Clock ticks down on August 6 deadline for Niger coup leaders to restore democracy

Colombo (News 1st) - Tensions increased in West Africa as the clock ticked down towards the August 6 deadline set by West African nations for military coup leaders in Niger to restore the democratically elected government, and military chiefs of 11 nations met on Wednesday (2nd) to discuss the possible use of force, international media said.

An impoverished nation, Niger is nevertheless important in geopolitical terms as it contains the world's largest deposits of Uranium, which are being mined by Orano, a company owned by the government of France, Niger's former colonial power.

Niger is also a key base in the fight against ISIS and al-Qaeda in North and West Africa, with the United States and France maintaining bases in the sub-Saharan nation, including drone bases from which surveillance and attacks are carried out across the region. Western nations have condemned the coup, as has the United Nations.

France evacuated over 1,000 of its citizens from Niger on Wednesday, on four special flights, while the United States announced that it was carrying out a partial evacuation of its embassy staff.

The World Bank announced Wednesday that it was suspending all disbursements to Niger following the military coup. Meanwhile, Nigeria, which supplies 70% of electricity Niger, cut off the power supply, resulting in blackouts, as part of economic sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that include the closure of borders and a freeze on Niger's assets in other West African nations, as well as travel bans on coup leaders.

Military chiefs of Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone met in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Wednesday, although ECOWAS stressed that military intervention into Niger by West African troops would be a last resort.

But in Niger's capital Niamey, coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani remained defiant and called on his countrymen to get ready to defend their nation.

Military regimes in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have warned ECOWAS that any military action against Niger would be regarded as a declaration of war against those two countries as well. Both states have tilted towards Russia after the overthrow of their democratic governments. Following the coup, mobs in Niger's capital demonstrated carrying Russian flags.

Meanwhile, a number of peace efforts continued. ECOWAS sent a delegation to Niger on Wednesday headed by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar. This followed a visit to Niger on Tuesday by the President of Chad, which borders Niger but is not a member of ECOWAS.