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Niger’s Detained President Pleads With U.S. and Others for Help Niger’s Coup Leaders Sever Ties With France, as Detained President Pleads for Help
(about 8 hours later)
The president of Niger, who has been detained by his own guards since last week, has called on the United States and other allies to help restore constitutional order in the West African nation, warning that attacks from jihadist groups could increase and that Russia could expand its influence in the region if the coup leaders remain in power. Niger’s coup leaders on Thursday said that they had severed military ties with France, their country’s former colonial ruler, throwing into uncertainty the future of 1,500 French troops based there, in a region of West Africa plagued with coups and Islamist insurgencies.
The plea came just days before a deadline that other West African countries have given in a threat to go to war against the coup leaders, despite skepticism that the nations will take military action. The leaders of the coup also dismissed Niger’s ambassadors to France and the United States, another military partner, as well as the ambassadors to Togo and Nigeria, an essential trade partner.
“I write this as a hostage,” President Mohamed Bazoum said in an opinion essay published in The Washington Post on Thursday evening. “Niger is under attack from a military junta that is trying to overthrow our democracy.” In an extraordinary move, the elected president of Niger, who has been locked up in the presidential palace by his own guards for over a week, wrote an opinion column published in The Washington Post calling on the United States and other allies to help restore constitutional order.
Since Mr. Bazoum was detained on July 26, the United States and some European countries have partly suspended ties with Niger, a country that depends heavily on foreign aid. The Nigerien public has already faced power cuts and cash shortages amid economic sanctions imposed by its neighbors in response to the coup, and hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid could be endangered. Niger, a country of 25 million, is among the world’s poorest. “I write this as a hostage,” President Mohamed Bazoum said in his opinion essay, published on Thursday evening. “Niger is under attack from a military junta that is trying to overthrow our democracy.”
For a leader removed from power nine days earlier, Mr. Bazoum was in a highly unusual situation on Friday: Unlike other ousted leaders in the region in recent years, he has refused to formally resign, and he and his family are being held in his private residence by members of his own presidential guard. He warned that attacks from jihadist groups could increase and that Russia could expand its influence in the region if the coup leaders remain in power.
The plea came just days before a deadline given by other West African countries in a threat to go to war against the coup leaders, despite skepticism that the nations will take military action.
Under Mr. Bazoum, Niger had been a key security partner to the United States and Europe, hosting more than 2,500 troops from France, the United States and the European Union.
Civilian deaths and political violence in Niger have decreased this year, according to data released by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Niger has fared better against the insurgents than neighbors like Mali, which has contracted with fighters from the Kremlin-backed Wagner private military company, and Burkina Faso, which has moved closer to Russia. Both of those countries were also taken over in military coups.
The mutinous soldiers in Niger flew to Mali this week, and met with the military junta there. The Nigerien junta later said they had also visited Burkina Faso.
The United States, Europe and most African countries have not recognized the military junta as the legitimate leader of Niger. Neighboring countries have imposed economic sanctions on Niger in response to the coup, and the Nigerien public has faced power cuts and cash shortages as a result.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid could be endangered in Niger, which depends on foreign aid for 40 percent of its national budget and is among the world’s poorest.
The fate of French troops in Niger remained unclear on Friday. Most had moved there from neighboring Mali last year, after Malian military rulers also broke ties with France. When Burkina Faso severed a military partnership with France in January, French troops had a month to leave.
Unlike other ousted leaders in the region in recent years, Mr. Bazoum has refused to formally resign, and he and his family are being held in his private residence.
He has spoken by telephone with officials including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and President Emmanuel Macron of France. And on Sunday, President Mahamat Idriss Déby of neighboring Chad, who visited him, posted a photograph of the smiling imprisoned president on social media.He has spoken by telephone with officials including Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and President Emmanuel Macron of France. And on Sunday, President Mahamat Idriss Déby of neighboring Chad, who visited him, posted a photograph of the smiling imprisoned president on social media.
