Blinken backs west African efforts to restore Niger’s constitutional order

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington supported west African efforts to restore constitutional order in Niger, whose neighbours have threatened military action unless the new ruling junta reverses last month’s coup.

Niger’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum was deposed last month by the head of his own presidential guard, Gen Omar Tchiani, the latest coup in a volatile region that removed one of its few pro-western leaders.

The junta has already ignored a deadline from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the regional grouping led by Nigeria, which warned that the use of force was an option to restore Mr Bazoum. GenTchiani on Tuesday began forming a cabinet, appointing Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, a former finance minister, as prime minister.

“We are supporting the efforts of Ecowas in Africa to restore constitutional order in Niger,” Mr Blinken said on Tuesday as he described the coup as “extremely troubling”, a day after his deputy was denied a meeting with Gen Tchiani during a visit to the country.

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In a separate interview with the BBC, Mr Blinken said that while the Niger coup “was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner ... they tried to take advantage of it”. He was referring to the Kremlin-linked Wagner mercenary group, whose forces are active in neighbouring countries such as Mali.

“Every single place that Wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed,” Mr Blinken added.

Victoria Nuland, acting US deputy secretary of state, had travelled to Niger’s capital Niamey to warn the junta that US aid would be cut off if democratic order was not restored.

She delivered the message to Gen Moussa Salaou Barmou, the new defence chief and head of Niger’s special forces, making it “absolutely clear what is at stake in our relationship and the economic and other kinds of support that we will legally have to cut off if democracy is not restored”.

She added it was “not easy to get traction” on a diplomatic path and that the junta leaders had so far denied US requests to restore constitutional order. “They are quite firm in their view of how they want to proceed and it does not comport with the constitution of Niger,” Ms Nuland said.

[ 'It's a disaster': Timeline of the military coup in Niger ]

US and European officials remain hopeful that a mediated solution to the crisis can be found before an emergency summit of west African leaders to be held on Thursday.

Although Ecowas defence chiefs have met to discuss their next steps, the threat to use military action in Niger has gone down badly in Nigeria, where the opposition and members of President Bola Tinubu’s party have come out against it.

The US has suspended more than $100 million (€91 million) in development, security and law enforcement assistance since the July 26th coup. US officials said hundreds of millions of dollars of additional assistance would be at stake if the junta did not reinstate the elected government. There are also 1,100 US troops in Niger on a security co-operation mission that has been paused since the coup, though they remain in the country.

[ Shadow of European colonial history behind Niger coup ]

Gen Barmou had worked with US special forces, allowing Ms Nuland to go into considerable detail with the new defence chief about what American assistance was on the line, she said.

“We were not granted an opportunity to see the self-proclaimed president, Mr Tchiani, so we were left to have to depend on Mr Barmou to make clear ... what is at stake.”

Ms Nuland said her conversations with the junta representatives to press for a negotiated solution to the crisis “were extremely frank and at times quite difficult”. She said the US hoped to keep the door open for further conversations.

Ms Nuland was denied repeated requests to meet Mr Bazoum, who has said he is being held as a hostage. She said she sought “some gestures of health and welfare” for Mr Bazoum and his family, amid fears for their safety. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023