2023-08-06 01:26:13
The West African community of states ECOWAS is ready to intervene militarily in Niger. Objection now comes from Algeria, which refuses to intervene. A corresponding deadline for the putschists ends today.
Algeria is strictly against military intervention in neighboring Niger to the south. According to the newspaper “El-Bilad” and the news site Ennahar, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said this to journalists. Tebboune made it clear that Algeria will not use violence against its neighbors. The President also expressed concern that military intervention in Niger would destabilize the Sahel region. Algeria borders Niger to the north, where at the end of July officers of the Presidential Guard declared the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum to be out of power.
After seizing power, ECOWAS gave the military junta until Sunday to release Bazoum and reinstate his government. ECOWAS had threatened that military intervention would be possible if the putschists did not comply with this demand. The ECOWAS military chiefs finalized a plan for such an intervention on Friday. It was unclear whether and how quickly it would be implemented. Algeria is not part of the confederation.
Mali and Burkina Faso threaten
Several West African countries, including Senegal and Ivory Coast, say they are ready to send soldiers. Chad, a major military power and Niger’s eastern neighbor, also announced that it would not intervene.
For their part, the putschists under the new self-proclaimed ruler Abdourahamane Tiani threatened an “immediate counterattack” in the event of “any aggression”. The military juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso, whose countries have been temporarily excluded from ECOWAS, made it clear that they would regard external military intervention as a “declaration of war” against themselves.
France stands behind ECOWAS
So far, it was not foreseeable that the putschists would give in. A team of mediators was even denied a meeting with junta chief Tiani on Thursday. The junta also ended military cooperation with France. A withdrawal of the 1,500 French soldiers from Niger was not initially planned.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna recently said that the threat of intervention by ECOWAS was credible. The putschists should take the threat seriously. France stands resolutely behind ECOWAS’ efforts to thwart the coup.
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