Capitals (Union, Agencies)
Yesterday, the United States renewed its call to the leaders of the military coup in Niger for the immediate release of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family, while Mali and Burkina Faso called on the UN Security Council to prevent any military intervention in the crisis. These developments came as the European Union prepared to impose sanctions on the coup leaders.
And US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, at dawn yesterday, that he had spoken to the President of Niger, Muhammad Bazoum, to express the continuation of efforts to find a peaceful solution to the constitutional crisis in the African country.
“The United States reiterates its call for his and his family’s immediate release,” he said in a tweet.
On the other hand, Mali and Burkina Faso yesterday called on the UN Security Council to take measures to prevent military operations in the region, according to Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, referring to a joint letter to the foreign ministers of the two countries.
“The transitional governments of Burkina Faso and the Republic of Mali call on the United Nations Security Council, as a guarantee of international security, to use all means to prevent military operations against Niger, the effects of which could be unpredictable,” the joint letter said.
The letter indicated that Mali and Burkina Faso are seeking to find a solution to the situation in Niger through negotiations. Niger was subjected to more sanctions yesterday, hours after its new military leaders refused to meet the latest diplomatic mission aimed at restoring constitutional order in the wake of the July 26 coup.
“President Bola Tinubu has ordered the imposition of new sanctions through the Central Bank of Nigeria with the aim of putting pressure on the entities and individuals involved in the power grab,” a spokesman for the Nigerian presidency said.
This came after the military council in Niger refused, yesterday, to allow entry to a joint delegation from West African countries, the African Union and the United Nations and resisted pressure from the United States and the United Nations to sit at the negotiating table.
In the context, sources said yesterday that the European Union countries have begun to lay the groundwork for imposing the first sanctions on members of the Military Council in Niger.
An EU official involved in the work on sanctions and a diplomat from the bloc said the EU had begun discussing criteria for punitive measures.
The official added that the measures would be aimed at “undermining democracy” in Niger and would likely be agreed upon soon.
“The next step will be the imposition of sanctions on individuals from the military council deemed responsible,” the diplomat said.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gave priority to diplomacy in the search for a settlement to the crisis in Niger, while maintaining its threat to intervene militarily in order to restore constitutional order, on the eve of a regional summit on this issue today, Thursday.
And ECOWAS announced in a statement that it “continues to take all necessary measures to ensure the return of constitutional order to Niger, with the reinstatement of President Mohamed Bazoum to office.”
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