Foreign nationals lined up at an airport in Niger's capital for a third evacuation flight after last week's coup. France, Italy, and Spain announced evacuations following concerns that their citizens and other Europeans risked becoming trapped by the coup.
NIAMEY, Niger — Foreign nationals lined up outside an airport in Niger’s capital Wednesday morning waiting for a third evacuation flight, while a regional bloc continued talks about its response to the coup that took place last week.
An Italian military aircraft landed in Rome Wednesday with 99 passengers, including 21 Americans and civilians from other countries, said the Italian defense minister. The first of two French flights that landed in Paris overnight had 12 babies among 262 people aboard, most of them French but including evacuees from Niger, Portugal, Belgium, Ethiopia and Lebanon, France’s Foreign Ministry said.
On Sunday, ECOWAS said it would use force against the junta if it didn’t release and reinstate the president within a week. The announcement was immediately rejected by neighboring Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, all of which are run by mutinous soldiers who toppled their governments. On Tuesday, United States said its Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with President Bazoum and underscored that the U.S. rejects efforts to overturn the constitutional order, and stands with the people of Niger, ECOWAS, the African Union and international partners in support of democratic governance and respect for the rule of law and human rights.
“One week can be more than enough if everybody talks in good faith, if everybody wants to avoid bloodshed,” said Leonardo Santos Simao. But, he added, “different member states are preparing themselves to use force if necessary.”ECOWAS is resolved to use military force after economic and travel sanctions have failed to roll back other coups, said a Western diplomat in Niamey who did not want to be identified for security reasons.
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