Supporters of Nigerian President Mohamed Bazum gather in Niamey on Wednesday following news of the palace uprising. Photo: AFP/AFP via Getty bImages
Niger's President Mohamed Bazum was captured by members of his own guard in an apparent coup attempt against one of the dwindling pro-Western leaders in the Sahel, and the US and UN were quick to back him up.
Rebellious soldiers captured Mr. Bazum and blocked the streets and ministries around the presidential palace in Niamey.
America, France and a bloc of countries in the region demanded his immediate release and urged the rebel guards to change course.
Shots were reported in the capital, and on Wednesday evening it was reported that Benin President Patrick Talon was on his way to Niger to offer mediation.
Disgruntled members of the Presidential Guard blocked access to the President's residence and offices in the capital and «refused to release the President,» a presidential source said.
Colonel of the Guard Major Amadou Abdraman, in a televised address surrounded by nine other uniformed soldiers, said : «We, the defense and security forces… have decided to put an end to the regime» of President Bazum.
They said «all institutions» in the action of the country will be suspended, borders closed, and curfews «until further notice» .
UN chief António Guterres was able to speak with Niger's president Wednesday afternoon, his spokesman said, and «expressed his full support and solidarity.»
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also spoke to Mr. «the unwavering support of the United States» of Mr. Bazum and democracy in the country.
«Secretary Blinken stressed that a strong US economic and security partnership with Niger depends on the continuation of democratic governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights,» the State Department said in a telephone statement.
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President Mohamed Bazum and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during their meeting at the presidential palace in Niamey last March. Boureima Hama/Basin/AFP
Mr. Bazum has made Niger a key partner for the West in the fight against Islamist extremism, even as Europe and America have lost influence in other parts of the Sahel, often ousted by Moscow.
“We strongly condemn any attempt to delay or undermine the democratically elected government of Niger, led by President Bazum,” said White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We urge elements of the Presidential Guard to release President Bazum from -under guard and refrain from violence.
A tweet from the President of Niger's account reported that members of an elite unit of the Guard participated in an «anti-Republican demonstration» and unsuccessfully tried to enlist the support of other security forces.
The message said that Mr. Bazum and his family were fine , but the Niger army and national guard are «ready to attack» if those who participated in the action do not retreat, the Associated Press reported.
When crowds gathered at the scene to protest in support of the president, they fired at by unknown militants.
Both the African Union and the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said the guards were trying to overthrow Mr. Bazum, who was elected president two years ago in the first peaceful democratic transfer of power in Niger since independence in 1960.
ECOWAS stated that it «denounces in the strongest terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the conspirators to immediately and unconditionally release the democratically elected President of the Republic.»
< p>Ulf Lessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said: «Niger and President Bazum were the West's only hope in the Sahel region to contain the jihadists and the growing influence of Russia.»
«Western countries.» bombard Niger with aid programs ranging from military to development cooperation.
“Even if Bazum survives, Niger’s reputation among Western politicians as an anchor of stability for the Sahel will be undermined.”
In recent years There has been a wave of coups in the Sahel.
Rida Lammoury, senior fellow at the Center for Politics of the New South, a think tank in Morocco, said: “The repeated upheavals in the Sahel heralded a new era: an era of military control and the end of a promising democracy.< /p>
“As we see in Burkina Faso and Mali, there were no coups. really solve security problems, which was the justification for these coups.»
«Military coups are just bad, and they send the countries concerned back, not forward, towards stability and (a) a prosperous future.»< /p>
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