![Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS Commission, left, and Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara arrive for the ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria on February 24, 2024. [File: Gbemiga Olamikan/AP Photo]](/Uploads/Images/News/2024/7/Image-2525-20240708081443.jpeg)
West African leaders’ summit opens as coup-hit countries form alliance
The formation of Sahel alliance by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger overshadows ECOWAS summit, set to open in Abuja.
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.”
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