A group of West African nations are still seeking diplomatic solutions to force the junta that seized power in a coup d’état in Niger to reinstate President Mohamed Bazum, as they threaten military intervention and the conspirators hope for a turn of support in the region amid the crisis. which also attracted the attention of major powers, Reuters and AFP reported on Sunday, taken by Agerpres.

The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced on Saturday its intention to send a parliamentary mission to Niger for talks with the coup leaders. The delegation will include parliamentarians from most of the 11 active member states of the organization, the membership of the other four member states has been suspended due to military coups.

The authors of the coup d’état in Niger, led by General Abdurahaman Tiani, have so far rejected all requests to hand over power and allow the restoration of constitutional order, while diplomatic efforts by the West and ECOWAS have not brought results, and this organization imposed economic sanctions against Niger, which gave the military in Niamey an argument not to surrender .

Therefore, ECOWAS on Friday mobilized military forces to attack Niger if all diplomatic efforts ultimately fail. But the West African organization is divided, with only Nigeria, still one of Africa’s warring states, and several other member states agreeing to participate in the intervention. Meanwhile, Mali and Burkina Faso openly support the authors of the coup in Niger.

In search of support, the latter also sent a delegation to Guinea. That country’s president, Colonel Mamadi Dumbuya, who also came to power in a coup d’état, spoke with a delegation led by General Musa Salau Barmu, a former US envoy to Niger and the Sahel region, but who has now joined the coups and been appointed by them as chief of staff army Previously, Guinea distanced itself both from the sanctions that ECOWAS imposed on Niger and from the plan of military intervention.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Islamic religious leaders in Nigeria said they had “fruitful” talks in Niamey on Saturday with coup leaders who they said were open to dialogue, but members of the delegation declined to give details, saying that initially I want to present the results of the discussions to the President of Nigeria, Ahmed Tinubu. He supports the initiation of military intervention in Niger, but faces domestic opposition to such action. According to the Nigerian press, during the parliamentary debate, the majority of representatives of the legislative body in Abuja spoke against any military action in Niger.

At stake in this crisis is not only the fate of Niger, a major producer of uranium and, before the coup, an ally of the West in the fight against jihadist groups in the Sahel, but also the influence of competing world powers with strategic interests in the region. Western countries, notably France and the United States, have troops stationed in Niger and fear increased Russian influence in the country after the juntas that took power in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso drove out French troops and moved closer to Russia. On the other hand, Niger is on one of the key routes through which migrants from sub-Saharan Africa try to secretly reach Europe.