West African regional bloc ECOWAS on Monday condemned Niger coup leaders’ threat to prosecute ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for “high treason”. Niger’s junta earlier slammed West African leaders for imposing sanctions on the country. Follow our live blog for the latest updates. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
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7:34pm: US ‘incredibly dismayed’ by plan to try detained Niger president
The United States on Monday voiced outrage over threats by Niger’s military rulers to try detained President Mohamed Bazoum, saying the move would worsen tensions.
“We are incredibly dismayed by reports that President Bazoum’s unjust detention has gone even a step further,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
“This action is completely unwarranted and unjustified and, candidly, it will not contribute to a peaceful resolution of this crisis.”
6:38pm: Niger junta plan to charge president is ‘very worrying’, says UN
An attempt by Niger’s junta to bring charges of high treason against democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum is “very worrying”, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
“We remain extremely concerned about the state of being, the health and safety of the President and his family, and again we call for his immediate and unconditional release and his reinstatement as head of state,” Dujarric told reporters.
6:09pm: ECOWAS condemns Niger junta attempt to prosecute Bazoum
West Africa’s main regional bloc ECOWAS said on Monday it was shocked to learn of attempts by Niger’s junta to bring charges of high treason against President Mohamed Bazoum.
The move is a form of provocation by Niger’s coup leaders and contradicts their reported willingness to find a peaceful solution to the current crisis, the bloc said in a statement.
5:44pm: Niger scraps jail sentence for head of group supporting military
A Niamey court on Monday scrapped a nine-month jail sentence handed to Abdoulaye Seydou, head of a leading activist group which supports the ruling military, his entourage said.
Seydou, head of the M62 group, had been behind bars for seven months in a case involving an army air strike on suspected jihadists in the south of the country.
“The Niamey Court of Appeal has cancelled the decision of the High Court… which had sentenced our comrade Abdoulaye Seydou to nine months in prison”, said M62 Secretary General Sanoussi Mahaman.
“We have always said that Abdoulaye Seydou’s detention is an arbitrary decision… orchestrated from start to finish”.
The M62 movement, set up a year ago, is a coalition of around 10 groups and NGOs opposed to the presence of French military forces in Niger.
In recent weeks, it has led calls for rallies to support officers who on July 26 toppled the country’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.
3:36pm: Military junta in Niger ‘very resistant to any diplomatic engagement’, says analyst
The parliament of West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS aims to send a committee to Niger to meet coup leaders who took power last month and have so far resisted diplomatic pressure to restore civilian rule.
Niger’s military last month imprisoned President Mohamed Bazoum and assumed power, drawing condemnation from international powers who have threatened military action as a last resort while also saying they aim to resolve the situation peacefully.
For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on the coup in Niger and the ensuing standoff with ECOWAS, click on the video player below.
1:39pm: Military-appointed PM says Niger ‘will overcome’ ECOWAS sanctions
Niger will be able to thwart sanctions imposed by West African bloc ECOWAS in response to last month’s coup, new Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, who was appointed by the country’s military leaders, said in an interview released on Monday.
“We think that even though it is an unfair challenge that has been imposed on us, we should be able to overcome it. And we will overcome it,” Zeine told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed sanctions on Niger following the coup and has not ruled out using force against the army officers who ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
The bloc has severed financial transactions and electricity supplies and closed borders with landlocked Niger, blocking much-needed imports to one of the world’s poorest countries.
The military leaders earlier said the sanctions had made it difficult for people to access medicine, food and electricity, describing the measures as “illegal, inhumane and humiliating”.
But Zeine also expressed optimism about a visit by a Nigerian delegation and talks with ECOWAS, and stressed the importance of Niger’s ties with Nigeria as well as the West African bloc.
“We have a great interest in preserving this important and historical relationship and also in having ECOWAS work on purely economic issues first,” he said.
1:26pm: African Union holding meeting on Niger crisis at Ethiopia headquarters
The African Union (AU) said it was holding a meeting on Monday on the crisis in Niger following the coup on July 26 that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
“AU’s Peace & Security Council meets to receive an update on the evolution of the situation in Niger and the efforts to address it,” the pan-African body said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The meeting was taking place at AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, it said.
Those attending include AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat as well as representatives from Niger and the West African bloc ECOWAS.
Last week, Faki expressed “deep concern” at the reported poor conditions of Bazoum’s detention, calling his treatment at the hands of coup leaders “unacceptable”.
5:00am: Six Niger soldiers, 10 suspected jihadists killed in fighting
Six Niger soldiers and 10 “terrorists” were killed on Sunday during fighting in the west of the country, authorities said.
Suspected jihadists on motorbikes ambushed the troops near the western town of Sanam on Sunday, according to a statement issued by the National Guard High Command.
Sanam is in the Tillaberi tri-border area where Niger meets Mali and Burkina Faso, a region where jihadist attacks are common.
2:12am: Niger regime slams ECOWAS sanctions as ‘illegal, inhumane and humiliating’
Niger’s coup leaders said late Sunday they denounced the “illegal, inhumane and humiliating sanctions” imposed by a West African regional bloc, in a statement broadcast on national television.
The military regime said the people of Niger “have been hard hit by the illegal, inhumane and humiliating sanctions imposed by ECOWAS,” according to one of the members of the regime, Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, who added that people were being deprived of medicines, food and electricity.
ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niger in response to the coup and has not ruled out using force against the army officers who toppled the democratically elected Bazoum on July 26.
1:42am: Niger military regime says it will ‘prosecute’ President Bazoum for ‘high treason’
Niger’s coup leaders that toppled Mohamed Bazoum said late Sunday they would “prosecute” the deposed president for “high treason” and “undermining the security” of the country, according to a statement read out by a member of the junta on national television.
“The Nigerien government has so far gathered… evidence to prosecute the deposed president and his local and foreign accomplices before the competent national and international bodies for high treason and undermining the internal and external security of Niger,” said Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane.
7:40pm: Mediator talks with Niger coup leaders ‘constructive’
Talks between the religious delegation of mediators and the Niger junta, including leader General Abdourahamane Tiani, have been “constructive”, said FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris-Trent.
Coup leaders in Niger have expressed willingness to resolve the current crisis and standoff with West African regional bloc ECOWAS diplomatically, she said.
Please click on the video player below to watch the report.
Key developments from Sunday, August 13:
Coup leaders in Niger are open to diplomacy to resolve a standoff with West Africa’s regional bloc, a group of senior Nigerian Islamic scholars said on Sunday after meeting the junta in Niamey.
The delegation of religious leaders from Nigeria met with the junta-appointed prime minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine on Saturday in Niamey amid ongoing efforts to overcome the crisis.
Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
