No deployment of troops was observed Monday night in Niger, where calm reigned in the capital, Niamey, the day after an ultimatum demanding the return to constitutional order after a coup, under penalty of use of force.
The priority is still diplomacy. An immediate military intervention to restore President Mohamed Bazoum, overthrown on July 26, is not envisaged at this stage, told AFP a source close to ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), which had given a week to the putschists to cede power. An "extraordinary" summit of the leaders of its member countries will be held Thursday in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, neighboring Niger where the chiefs of staff of the armies of the ECOWAS countries finalized last week the details of a possible military intervention.
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Despite the fact that the perpetrators of the coup d'état - the seventh in three years in this region of the Sahel - have not received the path of dialogue. From his holiday residence in Brégançon, Emmanuel Macron, for his part, multiplies, according to a diplomatic source, phone calls to African leaders. Niger is a privileged ally of the France and the United States, which deploy respectively 1500 and 1100 soldiers engaged in the fight against the armed jihadists who undermine this country and the region.
Dissonant voices
"How to logistically help ECOWAS countries without appearing as part of a military intervention is the dilemma of the head of state," says a diplomat. Especially since voices opposed to such a military intervention were still heard on Monday. After Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Nigeria's senators called for strengthening the "political and diplomatic option", while in Senegal, some opponents in turn expressed their disapproval.
In Europe, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani warned that the Old Continent "cannot afford an armed confrontation, we must not be seen as new colonizers." "It is not said that we will not find a solution that is not war," he added to the daily La Stampa.
In Berlin, a Foreign Ministry spokesman also argued that "mediation efforts are still in their infancy because sanctions are beginning to take effect." "We continue to hope that the putschists will respond to the mediation efforts of the African Union and ECOWAS and we are in close contact with these two organizations about the next steps" of the crisis, said Sebastien Fischer at a press briefing.
Sunday evening, "faced with the threat of intervention that is becoming clearer from neighboring countries", Niger had announced the closure of its airspace. "Any attempt to violate the airspace" will lead to "an energetic and instantaneous response," warn the military who took power in Niamey. At the same time, the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP, which took power) claimed that a "pre-deployment for the preparation of the intervention was made in two Central African countries", without specifying which ones. "Any state involved will be considered as co-belligerent," the putschists threatened.
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For its part, the Malian army announced Monday the sending to Niamey of an official joint delegation with Burkina Faso, to "show the solidarity of the two countries to the brotherly people of Niger". Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger's neighbors, also governed by the military and also facing violence from jihadist groups, have been repeating for a week that an armed intervention would be "a declaration of war" on their countries. They are both supported by Russia.
While President Bazoum is still being held prisoner, the Minister of Mines, Ousseini Hadizatou, has been released for "medical reasons", according to a member of his entourage. But "all other personalities, ministers and politicians arrested are still detained," according to a source close to the party of the ousted president.
While a respite of a few days seems to be emerging, time does not necessarily play in favor of the supporters of military intervention. "They do not want to let the junta take root in power," concludes a French soldier.