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Ecowas military leaders to discuss Niger coup at Ghana summit

Nigeria's President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, centre first row, poses for a group photo with other West African leaders before an ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. Thursday, Aug. 10
Nigeria's President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, centre first row, poses for a group photo with other West African leaders before an ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. Thursday, Aug. 10 Copyright  Gbemiga Olamikan/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved
Copyright Gbemiga Olamikan/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved
By Euronews with AFP, AP
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The meeting comes a week after ECOWAS said a standby force could be used to resolve the crisis in Niger.

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Military leaders from the West African ECOWAS bloc are to meet in Ghana on Thursday to discuss a possible intervention to resolve the coup in Niger. 

President Mohamed Bazoum has been held under house arrest with his wife and son since the armed junta overthrew him on 26 July.

Gbemiga Olamikan/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved
File- Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum smiles before a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, Feb. 16, 2023 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Gbemiga Olamikan/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved

ECOWAS, backed by France and the US, has said the junta’s leaders should restore the democratically elected president to power.

This meeting, initially scheduled for 12 August, had been postponed and will finally take place on 17 and 18 August in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, according to a regional military source and a source within ECOWAS.

It will be held a week after the organisation's decision to deploy a "standby force" to restore President Mohamed Bazoum.

Russia and Mali

On Tuesday, during a telephone conversation, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Malian counterpart Assimi Goïta, who came to power by a putsch in 2020, stressed "the importance of resolving the situation" in Niger, "only by means peaceful politico-diplomatic".

Mali, a neighbouring country of Niger, very quickly showed its solidarity with the military in power in Niamey.

The latter also raised their voices on Monday evening in the face of the threat of armed intervention.

They recalled Niger's ambassador to Abidjan for "consultation", after remarks by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara who, according to them, "apologised for armed action" against their country.

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