West African bloc seeks resolution to Niger coup as deadline nears

West African protection chiefs have been set to wrap up discussions about doable intervention in Niger on Friday, as mediators from the regional bloc push coup leaders in Niamey to revive constitutional order earlier than an approaching deadline.

The navy junta in Niger is locked in a standoff with the Financial Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS), which has taken its hardest stance but on last week’s ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum – the seventh coup in West and Central Africa since 2020.

In a blow to hopes of restoring the earlier establishment, the junta revoked a raft of navy cooperation agreements with France late on Thursday.

There was no quick response from France.

The transfer echoes related strikes by juntas in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso within the wake of their coups and will drastically reshape a joint battle towards an Islamist insurgency.

France has between 1,000 and 1,500 troops in Niger, serving to to battle an insurgency by teams linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that has destabilized West Africa’s Sahel area.

An ECOWAS delegation is within the Nigerien capital Niamey, hoping to safe “a conclusive and amicable resolution” to the crisis, though the bloc has additionally imposed sweeping sanctions and warned it may authorise using power if Bazoum will not be reinstated by Sunday.

Niger’s self-declared chief Abdourahamane Tiani has rejected the sanctions and stated the junta won’t again down towards any threats.

In a while Friday, the area’s defence chiefs will formally finish a multi-day assembly within the Nigerian capital Abuja a couple of doable navy response that they’ve stated can be a final resort.

The junta on Thursday stated any aggression or tried aggression by ECOWAS can be met with a direct riposte on any ECOWAS member-state besides these pleasant to Niger.

Tiani has received the backing of the juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso and cited persistent insecurity as his fundamental justification for seizing energy, although information on assaults reveals that safety there has truly been enhancing.