JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
The African Union has
suspended Niger from all its activities following the military coup there on
July 26, telling its members to avoid any action that might legitimize the
junta. FILE - General Abdourahmane Tchiani, who was declared as the new head of state of Niger by leaders of a coup, arrives to meet with ministers in Niamey, Niger July 28, 2023.
The coup last month has caused
alarm among democratic African states and Western allies who fear it could
allow Islamist groups active in the Sahel region to expand their reach.
The AU Peace and Security
Council said in a communique on Tuesday that it had noted the Economic
Community of West African States' decision to activate a standby force and
asked the AU Commission to assess the economic, social, and security
implications of deploying such a force.
ECOWAS has been trying to
negotiate with the junta but says it is ready to send troops into Niger to
restore constitutional order if diplomatic efforts fail. It has already imposed
broad sanctions on Niger, which the AU endorsed.
The AU said it had asked the
AU Commission to compile a list of members of the military junta and their
supporters for targeted sanctions and "the application of individual
punitive measures."
The resolutions in Tuesday's
statement were adopted at a council meeting held on Aug. 14, it said.
The AU reiterated calls for
the coup leaders to immediately release elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who
has been detained since the coup, and return to their barracks.
The junta has resisted
pressure to stand down and proposed a three-year timeline to organize
elections, a plan which ECOWAS rejected. The bloc may send another mediation
mission to Niger, ECOWAS Commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah said on Monday.
The ECOWAS parliament, one of
the regional bloc's institutions, is against sending in troops, said Ali Ndume,
a representative from Nigeria.
"Our stand is informed by
the grave implications of a military intervention in Niger. (There is) no
alternative to diplomatic solution," he told journalists in Abuja on
Tuesday, following a parliamentary meeting on Niger the night before.
Regional leaders have taken a
hard line on Niger, trying to show that they meant it when they said coups
would no longer be tolerated in the region. Niger's coup is the seventh in West
and Central Africa since 2020.
The country has strategic
significance as a base for U.S. and French troops helping fight Islamist
militant groups in the region, and as one of the world's biggest producers of
uranium.
Algerian state radio said late
on Monday that Algeria had refused a French request to fly over its airspace
for a military operation in Niger. France denied making any such request. It
was not clear what type of operation Algeria referred to.
The AU said it strongly
rejected any external interference in the situation by any actor or country
outside of Africa, including engagements by private military companies — a
likely reference to Russian mercenary group Wagner, which is active in
neighboring Mali.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin
has welcomed the coup and on Monday posted a video in which he appeared to be
in Africa, promoting Wagner's activities there.
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