US envoy meets Niger coup leaders but sees no headway

The second-ranking US diplomat met Niger's military leaders on Monday to press to reverse a coup but she reported no headway a day after the junta ignored an ultimatum from the West African bloc.

Victoria Nuland, a veteran envoy who is the acting deputy secretary of state, said she met for more than two hours with chiefs of the military who on July 26 ousted Mohamed Bazoum, a democratically elected Western ally.

She described the talks as "extremely frank and at times quite difficult" but that she offered "a number of options" to exit the crisis and restore the relationship with the United States, which like other Western nations has suspended aid over the coup.

"This was a first conversation in which the United States was offering its good offices if there is a desire on the part of the people who are responsible for this to return to the constitutional order," she told reporters by telephone before flying out.

Victoria Nuland, who as acting deputy secretary of state made a crisis trip to Niger, is seen addressing a news conference in Sri Lanka on February 1, 2023. By ISHARA S. KODIKARA (AFP/File)

"I would not say that we were in any way taken up on that offer."

She said the junta did not respond to her requests to meet Niger's self-proclaimed new leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, or the detained elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, although US officials have been in touch with Bazoum by telephone.

Nuland said she met Brigadier General Moussa Salaou Barmou, who has been named the new military chief of staff and who has worked closely in the past with the United States, which along with former colonial power France has based anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel out of Niger.

Nuland said she warned Niger against following neighbouring Mali in bringing in Russia's Wagner mercenaries.

"The people who have taken this action here understand very well the risks to their sovereignty when Wagner is invited in," said Nuland, known for her hawkish stance on Russia.

Regional summit

Nuland's trip, conducted in secrecy until she left, came after the junta ignored a deadline set by the ECOWAS regional bloc to reinstate Bazoum by midnight (2300 GMT) on Sunday or risk military intervention.

The 15-nation bloc said it would hold a summit on the crisis on Thursday in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

A source close to ECOWAS said an immediate military intervention to restore Bazoum was not being envisaged at this stage.

Niger ignored a deadline to reinstate democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. By - (AFP)

Mali, which neighbours Niger, said it and Burkina Faso -- which have both been suspended from ECOWAS over their own military coups -- were sending a joint official delegation to Niamey to show "solidarity (with) the people of Niger".

They have said military intervention would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

Algeria, which shares a long land border with Niger, has also cautioned against a military solution, which President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said would be "a direct threat" to his North African country.

Senators in regional heavyweight Nigeria urged everyone to focus on the "political and diplomatic option".

More envoys coming

Just before the ultimatum expired on Sunday, Niger's military rulers closed the Sahel country's airspace and warned any attempt to enter it would meet with an "energetic and immediate response".

They said there had been a "pre-deployment in preparation for intervention" made by two Central African countries, without naming them, and warned: "Any state involved will be considered co-belligerent."

But Niger's military rulers also urged an ECOWAS delegation to return for talks, Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou told French broadcaster TV5 Monde Monday, after an abortive first attempt.

Mahamadou revealed in his interview that Bazoum -- held with his wife and son -- was enduring deteriorating conditions.

"The junta have asked the ECOWAS delegation to return" and its members "will be in Niamey probably today (Monday) or tomorrow", Mahamadou said in an interview.

An ECOWAS delegation had arrived in the capital Niamey last Thursday but did not stay overnight as scheduled. It did not meet either Bazoum or Tiani.

Map showing the members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including those suspended or sanctioned following a coup. By Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA (AFP)

The UN Secretary-General's representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simao, was also in Abuja for talks on the crisis.

France, with which Niger's new rulers have broken military ties, said it would "firmly" back whatever course of action ECOWAS took after the deadline expired.

The Niger coup was the latest of several to plague Africa's Sahel belt since 2020.

Niger has been critical to Western strategies to combat jihadist insurgencies that have plagued the Sahel since 2012, with France and the United States stationing around 1,500 and 1,000 troops in the country respectively.