NEW YORK, August 17. /TASS/. A potential military intervention in Niger by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) may deal a major blow to the organization, an expert at a Dutch think tank told the Associated Press on Thursday.
"An intervention could backfire and damage the organization in numerous ways, while a failure to extract major concessions from the [junta] could weaken the organization politically at an already fragile time," Andrew Lebovich, a research fellow with the Clingendael Institute, told AP. "ECOWAS has few good options," especially as rebels seem "unwilling for the moment to cede to outside pressure," he added. According to AP, the rebel-formed government "is entrenching its power" amid a standstill in negotiations with no military action.
On August 17-18, Accra, the capital of Ghana, is hosting a meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defense Staff to consider a military operation against rebels who came to power in Niger following last month’s coup. The defense chiefs are expected to consider a potential intervention in Niger, though some member states of the West African bloc insist that there should be a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Earlier, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union disapproved of the idea to launch an intervention in Niger.
In late July, a group of military rebels in Niger announced the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum. They then established the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie, CNSP), headed by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, to run the country. ECOWAS leaders issued an ultimatum, demanding that the rebels release Bazoum, threatening to use force.
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said upon returning from an emergency ECOWAS meeting in Abuja on August 10 that the ECOWAS leaders had agreed to launch a military operation in Niger "as soon as possible.".