NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Leaders of the West African regional bloc said Monday they would meet later this week to discuss next steps after Niger. the military junta challenged a deadline reinstate the country’s ousted president while his mutinous soldiers closed the country’s airspace and accused foreign powers of plotting an attack.
The meeting was scheduled for Thursday in Abuja, the capital of neighboring Nigeria, according to a spokesman for the ECOWAS bloc.
State television reported on Sunday night the board’s latest actions, hours before the deadline set by ECOWAS, which has he warned against the use of military force if the democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum does not return to power.
A spokesman for the coup leaders, Major Colonel Amadou Abdramane, pointed to “the threat of intervention being prepared in a neighboring country” and said Niger’s airspace would be closed until further notice. Any attempt to fly over the country will be met with “a strong and immediate response”.
The board also claimed that two Central African countries were preparing for an invasion, but did not name them. He called on the people of Niger to defend the nation.
The coup deposed Bazoum, whose ascendancy was Niger’s first peaceful and democratic transfer of power since independence from France in 1960. The coup also raised questions about the future of the fight against extremism in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have competed for influence.
International airlines have begun diverting flights around Niger, which the United States and others had seen as the last major anti-terrorist partner in the Sahel, south of the Sahara desert, where groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are expanding their influence.
Also on Monday, Mali said so and Burkina Faso, both Niger’s neighbors run by military junta, were sending delegations to Niger to show their support. Both countries have said they would consider any intervention in Niger as a declaration of war against them
The Associated Press saw several security officers from Burkina Faso at a hotel in Niger’s capital.
Regional tensions have risen since Niger’s coup nearly two weeks ago, when mutinous soldiers arrested Bazoum and installed General Abdourahmane Tchiani, a former head of the presidential guard, as head of state. Analysts believe the coup was sparked by a power struggle between Tchiani and the president, who was on the verge of firing him.
It was not immediately clear what ECOWAS leaders will do next. The region is divided into a course of action. There was no sign of the military forces massed at Niger’s border with Nigeria, the likely entry point by land.
Nigeria’s Senate has rejected the invasion plan and urged Nigeria’s president, the bloc’s current chairman, to explore options other than the use of force. ECOWAS can still move forward as final decisions are made by consensus of member states.
Guinea and neighboring Algeria, which is not a member of ECOWAS, have spoken out against the use of force. Senegal’s government has said it would take part in a military operation if it went ahead, and Ivory Coast has expressed support for the bloc’s efforts to restore constitutional order.
The board does not seem interested in negotiation. An ECOWAS delegation sent to Niger last week for hours of talks was unable to leave the airport and met only with Tchiani’s representatives.
The board has also asked for help from the Group of Russian mercenaries Wagnerwhich operates in a handful of African countries, including Mali, according to Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior researcher at the Soufan Center.
US officials say they can still communicate with Bazoum and that their most recent contact was on Monday.
Two officials said the administration of US President Joe Biden intends to maintain a diplomatic and military presence in Niger for the foreseeable future.
The administration is still weighing whether the events amount to a coup, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic talks. They said there was still time for Niger’s military leaders to reverse course.
If the US determines that a democratically elected government has been overthrown by unconstitutional means, federal law requires a cutoff of most US assistance, especially military aid.
Since the coup, extremists have been excited because they can move more freely without fear of attack, Boubacar Moussa, a former jihadist fighter, told the AP. He had joined a national program that encourages fighters to defect and reintegrate into society. The fate of the program is unclear.
Moussa said he has received at least 10 phone calls from jihadists active in the Tillaberi region, near the border with Mali, who said there was no concern about airstrikes. If there is an ECOWAS military intervention, they will probably attack the capital, Niamey, he said.
At a rally on Sunday, thousands applauded junta leaders who said their loyalty would be returned.
“We are with you against them. We will give you the Niger you are owed,” Brig. said General Mohamed Toumba. After his speech, attendees decapitated a chicken decorated in the colors of the former French colonizer.
The junta is exploiting anti-French sentiment to shore up its support base and has severed security ties with France, which still has 1,500 troops in Niger for counter-terrorism efforts.
On Monday, the French Foreign Ministry formally advised against any travel to Niger, Burkina Faso or Mali, and asked French citizens to be extremely vigilant. France has suspended almost 500 euros ($550 million) in aid to Burkina Faso.
It is not clear what will happen to the French military presence, or to the 1,100 US troops also in Niger.
Many people, mostly young people, have rallied around the junta and taken to the streets at night to patrol after being urged to protect themselves from foreign intervention.
“While they (the jihadists) are killing our brothers and sisters… ECOWAS did not intervene. Is now when they will intervene?” said Amadou Boukari, a supporter of the coup at the demonstration on Sunday. “Shame on ECOWAS”.
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Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria contributed to this report.
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