Niger: African diplomacy gives itself a break

No deployment of troops was observed Monday evening in Niger, where calm reigned in the capital, Niamey, the day after an ultimatum demanding the return to constitutional order after a coup d'etat, under penalty of use of strength.

The priority is still diplomacy. An immediate military intervention to restore President Mohamed Bazoum, overthrown on July 26, is not envisaged at this stage, a source close to ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) told AFP. ), who had given the putschists a week to cede power. An “extraordinary” summit of the leaders of its member countries will be held on Thursday in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, a neighboring country of Niger where the chiefs of staff of the armies of the ECOWAS countries finalized the details last week. of a possible military intervention.

Despite the rejection of the authors of the coup - the seventh in three years in this region of the Sahel - the path of dialogue is still appropriate. From his holiday residence in Brégançon, Emmanuel Macron, for his part, multiplies, according to a diplomatic source, telephone calls to African leaders. Niger is a privileged ally of France and the United States, which deploy there respectively 1,500 and 1,100 soldiers engaged in the fight against the armed jihadists who are undermining this country and the region.

"How to help the ECOWAS countries logistically without appearing to be part of a military intervention is the dilemma of the head of state", explains a diplomat. Especially since voices opposed to such a military intervention were still heard on Monday. After Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Nigerian senators called for strengthening "the political and diplomatic option", while in Senegal, some opponents in turn displayed their disapproval.

In Europe, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani warned that the Old Continent “cannot afford an armed confrontation, we must not be seen as new colonizers”. "It is not said that we will not find a solution that is not war," he added to the daily La Stampa.

In Berlin, a spokesman for the Foreign Office also argued “that the mediation efforts are only in their infancy because the sanctions are starting to take effect”. "We continue to hope that the putschists will respond to the mediation efforts of the African Union and ECOWAS and we are in close contact with these two organizations about the next steps" of the crisis, assured Sébastien Fischer again during the meeting. a press briefing.

Sunday evening, "Faced with the threat of intervention which is becoming clearer from neighboring countries", Niger announced the closure of its airspace. “Any attempt to violate the airspace” will lead to “an energetic and instantaneous response”, warn the soldiers who took power in Niamey. At the same time, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP, which took power) affirmed that "pre-deployment for the preparation of the intervention was carried out in two countries of Central Africa", without specifying which. “Any State involved will be considered as co-belligerent”, threatened the putschists.

For its part, the Malian army announced on Monday the dispatch to Niamey of a joint official delegation with Burkina Faso, to “show the solidarity of the two countries to the brotherly people of Niger”. Burkina and Mali, neighbors of Niger, also governed by soldiers and also confronted with the violence of jihadist groups, have been repeating for a week that an armed intervention would be "a declaration of war" on their countries. They are both supported by Russia.

While President Bazoum is still being held prisoner, the Minister of Mines, Ousseini Hadizatou, has been released for "medical reasons", according to a member of his entourage. But “all the other personalities, ministers and political leaders arrested are still detained”, according to a source close to the party of the ousted president.

While a respite of a few days seems to be emerging, time is not necessarily on the side of those in favor of military intervention. “They do not want to let the junta take root in power,” concludes a French soldier.