NIAMEY, Aug 9 (Reuters) - A former rebel leader and politician in Niger has launched a movement opposing the junta that took power in a July 26 coup, a first sign of internal resistance to army rule in the strategically important Sahel country.

Rhissa Ag Boula said in a statement seen on Wednesday that his new Council of Resistance for the Republic (CRR) aimed to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been in detention at his residence since the takeover.

"Niger is the victim of a tragedy orchestrated by people charged with protecting it," the statement said.

The launch comes as diplomatic efforts to reverse the coup appeared stalled after the junta rejected the latest diplomatic mission and the army governments of neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, which back the armed takeover, appealed to the United Nations to prevent any military intervention.

Niger's coup leaders denied entry to African and U.N. envoys on Tuesday, resisting pressure to negotiate ahead of a summit on Thursday at which heads of state from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will discuss possible use of force.

The CRR supports ECOWAS and any other international actors seeking to restore constitutional order in Niger, according to Ag Boula's statement, which added that it would make itself available to the bloc for any useful purpose.

A CRR member said several Nigerien political figures had joined the group but could not make their allegiance public for safety reasons.

Ag Boula played a leading role in uprisings by Tuaregs, a nomadic ethnic group present in Niger's desert north, in the 1990s and 2000s. Like many former rebels, he was integrated into government under Bazoum and his predecessor Mahamadou Issoufou.

While the extent of support for the CRR is unclear, Ag Boula's statement will worry the coup leaders given his influence among Tuaregs, who control commerce and politics in much of the vast north. Support from Tuaregs would be key to securing the junta's control beyond Niamey's city limits.

The U.N., Western powers and democratic ECOWAS member states such as Nigeria want the junta to reinstate a civilian government that had been relatively successful in containing a deadly Islamist insurgency devastating the Sahel region.

Niger is the world's seventh-largest producer of uranium, the most widely used fuel for nuclear energy, adding to its strategic importance.

COMPLEX DIPLOMATIC PICTURE
But Mali and Burkina Faso, ECOWAS members that have rejected Western allies since their own juntas took power in coups in the past two years, have vowed to defend Niger's new army rulers from any forceful attempt to remove them.

In a letter to the U.N., they called on the Security Council to prevent any armed action against Niger, saying it would have unpredictable consequences such as the break-up of ECOWAS, a humanitarian disaster and a worsening security situation.

Accusing Western powers of using ECOWAS as a proxy to conceal a hostile agenda towards Niger, they said they were committed to finding solutions through diplomacy and negotiation.

Despite such assurances from its allies, the Niger junta has rebuffed repeated attempts by African, U.S. and U.N. envoys to engage with it and the generals in charge have given no sign that they were prepared to make any concession.

The coup has already led to border and airspace closures that have cut off supplies of medicine and food, hampering humanitarian aid in one of the world's poorest countries.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late on Tuesday that he had spoken to Bazoum to express continued efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

"The United States reiterates our call for the immediate release of him and his family," he posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Nigeria's President and ECOWAS chairman Bola Tinubu imposed more sanctions on Niger on Tuesday, aimed at squeezing entities and individuals involved in the takeover, and said all options were still on the table.

ECOWAS has said that the use of force would be a last resort. The bloc's defence chiefs have agreed on a possible military action plan, which heads of state will discuss at their summit on Thursday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

Further complicating the diplomatic picture is the influence of Russia in the Sahel region, which Western powers fear could grow stronger if the junta in Niger follows Mali's example by throwing out Western troops and inviting in Wagner mercenaries.

Niger currently hosts U.S., French, German and Italian troops, under agreements made with the now deposed civilian government.

Additional reporting by David Lewis, David Gauthier-Villars and Edward McAllister; Writing by Nellie Peyton and Estelle Shirbon; Editing by William Maclean

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/time-running-short-diplomacy-post-coup-niger-talks-stall-2023-08-09/

Fellow Nairalanders, Nigerians and Africans.

You can now see glaringly how the WEST detsabilise countries, if you fail to do their bidding, they raise a rebellion using your own peoples and arm them to the teeth. Expect France and the US to arm these rebels and use them as the foot soldiers to overthrow the new military Junta.

I will advise Nigeria to keep out of this, as it is going to be a BLOODY and BRUTAL WAR involving many countries.

Fellow Nairalanders, Nigerians and Africans.

You can now see glaringly how the WEST detsabilise countries, if you fail to do their bidding, they raise a rebellion using your own peoples and arm them to the teeth. Expect France and the US to arm these rebels and use them as the foot soldiers to overthrow the new military Junta.

