Stalemate As US Envoy Meets Niger Coup Leaders

A United States delegation, on Monday, met with military leaders in Niger Republic to reverse the coup in the West African country and return the ousted President, Mohamed Bazoum.

Naija News gathered that the U.S. delegation which was led by the Acting Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, arrived in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic.

It was learned that Nuland’s trip, conducted in secrecy until she left, came after the expiration of a deadline set by ECOWAS to reinstate Bazoum or risk military intervention.

Speaking with reporters before her departing Niamey, Nuland described her talks with the military leaders as “extremely frank and at times quite difficult”, saying that she met with them for more than two hours.

She said she offered the coup leaders a number of options to exit the crisis and restore the relationship with the United States, which like other Western nations has suspended aid.

She said: “I would not say that we were in any way taken up on that offer.”

Nuland added that the coup leaders did not respond to her requests to meet Niger’s self-proclaimed new leader, General Abdourahamane Tiani, or the detained elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

The U.S. official said she met Brigadier General Moussa Salaou Barmou, who has been named the new military chief of staff and who has worked closely in the past with the United States, which along with former colonial power France has based anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel out of Niger.

Nuland said she warned Niger against following neighbouring Mali in bringing in Russia’s Wagner mercenaries.

She said: “The people who have taken this action here understand very well the risks to their sovereignty when Wagner is invited in.”