Authorities in eastern Libya do not accept sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against Niger, where the military overthrew the president in July, Issa Abdelmajid, minister of African affairs in the parliament-appointed Libyan cabinet, told Sputnik.
"We, as an African country that is a neighbor of the Nigerian people, do not accept the blockade and its exhaustion. It is unacceptable. This blockade will not hurt the military council or the government, it will hurt the people of Niger," Abdelmajid said.
The minister of the transitional government based in Benghazi also noted that eastern Libya "does not interfere in the internal affairs of Niger."
"We call on Niger to seek national political reconciliation. What happened in Niger was not a regime change, but a course correction. So we ask the brotherly people of Niger to seek internal reconciliation," the Libyan politician added.
In late July, Niger's military announced on national television that President Mohamed Bazoum had been deposed, the borders closed, and a curfew imposed. Earlier, soldiers from the presidential guard had besieged the presidential palace in the capital, Niamey.
In response, leaders of the regional organization ECOWAS, condemned the coup and announced the suspension of financial aid to Niger and imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on the military government. They also closed borders and suspended trade and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger.
In early August, participants in an emergency meeting of ECOWAS chiefs of staff in Abuja, Nigeria, adopted a contingency plan for military intervention in Niger. The bloc later softened its stance and sent a delegation to negotiate a rapid return to constitutional order in the West African country.
After the fall of Muammar al-Qaddafi's regime, Libya descended into a political crisis and currently has two governments. One is the eastern cabinet formed by the parliament, and the other is the national unity government led by Abdelhamid Dbeiba and based in Tripoli. Presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 2021 were never held in the absence of a constitutional framework.