Niger junta accuses France of violating airspace, destabilising country
Niger’s junta accused France on Wednesday of violating its airspace as part of a broader plan to destabilise the country, ratcheting up rhetoric in a way that left little hope for a swift diplomatic resolution of the crisis there.
The video statement by junta representative Amadou Abdramane, which provided no evidence, came at a moment of high tension, with West African heads of state due to discuss options including military action against the junta at a summit today, Reuters reported.
It also came hours after news emerged that a former rebel leader had launched a movement opposing the junta that took power in a July 26 coup, a first sign of internal resistance to army rule in the strategically important Sahel country.
Anti-French rhetoric has been a feature of other coups in the region over the past two years, including in Mali and Burkina Faso, whose army rulers are strongly backing the generals now in charge in Niamey.
It is not the first time that the Niger coup leaders have accused France of breaching their airspace. Paris has denied doing so. There was no immediate French reaction on Wednesday to the junta’s latest statement.
The coup was triggered by internal politics, but has spun out into an international drama, with West African regional bloc ECOWAS, the United Nations and Western countries putting pressure on the junta to stand down, while Mali and Burkina Faso have vowed to defend it.