W.Africa Military Chiefs Prepare Possible Niger Mission

Ghana's Chief of Defense Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama (1st row 4th R) and Ghana's Defense Minister, Dominic Nitiwul (1st row C) poses for a group photo with Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) delegates during the Extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS in Accra, Ghana, on August 17, 2023. (AFP)
Ghana's Chief of Defense Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama (1st row 4th R) and Ghana's Defense Minister, Dominic Nitiwul (1st row C) poses for a group photo with Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) delegates during the Extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS in Accra, Ghana, on August 17, 2023. (AFP)
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W.Africa Military Chiefs Prepare Possible Niger Mission

Ghana's Chief of Defense Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama (1st row 4th R) and Ghana's Defense Minister, Dominic Nitiwul (1st row C) poses for a group photo with Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) delegates during the Extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS in Accra, Ghana, on August 17, 2023. (AFP)
Ghana's Chief of Defense Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama (1st row 4th R) and Ghana's Defense Minister, Dominic Nitiwul (1st row C) poses for a group photo with Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) delegates during the Extraordinary meeting of ECOWAS in Accra, Ghana, on August 17, 2023. (AFP)

West African military chiefs held a second day of talks in Ghana on Friday, preparing for a possible armed intervention in Niger after a coup there ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has agreed to activate a "standby force" as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger after generals toppled and detained Bazoum last month.

ECOWAS defense chiefs were meeting in the Ghanaian capital Accra to fine tune details of the potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.

"Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails the valiant forces of West Africa, both the military and the civilian components, are ready to answer to the call of duty," Abdel-Fatau Musah, an ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs and security, told the meeting on Thursday.

"Meanwhile, we are still giving diplomacy a chance and the ball is in the court of the junta."

The two-day Accra meeting will conclude on Friday when the defense chiefs are expected to announce any next steps at a closing ceremony at 1600 GMT.

'Grave consequences'

Bazoum, whose 2021 election was a landmark in Niger's troubled history, has been held with his family at the president's official residence since the July 26 coup, with growing international concern over his conditions in detention.

ECOWAS chair and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu threatened Niamey with "grave consequences" if the new regime allows Bazoum's health to worsen under house arrest, an EU official said Friday.

During a call to EU chief Charles Michel, Tinabu noted: "President Bazoum's detention conditions are deteriorating."

"Any further deterioration to his well-being status will have grave consequences."

Michel had renewed the European Union's "full support and backing of ECOWAS' decisions, as well as firm condemnation of the unacceptable coup de force in Niger".

ECOWAS leaders say they have to act after Niger became the fourth West Africa nation since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

The Sahel region is struggling with growing extremist insurgencies linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS and frustration over the violence has in part prompted the military takeovers.

Militarily risky

Details of the Niger operation have not been released and analysts say any intervention would be politically and militarily risky, especially for regional player Nigeria.

Nigeria is already struggling to contain violence from several armed groups at home, and leaders in the country's north have warned about spillover from Niger across the border if there is an intervention.

ECOWAS troops have intervened in other emergencies since 1990, including civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ivory Coast, Benin and Nigeria are expected to contribute troops to a Niger mission.

Niger's coup leaders have warned against any military strikes and defiantly threatened to charge Bazoum with treason. But they have also said they are open to talks.

The military-ruled governments in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have also said an intervention in Niger would be seen as a declaration of war against them.

Russia and the United States have urged a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

ECOWAS has already applied trade and financial sanctions on Niger while France, Germany and the United States have suspended aid programs.

Germany's foreign ministry has also said it wants the EU to impose sanctions on the coup leaders, saying that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had held talks with her French and US counterparts.

UN rights chief Volker Turk slammed the generals who seized power on "a whim" plunging Niger further into misery and stranding thousands of migrants.

"The very notion of freedoms in Niger is at stake," he said in a statement. "Rule-by-gun has no place in today's world."



Spain Cancels Contract for Anti-tank Missiles Built by Israeli Subsidiary

 Israeli soldiers fire a mortar towards Gaza from their position near the border, as seen from Israel, June 2, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers fire a mortar towards Gaza from their position near the border, as seen from Israel, June 2, 2025. (Reuters)
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Spain Cancels Contract for Anti-tank Missiles Built by Israeli Subsidiary

 Israeli soldiers fire a mortar towards Gaza from their position near the border, as seen from Israel, June 2, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers fire a mortar towards Gaza from their position near the border, as seen from Israel, June 2, 2025. (Reuters)

Spain has cancelled a deal for anti-tank missile systems that were to be manufactured in Madrid by a subsidiary of an Israeli company, in a bid to move away from Israeli military technology, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

The decision will affect the license for 168 SPIKE LR2 anti-tank missile systems with an estimated value of 285 million euros ($325 million). The systems would have been developed in Spain by Pap Tecnos, a Madrid-based subsidiary of Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, according to local press.

“The goal is clear...a total disconnection from Israeli technology,” government spokesperson Pilar Alegría told reporters, adding the government is studying “the effects of the cancellation.”

Israel's Defense Ministry referred questions on the decision to Rafael, which told Associated Press it wasn't aware of the cancellation. Pap Tecnos, located on the outskirts of Madrid, did not comment.

Spain approved the deal on Oct. 3, 2023, four days before an assault led by Hamas on southern Israel that sparked a devastating war in Gaza. Authorities argued at the time that the systems used by the Spanish forces were obsolete and should be replaced for up-to-date versions like those used by allied armies.

Spain's leftist government says it stopped exporting arms to Israel as of Oct. 2, 2023, but there were reports some shipments slipped through.

United States late last year opened an investigation into whether NATO ally Spain denied port entry to at least three cargo vessels reportedly transporting US weapons to Israel.

Spain formally recognized a Palestinian state in May 2024 in a coordinated effort with Norway and Ireland. A month later, Spain became the first European country to ask the top United Nations court, the International Court of Justice, permission to join a case mounted by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza. Israel strongly denies the charge.