2023-08-04 05:28:55
By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 3 hours ago, Just Updated
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The duly elected president of Niger, driven out by the July 26 coup, calls on the international community “to help restore constitutional order” in a column at the Washington Post.
The coup in Niger could have consequences “devastating” for the world and bring the entire Sahel region under «influence» from Russia, via the mercenaries of the Wagner group, writes President Mohamed Bazoum in a forum published Thursday August 3 in the evening in the Washington Post. As a result, “I call the american government and the entire international community to help restore constitutional order.”adds Mohamed Bazoum in a rare public statement.
“I write this as a hostage”he says, kidnapped since his government was overthrown on July 26 by putschist soldiers. “This coup (…) has no justification and if it succeeds it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region and the whole world”underlines the president. “In the troubled region of Sahel in the midst of authoritarian movements that have imposed themselves on some of our neighbours, Niger is the last bastion for the respect of rights »he continues in this text published in English.
The entire central Sahel region could come under Russian influence via the Wagner Group whose brutal terrorism has been on full display in Ukraine. »
Mohamed Bazoum
“This blow must stop”
Burkina Faso and Mali, neighboring countries also ruled by the military “employ criminal mercenaries like the Wagner group » pour “address security issues” instead of “strengthen their own capacities”. Or, “the whole of the central Sahel region could come under Russian influence via the Wagner group whose brutal terrorism has been clearly exposed in Ukraine”continues Mohamed Bazoum, democratically elected in 2021.
Read alsoNiger: what the appearance of Russian flags on the sidelines of the coup reveals
An organization linked to the Wagner group recently broadcast an alleged message from the leader of these mercenaries, Evguéni Prigojine, who affirms that the putsch in Niger was “struggle against the colonizers”. And young people favorable to the putschists raised Russian flags in the streets of the capital Niamey. US officials, however, say they have no indication of Wagner’s involvement in the events in Niger, but fear that these mercenaries, established in Mali and suspected of being in neighboring Burkina Faso, are trying to take advantage of the situation. .
“This coup must stop and the junta must release all those it illegally detains”urges Mohamed Bazoum again, saying he fears for the future of his country “under an autocratic junta with no vision and no reliable allies”.
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