Chad rejects Niger coup intervention
US separately announced a suspension of some foreign assistance programs that benefit the government of Niger.
Niger has played a key part in Western strategies to combat a terrorist insurgency that has plagued the Sahel since 2012, / Photo: AP
Chad will not intervene in a coup in neighbouring Niger, the country's defence minister has said.
He made his remarks on state television on Friday, just as West Africa's regional bloc, ECOWAS, said it has devised a possible plan to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
"All the elements that will go into any eventual intervention have been worked out, including the resources needed, and including the how and when we are going to deploy the force," said ECOWAS commissioner Abdel-Fatau Musah.
"We want diplomacy to work, and we want this message clearly transmitted to them (the junta) that we are giving them every opportunity to reverse what they have done," he added.
The chiefs of staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) took the step after a delegation from the 15-nation bloc failed to broker a return to power of President Mohamed Bazoum, and the junta curtailed military cooperation with former colonial power France.
US to suspend aid
The United States has announced that it is suspending some aid programs to the Niger government, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday, more than one week after the country's president was toppled in a coup.
"The US government is pausing certain foreign assistance programs benefiting the government of Niger," the top diplomat said in a statement, without providing details on those programs.
However, "life-saving humanitarian and food assistance will continue" and the US would still carry out diplomatic and security operations to protect its personnel in the country.
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