Niamey. West African leaders will discuss the situation in Niger on Thursday, where the diplomatic path to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum “remains open,” according to the United States.
“ECOWAS leaders will address the political situation and recent developments in Niger” at a summit in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reported.
The military that seized power in Niger on July 26 ignored the ECOWAS ultimatum to restore democracy before midnight Sunday (23:00 GMT), on pain of possible military intervention.
But according to a source close to the block, for the moment such an operation is not planned and new dialogue tracks seem to emerge.
The prime minister of the ousted president, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, indicated that “the board asked the ECOWAS delegation to return” and this could happen “today (Monday) or tomorrow.”
An ECOWAS mission went to Niamey on Thursday to seek a way out of the crisis but left a few hours later without having met General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of the military in power, or Bazoum.
The United States estimated this Monday that “the window of opportunity is definitely still open”
“We believe the board should step aside and let Chairman Bazoum resume his duties,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
The representative of the UN Secretary General for West Africa and the Sahel, Léonardo Santos Simao, is currently in Abuja, where he is in dialogue “with the regional parties concerned,” said that entity.
New diplomatic efforts
The coup was condemned by other African countries, as well as by France and the United States, which have deployed 1,500 and 1,100 soldiers respectively in Niger to fight against the jihadist organizations operating in the region.
But several African countries have ruled out the military option.
Mali and Burkina Faso, suspended from ECOWAS for coups that also brought the military to power in 2021 and 2022 respectively, instead expressed their support for the government that overthrew Bazoum in Niger.
Those two countries sent a joint official delegation to Niamey to show their “solidarity with the people of Niger”, the Malian army announced.
The head of Malian diplomacy, Abdoulaye Diop, said on Monday that a military intervention would be “a catastrophe”
The senators from Nigeria, ECOWAS heavyweight, called for “strengthening the political and diplomatic option.”
Algeria, which is not a member of ECOWAS but shares a border of nearly a thousand kilometers with Niger, also expressed reservations.
Warnings against military action also came from Western countries.
Italy urged ECOWAS to prolong the ultimatum and try to find a diplomatic solution, as did Germany, which believes diplomatic efforts are just beginning.
airspace closure
Shortly before the ECOWAS ultimatum expired at midnight (2300 GMT), the Nigerien military announced the closure of airspace “until further notice” in the face of a foreign “threat of intervention”.
Any violation of this measure will lead to “an energetic and immediate response” and any State involved in an intervention will be considered co-belligerent,” warned the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP), the body of the military in power in Niger. .
Niamey woke up calm Monday after a rally the day before of some 30,000 supporters of the military in the country’s largest stadium.
The crowd waved flags of Niger, neighboring Burkina Faso and Russia, booed France and ECOWAS and cheered for CNSP members who took part in the event.
France, the former colonial power, suspended on Sunday “until further notice” all its “development aid and budget support actions” in Burkina Faso.
