Niger coup leaders rebuff diplomacy bid as summit considers military action

Leaders of a coup in Niger have rejected the latest diplomatic mission from west African countries aimed at restoring constitutional order, resisting pressure from the United States and the United Nations to come to the negotiating table.

Heads of state from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are preparing for a summit on Thursday to discuss their standoff with the junta, which defied a weekend deadline to reinstate ousted president Mohamed Bazoum.

ECOWAS defence chiefs have already agreed on a possible military action plan, which heads of state are expected to consider at their summit in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

The junta denied permission to enter Niger to a joint delegation from ECOWAS, the African Union (AU) and the UN, according to a letter circulated on social media whose authenticity was confirmed by a Niger army spokesperson.

The letter said popular anger among Niger’s citizens over sanctions imposed by ECOWAS in response to the coup made it impossible to host the envoys safely and denounced “a climate of threatened aggression against Niger.”

Under Bazoum, Niger was relatively successful in containing an Islamist insurgency devastating the Sahel region and was an important ally for the West after two of its neighbours rejected former colonial power France and turned towards Russia instead.

Niger is the world’s seventh-biggest producer of uranium, the most widely used fuel for nuclear energy, adding to its strategic importance.

The UN said secretary general Antonio Guterres strongly supported mediation efforts by ECOWAS, while US secretary of state Antony Blinken told the BBC he was worried that Russia’s Wagner mercenaries were taking advantage of the instability in Niger to strengthen their presence in the Sahel.

“I think what happened and what continues to happen in Niger was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner, but ... they tried to take advantage of it,” he said.

US acting deputy secretary of state Victoria Nuland flew to Niamey on Monday but was denied permission to meet coup leader Abdourahamane Tiani – or Bazoum, who is in detention. She told reporters her talks with more junior officers were “frank and difficult” and they had shown little interest in exploring ways to restore democratic order.

In contrast, coup leaders did meet a joint delegation from Mali and Burkina Faso, both neighbouring countries where the military has seized power from civilians. The juntas there have pledged support for the coup in Niger.

“We will not accept military intervention in Niger. Our survival depends on it,” said Abdoulaye Maiga, a spokesperson for Mali’s junta.

Western allies fear Niger could go the way of Mali, which threw out French troops and UN peacekeepers and invited in mercenaries from Wagner group after a 2021 coup.

“Every single place that this Wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed,” Blinken said.