UN and African Union (AU) envoys were expected in Niger yesterday, a day after thousands of people demonstrated in support of the military coup that ousted the country’s president.
Another pro-junta rally was also planned.
Officials from the UN, the AU and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) would assess the situation on the ground, said Said Djinnit, the UN secretary-general’s representative in West Africa.
“They will make contact with the military authorities, the political community, to see the evolution of the situation and see how they can support efforts for a return to constitutional order within the shortest possible time,” he said.
Niger’s military leaders have already promised to hold elections in the uranium-rich west African country, although they have yet to fix a date.
“Our intention is to stabilize the political situation … We plan to organize elections, but first we have to stabilize the situation,” a junta leader, Colonel Djibrilla Hamidou Hima, told journalists in Mali.
Speaking in Bamako, Hima said he had “explained” the reasons for the coup to west African leaders gathered in the Malian capital for a summit.
“They have understood us,” he said.
Both Niger’s opposition and the international community have called for quick elections and a return to civilian rule.
But while the international community condemned Thursday’s coup, which ousted Mamadou Tandja as president, Niger’s opposition called thousands of people out on to the streets on Saturday in a show of support for the junta.
Supporters crammed into buses and cars, took lifts on motorbikes or simply walked to gather in front of parliament for a demonstration called by the opposition alliance, the Coordination of Democratic Forces for the Republic.
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