The tension caused in the Sahel by the coup in Niger increases. In large part, due to the verbal escalation of the members of the military junta that deposed the legitimate president, Mohamed Bazoum, on July 26. The coup leaders have accused France this Wednesday of concocting a plan to destabilize the country. On the one hand, they assure that a plane from that European country has violated the Nigerien airspace, closed by the rulers de facto last Sunday, after winning the ultimatum of the Economic Community of West African States (Cedeao) that threatens international military intervention if the deposed president is not reinstated. Furthermore, through a communiqué read on public television by Colonel Amadou Abdramane, the military in charge of the country have pointed to Paris as responsible for the release of 16 jihadist terrorists with the supposed intention of fighting against the new regime, but without giving proof.
The statements come after Niger’s rupture of all military agreements with the former metropolis, in the midst of a strong rejection of everything related to France and with a progressive rapprochement with the Russian mercenary company Wagner, very present in other military regimes. born after coups d’etat like Mali or Burkina Faso. The governments of these last two states have assured that they will consider a declaration of war against them any type of international military intervention in Niger, which has raised the risk of a conflict breaking out in the region. ECOWAS, whose member states meet on Thursday to address the crisis, is seeking for now diplomatic channels to get out of the crisis, albeit without success.
ECOWAS confirmed this Wednesday the refusal of the military junta to receive its delegation that arrived the day before in Niamey, the capital of Niger. This organization, led by Nigeria, had sent a delegation together with representatives of the African Union and the UN to analyze the situation after the ultimatum they had given to the coup leaders expired last Sunday. The refusal of the insurgent rulers to receive the representatives of the neighboring countries narrows the possibility for dialogue on the eve of the meeting this Thursday in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. There, Cedeao is expected to decide what steps to take in the face of the entrenchment of the conflict.
“The mission was canceled after a last-minute announcement by the Nigerien military authorities indicating that they could not receive the tripartite delegation,” ECOWAS said in a statement. This mission was part of “ongoing efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis,” says the body of the West African countries, which has threatened a military intervention that could lead to a regional conflict. A source from the self-styled National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP), responsible for the coup, told the Efe news agency that the board considers the ECOWAS mission “useless”, since it already knows its position on the situation in Niger.
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On the other hand, the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS-Tarayya), the formation of the president deposed by the military, has demanded this Wednesday that the international community intervene to “save the president” held since the coup d’état last July 26. Bazoum’s formation accused the military junta in a statement of “imposing drastic, cruel and inhumane living conditions” against the president, who is being held in the presidential palace in Niamey. “The executive committee of the PNDS-Tarayya asks the international community to intervene to avoid the worst,” requested the party, which has also called for a mobilization in the country to “save the President of the Republic from the torture from which he and his family are victims.
Given the rejection of the coup leaders to the proposed diplomatic efforts, and while ECOWAS decides the measures to be taken, sources from the European Union have assured Reuters that the member states are already preparing the ground to impose the first sanctions against the members of the military junta, which he accuses of “undermining democracy.” Those same sources affirm that those punitive measures will be agreed upon soon. “The next step would be to approve sanctions against each of the board members considered responsible,” said a European diplomat quoted by the agency. “The EU is ready to support ECOWAS decisions, including the adoption of sanctions,” added Peter Stano, the Union’s foreign policy spokesman.
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