Saturday 23 / November / 2024
Niamey: The military junta that took control of Niger in a coup late last month declared the members of a new government Cabinet on Thursday.
Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, a civilian economist, will lead the 21-member government, with generals from the new military governing council heading the defense and interior ministries.
The announcement came as leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc met for an emergency summit on the situation in Niger. The meeting comes two weeks after a military coup overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum.
The bloc's leaders said on Thursday that they will make talks with the Niger junta the "bedrock" of their attempts to defuse the crisis.
"It's crucial that we prioritise diplomatic negotiations and dialogue as the bedrock of our approach," said Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, who is chairing the emergency ECOWAS summit in Abuja. He called on the bloc's leaders to act with a "sense of urgency,"
That's a step back from their previous threat of military intervention to restore the elected government in Niamey.
Niger's neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso, both ruled by military governments that seized power in coups, say an armed intervention in Niger would be tantamount to a declaration of war on their countries.
The Niger coup leaders on Tuesday rejected a bid to send a joint team of ECOWAS, UN and African Union representatives to the country.
President running out of food
Bazoum, Niger's democratically elected leader, has been held at the presidential palace in Niamey, with his wife and son since mutinous soldiers moved against him on July 26.
An adviser said the family was living without electricity and was running out of food, with only rice and canned goods left to eat.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced concern about Bazoum and his family after reports about the conditions under which they were being detained.
"The Secretary-General ... once again calls for his immediate, unconditional release and his reinstatement as head of state," a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday.
