Niger: ECOWAS says an undisclosed 'D-Day' for military intervention has been agreed upon | Oneindia
The West African regional bloc ECOWAS says that it has chosen an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible military intervention to restore Niger’s democratically elected president following last month’s coup. Leaders ECOWAS responded to the coup by enacting sanctions and issuing an ultimatum to the ruling military junta: stand down within a week or face a potential military intervention. Abdel Musah, the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace & Security of the Economic Community of West African States bloc, said that military forces are "ready to go anytime the order is given" for military intervention in Niger. "The D-day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose," Musah told journalists after the two-day meeting of West African defense chiefs in the Ghanaian capital of Accra. The defence chiefs met to fine-tune details of the potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with the coup leaders fail.
#Nigercoup #ECOWASDdayreached #ECOWASstandbyforce
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#Nigercoup #ECOWASDdayreached #ECOWASstandbyforce
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Transcript
00:00 The West African regional bloc ECOWAS says that it has chosen an undisclosed D-Day for
00:07 a possible military intervention to restore Niger's democratically elected president
00:12 following last month's coup.
00:14 Leaders of ECOWAS had responded to the coup by enacting sanctions and issuing an ultimatum
00:19 to the ruling military junta, stand down within a week or face a potential military intervention.
00:25 Abdel Moussa, the commissioner for political affairs, peace and security of the economic
00:30 community of West African states, said that military forces are ready to go any time the
00:35 order is given for military intervention in Niger.
00:38 "The D-Day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose," Moussa told journalists
00:44 after the two-day meeting of West African defence chiefs in the Ghanaian capital of
00:48 Accra.
00:49 The defence chiefs had met to fine-tune details of the potential military operation to restore
00:54 Bazoom if ongoing negotiations with the coup leaders fail.
00:59 Last week, ECOWAS had ordered the activation of a regional standby force to prepare itself
01:04 to enter Niger, which was taken over by a military junta on July 26.
01:08 Yesterday, Moussa reiterated that the bloc's priority remains the restoration of the constitutional
01:14 order in the shortest possible time.
01:17 He also called once again for the release of the country's legitimate leader, the ousted
01:22 president Mohamed Bazoom, who has been held under house arrest with his wife and son since
01:26 he was overthrown by the armed junta.
01:29 Niger's junta has claimed that it has gathered evidence to prosecute him for what it says
01:34 amount to high treason.
01:36 Niger, which lies at the heart of Africa's Sahel region, was one of the few remaining
01:41 democracies in the region.
01:43 Bazoom's election win in 2021 had marked a relatively peaceful transfer of power and
01:48 capped years of military coups following Niger's independence from France in 1960.
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