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Niger's coup leaders said late Sunday they denounced the "illegal, inhumane and humiliating sanctions" imposed by a West African regional bloc, in a statement broadcast on national television.

The military regime said the people of Niger "have been hard hit by the illegal, inhumane and humiliating sanctions imposed by ECOWAS," according to one of the members of the regime, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, who added that people were being deprived of medicines, food and electricity.

Niger's coup leaders that toppled Mohamed Bazoum said late Sunday they would "prosecute" the deposed president for "high treason" and "undermining the security" of the country, in a statement read out on national television.

"The Nigerien government has so far gathered... evidence to prosecute the deposed president and his local and foreign accomplices before the competent national and international bodies for high treason and undermining the internal and external security of Niger," said Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane.

Talks between the religious delegation of mediators and the Niger junta including leader General Abdourahamane Tiani have been "constructive", said FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris Trent.

Coup leaders in Niger have expressed willingness to resolve the current crisis and standoff with West Africa's regional bloc – ECOWAS – diplomatically, she said.

https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20230813-niger-military-regime-says-will-prosecute-president-bazoum-for-high-treason

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYGJEC5094I

"INTERVIEW: The US is becoming more and more brazen in its willingness to set everyone else on fire to keep themselves warm, says West Africa Weekly’s David Hundeyin

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPssO8SKQwY

The speed at which Africa is realigning with the new multipolar world, finding its footing and expelling imperialists from the continent has left Western media breathless.

Believing their own propaganda line - that Africans need the West for stability and growth - they are clutching at straws trying to understand Africa’s self-confidence in reclaiming its destiny.

In this CNN interview, host Zain Asher echoes the West’s fear of an awakened continent when she wonders why Nigeriens are happy to depose a ‘democratically elected’ leader, then asks DC think-tanker Aneliese Bernard if the coup in Niger can be somehow undone.

The African Stream team unpacks this Western narrative in our latest reaction video - go to our YouTube channel for the full version.

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Change is in the air. 

Under cover of the Ukrainian war, vast sweeping changes are in order for the global architecture which has secured Western hegemony for the past century and a half. 

The events currently playing out in Africa and the ‘global south’ dare to eclipse the significance of the Ukrainian war, which acts merely as the frosting to the revolutionary layer cake of anti-imperialist sentiment bursting forth around the world.

Africa has had enough, and is self-assembling along geopolitical lines. The U.S. stooges of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) seek to keep the status quo going while rival blocs are ready to strip the Western powers of their self-proclaimed birthright to the African land—and its resources—once and for all.

READ MORE/SEE MORE:

https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/change-is-in-the-air-in-africa

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je3yeDpQS2o

Despite what is said by the French, such as the Americans having engendered the coup in Niger, the reality bites that there are grains of sand in the great machinery of Empire... Niger has some friends: Mali and Bukina Faso who have some friends helping them defeat the Muslim extremists (which "we guess" have been created by the Empire to justify its bases in the region — like Daesh in Syria was more or less a creation of the CIA) — who in turn, like in Syria have power friends called "RUSSIANS"...Here in Niger, the Empire cannot steal the wealth from the Nigeriens like it is doing in Syria, illegally pumping/stealing about 80 per cent of the Syrian oil, making sure Syria remains a poor country.

The Empire will have to ship out of Niger...

SEE ALSO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkxL1T3aLvY

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By Max Blumenthal / The Grayzone

When a military junta arrested President Ali Bongo Ondimba on August 30, Gabon became the ninth African nation to depose its government through a military coup. As citizens of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali did before them, crowds of Gabonese poured into the streets to celebrate the removal of a Western-backed leader whose family flaunted its lavish lifestyle while more than a third of the country’s population languished in destitution.

“Irresponsible and unpredictable governance has led to a steady deterioration in social cohesion, threatening to drive the country into chaos,” a leader of Gabon’s junta, Col. Ulrich Manfoumbi, declared upon seizing power.

