When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Niger in March, he described it as “one of the most important partners on the continent in terms of security co-operation”. The coup last Wednesday, however, has placed the impoverished country firmly in the volatile and deeply undependable “coup belt” of countries run by juntas and racked by conflict stretching from Mali in the west through the Central African Republic to Sudan in the east.
Wars rage in six of the seven countries which Niger borders, while it is fighting its own internal battles against Islamic State (IS).
Western powers, including the US, former colonial power France, the EU, and regional allies in the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have rallied to pressurise the new junta to restore democracy. All have imposed sanctions on the regime of General Abdourahmane Tchiani, the head of the presidential guards unit, who declared himself Niger’s new ruler on Friday.
On a peace mission to Niamey yesterday on behalf of ECOWAS, Chad’s leader Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno separately met Tchiani and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, now held confined in the presidential palace. It is believed that the latter’s attempt to retire Tchiani triggered the coup.
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The challenge for the international community is that by moving too hard to isolate the junta through sanctions – as happened following military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea – it risks pushing the new leaders towards Moscow.
ECOWAS is demanding the “immediate reinstatement” of Bazoum and his government.” It has given the new regime a week and warned that it may “take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. Such measures may include the use of force.” In recent decades it has deployed peacekeepers to numerous crisis-hit countries, including Liberia and Guinea-Bissau.
The Niger junta has warned against any foreign military intervention. A tense period lies ahead.