ECOWAS seeks to engage with Niger military

ABUJA — West Africa's regional bloc aims to send a parliamentary committee to Niger to meet coup leaders who seized power last month, a spokesperson said on Saturday. It is part of a last-ditch regional effort to resolve the crisis.

Niger's military last month detained President Mohamed Bazoum and dissolved the government, drawing condemnation from regional powers, which have activated a standby military force they say will be deployed as a last resort if talks fail.

Coup leaders, headed by General Abdourahamane Tiani, have rebuffed diplomatic efforts by the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, and others.

The military in Niger detained Bazoum on July 26 and chose Tchiani, former leader of the country's presidential guard, to lead the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, a governing body established by the soldiers after the coup, which has been since exercising legislative and executive authority.

The ECOWAS parliament met on Saturday to discuss further action in Niger. No decision was made, but the parliament set up a committee that plans to meet Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who holds ECOWAS' revolving chairmanship, to get his permission to go to Niger, the spokesperson said.

A group of prominent Nigerian scholars led by Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau also met Tinubu to get the green light for an intervention, which Tinubu granted, a Nigerian presidential source said on Saturday.

The regional army chiefs were set to meet in the coming days.

The African Union, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations have said they are worried about Bazoum's detention.

UN Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Friday that conditions were "rapidly deteriorating" and could amount to a violation of international human rights law.

Agencies - Xinhua