediate release of Bazoum” and to support “the public security in Niger”.
Blinken’s spokesman, Matthew Miller, has shown in a press conference the support of the Biden Administration for the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the leaders of the region “to restore the democratic president”: “We believe that the democratically elected president of Niger must be immediately restored to his full authority.”
On the other hand, it has condemned the joint declaration of Mali and Burkina Faso in which they warned ECOWAS that a possible intervention against Niger would be considered a declaration of war against them. Thus, Miller has called these statements “inappropriate” “at this point.”
In addition, he has reiterated that there is no “evidence” that Moscow is behind the coup, despite the rumors, but he has assured that “it would not be out of place for Russia or the Wagner Group to try to take advantage of the instability in this country or anywhere else in Africa”.
Miller, who has assured that Washington is monitoring European efforts to evacuate its citizens, has urged the Nigerian authorities to facilitate an orderly and safe evacuation and has confirmed that the US Embassy in Niamey is open.
Bazoum has been held since Wednesday, when a group of members of the Presidential Guard led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani blocked access to the presidential palace in the capital, Niamey, and called on members of the Armed Forces and the National Guard to join his uprising.
Tchiani, leader of the military junta known as the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP), announced the removal of the president from power and the closure of the country’s borders, in an action motivated by the deepening of the economic and security crisis. in the country, which is facing an increase in the operations of the branches of the terrorist groups Islamic State and Al Qaeda.
The coup has once again fueled concerns about political instability in Niger, a country that has been rocked by four — now five — coups since it won independence from France in 1960, as well as several failed attempts, the last of them in 2021, days before Bazoum took office.