I will advise Nigeria to keep out of this, as it is going to be a BLOODY and BRUTAL WAR involving many countries.

The coupists in Niger are being naively stubborn and this wrong approach is about to further destroy the economy of Niger.

Now, let me play devil's advocate here. Why rejecting diplomatic overtures, holing yourselves up in Niamey and organize rallies, when you can buy time by appearing visionary and diplomatically level-headed by doing the following:
- Holds talks with ECOWAS, AU, UN, US and anybody ready to talk but maintain that the military is not after power but to lay a solid foundation for economic prosperity of Niger
- appoint committee to probe certain the financing of certain projects and activities of past government
- Cancel whatever agreement reached with Wagner because it is simply an act of harakiri.
- appoint a committee to chart short and long term economic prosperity plan for for Niger
- appoint a committee to review all bilateral agreements with countries including France and suggest ways Niger could get more out of those agreements
- appoint a committee to look into how to strengthen the electoral process in Niger and suggest the timetable for return to democracy, which is subject to the approval of the Junta council
- chase the overthrown president out of the country and then accuse him of corruption as well as take him to court in absentia

Al these flurry of visionary activities and more will take some time to complete, which will enable the Junta to settle down and consolidate. Besides, any country who observes will slow down and say may be these guys are not typical coupists after all.

But so far, they have behaved as fatheads who lack direction.

I saw this coming. Those coupists can never make it. Even the head of the coupists is holed up somewhere and scared to move around like a legitimate leader will do.

Nigeria should start funding the rebel to fight the illegitimate government in Niger. Only our airforce should support them with airpower.

a very good strategy.

This is one of the problems to coup. Because you snatched power, power now becomes like a game of hockey. Everyone feels they should have that power. Then the vicious cycle of coup and counter coup continues. It's s jungle now. When a lion pride loses its leader in a power tussle, the new pride leader kills the curbs of the deposed leader to kill any resistance.
This new rebel now siding with AU EU and ECOWAS is building a mansion from the bricks that tchini threw away. Alot is happening in behind the scenes.
Let's see how it all unfolds.

The Niger republic low budget version of Asari Dokubo.

Lol!

Is that the most Tinubu can do?

Sponsor the Asari Dokubo of Niger Republic?

I hope the military fires some bullets into the brains of the idiot very soon.

Ndi ala!

Ikaeniyan0:
Nigeria should start funding the rebel to fight the illegitimate government in Niger. Only our airforce should support them with airpower.

we have not learned anything from Libya

This Nigeriens are not smart at all. They don't know that they are taking their country back decades because of this short-sightedness and hunger for power.

Real development comes with stability. When investors and foreign allies see that you have a stable government with clear rules for succession then they will be comfortable investing their money.

They are banking on resources forgetting that resources don't guarantee development. The greatest indicator of development in a country is credit rating and that is highly correlated with a stable government. Something they just threw away because they were power hungry.

The next few years will be interesting to watch.

We know his type paid by the west

This a dangerous development in Africa and this is all faulted on Russia in its guests for power grab in the international arena. America is better ogg Russia in Africa ad the present og Russia will spell doom for African development.

NSNO:
This Nigeriens are not smart at all. They don't know that they are taking their country back decades because of this short-sightedness and hunger for power.

Real development comes with stability. When investors and foreign allies see that you have a stable government with clear rules for succession then they will be comfortable investing their money.

They are banking on resources forgetting that resources don't guarantee development. The greatest indicator of development in a country is credit rating and that is highly correlated with a stable government. Something they just threw away because they were power hungry.

The next few years will be interesting to watch.

Those investors are your gods, Abi?
Those western European thieves, who take more than they bring.
What investment have they brought so far to seemingly stable but broke countries who are enslaved to them like Liberia, Malawi, Congo Brazzaville etc.
It has been looting upon looting.

Development can only come if you use the Chinese or Japanese example : it is from the people working in unity.

caye:



Those investors are your gods, Abi?
Those western European thieves, who take more than they bring.
What investment have they brought so far to seemingly stable but broke countries who are enslaved to them like Liberia, Malawi, Congo Brazzaville etc.
It has been looting upon looting.

Development can only come if you use the Chinese or Japanese example : it is from the people working in unity.

Who do you think built China and Japan?
Who poured billions into their economy?

If you know how to manage them, you will enjoy them. If you don't, then you are the problem not them.