ECOWAS Military Leaders To Discuss Niger Coup At Ghana Summit

The meeting comes a week after ECOWAS said a standby force could be used to resolve the crisis in Niger.

Military leaders from the West African ECOWAS bloc are to meet in Ghana on Thursday to discuss a possible intervention to resolve the coup in Niger.

President Mohamed Bazoum has been held under house arrest with his wife and son since the armed junta overthrew him on 26 July.

ECOWAS, backed by France and the US, has said the junta’s leaders should restore the democratically elected president to power.

This meeting, initially scheduled for 12 August, had been postponed and will finally take place on 17 and 18 August in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, according to a regional military source and a source within ECOWAS.

It will be held a week after the organisation’s decision to deploy a “standby force” to restore President Mohamed Bazoum.

Russia and Mali
On Tuesday, during a telephone conversation, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Malian counterpart Assimi Goïta, who came to power by a putsch in 2020, stressed “the importance of resolving the situation” in Niger, “only by means peaceful politico-diplomatic”.

Mali, a neighbouring country of Niger, very quickly showed its solidarity with the military in power in Niamey.

The latter also raised their voices on Monday evening in the face of the threat of armed intervention.

They recalled Niger’s ambassador to Abidjan for “consultation”, after remarks by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara who, according to them, “apologised for armed action” against their country.