West African defence chiefs mull response to Niger coup

NIAMEY/ABUJA (Reuters) – West African defence chiefs conclude a two-day meeting on Thursday that is discussing last week’s coup in Niger – talks they have promised will send a strong message about their intolerance for unconstitutional takeovers.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has unleashed sanctions, threats of military intervention, and diplomatic overtures in its push to restore the presidency of President Mohamed Bazoum.

It is not clear whether the defence chiefs’ meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja will provide further detail on the bloc’s threat to authorise the use of force if coup leaders do not reinstate Bazoum by a Sunday deadline – its strongest stance yet after a string of military takeovers in the region.

Late on Wednesday, the junta in Niger vowed it would not bow to external pressure, dismissing the sanctions and ECOWAS’ warning it could intervene.

The turmoil has prompted some European nations to evacuate citizens by plane from Niger. On Wednesday, the United States said it had ordered the evacuation of some staff and families from its embassy even as the mission remains open and senior leadership continues working there.

ECOWAS has struggled to contain a democratic backslide in West Africa and had vowed that coups will no longer be tolerated after military takeovers in member states Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau in the last two years.

But there are early signs that the fallout from its sanctions are starting to have an impact: Nigeria cut power supplies to Niger, while Nigerien truckers were stranded in limbo by border closures.

Abdourahamane Tiani, the former head of Bazoum’s presidential guard, shut Bazoum in his palace last Wednesday and later declared himself head of state.

Niger is an important Western ally in a fight against Islamist insurgents, and the coup has been condemned by foreign powers who fear it could allow the militants to gain ground. Niger is also the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, the radioactive metal widely used for nuclear energy and treating cancer.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Bazoum in a phone call on Wednesday that the U.S. remained committed to the restoration of Bazoum’s elected government, the State Department said.

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alexander Winning and Raju Gopalakrishnan)