A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) engaged in discussions with both the military officers who orchestrated the power seizure and the deposed President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger.
An ECOWAS delegation in Niger for talks with the officers who seized power also met with ousted President Mohamed Bazoum Saturday, a source close to the West African bloc told AFP.
Bazoum was “in good spirits”, the source added, although his electricity was still cut off.
A Niger news agency journalist at the presidential palace on Saturday afternoon confirmed that the meeting had taken place.
The delegation arrived in Niger Saturday for talks with the senior army officers who seized power in a coup last month in the hope of heading off a military confrontation.
Led by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar the ECOWAS representatives also met with some of the senior officers who seized power, said the source, without saying if they included coup leader General Abdourahamane Tiani.
Niger’s new military ruler said Saturday a transition of power would not go beyond three years, and warned that any attack on the country would not be easy for those involved.
“Our ambition is not to confiscate power,” General Abdourahamane Tiani said in a televised address. Any transition of power “would not go beyond three years”, he said.
But he added: “If an attack were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park some people seem to think.”
He also said: “ECOWAS is getting ready to attack Niger by setting up an occupying army in collaboration with a foreign army,” without saying which country he meant.
Tiani’s warning came after a delegation from West African bloc ECOWAS arrived in the country for a final diplomatic push before deciding whether to take military action against the country’s new military rulers.
They met ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held with his family at the president’s official residence since officers from his personal guard deposed him and seized power on July 26.
ECOWAS defence chiefs met this week to fine-tune details of a potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.
In his 12-minute speech, Tiania denounced what he called the “illegal” and “inhuman” sanctions levied by ECOWAS against Niger since the military seized power.
He also announced a 30-day period of “national dialogue” to draw up “concrete proposals” to lay the foundations of “a new constitutional life”.
Marie de La Roche Saint-André, with AFP
