Togo's new military-installed leader was under intense pressure yesterday to step down, a day after west African leaders imposed sanctions and the US said it did not recognize his regime.
Faure Gnassingbe, the 39-year-old son of the late president Gnassingbe Eyadema, had sought to deflect international anger over his ascent to power on his father's death by promising to hold presidential elections which would confirm or overturn his rule within 60 days.
But yesterday he appeared increasingly isolated after his regional neighbors in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed sanctions in a move backed by Washington, and as the UN urged new efforts to resolve the crisis.
The sanctions announced on Saturday included a regional travel ban on Togolese officials, the recall of west African ambassadors and a complete arms embargo, ECOWAS said.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that Washington supported the ECOWAS decision.
"The United States does not accept as legitimate the designation of Gnassingbe as interim president and calls on him to step aside immediately," Boucher said in a statement.
He said the United States had ended all military assistance to Togo and "we are reviewing all aspects of our relations with Togo in order to identify further means of supporting the actions of ECOWAS."
In New York a spokesman for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Saturday called for renewed efforts to resolve the crisis and restore constitutional order.
"The secretary general is concerned that talks between ECOWAS and the Togolese authorities on the country's constitutional crisis have not advanced," the spokesman said.
The slap from Washington and from Togo's neighbors and former allies came as 25,000 opposition supporters demonstrated in the Togolose capital Lome against Gnassingbe's rule, the biggest such march since he was installed in power on Feb. 7.
Gnassingbe's father, former president Gnassingbe Eyadema, died on Feb. 5 after 38 years of iron-fisted rule over his tiny and poverty-stricken nation. The military immediately moved to install his son as his successor, brushing aside Togo's 1992 constitution, which was amended in 2002.
This move sparked outrage around an African continent desperate to put behind it five decades of military coups, civil wars and dictatorial rule.
On Friday, after a series of meetings with ECOWAS officials, Gnassingbe vowed to hold elections, but stopped short of handing over power in the run-up to polling day to the speaker of parliament, as demanded by both ECOWAS and Togo's Constitution.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese