Coup: Niger Junta threatens to kill Bazoum over military intervention
Niger Republic junta has threatened to kill ousted President, Mohamed Bazoum, should there be any military intervention from the Economic Community of West African State, ECOWAS.
The Associated Press on Thursday reported that two “Western
officials” disclosed that the putschists issued the threat while speaking to a
top U.S. diplomat.
The military leaders reportedly made the threat shortly
before ECOWAS directed the deployment of a standby force to restore democracy
in Niger.
The international community is scrambling to find a peaceful
solution to the country’s leadership crisis.
According to AP, a Western military official, who speaks
because of the sensitivity of the situation on condition of anonymity, said
representatives of the junta told U.S. Under Secretary of State, Victoria
Nuland of the threat to Bazoum during her visit to the country this week.
Aneliese Bernard, a former U.S. State Department official
who specialises in African affairs and is now the director of Strategic
Stabilization Advisors, a risk advisory group, said the threats from both
ECOWAS and the junta escalates tensions but will hopefully nudge them closer to
actually talking.
“Still, this junta has escalated its moves so quickly that
it’s possible they do something more extreme, as that has been their approach
so far,” she cautioned.
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