Niger\u2019s military says it will prosecute deposed President Mohamed Bazoum for treason, hours after a group of senior Islamic scholars said the country\u2019s coup leaders are open to diplomacy to resolve their standoff with West Africa\u2019s regional bloc. In a statement read out on national television late on Sunday, a spokesman for Niger\u2019s military laid out the charges against Bazoum as \u201chigh treason and undermining the internal and external security\u201d of the country. Bazoum, 63, and his family have been held at the president\u2019s official residence in Niamey since the coup on July 26, with international concern mounting over their conditions in detention. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has called for Bazoum\u2019s reinstatement, imposing severe economic sanctions on Niger and threatening military intervention if civilian rule is not restored. Still, the West African bloc, which has approved the deployment of a \u201cstandby force to restore constitutional order\u201d in Niger, has said it remains committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The spokesman for Niger\u2019s military, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, in his statement on Sunday, dismissed concerns over Bazoum\u2019s health, saying the deposed leader had seen his doctor the previous day. \u201cAfter this visit, the doctor raised no problems regarding the state of health of the deposed president and members of his family,\u201d he said. Abdramane went on to slam ECOWAS sanctions on Niger, saying the \u201cillegal, inhumane and humiliating\u201d measures were making it difficult for people to access medicines, food and electricity. The statement came just hours after a group of Nigerian Islamic scholars announced a meeting with Niger\u2019s coup leader Abdourahamane Tchiani in Niamey and said the general had agreed to hold \u201cdirect talks\u201d with ECOWAS. Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, who led the Nigerian delegation, told Al Jazeera their mission to Niamey was aimed at creating an \u201cavenue whereby the leaders of the junta coup in Niger will have a dialogue with the ECOWAS leaders to understand each other\u201d. During their meeting, Tchiani \u201caccepted to have fully direct discussions with the leaders of ECOWAS\u201d, he said. The Muslim scholars visited Niamey with the blessing of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who also heads ECOWAS. Tinubu has adopted a firm stance against the coup, the sixth to hit an ECOWAS member state since 2020. The bloc has severed financial transactions and electricity supplies as well as closed borders with landlocked Niger, blocking much-needed imports to one of the world\u2019s poorest countries. An international journalist\u00a0Ahmed Idris, reporting from Katsina on Nigeria\u2019s border with Niger, said the charges against Bazoum were likely to \u201cincrease tensions between the military in Niger and the international community\u201d. \u201cThis statement is an indication the military isn\u2019t about to let Bazoum go. The charges they\u2019ve announced could result in very serious repercussions for Bazoum,\u201d Idris said. \u201cThis could be an attempt by the military to further strengthen their hand in future negotiations,\u201d he added. The prospect of a military intervention to reinstate Bazoum has divided ECOWAS members and drawn warnings from foreign powers including Russia and Algeria. Niger\u2019s neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, also ruled by military governments which seized power in coups, have said intervention would be tantamount to a declaration of war on them. On Saturday, Tchiani sent a delegation, led by his defence chief General Moussa Salaou Barmou, to the Guinean capital, Conakry, to thank leaders there for their support \u2013 a sign of the coup leaders\u2019 desire to affirm alliances as they stand up to regional and other powers. \u201cWe are Pan-African. When our people have problems, we are always present and we will always be there,\u201d Guinea\u2019s interim President Mamady Doumbouya said at the meeting, according to a video shared late on Saturday night by the presidency. The coup in Niger is seen as a major blow to many Western nations, which viewed Niamey as a partner in the Sahel region that they could work with to beat back a growing uprising by groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). The United States and France have more than 2,500 military personnel in the region and, with other European countries, have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training of Niger\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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