MOSCOW, Aug 12 Member States of the Economic Community of Western Nations Africa (ECOWAS) have legitimate grounds for military intervention in Niger and do not need the approval of the UN Security Council, media reports citing ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah.
«ECOWAS has legitimate grounds for intervening in the affairs of Niger and does not need the approval of the UN Security Council,» Al-Jazeera TV channel quoted the commissioner of the regional bloc as saying.
As Musakh noted, ECOWAS had previously informed the UN about its actions after the military coup.
According to him, the army leaders in Niger supported the removal of President Mohamed Bazum only to avoid bloodshed. At the same time, he added that in Niger there is still no public consensus regarding support for the rebels.
Earlier, the Al-Arabiya TV channel, citing sources, reported that the meeting of the heads of the general staffs of the member countries of the Economic Community of West African Nations (ECOWAS) on the situation in Niger was postponed due to the unavailability of the troops.
An emergency ECOWAS summit on the situation in Niger was held in Abuja on Thursday. The organization was reported to have instructed a committee of the Chiefs of Defense Staff to immediately activate reserve forces to restore constitutional order in Niger. Later, the President of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, said that ECOWAS supported the early start of a military intervention in Niger.
Nigerian military at the end of July announced on national television the removal of President Mohamed Bazum from power. Most Western leaders and the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) regional organization condemned the coup. In early August, participants in ECOWAS adopted a plan in case of military intervention in Niger.