The United States shows a conditional willingness to resume its cooperation with Niger

Baghdad-INA
The United States announced that it is ready to resume its cooperation with Niger on conditions, most notably that the military regime that came to power at the end of July in a coup adhere to a short transitional period.

Washington suspended its cooperation with Niamey after the July 26 coup that ousted elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly began a visit to Niamey, during which she met with a number of Nigerien officials, including the military-appointed Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Lamine Zein.
US diplomacy told reporters that the National Council for the Defense of the Homeland, the ruling military council, must announce a “deadline for a rapid and credible transition” from which a “democratically elected government” will emerge.
She added, “We have confirmed that we are ready to resume our cooperation if the National Council for the Defense of the Homeland takes the steps I mentioned.”
The army proposes a maximum three-year transitional period, at the end of which it will return power to civilians. The army says that this period will be determined by a “national dialogue” that will be held soon.
Regarding the fate of the former president, American diplomacy indicated that the military agreed “to reach a satisfactory solution” for him and “his family and members of his government.”
Since the coup that overthrew him and Bazoum, he has been under house arrest with his wife and son.
The coup plotters arrested many prominent figures of the former regime, while others fled the country.
On Sunday, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs participated in a summit in Abuja of leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
At its summit, ECOWAS decided to maintain the sanctions it imposed on Niger following the military coup, but it conditioned the easing of these sanctions on several conditions, most notably the coup plotters shortening the term of their rule.
On Wednesday, she said, “I urge the National Council for the Protection of the Homeland to respond positively to ECOWAS’s offer to hold negotiations, and the United States supports the decisions” of this regional organization.
Nigerien Foreign Minister Bakary Yaw Sangare said in early December that the new US ambassador to Niger, Kathleen Fitzgibbon, who arrived in Niamey in mid-August, would soon present her credentials to the authorities.