NIAMEY (Reuters) -France warned on Sunday that it will not tolerate any attack on its interests after pro-junta supporters in Niger stoned its embassy, burned French flags and chanted anti-French slogans in a protest organized by the new military leaders.
Niger’s military junta is seeking to shore up support ahead of an emergency summit of West African heads of state in Nigeria where they will decide on further actions to pressure the army to restore constitutional order following a coup.
The military coup in Niger has been widely condemned by neighbors and international partners including the United States, the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and former colonial power France.
They have all refused to recognize the new leaders and have demanded that President Mohamed Bazoum be restored to power.
Heads of state of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union, could suspend Niger from its institutions, cut off the country from the regional central bank and financial market, and close borders.
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, receiving close to $2 billion a year in official development assistance, according to the World Bank. It is also a security partner of former colonial power France and the United States, which both use it as a base to fight an Islamist insurgency in West and Central Africa’s wider Sahel region.
The West African leaders could for the first time, consider a military intervention to restore Bazoum who was ousted when General Abdourahamane Tiani was declared new head of state on Friday.
Ahead of the Sunday summit, the military leaders in Niger on Saturday night warned in a statement read on Niger national television against any military intervention.
“The objective of the (ECOWAS) meeting is to approve a plan of aggression against Niger through an imminent military intervention in Niamey in collaboration with other African countries that are non-members of ECOWAS, and certain Western countries,” junta spokesperson Colonel Amadou Abdramane said.
“We want to once more remind ECOWAS or any other adventurer, of our firm determination to defend our homeland,” he said.
PROTEST IN NIAMEY
Invited by the military leaders, thousands of pro-junta supporters took to the streets of the capital early on Sunday to show their support and reject any intervention by ECOWAS.
“We are here to express our discontent against France’s interference in Niger’s affairs. Niger is an independent and sovereign country, so France’s decisions have no influence on us,” said protester Sani Idrissa.
The protesters gathered in a public square in central Niamey. Some headed to the French Embassy, chanting anti-French slogans, according to a Reuters journalist.
Placards read: “Down with France!” “France Out!”.
Similar to events in neighboring Burkina Faso in September last year following a coup, some protesters tried to climb the walls of the embassy, while others stomped on burning French flags. Some youths threw stones at the embassy building before the protesters were dispersed by Niger national guard.
“Anyone who attacks French nationals, the military, diplomats, or French interests will spur an immediate and uncompromising response from France,” the Elysee said in a statement.
“(French President) Emmanuel Macron was able to speak again to Presidents Bazoum and (previous Niger leader Mahamadou) Issoufou in the last few hours, both of whom clearly condemned the coup and called for calm among the population,” the statement said.
The military rulers later issued a call on Niger national television asking protesters to abstain from vandalism and destruction of public or private property, or foreign chancelleries.
The European Union and France have cut off financial support to Niger and the United States has threatened to do the same.
After an emergency meeting on Friday, the African Union issued a statement demanding that the military return to their barracks and restore constitutional order within 15 days.
It did not say what would happen after that.
(Reporting by Boureima Balima and Moussa Aksar Writing by Bate FelixEditing by David Evans and Andrew Cawthorne)
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