French President Emmanuel Macron, on Thursday, demanded the release of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum who was detained on July 26, 2023, in a military coup led by the former commander of Niger\u2019s presidential guard, Abdourahamane Tchiani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron, also called for a return to democratic order in Niger, a former French colony whose elected leadership was toppled in a military coup in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaders in the Economic Community of West African States bloc said that they would keep all options on the table for a peaceful resolution to the crisis and ordered the activation of an ECOWAS standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former colonial ruler France and the European Union suspended security cooperation and financial aid to Niger following the coup, while the United States warned that its aid could also be at stake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coup came as a major blow to relations between France and Niger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France has soldiers stationed in several parts of West Africa as part of anti-terror operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French president said, \u201cIf we hadn\u2019t got involved with operations Serval and then Barkhane, there\u2019s no doubt Mali and Burkina Faso will no longer exist, and I\u2019m not sure myself if Niger will still exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said African states had requested the French operations which successfully prevented the formation of caliphates a few thousand kilometres from France\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron noted, \u201cWhen there is a coup and when the fight against terrorism is not the priority of the new rulers, France does not feel called to remain engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is indeed dramatic for the countries concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the President, Bola Tinubu on Thursday told the delegation of Islamic Ulamas who visited him in the presidential villa to return back to the Niger Republic and continue dialogue with the military junta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister of information and national orientation, Muhammed Idris told State House correspondent after the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Council of Ulammas has returned to the President for the second time, to give a report on their ongoing dialogue with the military junta and other stakeholders in Niger Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMr President has listened to them and they\u2019ll continue this dialogue. Mr President is interested in exploring peaceful options in this, but nothing is off the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe has asked the Ulammas to continue with their dialogue and they will continue to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the next line of action, Idris said, \u201cThe next line of action is that dialogue will continue. Mr President as the head of ECOWAS is interested in pursuing a resolution of this crisis, but like I said, nothing is off the table.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0James Heappey, the United Kingdom\u2019s minister of state for the armed forces, said the UK recognised Nigeria\u2019s diplomatic mediation efforts to peacefully restore democracy in its northern neighbour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
French President Emmanuel Macron, on Thursday, demanded the release of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum who was detained on July 26, 2023, in a military coup led by the former commander<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_rishi_post_view_count":230},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politica","rishi-post"],"rishi__cb_customizer_meta":"","comments_count":"0","yoast_head":"\n