Several thousand people have demonstrated in the capital of Niger in support of last month’s military coup, whose leader warned against outside intervention and proposed a three-year transition of power.
The demonstrators on Sunday chanted slogans hostile to former colonial power France and the West African regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is considering a potential military operation to reinstate elected President Mohamed Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.
The Sahel state’s new military leaders have officially banned demonstrations, but in practice those in support of the coup are allowed to go ahead.
The demonstrators waved placards saying “Stop the military intervention” and “No to sanctions” in reference to financial and trade restrictions imposed by ECOWAS four days after the putsch on July 26.
The latest in a string of pro-coup rallies came a day after the new military ruler in Niamey warned an attack on Niger would not be a “walk in the park”.
General Abdourahmane Tchiani also said in a televised address on Saturday that he did not wish to “confiscate” power and a transition of power back to civilian rule would not go beyond three years.
Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said with the announcement of the three-year transition period by Tchiani that the “ball was in ECOWAS’s court”.
“The transition has defined the terms of the negotiations. If ECOWAS insists that the leaders have to return the government to the civilians and restore President Bazoum then we will likely see a military intervention,” he told Al Jazeera.
Niger’s new leaders have accused France, a close Bazoum ally, of being behind the anti-coup stance taken by ECOWAS, which on Saturday made a new push for a diplomatic solution.
After ECOWAS chiefs of staff met in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Friday, the 15-nation bloc said it agreed on a date for potential military action.
