A
West
African
leaders’
summit
has
opened
a
day
after
the
military
rulers
of
Burkina
Faso,
Mali
and
Niger
forged
a
new
alliance
severing
ties
with
the
Economic
Community
of
West
African
States
(ECOWAS).
The
ECOWAS
summit
is
being
hosted
in
the
Nigerian
capital,
Abuja,
after
several
West
African
leaders
called
for
a
resumption
of
dialogue
with
the
three
coup-hit
Sahel
countries,
which
signed
a
new
defence
pact
on
Saturday
during
a
summit
of
their
own
in
Niamey,
the
capital
of
Niger.
Mali,
Burkina
Faso
and
Niger
announced
the
pact,
known
as
the
Alliance
of
Sahel
States,
last
September.
It
allows
them
to
cooperate
in
the
event
of
armed
rebellion
or
external
aggression.
The
three
countries
withdrew
from
ECOWAS
in
January
after
the
regional
bloc’s
tough
stand
against
the
coups.
Reporting
from
Abuja,
Al
Jazeera’s
Ahmed
Idris
said
the
timing
of
Saturday’s
announcement
by
the
Sahel
alliance
was
aimed
at
showing
the
three
countries
can
do
without
the
regional
bloc.
“But
some
analysts
say
Mali
and
Niger
in
particular
could
face
difficulties
if
all
member
countries
of
ECOWAS
decide
to
isolate
the
two
landlocked
countries,”
he
said.
“Right
now,
the
military
leaders
of
Burkina
Faso,
Mali
and
Niger
seem
to
have
momentum
on
their
side
and
they
are
scouting
the
global
community
for
support.
ECOWAS
has
a
lot
of
work
ahead
before
it
can
bring
these
three
countries
back
into
the
fold,
if
at
all
they
agree
to
do
that.”
Speaking
at
the
summit
on
Saturday,
Niger’s
General
Abdourahamane
Tchiani
called
the
50-year-old
ECOWAS
“a
threat
to
our
states”,
adding
that
the
three
countries
aim
to
create
an
alliance
free
of
foreign
influence
for
their
people.
ECOWAS
lifted
sanctions
on
Niger
in
February
in
an
attempt
to
mend
relations,
but
little
progress
has
been
made.
The
bloc
had
imposed
sanctions
following
the
July
2023
coup
that
brought
Tchiani
to
power.
Abdulaziz
Abdulaziz,
a
media
assistant
to
the
Nigerian
president,
told
Al
Jazeera
that
much
has
been
achieved
in
the
past
year
despite
the
souring
relations
between
ECOWAS
and
the
Sahel
alliance.
“The
handling
of
the
fragile
situations
in
these
countries
–
even
though
perhaps
not
ideally
what
we
would
want
–
has
helped
to
de-escalate
tensions,
but
at
one
point,
tensions
were
really
high
and
things
could
have
gone
south,”
he
said.
As
the
Sahel
region
shifts
towards
allying
with
Russia,
the
United
States
is
set
to
complete
its
withdrawal
from
a
key
base
in
Niger
on
Sunday,
which
it
had
built
to
combat
armed
groups
that
pledged
allegiance
to
al-Qaeda
and
ISIL
(ISIS).
About
1,000
US
military
personnel
were
set
to
withdraw
from
Niger’s
Air
Base
101.
Following
the
coups
in
West
Africa,
the
breakaway
countries
have
had
increasingly
strained
relations
with
the
West,
condemning
influence,
particularly
by
former
colonial
ruler
France.
French
troops
left
Mali
completely
in
2022,
and
they
completed
their
withdrawal
from
Niger
and
Burkina
Faso
last
year.
Impact
on
fighting
armed
groups
Amid
the
political
and
military
shifts
following
the
coups,
the
armed
groups
continue
to
pose
a
considerable
danger
to
the
whole
region.
Kabir
Adamu,
a
security
consultant,
told
Al
Jazeera
that
Burkina
Faso,
Mali
and
Niger
will
still
need
support
from
the
rest
of
the
region.
“If
they
decide
to
operate
on
their
own
or
try
to
isolate
other
ECOWAS
countries,
or
other
countries
within
the
Sahel,
these
[armed]
groups
will
continue
to
exploit
these
gaps
that
will
be
created
and
of
course,
continue
to
impact
a
heavy
toll
on
both
the
security
forces
and
the
citizens
of
the
three
countries.”
According
to
the
Armed
Conflict
Location
and
Event
Data
Project
(ACLED),
which
tracks
violence
in
the
region,
more
than
8,000
people
were
killed
in
Burkina
Faso
in
2023,
and
gains
against
armed
groups
largely
backslid
in
Niger.
In
Mali,
it
said,
military
forces
were
working
with
Russia’s
Wagner
mercenaries
and
had
been
involved
in
“indiscriminate
killing”
of
civilians.
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