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| Niger’s Coup Leaders Sever Ties With France, as Detained President Pleads for Help | Niger’s Coup Leaders Sever Ties With France, as Detained President Pleads for Help |
| (12 days later) | |
| Niger’s coup leaders on Thursday said that they had severed military ties with France, their country’s former colonial ruler, throwing into uncertainty the future of 1,500 French troops based there, in a region of West Africa plagued with coups and Islamist insurgencies. | Niger’s coup leaders on Thursday said that they had severed military ties with France, their country’s former colonial ruler, throwing into uncertainty the future of 1,500 French troops based there, in a region of West Africa plagued with coups and Islamist insurgencies. |
| The leaders of the coup also dismissed Niger’s ambassadors to France and the United States, another military partner, as well as the ambassadors to Togo and Nigeria, an essential trade partner. | The leaders of the coup also dismissed Niger’s ambassadors to France and the United States, another military partner, as well as the ambassadors to Togo and Nigeria, an essential trade partner. |
| In an extraordinary move, the elected president of Niger, who has been locked up in the presidential palace by his own guards for ten days, wrote an opinion column published in The Washington Post calling on the United States and other allies to help restore constitutional order. | In an extraordinary move, the elected president of Niger, who has been locked up in the presidential palace by his own guards for ten days, wrote an opinion column published in The Washington Post calling on the United States and other allies to help restore constitutional order. |
| “I write this as a hostage,” President Mohamed Bazoum said in his opinion essay, published on Thursday evening. “Niger is under attack from a military junta that is trying to overthrow our democracy.” | “I write this as a hostage,” President Mohamed Bazoum said in his opinion essay, published on Thursday evening. “Niger is under attack from a military junta that is trying to overthrow our democracy.” |
| He warned that attacks from jihadist groups could increase and that Russia could expand its influence in the region if the coup leaders remain in power. | |
| The plea came just days before the deadline given to the coup leaders by a bloc of West African countries to return the president to power or face a possible war. Raising tensions, the bloc — the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS — said on Friday that it had agreed to a plan for a military intervention in Niger if coup leaders do not respect the ultimatum. |