crucial ECOWAS meeting on possible intervention in Niger

2023-08-17 03:19:02

The chiefs of staff of the countries of the Economic Community of West African States are due to meet in Ghana on Thursday to discuss the modalities of a possible armed intervention in Niger, although the diplomatic channel remains favored to restore President Bazoum in office. Follow hour by hour the situation in Niger.

Published on : 17/08/2023 – 05:19Modified : 17/08/2023 – 08:33

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7:32 am: no actor “wants to leave the field open to the sole military option”

What will be the attitude of ECOWAS, whose chiefs of staff are to meet Thursday in Accra? It is a question of making the “final adjustments for a possible targeted military intervention in Niger” answers Serge Daniel, the correspondent of France 24 in the region, quoting a source close to the meeting.

Politically, however, no one wants to leave the field open to the sole military option. A possible intervention by ECOWAS in Niger is not the only affair of West Africa but an international question, he explains.

ECOWAS meeting: no actor “wants to leave the field open to the sole military option”

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5:08 am: West African military meeting on a possible armed intervention

The chiefs of staff of the West African armies are due to meet in Ghana on Thursday August 17 to discuss the modalities of a possible armed intervention in Niger, where at least 17 soldiers were killed on Tuesday in an attack by suspected terrorist groups.

This crucial West African military meeting is to be held until Friday in Accra, Ghana, where details of the planned military intervention will be discussed with the aim of reinstating President Mohamed Bazoum, ousted by the coup d’etat. July 26.

If the option of an armed operation remains on the table, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) still seems to favor the path of dialogue and diplomacy with the military regime in power in Niamey.

The essential of the day of August 16

The discussions between the African Union and ECOWAS, meeting in Addis Ababa on August 14 on the occasion of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), seem to have reached an impasse. No press release was published after the meeting, a sign of the difficulties in defining a common roadmap.

With AFP and Archyde.com