(Bloomberg) --
A massive rally in support of Niger’s military leaders teetered on the brink of violence as demonstrators marched on the French Embassy, while West African heads of state held an emergency meeting in response to the coup.
Protesters gathered outside the embassy in the capital, Niamey, and a door was lit on fire, the Associated Press reported, citing videos and a person who was on site. France, the former colonial power in Niger, said it will retaliate if any of its citizens are attacked, the Elysee said in a statement.
Thousands of people have rallied in Niamey to back the junta in the country that is a key ally of the global fight against jihadists in the region. Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States held an emergency meeting in neighboring Nigeria. The junta warned the bloc not to intervene militarily to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.
“We want to once more remind Ecowas or any other adventurer, of our firm determination to defend our homeland,” Colonel Amadou Abdramane, spokesman for the junta that calls itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland, said on state TV on Saturday night.
Leaders of the 15-member bloc and the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union could cut off Niger’s access to the regional central bank and financial market, suspend the country from its institutions, and close its borders. Niger, a landlocked nation of about 26 million people, depends on neighboring countries for goods and trade. The bloc could also consider a military intervention.
Aid in Jeopardy
General Abdourahamane Tiani declared himself the country’s new leader on Friday, two days after the presidential guard he leads detained Bazoum. The coup sparked international condemnation, and on Saturday the European Union and France said they would suspend aid to the country, one of the world’s poorest.
Niger receives nearly $2 billion in annual development aid, according to the World Bank.
France, which has 1,500 troops stationed in Niger, said it had suspended aid that amounted to €120 million ($132 million) last year. The EU, which has committed €503 million in development aid from 2021-2024, also announced “the immediate cessation of budget support” and security cooperation, its top diplomat Josep Borrell, said in a statement.
US security and development assistance was also “in jeopardy,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference on Saturday.
Read more: What’s Driving Coups in Niger and Across West Africa?: QuickTake
Niger has been considered a reliable partner to the West in Africa’s Sahel region, which has experienced persistent political and economic instability. France and the US maintain bases in the country as part of international efforts to fight jihadists, while the EU sees it as an ally in its efforts to tackle illegal immigration from Africa.
The coup in Niger creates a belt of military-run countries that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, many of which are less friendly with the West than they are with Russia, which has made inroads in the region in recent years partly through the Wagner Group.
--With assistance from Angelina Rascouet.
(Updates with details of rally from first paragraph.)
