International Pressure Mounts on Coup Leaders in Niger While Hundreds Rally in Support of Junta

Protesters chant slogans during a rally in Niamey, Niger, 03 August 2023. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO
Protesters chant slogans during a rally in Niamey, Niger, 03 August 2023. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO
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International Pressure Mounts on Coup Leaders in Niger While Hundreds Rally in Support of Junta

Protesters chant slogans during a rally in Niamey, Niger, 03 August 2023. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO
Protesters chant slogans during a rally in Niamey, Niger, 03 August 2023. EPA/ISSIFOU DJIBO

International pressure mounted Thursday against leaders of the coup in Niger as the American secretary of state said the United States “stands very much” in support of West African leaders who have threatened to use force to restore the nation's democracy, and Senegal offered troops to help.
As hundreds of anti-French protesters rallied in the Nigerien capital in support of the ruling junta, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered general support for the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, though he did not specifically refer to its threat of military action. Blinken told reporters in New York that the US believes the bloc's efforts to reinstate toppled President Mohamed Bazoum are “important, strong and have our support”, The Associated Press said.
Senegal's foreign affairs minister said her country would participate in a military intervention if ECOWAS decides to act. “Senegalese soldiers have to go ... these coups d’état must be stopped," Aissata Tall Sall said.
Meanwhile, Niger's military leaders sought to exploit anti-Western sentiment to shore up their takeover. The junta suspended broadcaster RFI and France 24 television from broadcasting in the country, according to the French foreign affairs ministry. The suspensions were part of the junta's “authoritarian repression,” the ministry wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Last week's coup toppled Bazoum, whose ascendancy was Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France in 1960. The coup stirred strident anti-French sentiment and raised questions about the future of the fight against extremism in Africa's Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence.
The coup has been condemned by Western countries and the ECOWAS bloc, which has threatened to forcibly remove the junta if it does not hand back power to Bazoum. As tensions have grown in the capital of Niamey and the region, many European countries have moved to evacuate their citizens.
At Thursday's protest organized by the junta and civil society groups on Niger’s independence day, protesters pumped their fists in the air and chanted support for neighboring countries where militaries have also taken power in recent years. Some waved Russian flags, and one man brandished a Russian and Nigerian flag sewn together.
“For more than 13 years, the Nigerien people have suffered injustices," protester Moctar Abdou Issa said. The junta "will get us out of this, God willing ... they will free the Nigerien people.”
“We’re sick of the French,” he added.
It remains unclear whether a majority of the population supports the coup, and in many parts of the capital, people went about their lives as normal Thursday.
US President Joe Biden used the occasion of Niger’s independence day to call for Bazoum to be released and democracy restored.
“The Nigerien people have the right to choose their leaders. They have expressed their will through free and fair elections — and that must be respected,” he said in a statement.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration was still focused on diplomacy.
“We still believe there’s time and space for that. The window is not going to be open forever,” Kirby said.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, the new military ruler, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, lashed out at those who have condemned the coup and called on the population to be ready to defend the nation. He said harsh sanctions imposed last week by ECOWAS were illegal, unfair and inhuman.
ECOWAS has set a deadline of Sunday for the junta to reinstate Bazoum, who remains under house arrest.
In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Bazoum described himself as a hostage who was one among hundreds of citizens arbitrarily arrested. He said his nation's security situation was improving before the coup but was now at risk because Niger would lose foreign aid and terrorist groups would take advantage of its instability.
“In our hour of need, I call on the US government and the entire international community to help us restore our constitutional order,” Bazoum wrote in the piece posted online late Thursday.
After the deadline set by ECOWAS expires, the bloc is expected to decide by consensus on the next step as recommended by its defense chiefs.
At a bloc meeting in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, Brig. Gen. Tukur Ismaila Gusau, a Nigeria defense spokesman, said the defense chiefs have been asked to come up with a military solution, which they hope will be "the last option.”
The bloc's sanctions include halting energy transactions with Niger, which gets up to 90% of its power from neighboring Nigeria, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
France has 1,500 soldiers in Niger who conduct joint operations with its military against jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the ISIS group. The United States and other European countries have helped train Niger's troops.
Niger was seen as the West’s last reliable partner in the region, but some in the country see Russia and its Wagner mercenary group, which operates in a handful of African countries, as a powerful alternative.
The new junta has not said whether it intends to ally with Moscow or stick with Niger’s Western partners, but that question has become central to the unfolding political crisis. Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — both ruled by juntas — have turned toward Moscow.
Ahead of Thursday's demonstration, the French Embassy in Niamey asked Niger's government to ensure the security of its premises after it was attacked by protesters and a door was set on fire.
The president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, dispatched two delegations Thursday to deal with Niger’s crisis.
A group from ECOWAS headed by former Nigerian head of state Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar was on its way to Niger. A second group led by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe went to engage with the leaders of Libya and Algeria, said Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president.



France Raises Bird Flu Risk to High as EU Cases Spread

Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
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France Raises Bird Flu Risk to High as EU Cases Spread

Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
Test tubes are seen labelled "Bird Flu" in this illustration taken on Jun 10, 2024. (File photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

France has stepped up its bird flu risk assessment to 'high' from 'moderate', it said on Friday in a decree that will trigger reinforced security measures around poultry farms.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has been spreading faster among poultry in the European Union this season than in 2023, raising concerns of a repeat of previous crises that led to poultry deaths in the tens of millions and fears it could lead to human-to-human transmission, Reuters said.
The heightened risk status follows confirmation of infection in migratory wild birds in neighboring countries and aims to strengthen surveillance and prevention measures, the agriculture ministry said.
The change in status will take effect on Saturday. The upgrade to risk status in the seasonal assessment is kicking in earlier than last year, taking effect in early November rather than December.
France has reported eight bird flu outbreaks on farms since the summer and last month launched a second vaccination campaign among farm ducks after a successful program last year.
The British government said on Tuesday that cases of bird flu had been confirmed at premises in Yorkshire, hours after it increased the risk level of the disease to 'high'.