Mr. Bazoum, who is 63, did not detail in his essay the conditions in which he was being detained, or how he had been able to write the text. Mr. Bazoum, who is 63, did not detail in his essay the conditions in which he was being detained, or how he had been able to write or approve the text.
Senior Nigerien diplomats still call Mr. Bazoum their boss, and some of his close advisers have spoken with reporters since the coup attempt. But in the past few days their phones have gone silent amid a wave of arrests of government officials and senior members of his party. Senior Nigerien diplomats still call Mr. Bazoum their boss.
“This is not another coup as usual,” Kiari Liman-Tinguiri, Niger’s ambassador to the United States, said in an interview this week. “You can’t just wake up in the morning, and with no reason, declare that you are the ruler,” Kiari Liman-Tiguri, Niger’s ambassador to the United States, said in an interview with The New York Times this week, before announcement that he had been dismissed by the military junta.
Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who claims to be in charge of Niger, said in a television address on Wednesday that he had seized power to restore security and fight corruption. Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who claims to be in charge of Niger, said in a television address that he had seized power to restore security and fight corruption.
The Economic Community of West African States, a regional bloc known as ECOWAS, has given him an ultimatum to hand back power before Monday. And several countries have said they are ready to send troops for a military intervention if Niger does not return to democratic rule. The Economic Community of West African States, a regional bloc known as ECOWAS, has given him an ultimatum to hand back power before Monday. Several West African countries, including Nigeria and Senegal, have said they are ready to send troops for a military intervention if Niger does not return to democratic rule.
But analysts have said that a military intervention is unlikely, at least in the short term, and many experts say Mr. Bazoum is unlikely to be reinstalled in power. West African defense chiefs gathered in Nigeria this week said that a military intervention was “the last resort.” But many experts have said that a military intervention is unlikely, at least in the short term, and that Mr. Bazoum is unlikely to be reinstated. West African defense chiefs gathered in Nigeria this week said that a military intervention was “the last resort.”
Since his election in 2021, Mr. Bazoum had strengthened partnerships with the United States and Europe, in contrast with neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Mali that have moved closer to Russia. In his opinion essay, Mr. Bazoum accused military juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali of employing “criminal Russian mercenaries such as the Wagner Group at the expense of their people’s rights and dignity.”
Under his watch, attacks on civilians by militant groups have decreased, and Niger’s economy grew 7 percent last year. As Mr. Bazoum said in his essay, “Foreign aid makes up 40 percent of our national budget, but it will not be delivered if the coup succeeds.” The Wagner group has about 1,500 troops in Mali, allied with the military regime there. Despite rumors, there is no evidence that Burkina Faso’s junta leaders have worked with the group.
He also said that hundreds of people had been imprisoned since the coup, a claim that could not be independently verified and that has not been documented publicly. Its founder, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, has praised the coup in Niger and offered Wagner’s services to the military leaders, although it is unclear what operational control he still has over the mercenaries in Africa after his failed mutiny in Russia in June.
Mr. Bazoum added that neighboring countries like Burkina Faso and Mali that are run by military officials were faring worse on security issues. He accused them of employing “criminal Russian mercenaries such as the Wagner Group at the expense of their people’s rights and dignity.”
On Wednesday, one of the Nigerien coup leaders visited Burkina Faso and Mali.
The Wagner group has about 1,500 troops in Mali, allied with the military regime there. Despite rumors, there is no evidence that Burkina Faso’s junta leaders have worked with the group. Its founder, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, has praised the coup in Niger and offered Wagner’s services to the new rulers, although it is unclear what operational control he still has over the group in Africa after his failed mutiny in Russia in June.
Some African leaders have warned about the threat posed by Wagner on the continent, although some analysts caution that those leaders may be exaggerating the group’s influence in the region to attract Western support. Wagner mercenaries have been deployed in African countries including Libya, Mali and Sudan.
As of Friday morning, Nigerien public television had yet to mention Mr. Bazoum’s essay.