(CNN) — Mali’s presidency announced Wednesday that General Salifu Modi, one of Niger’s officers who seized power in last week’s coup, has paid a visit to the country.
The presidency published pictures and a statement on Facebook, announcing that the transitional president of Mali, Asimi Guetta, had hosted Modi and a large military delegation from Niger on Wednesday.
Mali’s presidency said Modi described the meeting as “part of a complex regional context and thanked the Malian authorities for their support since the CNPC came to power,” of which Salifu Modi is the vice-president.
The presidential statement stated that General Modi told his host that he had come to explore “ways and means to enhance our security cooperation, at a time when some countries are planning to intervene militarily in our country.”
Modi’s trip to Mali points to a major potential partnership with the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
Wagner fighters were invited by the Malian leadership to quell a rebellion near the borders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
The governments of Mali and Burkina Faso said on Monday that they would consider any military intervention an “act of war” against them and that they were putting their armies on alert.
On Sunday, the Economic bloc of West African states (ECOWAS) threatened to use force if ousted Niger President Mohamed Bazoum was not reinstated within one week.
And on Sunday, the head of Wagner’s mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, celebrated the coup in Niger, and said that his company “can also help in situations like the one that is unfolding there.”
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2023-08-03 01:14:04