PARIS: The African Union asked Niger’s new junta to return to their bases and restore constitutional order in 15 days as the EU and former colonial ruler France Saturday suspended security cooperation and financial aid to the jihadist-hit country.
General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the elite Presidential Guard, on Friday declared himself the West African country’s new leader, two days after his forces confined democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum to his official residence.
Tiani said the putsch was a response to “the degradation of the security situation” linked to jihadist bloodshed as well as corruption and economic woes.
Niger’s neighbors Mali and Burkina Faso have both undergone two military coups since 2020, fueled by anger at a failure to quash long-running insurgencies by jihadists linked to the Daesh group and Al-Qaeda.
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council asked “military personnel to immediately and unconditionally return to their barracks and restore constitutional authority, within a maximum period of fifteen (15) days,” after a meeting Friday on the coup.
It condemned the coup in “the strongest terms possible” and expressed deep concern over the “alarming resurgence” of military overthrows in Africa.
France’s foreign ministry said it was suspending development aid and budgetary support to Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, while calling for “an immediate return to constitutional order” and Bazoum’s reinstatement.
The EU’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell meanwhile said the bloc would not recognize the putschists and announced the indefinite suspension of security cooperation with Niger with immediate effect as well as budgetary aid.
Bazoum “remains the only legitimate president of Niger,” the EU statement said, calling for his immediate release and holding the coup leaders to account for the safety of the president and his family.
Borrell said the EU was ready to support future decisions taken by West Africa’s regional bloc, “including the adoption of sanctions.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered Niger’s ousted leader Washington’s steadfast support and warned those detaining him that they were “threatening years of successful cooperation and hundreds of millions of dollars of assistance.”
Leaders from the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc will meet on Sunday in the Nigerian capital Abuja to discuss the coup.
French President Emmanuel Macron was due to chair a meeting of his Defense and National Security Council on the coup on Saturday afternoon, the presidency said.
France has 1,500 soldiers in Niger, while the United States has around 1,000 troops there.
Tiani, 59, has shunned the limelight despite a stellar military career which has seen him lead the 700-member presidential guard since 2011.
Sources close to Bazoum told AFP that he had been considering replacing Tiani as the head of the elite unit and that relations between the two men had deteriorated in the past months.
Landlocked Niger often ranks last in the UN’s Human Development Index, despite vast deposits of uranium.
It has had a turbulent political history since gaining independence in 1960, with four coups as well as numerous other attempts — including two previously against Bazoum.
The 63-year-old has been one of a dwindling group of elected presidents and pro-Western leaders in the Sahel as juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso turn away from traditional allies and toward Russia.
EU, France suspend cooperation and aid to Niger after coup
https://arab.news/bn7ht
EU, France suspend cooperation and aid to Niger after coup
- French President Emmanuel Macron, while visiting Papua New Guinea on Friday, strongly condemned the coup
Palestine Action hunger strike prisoner loses ability to speak
- Heba Muraisi unable to ‘form sentences’ as she feels ‘weaker as each day passes’
- Fellow activist Teuta Hoxha ‘virtually bedridden’ as hunger strike continues
LONDON: A prisoner on hunger strike in the UK, detained for activities in support of the banned group Palestine Action, has lost the ability to speak, The Independent reported.
Heba Muraisi said in a statement that she can no longer “form sentences, and (is) struggling to maintain conversation.” She added via the Prisoners for Palestine group that she feels “weaker as each day passes.”
Campaigners say another prisoner on hunger strike now cannot stand up. Eight activists initially went on strike awaiting trial for a range of alleged offenses relating to Palestine Action, including violence and criminal damage.
Earlier this month two of the activists, Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib, paused their strikes after 48 days and were admitted to hospital.
As well as Muraisi, three others remain on hunger strike: Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello.
Hoxha, according to Prisoners for Palestine, is “no longer able to stand without blacking out,” experiences “increasing levels of brain fog” and is “virtually bedridden.”
The hunger strikers are demanding immediate bail and to be allowed to “send and receive communications without restriction, surveillance, or interference from the prison administration.”
The eight have been charged over two incidents, a break-in at a Royal Air Force base in June that saw two military aircraft damaged, and a break-in at a facility owned by Israeli-linked defense company Elbit Systems UK on Nov. 19, 2024.
A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine said: “Unlike the prison guards, who lock up the prisoners early to go home to their Christmas dinner, the hunger strikers don’t get a Christmas break.
“Just like the Christians in Gaza, who continue to suffer in the freezing cold at the hands of the settler-colonial entity.
“The hunger strikers say to us, don’t forget the people of Palestine over Christmas, and continue to demand a meeting with the British government on their behalf.”
Lawyers acting for the eight have said they risk death if their strike continues and the government does not intervene.
Earlier this month, protests took place led by MP Zarah Sultana over claims that Zuhrah had been refused an ambulance, and the hunger strikers’ legal teams have begun action against the government over what they say are breaches of its own prison safety policy framework.
Prisons Minister James Timpson said: “We are very experienced at dealing with hunger strikes. Unfortunately, over the last five years we have averaged over 200 hunger strike incidents every year and the processes that we have are well-established and they work very well — with prisons working alongside our NHS (National Health Service) partners every day, making sure our systems are robust and working — and they are.
“I am very clear. I don’t treat any prisoners differently to others. That is why we will not be meeting any prisoners or their representatives.
“We have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.”
