The French foreign minister said Saturday that her country would not intervene militarily in Niger after the ECOWAS group of West African nations gave Nigerien coup leaders until the end of the week to reinstate the ousted president
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2023) The French foreign minister said Saturday that her country would not intervene militarily in Niger after the ECOWAS group of West African nations gave Nigerien coup leaders until the end of the week to reinstate the ousted president.
Asked if Paris would assist in the intervention in its former African colony, Catherine Colonna told Franceinfo that "we are not in this." She added that it was up to the leaders of the 15-nation ECOWAS whether to "take the decision to intervene and to set out the framework for this possible intervention."
The diplomat warned the junta that it should take the threat of military action by ECOWAS very seriously because it was "credible.
Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum was toppled last weekend by his own elite guard, whose commander, Abdourahmane Tchiani, was named the country's new leader. The president's office initially said that Tchiani did not have the army's backing but its command eventually came out in support of the rebel general.
