NIAMEY, Niger — NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s new navy junta has requested for assist from the Russian mercenary group Wagner because the deadline nears for it to launch the nation’s ousted president or face potential navy intervention by the West African regional bloc, in keeping with an analyst.
The request got here throughout a go to by one of many coup leaders, Gen. Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, the place he made contact with somebody from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior analysis fellow on the Soufan Heart, informed The Related Press. He stated three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the assembly first reported by France 24.
“They want (Wagner) as a result of they are going to grow to be their assure to carry onto energy,” he stated, including that the group is contemplating the request.
Niger’s junta faces a Sunday deadline set by the regional bloc often called ECOWAS to launch and reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has described himself as a hostage.
Protection chiefs from ECOWAS members finalized an intervention plan on Friday and urged militaries to prepared sources after a mediation crew despatched to Niger on Thursday wasn’t allowed to enter town or meet with junta chief Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani.
After his go to to Mali, run by a sympathetic junta, Mody warned towards a navy intervention, vowing that Niger would do what it takes to not grow to be “a brand new Libya,” Niger’s state tv reported Friday.
Niger has been seen because the West’s final dependable counterterrorism accomplice in a area the place coups have been widespread in recent times. Juntas have been rejecting former colonizer France and turning towards Russia. Wagner operates in a handful of African nations, together with Mali, the place human rights teams have accused its forces of abuses.
One cannot say there’s any direct implication of Russia in Niger’s coup, however “clearly, there’s an opportunistic perspective on the a part of Russia, which tries to assist destabilization efforts wherever it finds them,” French overseas affairs ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre informed broadcaster BFM on Friday. Days after Niger’s junta seized energy, residents waved Russian flags within the streets.
The spokeswoman described Wagner as a “recipe for chaos.”
On Saturday, France’s overseas affairs minister, Catherine Colonna, stated the regional menace of drive was credible and warned the putschists to take it significantly. “Coups are now not applicable … It’s time to place an finish to it,” she stated. The ministry stated France helps “with firmness and willpower” the ECOWAS efforts to ensure the coup leaders fail, and it referred to as for Bazoum and all members of his authorities to be freed.
Niger’s navy leaders have been following the playbook of Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, additionally run by a junta, nevertheless it’s shifting quicker to consolidate energy, Nasr stated: “(Tchiani) selected his path, so he’s going full on it with out losing time as a result of there’s worldwide mobilization.”
One query is how the worldwide group will react if Wagner is introduced in, he stated. When Wagner got here into Mali on the finish of 2021, the French navy was ousted shortly afterward after years of partnership. Wagner was later designated a terrorist group by america, and worldwide companions might need a stronger response now, Nasr stated.
And far more is at stake in Niger, the place the U.S. and different companions have poured a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} of navy help in efforts to fight the area’s rising jihadi menace. France has 1,500 troopers in Niger, although coup leaders say they’ve severed safety agreements with Paris, and the U.S. has 1,100 navy personnel within the nation.
“In the mean time, there’s no actual indication that the (junta) goes to melt its tone or make concessions forward of the deadline,” stated Andrew Lebovich, analysis fellow with the Clingendael Institute and postdoctoral fellow with the Danish Institute for Worldwide Research, saying an intervention “probably critical penalties for Niger and for the area.”
It’s unclear what an intervention would appear like or when it will start. Niger’s junta has referred to as on the inhabitants to look at for spies, and self-organized protection teams have mobilized at evening to observe vehicles and patrol the capital.
Any intervention is fraught with danger, stated a report by the Hudson Institute. “If the junta have been to dig in its heels and rally the populace across the flag — probably even arming civilian militias — the intervention may morph right into a multifaceted counterinsurgency that ECOWAS wouldn’t be ready to deal with,” it stated.
Whereas some in Niger are bracing for a battle, others are attempting to deal with journey and financial sanctions imposed by ECOWAS after the coup. The sanctions have closed land and air borders with ECOWAS nations and suspended industrial and monetary transactions with member states.
Residents stated the worth of products is rising and there’s restricted entry to money.
“We’re deeply involved in regards to the penalties of those sanctions, particularly their impacts on the provision of important meals merchandise, prescription drugs, medical gear, petroleum merchandise and electrical energy,” stated Sita Adamou, president of Niger’s Affiliation to Defend Human Rights.
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Related Press reporter Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed.