France on Friday rejected the Niger junta’s transfer to scrap bilateral navy pacts, saying solely the West African nation’s “official” management was entitled to take action. The information comes after a crew of mediators from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS left the capital of Niamey with out assembly coup chief Abdourahamane Tiani. Comply with our liveblog for all the newest developments. All instances are Paris time (GMT+2).
2:58pm: Niger ambassador to France insists she’s nonetheless in put up regardless of coup
Niger‘s ambassador to France on Friday insisted she was nonetheless in her put up regardless of the coup within the West African nation, saying she remained loyal to detained President Mohamed Bazoum.
Aichatou Boulama Kane, who has been in her job since July 2022, stated she rejected as “null and void” an order by the coup leaders to finish her mandate in addition to these of the Niger ambassadors to Nigeria, Togo and america.
“I’m nonetheless the ambassador of official President Mohamed Bazoum and I take into account myself as such,” she stated in a phone interview with AFP.
The notification by putschists to place an finish to her mandate “was taken by illegitimate authorities. I’m the ambassador of Niger in France,” she added.
1:39pm: France says solely ‘official’ Niger authorities can lower navy ties
France on Friday rejected the Niger junta’s transfer to scrap bilateral navy pacts, saying the west African nation’s “official” management alone was entitled to take action.
“The authorized framework of France’s defence settlement with Niger relies on accords that had been signed with the official Nigerien authorities,” the international ministry stated, after the junta in Niamey stated it was cancelling navy cooperation agreements with Paris.
1:23pm: Germany urges continued ‘mediation efforts’ with Niger junta
Germany’s international ministry on Friday urged continued “mediation efforts” with Niger’s junta after a West African delegation did not safe the return to energy of the nation’s elected authorities.
“It is crucial that we give area for mediation efforts,” a international ministry spokesman in Berlin advised a press briefing. “We hope that they will result in a profitable finish … a political resolution.”
1:22pm: Kremlin says international intervention won’t resolve Niger disaster
Russia stated on Friday that outdoors intervention wouldn’t enhance the state of affairs in Niger, after toppled President Mohamed Bazoum known as on america and the worldwide neighborhood to assist restore constitutional order.
“It’s unlikely that the intervention of any extra-regional drive can change the state of affairs for the higher,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov advised journalists, including that Russia was “monitoring the state of affairs very carefully and anxious in regards to the tensions arising within the area”.
11:42am: Niger junta lifts curfew in place since coup
Niger’s coup leaders have lifted the curfew they imposed after taking energy and toppling President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, plunging the nation into disaster.
“The curfew imposed since July 26, 2023 is formally lifted as of immediately,” in line with a decree dated late Thursday and signed by coup chief Abdourahamane Tiani.
10:31am: EU ‘strongly condemns’ blocking of FRANCE 24 and RFI in Niger
The European Union on Friday “strongly” condemned the blocking of French media broadcasts in Niger, the place final week’s coup sparked protests towards the nation’s former colonial ruler.
“This step is a severe violation of the appropriate to data and freedom of expression. The EU strongly condemns these violations of basic freedoms,” EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali stated on Twitter, lately rebranded as X.
L’UE juge inacceptable la suspension de @RFI et de @FRANCE24 au Niger.
Cette mesure est une atteinte grave au droit à l’data et à la liberté d’expression.
L’UE condamne fermement ces violations aux libertés fondamentales.
— Nabila Massrali (@NabilaEUspox) August 4, 2023
FRANCE 24 and RFI’s broadcasts have been blocked within the nation since Thursday afternoon. Each broadcasters stay accessible in Niger by means of direct satellite tv for pc reception and will be accessed on YouTube, their respective apps, web sites, and social media platforms.
Learn extra Easy methods to proceed watching and studying FRANCE 24 in Africa
9:03am: ECOWAS mediators go away Niger with out assembly junta chief
A crew from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS left Niger with out assembly the chief of the junta that seized energy in a coup final Sunday, a delegation member stated Friday.
The Financial Neighborhood of West African States delegation arrived within the Niger capital Niamey on Thursday “however didn’t spend the night time” as scheduled, nor met with coup chief Common Abdourahamane Tiani or deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, the crew member stated.
8:12am: ECOWAS seeks resolution to Niger coup as deadline nears
Defence chiefs from West African regional bloc ECOWAS had been set to wrap up discussions about potential intervention in Niger on Friday, as a crew of mediators from the financial grouping push coup leaders in Niamey to revive constitutional order earlier than an approaching deadline.
This Sunday will mark the one-week deadline given by ECOWAS following the coup, with the regional bloc threatening to make use of drive if Niger’s democratically elected president just isn’t reinstated.
1:45am: Niger junta to reply ‘instantly’ to any ‘aggression’ by West Africa bloc
Niger’s newly put in junta stated it could reply instantly to any “aggression or tried aggression” towards it by West African nations, three days earlier than the expiry of an ultimatum to revive order given by regional bloc ECOWAS.
“Any aggression or tried aggression towards the State of Niger will see a direct and unannounced response from the Niger Defence and Safety Forces on one in all (the bloc’s) members, aside from suspended pleasant nations,” declared one of many putschists in a press release, alluding to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali.
1:30am: Niger junta ends mandates of ambassadors to US, France, Nigeria and Togo
Niger’s coup leaders on Thursday night introduced they had been ending the mandates of ambassadors to 4 nations, as they face worldwide strain to revive the democratically elected chief they ousted final week.
“The features of the extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of the Republic of Niger” to France, Nigeria, Togo and america “are terminated”, one of many putschists stated in a press release learn on nationwide tv.
1:25am: Niger’s ousted president requires restoration of his authorities
Elected Niger President Mohamed Bazoum stated Thursday that if a coup try and depose him is profitable, “it’s going to have devastating penalties for our nation, our area and all the world.”
In a column in The Washington Submit, Bazoum known as on “the US authorities and all the worldwide neighborhood to assist us restore our constitutional order.”
The attraction was Bazoum’s first prolonged assertion since his presidential guard detained him on July 26 and took management of the Niger authorities.
“I write this as a hostage,” Bazoum wrote.
“Niger is below assault from a navy junta… and I’m simply one in all lots of of residents who’ve been arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned.”
“This coup should finish, and the junta should free everybody they’ve unlawfully arrested,” he wrote.
“In Africa’s troubled Sahel area, Niger stands because the final bastion of respect for human rights amid the authoritarian actions which have overtaken a few of our neighbors,” he wrote.
He warned that Niger’s neighbors have more and more invited in “legal Russian mercenaries such because the Wagner Group on the expense of their individuals’s rights and dignity.”
“The whole Sahel area,” he stated, “might fall to Russian affect through the Wagner Group, whose brutal terrorism has been on full show in Ukraine.”
Terrorist actions like Boko Haram, he added, “will certainly make the most of Niger’s instability, utilizing our nation as a staging floor to assault neighboring nations and undermine peace, security and freedom all over the world.”
Opinion by Mohamed Bazoum: “I write this as a hostage. This coup, launched towards my authorities by a faction within the navy on July 26, has no justification in any respect. If it succeeds, it’s going to have devastating penalties for our nation and the world.” https://t.co/FU1i6izTDP
— The Washington Submit (@washingtonpost) August 4, 2023
1:15am: Niger junta says scrapping navy pacts with France
Niger’s junta on Thursday stated it was scrapping navy pacts made between Niamey and France, following final week’s coup.
“Confronted with France’s careless angle and its response to the state of affairs”, the “Nationwide Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland determined to scrap the cooperation agreements within the subject of safety and defence with this state,” one of many putschists stated in a press release learn out on tv late on Thursday.
12:06am: Niger ambassador to US warns coup might destabilise area
Niger’s junta should “come to purpose” and return energy to ousted President Mohamed Bazoum earlier than the nation and the broader area collapse, Niamey’s ambassador to Washington stated Thursday.
“If Niger collapses, all the Sahel will collapse, will probably be destabilized,” Ambassador Kiari Liman-Tinguiri advised AFP in an interview on Niger’s independence day, as the way forward for Western financial and safety help hold within the stability for the landlocked West African nation going through a number of conflicts with violent extremists.
“The junta ought to come to purpose, understand that this affair can’t succeed, and forestall ineffective, inevitable struggling for our individuals and hand again energy,” stated Liman-Tinguiri, who stays a acknowledged diplomat in Washington and considers himself a consultant of the “official” President Bazoum, detained by his guards since late final month.
Key occasions in Niger up to now:
Niger’s elected president Mohamed Bazoum has been held by the navy since July 26, within the third coup in as a few years to topple an elected chief within the Sahel.
The top of Niger’s highly effective presidential guard, Common Abdourahamane Tiani, has declared himself the nation’s new chief.
Tiani stated the putsch was a response to “the degradation of the safety state of affairs” linked to jihadist bloodshed, in addition to corruption and financial woes.
Former colonial ruler France and the European Union have suspended safety cooperation and monetary help to Niger following the coup, whereas america warned that its help is also at stake.
At an emergency summit on Sunday the Financial Neighborhood of West African States (ECOWAS) gave Tiani one week to reinstate the nation’s democratically elected president and have threatened to make use of drive if the calls for aren’t met.
France has denied accusations from Niger’s coup leaders that Paris is plotting to intervene militarily, with International Minister Catherine Colonna telling FRANCE 24 that “France’s solely precedence is the protection of our nationals”.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
