West African nations postponed a key military meeting scheduled to discuss the crisis in Niger on August 11, a day after announcing they would assemble a force "ready" to intervene in the country following a recent coup.
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| Pro-coup protesters hold Nigerien flags during a demonstration in the capital Niamey, August 3. (Source: AFP) |
According to military sources, the chiefs of staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) were scheduled to attend a meeting on August 12 in the Ghanaian capital Accra. But the meeting was later postponed indefinitely due to "technical reasons".
The meeting was initially set to brief the bloc's leaders on "the best options" for activating and deploying the standby force, sources said. ECOWAS has yet to provide details of the force or a timetable for action, and regional leaders have stressed that they still want a peaceful solution.
Also on August 11, thousands of supporters of Niger's military government gathered near a French military base on the outskirts of the capital Niamey.
Protesters chanted slogans against France and ECOWAS in response to ECOWAS’s approval on 10 August of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger. Many protesters expressed support for the head of Niger’s military government, General Abdourahamane Tiani.
France had earlier on July 30 organized a voluntary evacuation of its citizens after protests broke out outside the French embassy in Niger. France has about 1,500 troops in Niger, supporting the country’s fight against a bloody jihadist insurgency that has lasted eight years. Many of them are deployed at an air base near Niamey, a facility jointly run by the French army and the Nigerien armed forces.
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