Niger junta accuse France of wanting to 'intervene militarily'
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This comes a day after military leaders in Niger have warned against any armed intervention in their country, stressing that they will "resolutely defend their homeland."
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Nigeriens holding a Russian flag and placards participate in a march called by supporters of coup leader Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiamy in Niamey, Niger, July 30, 2023 (AP)
Niger's new junta said on Monday that its former colonial ruler, France, is looking for ways to intervene militarily to "sabotage the revolution" and reinstate the deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.
"In its search for ways and means to intervene militarily in Niger, France with the complicity of some Nigeriens, held a meeting with the chief of staff of the Nigerien National Guard to obtain the necessary political and military authorization needed," said a statement read out on national television.
This comes a day after military leaders in Niger have warned against any armed intervention in their country, stressing that they will "resolutely defend their homeland."
#niger Dans son dernier communiqué, les putchistes accusent le ministre des affaires étrangères nigerien alors chef d'état par intérim d’avoir autorisé des frappes françaises pour libérer Mohamed Bazoum. pic.twitter.com/n8nm2LZw4O
— Stanislas Poyet (@stanislas_poyet) July 31, 2023
After having to evacuate its forces from Mali's neighbor earlier this year, France has about 1,500 troops in the West African country, one of its remaining allies in the Sahel.
Niger's military council also accused the Nigerien foreign minister of having authorized French strikes to free Mohamed Bazoum.
These warnings came in conjunction with the preparation of West African leaders to meet in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Sunday, during an emergency summit to decide on the necessary measures to pressure the army to restore "constitutional order."
Read more: AU asks military in Niger to ‘return to their barracks’ within 15 days
Leaders of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union can suspend Niger from the two organizations, exclude the country from the regional central bank and financial market, and close borders.
A statement issued by the Chadian president's office on Saturday said that Chad - the eastern neighbor of Niger, which is not a member of the two regional organizations - had received an invitation to attend the ECOWAS summit.
Ahead of the Sunday summit, Niger's military officials warned against any military intervention in a statement read on Niger national television on Saturday night.
"The objective of the (ECOWAS) meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries," junta spokesman Colonel Amadou Abdramane said.
"We want to once more remind ECOWAS or any other adventurer, of our firm determination to defend our homeland," he said.
Later that day, ECOWAS gave a one-week ultimatum for the military junta to reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum, held by the military since last Wednesday.
Read more: Change of regime in Niger could be a blow to the West: Politico
On July 27, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the recent events that unfolded in Niger were reflecting a larger trend in the belt of Africa south of Sahara, where extremism and military escalations have been plaguing the Sahel region for a long time.
"We are seeing a disturbing trend," Antonio Guterres said. "Successive unconstitutional changes of government are having terrible effects on the development and lives of civilian populations."
"If you look at the region, you have the dramatic terrorist increase of activity in Mali, in Burkina Faso, in Niger and coming closer and closer to the countries of the coasts," Guterres said, noting that military governments are gaining sway even amid "a fragile transition in Chad and a horrible situation in Sudan."
Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, the African continent has been swept by a wave of change fueled by a sentiment of anti-Western imperialism.
Burkina Faso and Mali, which are also part of the Sahel, have recently transitioned to military-ruled governments via coups by toppling their Western-backed leaders.
Just like those African leaders that were toppled by military juntas, Bazoum was also backed by Western powers -- up till June 23, Niger's parliament approved a new national anthem, marking the first steps to free the country of any relics of French colonization.
