Former Nigerian President Abdessalam Abubakar said on Tuesday that the meeting with the leaders of the military junta that rules Niger after the coup was very fruitful.
Hope for diplomacy
Abd al-Salam Abu Bakr led the ECOWAS mission that traveled to Niger, in order to negotiate with the coup leaders earlier this week, to end the coup crisis. “The visit was very fruitful,” Abu Bakr said, according to Reuters. He added that he hoped to resolve the crisis through diplomatic means. The former Nigerian president did not elaborate.
This development comes hours after the ECOWAS, which includes 15 countries, rejected a proposal by Niger’s ruling military junta to hold elections within 3 years.
And seeks “ECOWAS” and other international powers to find diplomatic solutions to the July 26 coup in Niger, the seventh in West and Central Africa in 3 years.
But after refusing several attempts at dialogue, ECOWAS turned to revitalizing a regional force that military leaders said was ready to deploy if the talks failed.
ECOWAS adopted a more stringent stance towards Niger than neighboring countries that were controlled by military councils.
The group reiterated its threat on Friday, a day before the junta finally agreed to meet an ECOWAS delegation in the capital, Niamey, signaling a new willingness to cooperate.
In a televised speech to the people, on Saturday evening, the leader of the military council, General Abd al-Rahman Tianyi, said that the coup leaders are still open to dialogue.
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2023-08-22 15:18:20
