West Africa’s regional bloc has imposed a Sunday deadline for coup leaders to stand down
Protesters hold a banner in support of the Niger junta during a demonstration on independence day in Niamey on August 3, 2023. © AFP
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has warned that a potential military intervention to reverse the military coup in Niger could have significant ramifications for regional stability, as a Sunday threat looms for Niger to return to its elected leadership.
“A military intervention could ignite the whole Sahel region and Algeria will not use force with its neighbors,” Tabboune said in a late Saturday interview with Ennahar TV, according to Reuters.
Algiers has confirmed via its Foreign Ministry in recent days its commitment to support “a return to constitutional order in Niger” and said it “gladly welcomes” diplomatic methods to end the crisis in the country, with which it shares a 950 km border.
Tabboune’s comments were delivered in advance of a Sunday deadline imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has demanded that the junta stand down and reinstate the democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum.
The regional bloc added that defense chiefs in West Africa have laid plans for military action if their demands are not met, to end what is the seventh coup in central or western Africa since 2020.
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France, Niger’s former colonial ruler from whom it gained independence in 1960, said on Saturday that it would support ECOWAS efforts to end the coup – but stopped short of saying whether Paris supports military action.
An ECOWAS delegation left the Nigerien capital of Niamey on Thursday, saying it was unable to secure an “amicable resolution” with the junta leaders.
The July 26 coup was led by former presidential guard chief Abdourahamane Tchiani, who soon after declared himself as leader of the transitional government. Tchiani has moved to distance Niger from France since seizing power, including informing Emmanuel Macron’s government of its intention to formally withdraw from military cooperation agreements.
In response, Paris said on Saturday that it rejected the junta’s request, as the deals had been previously agreed with Niger’s ‘legitimate authorities.’
Chad, a country that borders Niger but is not one of the 15 members of ECOWAS, said on Friday that it will “never intervene by military means” amid concerns that military action could further destabilize the situation in one of the world’s poorest countries.
