Niger’s junta rulers ask for assist from Russian group Wagner because it faces navy intervention menace

NIAMEY, Niger — Niger’s new navy junta has requested for assist from the Russian mercenary group Wagner because the deadline nears for it to launch the nation’s ousted president or face attainable navy intervention by the West African regional bloc, in line with an analyst.

The request got here throughout a go to by a coup chief, Gen. Salifou Mody, to neighboring Mali, the place he made contact with somebody from Wagner, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior analysis fellow on the Soufan Center, informed The Associated Press. He mentioned three Malian sources and a French diplomat confirmed the assembly first reported by France 24.

“They need (Wagner) because they will become their guarantee to hold onto power,” he mentioned, including that the group is contemplating the request. A Western navy official, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to remark, informed the AP they’ve additionally heard experiences that the junta requested for assist from Wagner in Mali.

Niger’s junta faces a Sunday deadline set by the regional bloc referred to as ECOWAS to launch and reinstate the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has described himself as a hostage.

Defense chiefs from ECOWAS members finalized an intervention plan on Friday and urged militaries to organize sources after a mediation group despatched to Niger on Thursday wasn’t allowed to enter town or meet with junta chief Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani.

After his go to to Mali, run by a sympathetic junta, Mody warned towards a navy intervention, vowing that Niger would do what it takes to not change into “a new Libya,” Niger’s state tv reported Friday.

Niger has been seen because the West’s final dependable counterterrorism companion in a area the place coups have been frequent lately. Juntas have rejected former colonizer France and turning towards Russia. Wagner operates in a handful of African nations, together with Mali, the place human rights teams have accused its forces of lethal abuses.

One can’t say there’s a direct Russian implication in Niger‘s coup, however “clearly, there’s an opportunistic attitude on the part of Russia, which tries to support destabilization efforts wherever it finds them,” French international affairs ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre informed broadcaster BFM on Friday. For days after Niger‘s junta seized energy, residents waved Russian flags within the streets.

The spokeswoman described Wagner as a “recipe for chaos.”

Some residents rejected the junta’s claims.

“It’s all a sham,” mentioned Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches on the University of Niamey. “They oppose foreign interference to restore constitutional order and legality. But on the contrary, they are ready to make a pact with Wagner and Russia to undermine the constitutional order…They are prepared for the country to go up in flames so that they can illegally maintain their position.”

On Saturday, France’s international affairs minister, Catherine Colonna, mentioned the regional menace of pressure was credible and warned the putschists to take it critically. “Coups are no longer appropriate … It’s time to put an end to it,” she mentioned. The ministry mentioned France helps “with firmness and determination” the ECOWAS efforts and known as for Bazoum and all members of his authorities to be freed.

Niger’s navy leaders have been following the playbook of Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso, additionally run by a junta, nevertheless it’s transferring quicker to consolidate energy, Nasr mentioned: “(Tchiani) chose his path, so he’s going full on it without wasting time because there’s international mobilization.”

One query is how the worldwide group will react if Wagner is available in, he mentioned. When Wagner got here into Mali on the finish of 2021, the French navy was ousted quickly afterward after years of partnership. Wagner was later designated a terrorist group by the United States, and worldwide companions might need a stronger response now, Nasr mentioned.

And far more is at stake in Niger, the place the U.S. and different companions have poured a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} of navy help to fight the area’s rising jihadi menace. France has 1,500 troopers in Niger, although coup leaders say they’ve severed safety agreements with Paris, and the U.S. has 1,100 navy personnel there.

It’s unclear what a regional intervention would seem like, when it might start or whether or not it might obtain assist from Western forces. Niger’s junta has known as on the inhabitants to look at for spies, and self-organized protection teams have mobilized at night time to watch vehicles and patrol the capital.

“If the junta were to dig in its heels and rally the populace around the flag – possibly even arming civilian militias – the intervention could morph into a multifaceted counterinsurgency that ECOWAS would not be prepared to handle,” mentioned a report by the Hudson Institute.

While some in Niger are bracing for a struggle, others are attempting to deal with journey and financial sanctions imposed by ECOWAS after the coup which have closed land and air borders with ECOWAS nations and suspended business and monetary transactions with them.

Residents mentioned the worth of products is rising and there’s restricted entry to money.