Niger's junta has ignored an ultimatum by the West African bloc for the reinstating of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. Whether ECOWAS will follow through with its threat and intervene militarily remains uncertain.
Envoys from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) , the United Nations and the African Union are expected to hold talks in Niger's capital, Niamey, on Tuesday, according to a report by the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
This comes as the West African bloc is set to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss a response to Niger's defiance to its ultimatum, which ECOWAS had set for the reinstating of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
Last week, ECOWAS defense chiefs agreed on a possible military action plan if Bazoum was not released and reinstated. But they said any operational decisions would be taken by heads of states.
ECOWAS spokesperson Emus Lungu said the heads of state would participate in the Thursday summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, where ECOWAS is headquartered.
The Nigerien coup leaders announced on Sunday the closing of the country's airspace because of the "threat of intervention" as the ultimatum expired.
Diplomacy is 'preferred'
Niger junta's defiance of the ECOWAS ultimatum triggered a choir of calls for diplomacy, especially with several western countries having troops in Niger as part of the fight against Islamist militant insurgency in the region.
"There's no doubt that diplomacy is the preferred way to resolve this situation," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told French radio station RFI on Tuesday.
"It is ECOWAS' current approach. It is our approach," he added.
Blinken said Washington was backing ECOWAS leaders in holding a summit on Thursday to discuss the situation.
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On Monday, acting US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said she met with the coup leaders in Niger but they did not allow her to see Bazoum.
Nuland said the talks were "extremely frank and at times quite difficult because, again, we are pushing for a negotiated solution."
"It was not easy to get traction there. They are quite firm in their view of how they want to proceed," Nuland told reporters on a call from Niamey.
How did Niger junta respond to ECOWAS ultimatum?
General Abdourahamane, who declared himself the leader after the coup, continued moving to consolidate power by appointing military insiders to key government positions.
On Sunday, the junta organized large shows of support in Niamey in the run-up to the ECOWAS deadline expiration, with military officials greeting the crowds in a venue draped in Russian flags and decorated with portraits of the generals.
The junta said it was closing Niger's airspace "for all aircraft until further notice" as of Sunday, as a council of coup generals said it had seen signs of "pre-deployment in preparation for intervention" by two Central African countries it did not name.
The junta's top allies, Mali and Burkina Faso, where the military also took power by force in 2020 and 2022, said they were sending a joint official delegation in a show of solidarity with Niger on Monday.
fb/wmr (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)
