After announcing his support for all efforts of the Economic Community of West African States regarding Niger, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken returned in another statement to comment on ECOWAS’ readiness for military intervention as soon as possible.
Côte d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara announced Thursday that ECOWAS leaders have given the green light for a military operation “to begin as soon as possible” to restore constitutional order in Niger, where soldiers took power two weeks ago.
What’s America’s comment?
Late Thursday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called for a peaceful solution to the crisis in Niger. “The United States appreciates ECOWAS’ determination to explore all options for a peaceful solution to the crisis,” Blinken said, during a press conference with his Mexican counterpart in Washington. This statement comes after a previous announcement by Blinken in an interview with journalists in which he supported the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States, without referring to its decision to put the military option on the table.
Deploy the “reserve force”
“The chiefs of staff will hold other conferences to fine-tune the details, but they have obtained the agreement of the leaders’ conference to start the process as soon as possible,” Ouattara told AFP. He pointed out that Côte d’Ivoire would contribute a “battalion” of 850 to 1,100 members, along with Nigeria and Benin in particular, and that “other countries” would also participate in the intervention force. The “ECOWAS” decided at its extraordinary summit in Abuja on Thursday to deploy the “reserve force” of the organization to return the detained Nigerian President Muhammad Bazoum to power. Despite this, ECOWAS Commission Chair Omar Turay reaffirmed “the continued commitment to restoring constitutional order through peaceful means.”
It is noteworthy that the use of force was threatened for the first time on July 30 during a summit of the regional organization, and at that time ECOWAS gave the putschists seven days to return President Bazoum, who was overthrown on July 26, but the threat did not materialize with the deadline ending on Sunday.
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2023-08-11 03:38:26
