Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, Niger’s new prime minister, told The New York Times on Friday that the generals who deposed President Mohamed Bazoum in a July 26 coup will do him no damage.
“Nothing will happen to him because we don’t have a violent tradition in Niger,” Zeine, the most senior civilian nominated by military commanders, told the newspaper in an interview from Dakar about the fate of deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.
Zeine further stated that the Niger coup leaders had no intention of working with Russia or the Kremlin-backed Wagner gang of mercenaries.
According to the New York Times, the coup leaders have turned off water and electricity to Bazoum’s house, where he has been imprisoned since his ouster, and have threatened to kill him if other African countries follow through on a proposal to restore him to power through military action.
Earlier Friday, President Bola Tinubu warned of “grave consequences” if Niger’s military regime permits Bazoum’s health to deteriorate while under house arrest, according to a European Union official.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was questioned by reporters at the UN headquarters in New York about the state of Bazoum’s health and whether he was still alive.
“I’ve spoken to someone who speaks to him regularly. And, yes, as far as we know and we have no indication to say that he’s not alive. So, as far as I know, he’s alive,” said Stephane Dujarric.
The presence of 1,100 American soldiers and 1,500 French soldiers fighting against jihadists in anti-terrorist operations with the local army was also questioned by Zeine, who was chosen Niger’s prime minister on August 7.
Zeine, a French-trained economist who served as finance minister in a previous administration, said “the moment will come to review” such military alliances, while praising the White House’s “extremely reasonable position” in attempting to resolve the crisis through diplomacy rather than force.
