The representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) arrived in the Niger capital, Niamey, on Saturday and joined the efforts initiated the day before by the United Nations special representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos. Simao, who arrived on Friday to try to facilitate the resolution of the crisis.
Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman, said Friday that Simao will meet with the military junta and other parties to try to facilitate a quick peaceful solution to the crisis in Niger.
“What we want to see is a return to constitutional order. We want to see the release of the president and his family and the restoration of his legitimate authority,” he added.
ECOWAS ordered the deployment of a “reserve force” on August 10 to restore constitutional order in the country.
The soldiers who ousted the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, in July have entrenched themselves in power, rebuffed most efforts at dialogue and are keeping Bazoum, his wife and son under house arrest in the capital.
On Friday, ECOWAS commissioner for peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said that 11 of its 15 member countries have pledged to contribute troops to the operation, indicating that “we are ready to go” when the order is given.
The 11 nations do not include Niger itself or three other bloc nations that have military governments that came to power after coups: Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The last two have warned that they will consider any military intervention in Niger an act of war. Nigerian state television reported on Friday that the two countries sent warplanes as a show of solidarity with the country.
Friday’s announcement was the latest in a series of hollow threats by ECOWAS to forcibly restore democratic rule in Niger, according to analysts.
Immediately after the coup, the bloc gave the junta seven days to release and reinstate Bazoum, a date that passed without incident.
“The putschists this time will not be holding their breath at the renewed threat of military intervention,” said Ulf Laessing, director of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation research institute. Meanwhile, mutinous soldiers consolidate their regime and appoint loyal commanders to key units, while ECOWAS lacks both military experience in hostile territory and local support for an intervention, he noted.
“Niger is a very fragile country that in the event of an intervention can easily become a failed state like Sudan,” Laessing said.
Meanwhile, the new US ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, has arrived in the capital, said Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman. Washington had not had an ambassador in the country for almost two years.
FitzGibbon will advocate for a diplomatic solution to maintain constitutional order and the immediate release of Bazoum, his family and all those unlawfully detained, Miller said. His arrival does not indicate a change in the US position, he said.
On the streets of the capital, many residents of the capital said they were preparing to fight against an intervention by the bloc.
On Saturday, thousands of Niamey residents lined up at the city’s main stadium to register as volunteers, fighters and to help in other ways should the junta need support. Some parents took their children to register and others said they had been waiting since 3am as groups of youngsters chanted in favor of the junta and against ECOWAS and the country’s former colonial ruler, France.
″I’m here for the draft to become a good soldier. That’s what we’re all here for,” said Ismail Hassan, a resident waiting in line. “God willing, we’ll all go.”
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AP Writer Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
