Ali Lamine Zeine has cautioned the West to refrain from pushing Niamey towards its adversaries.
According to their highest civilian official, the coup leaders in Niger had “no intention” of working with Wagner Group PMC, a Russian defence contractor, on Friday. According to earlier reports, Wagner was contacted by the nation’s new military authorities as an invasion danger grew.
Ali Lamine Zeine, who earlier this month was chosen as prime minister by the coup leaders, claimed that he had “seen no intention” on the part of the ruling generals to enlist the Wagner Group’s assistance.
Nevertheless, Zeine cautioned, “Don’t push Nigeriens to go towards partners that you don’t want to see here.”
Mohamed Bazoum, the pro-Western president of Niger, was overthrown and imprisoned last month under the direction of General Abdourahamane Tchiani. Following meetings with Wagner Group representatives in neighbouring Mali, the general’s soldiers began tearing up economic and military agreements with France, Niger’s erstwhile colonial master.
The PMC’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has praised the coup and described it as a “justified rebellion of the people against Western exploitation,” but the Wagner Group has not commented on whether the purported meeting actually occurred.
Although the coup “was not orchestrated by Russia or Wagner,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated earlier this month that Washington expects the Russian contractor will “take advantage of” the upheaval to increase its influence in Africa.
According to reports, Wagner troops have recently been active in Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Mozambique, and the Central African Republic.
Currently, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional group headed by Nigeria, is threatening to militarily intervene in Niger. ECOWAS agreed on Friday to invade Niger on a secret “D-day” if Bazoum’s administration could not be reinstated diplomatically, despite negotiations between Zeine and an ECOWAS delegation taking place in Niamey on Saturday.
The coup leaders’ removal from office is supported by ECOWAS, but Paris has not made it clear whether it favours a diplomatic or military solution. Both Mali and Burkina Faso, which were taken over by military regimes that drove out French forces last year, have sworn to support Niger in the case of an invasion.
Despite Bazoum’s calls for US involvement, Washington has refrained from endorsing military action. Furthermore, no American official has referred to the change in Niamey’s government as a “coup,” as doing so would require the US to break its military alliance with Bazoum’s government.
Zeine hailed Washington’s stance as being “extremely reasonable,” but added that “the moment will come to review” Niger’s military agreements with the US.
