Junta to make Niger 'example of democracy'
Source: Agencies |
February 20, 2010, Saturday
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A JUNTA that seized power in a coup in the West African nation of Niger named a squadron chief as its leader yesterday, hours after soldiers announced on state TV that their group was in charge of the uranium-rich country.
In a statement, the junta calling itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy said it was being led by Salou Djibo.
Armed soldiers stormed the presidential palace with a hail of gunfire on Thursday, kidnapping the country's strongman president. The whereabouts of President Mamadou Tandja yesterday remained unknown.
The junta said it wanted to turn Niger into "an example of democracy and of good governance." A diplomat in the region described the coup's leaders as being part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.
The uranium-rich country has become increasingly isolated since then, with the 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspending Niger from its ranks and the United States government cutting off non-humanitarian aid and imposing travel restrictions on some government officials.
However, there are also fears that the military group could attempt to cling to power in Niger, as the junta in Guinea did following a December 2008 coup. The coup leader there first promised to hold elections in which he would not run, only to later suggest he may have changed his mind. Only a year later, he went into voluntarily exile after his aide-de-camp tried to assassinate him.
The African Union's top executive, Jean Ping, condemned the coup in Niger and said the AU "demands a quick return to constitutional order."
Invited fate
In Washington, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tandja may have invited his own fate by "trying to extend his mandate in office."
"Both the US and ECOWAS have expressed our concerns about that, and obviously that may well have been an act on his behalf that precipitated this act today," Crowley said on Thursday, while adding that the US does not defend the violent takeover. ECOWAS is the regional bloc of 15 West African countries.
In their TV broadcast, the soldiers said the country was under a curfew and that its borders had been sealed.
In a statement, the junta calling itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy said it was being led by Salou Djibo.
Armed soldiers stormed the presidential palace with a hail of gunfire on Thursday, kidnapping the country's strongman president. The whereabouts of President Mamadou Tandja yesterday remained unknown.
The junta said it wanted to turn Niger into "an example of democracy and of good governance." A diplomat in the region described the coup's leaders as being part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.
The uranium-rich country has become increasingly isolated since then, with the 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspending Niger from its ranks and the United States government cutting off non-humanitarian aid and imposing travel restrictions on some government officials.
However, there are also fears that the military group could attempt to cling to power in Niger, as the junta in Guinea did following a December 2008 coup. The coup leader there first promised to hold elections in which he would not run, only to later suggest he may have changed his mind. Only a year later, he went into voluntarily exile after his aide-de-camp tried to assassinate him.
The African Union's top executive, Jean Ping, condemned the coup in Niger and said the AU "demands a quick return to constitutional order."
Invited fate
In Washington, US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Tandja may have invited his own fate by "trying to extend his mandate in office."
"Both the US and ECOWAS have expressed our concerns about that, and obviously that may well have been an act on his behalf that precipitated this act today," Crowley said on Thursday, while adding that the US does not defend the violent takeover. ECOWAS is the regional bloc of 15 West African countries.
In their TV broadcast, the soldiers said the country was under a curfew and that its borders had been sealed.
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