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NIAMEY. – The self-declared new leader of Niger on Wednesday said the junta would not bow to pressure to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, intensifying a standoff with the West African bloc, which has threatened to intervene after last week’s coup.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has imposed sanctions on Niger and said it could authorize the use of force if the coup leaders do not restore Bazoum’s presidency within a week from Sunday, July 30.
The bloc also sent a delegation to Niger on Wednesday to negotiate with the military officers who seized power, hoping to find a diplomatic solution before they have to decide whether or not to intervene.
“The military option is the very last option on the table, the last resort, but we have to prepare for the eventuality,” said Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, on Wednesday as regional defense chiefs started a two-day meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
In a televised address, Abdourahamane Tiani said the junta “rejects these sanctions altogether and refuses to give in to any threats, wherever they come from. We refuse any interference in the internal affairs of Niger.”
Tiani, the former head of Bazoum’s presidential guard, shut Bazoum in his palace last Wednesday and later declared himself head of state.
In a further sign of the mounting pressure on the junta, the World Bank on Wednesday suspended disbursements to Niger until further notice. – CGTN.com
Online Reporter