West African junta leaders rule out rejoining ECOWAS
The military rulers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger held a summit in Niamey, the first since the coups that saw them seize power. The neighbors quit the regional ECOWAS bloc in January, accusing France of interference.
The military leaders of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger said Saturday that they had no plans to rejoin the West African regional bloc.
The three juntas left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in January, accusing the body of being manipulated by former colonial ruler France.
What did the junta chiefs say?
Speaking at the first gathering of its kind since military coups in all three countries, Niger's military leader Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani said the nearly 50-year-old ECOWAS has become "a threat to our states."
The three leaders agreed to strengthen their own union, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), created last year amid fractured relations with neighbors.
"[It will be] an AES of the peoples, instead of an ECOWAS whose directives and instructions are dictated to it by powers that are foreign to Africa," Tchiani said.
Burkina Faso's leader Capt Ibrahim Traore went further, accusing Western countries of exploiting Africa.
"Westerners consider that we belong to them and our wealth also belongs to them. They think that they are the ones who must continue to tell us what is good for our states. This era is gone forever; our resources will remain for us and our populations," Traore said.
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