ECOWAS postpones the meeting and attempts negotiation with Niger
Members of the Economic Cooperation of West African Nations (ECOWAS) were reported to meet on Saturday in the Ghanaian capital Accra to discuss how to deal with the Niger crisis after approving the deployment of a support force to restore constitutional order.
But the meeting wassuspended indefinitely for "technical reasons". Sources said the meeting was originally intended to brief leaders of the organization on the "best options" for activating and deploying a military force.
"The military option seriously envisaged by ECOWAS is not a war against Niger and its people, but a police operation against the kidnappers and their accomplices," said Niger's Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou.
ECOWAS is determined to halt the sixth military takeover in the region in just three years and has halted financial transactions and electricity supplies and closed borders with landlocked Niger, blocking much-needed imports into one of the countries poorest in the world.
At the same time the military intervention, which would not be easy, is opposed by many parties and ethnic and social movements in the ECOWAS countries themselves. For these reasons, some media speak of sending a joint ECOWAS parliamentary commission to negotiate a diplomatic way out of the situation.
At a previous meeting last week, ECOWAS warned it could intervene militarily and set August 6 as the deadline for the military to restore democracy and liberate Bazoum. However, no military action followed after the deadline.
“We know he was able to see the doctor today, but the situation remains worrying,” Nantulya told Al Jazeera, adding that the detainees had no electricity since August 2 and no contact with the outside world since August 4.
At the same time, military intervention would not be trivial, despite the convening of the ECOWAS emergency response force and the presence of French and American forces on the ground, already close to the Nigerian capital Niamey, which however are not strong enough to overthrow the coup plotters.
Meanwhile, the situation in Niger is becoming dramatic: the nation, landlocked, has had a large part of the electricity supplies coming from Neigeria cut off, so they are witnessing continuous blackouts. Even essential supplies are starting to run out as major suppliers , France and Togo, have cut off supplies and transportation from major ports in Nigeria and Senegal is stalled.
ECOWAS Parliament
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The ECOWAS article postpones the meeting and attempts negotiation with Niger comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/ecowas-rinvia-la-riunione-e-tenta-la-trattiva-con-il-niger/ on Sun, 13 Aug 2023 10:00:05 +0000.