The request came during a visit by one of the coup leaders, General Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, where he contacted someone from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a reporter and researcher for the Soufan Center, told The Associated Press. Three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the encounter which was first reported by France 24, he added.
“They need (Wagner) because it will become their guarantee to maintain power,” he explained, adding that the group is considering the request.
The deadline given by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the Nigerien junta for the release and reinstatement of the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, in office expires on Sunday. The president has been described as a hostage.
ECOWAS defense chiefs finalized the intervention plan on Friday and urged the armies to prepare their resources after the mediation team sent to Niger the day before was unable to enter the capital Niamey or meet with the leader of the junta, General Abdourahmane Tchiani.
Following his visit to Mali, which is governed by a sympathetic junta, Mody warned against military intervention and vowed that the country would do everything necessary not to become “a new Libya”, state television reported on Friday.
Niger was seen as the West’s last reliable partner in the fight against terrorism in a region where coups have proliferated in recent years. The military juntas have reneged on France, their former colony, and have moved closer to Russia. Wagner operates in several African countries, including Mali, where human rights groups have accused his forces of committing abuses.
Although it cannot be said that Moscow was directly involved in the uprising in Niger, “clearly, there is an opportunistic attitude on the part of Russia, which tries to support destabilization efforts wherever it finds them,” a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense said on Friday. French Foreign Affairs Anne-Claire Legendre on BFM radio Days after the coup, residents waved Russian flags in the streets.
The spokeswoman described Wagner as a “recipe for chaos.”
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Saturday that the regional threat to resort to force was credible and warned coup plotters to take it seriously: “Coups d’état are no longer appropriate… It’s time to put an end to them,” he said.
His ministry declared that France “firmly and determinedly” supports ECOWAS efforts to rein in the junta and called for the release of Bazoum and all members of his government.
Niger’s military leaders have followed the example set by Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, also ruled by a junta, but it is moving faster to consolidate power, Nasr said. “(Tchiani) chose his path, so he is going all out without wasting time because there is an international mobilization,” he said.
It remains to be seen how the international community will react if Wagner takes part in the conflict, he added.
In Niger, where the United States and other partners have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to combat the growing jihadist threat in the region, the stakes are high. France has a contingent of 1,500 troops in the country, although coup leaders said they have suspended security agreements with Paris, and Washington has 1,100 troops.
It is not clear what the foreign military intervention would look like or when it would start. The military junta asked the population to be alert to possible spies, and self-organized defense groups mobilized at night to control cars and patrol the capital.
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Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
