French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and her Nigerian counterpart, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, have discussed the situation in Niger during a phone conversation, with Paris calling for the restoration of the constitutional order in the country, the French Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, spoke on the telephone today to her new Nigerian counterpart, Mr Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, Minister of Foreign Affairs ... the ministers discussed regional and international issues, particularly the situation in Niger," the ministry said in a statement.
During the call, Colonna assured the Nigerian minister of "France's wholehearted support" for actions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to end the coup and restore the constitutional order.
A coup took place in Niger on July 26. President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted and detained by his own guard, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. Following the mutiny, ECOWAS suspended all financial aid to Niger, froze rebels' assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country. In early August, during a summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, ECOWAS leaders agreed to activate a standby force to potentially compel the Nigerien military to reinstate Bazoum.
On Friday, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs Abdel-Fatau Musah said that ECOWAS general staff chiefs had agreed on the date of Niger invasion but would not make it public.
Earlier in the week, Algerian newspaper El Khabar reported, citing sources, that France had made a request to Algiers to let French fighter jets cross its airspace for a possible military operation in Niger, which the Algerian government refused. The public Radio Algeria said, citing sources, that France also made a similar request to Morocco, which responded favorably and gave French fighters a green light to cross its airspace if needed.