APA-Accra (Ghana) Ecowas says it has the financial muscles to fund a military intervention in post-coup Niger but emphasises that diplomacy is widely favoured over the use of force against the new junta.
A military intervention by the standby force of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to reinstate Mohamed Bazoum imminent could be on the cards.
Ecowas defense chiefs, who have been meeting in Accra, Ghana, since Thursday, August 17, are considering this possibility.
At the opening of the meeting, which was attended by the highest military authorities of the bloc, with the exception of Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Niger and Cape Verde, the President of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Staff, General Christopher Musa of the Nigerian army, reiterated that “democracy must not be suffocated” in the region.
Speaking to journalists at the end of the August 17 session, ahead of the resumption of work on Friday, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel Fatau Musah, added that the non-use of force to restore constitutional order in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea “does not mean that there should be a domino effect” in the West African region.
The difficulty of financing this operation has been raised by some observers. But according to Dr. Musah, ECOWAS is in a position to finance this military intervention.
“But any outside help will be welcome,” he noted.
Regarding the legality of the planned military action to restore democracy in Niger, he recalled that ECOWAS had informed the African Union and the UN Secretary-General, adding that the regional institution had received the support of these two organizations.
However, Dr. Musah believes that the regional organisation does not need UN approval to intervene in Niger, citing the example of Russia, which did not go to the UN Peace and Security Council for its invasion of Ukraine.
The AU Peace and Security Council failed to reach a consensus on the use of force to restore President Mohamed Bazoum to office.
The National Council for the Protection of the Homeland (CNSP), the junta in power in Niamey since the July 26 coup, has threatened to retaliate against an ECOWAS member country in the event of a military intervention against Niger.
The putschists, who have since formed a civilian-led government, have won the support of Mali and Burkina Faso, which have also been under military rule since August 2020 and January 2022 respectively.
AC/lb/as/APA