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When mutinous soldiers seized power in the West African nation of Burkina Faso early last year, the president of neighboring Niger struck a dismissive note. “This is nonsense,” President Mohamed Bazoum told two Western diplomats who sat in his office as news of the coup came through. How cynical was it, Mr. Bazoum remarked, that the soldiers responsible for securing Burkina Faso had overthrown the government in the name of restoring security. Now Mr. Bazoum faces the same fate. Mr. Bazoum’s Western and African allies are trying to negotiate his release, and West African army chiefs on Friday were set to finalize a possible military intervention in Niger.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Bazoum, Burkina Faso, Bazoum’s Organizations: Burkina, West Locations: West African, Burkina Faso, Niger

Stocking up on rice, fleeing the capital by bus or vowing to defend their new military leaders, many in Niger braced this weekend for a deadline imposed by a 15-member bloc of West African nations for the country’s junta to relinquish power. But that deadline to restore democracy or face military action expired on Sunday. But the ultimatum also rallied many Nigeriens behind their new military leaders. West African officials said that they would employ force only as a last resort, and most analysts said that a conflict appeared unlikely, at least in the near term. But ECOWAS military officials said that they did have a plan for an intervention, if needed.

Persons: Niger’s, insurgencies, Abdourahmane Tchiani Organizations: West, Economic Locations: Niger, West African States, Africa, Niamey

☆ Protesters descend on French Embassy in Niger shouting 'long live Putin'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Omar Hama Saley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Niamey, Niger CNN —Tense and sometimes violent scenes played out in front of the French Embassy in Niger Sunday as thousands of people who support a military coup voiced anger over France’s influence in its former colony. Some protesters tore down a plaque identifying the Embassy, stomped on it and then replaced it with Russian and Nigerien flags. Shouts of “long live Putin,” “long live Russia” and “down with France” could be heard among the crowds. President Emmanuel Macron’s office said France would immediately retaliate against anyone who attacks French nationals or facilities in Niger. Niger’s military leaders may have found one potential ally: the country’s eastern neighbor, Chad.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Mohamed Bazoum, Putin, ”, Emmanuel Macron’s, Bazoum, Stringer, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, ‘ We’re, I’ve, Karimou Sidi, “ Organizations: Niger CNN, Embassy, Kremlin, Russian, Nigerien, Niger, National Council for, Homeland, Reuters, West African States, Sunday, ECOWAS, European Union, ” Locations: Niamey, Niger, stomped, Nigerien, Russia, France, Reuters Niger, Republic of Niger, ”, Chad, Niger’s, Africa ’ Niger, French, Kanto, Africa, ” Kanto, St, Petersburg, Ukraine, Sahel, Burkina Faso

Military officers in the West African nation of Niger ousted the country’s president on Wednesday, they said in an address on national television, throwing into uncertainty the future of one of the West’s few reliable partners in a region marred by coups and widespread insecurity. Army officials representing different branches of Niger’s military, which has received support from the United States and France, among others, said they had “put an end to the regime” of President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger, following a day of stalled negotiations where members of the presidential guard held him hostage in the presidential palace. The officers removed Mr. Bazoum “due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance,” Col. Amadou Abdramane, an official of the Nigerien air force, said in a statement read on television. The statement also said the officers were closing the country’s borders.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Bazoum, Col, Amadou Abdramane Organizations: Nigerien Locations: West African, Niger, United States, France

Soldiers from the presidential guard in the West African nation of Niger barricaded the president in his palace in an apparent mutiny on Wednesday, according to the president’s office and the regional bloc of neighboring states. The standoff raised fears of a coup in a region that has lately been jolted by many. Militant groups linked to both Al Qaeda and Islamic State operate there. Mr. Bazoum was elected in 2021 in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power. He has been one of the West’s most reliable partners in a volatile region filled with aging presidents clinging to power and young military officers who have seized control by force.

Persons: Mohamed Bazoum, Al, Bazoum Organizations: Militant, Islamic Locations: West African, Niger, Niamey, Africa, France, Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Niger’s

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