President Bongo’s arrest was met with indignant condemnations from Washington and Paris, which had propped him up as he pillaged his country’s vast oil wealth. His ouster represented a particularly sharp rebuke of former President Barack Obama, who groomed the Gabonese autocrat as one of his closest allies on the continent, and leaned on him for diplomatic support as he waged a war on Libya that unleashed terror and instability across the region.

So close was the bond between Obama and Bongo that Foreign Policy branded the Gabonese leader, “Obama’s Man in Africa.”

With Obama’s help, Bongo attempted to fashion himself as a reformist modernizer. He traveled repeatedly to Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum, where was appointed an “Agenda Contributor.” There, he pledged to accelerate the Fouth Industrial Revolution in Africa by implementing lucrative digital identification and payment systems among his country’s heavily impoverished population.

Bongo’s bio on the WEF website lists him as a “spokesperson for Africa on biodiversity” and “composer of musical pieces” whose interests include “history, football, classical music, jazz and bossa nova.” The self-styled renaissance man managed to hit it off with Obama, kibitz with Klaus Schwab, and press the flesh with Bill Gates. But at home, he found few friends among the struggling Gabonese masses.

A “Global Citizen” Meets His Fate at Home

Ali Bongo rose to power as the son of the late Gabonese autocrat Omar Bongo Odinmba, who ruled the country from 1967 to his death. In 2004, a year after discussing a $9 million image-washing deal with disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Bongo secured a meeting with President George W. Bush. When he died five years later, he left behind a $500 million presidential palace, over a dozen luxurious homes from Paris to Beverly Hills, and a country overrun with inequality.

Following a brief stint as a disco artist, Bongo studied at France’s Sorbonne and prepared to lead his nation. When he was installed as president in 2009, he picked up where his father left off, pillaging public funds to pay for a Boeing 777 airliner and a fleet of luxury cars while signing hefty contracts with international PR firms. Bongo’s sister, Pascaline, blew over $50 million on jetset vacations and expensive homes, according to a lawsuit, while her family cultivated influence in Paris by siphoning funds stolen from the Bank of Central African States into the campaign coffers of former French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac.

Yet nothing on the Bongo family’s lengthy and well-documented record of corruption seemed to bother President Barack Obama when he embarked on a regime change operation in Libya ironically justified as an exercise in “democracy promotion.” With Washington’s help, Gabon was rotated into the UN Security Council, where it functioned as a rubber stamp for US resolutions demanding sanctions and a No Fly Zone on Libya in February 2011.

Bongo’s cooperative spirit earned him a visit with Obama in Washington four months later. There, while staying at the president’s personal residence, he became the first African leader to call for Qaddafi to give up power.

“They could call any African leader with private cell numbers,” then US Ambassador to Gabon Eric  Benjaminson remarked to Foreign Policy, referring to Bongo’s staff. “They knew Qaddafi and they knew his chief of staff very well, and we were trying to work through the Gabonese to get Qaddafi to step down without military action.”

Benjaminson added, “Obama sort of liked him.”

The US-led regime change war on Libya swiftly transformed the previously stable, prosperous nation into a despotic hellscape ruled by Al Qaeda-affiliated and ISIS warlords. With virtually unlimited access to the former arms depots of the Libyan military, jihadist gangs began to rampage across the Sahel region. Covert assistance for their onslaught arrived from Qatar, the Gulf monarchy which partnered with France and the US to remove Qaddafi, enabling a jihadist coalition to establish a de facto Caliphate in northeastern Mali in 2012.

“The violence that has plagued once-stable Mali since late 2011 should have come as no surprise to Western governments, for it is a direct function of NATO’s Libyan intervention,” the Council on Foreign Relations noted.

Despite the growing French and US military presence – or perhaps because of it – jihadist attacks were multiplying across the region in 2014. That August, Obama rewarded Bongo with an invitation to attend his US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. During the summit’s gala dinner, Obama emphasized Bongo’s pivotal role in his Africa strategy by sitting beside him as they were regaled by pop legend Lionel Richie.

READ MORE:

https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/02/obamas-man-in-africa-under-house-arrest-as-popular-coup-rocks-gabon/

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France’s rejection in French-speaking Africa punishes 12 years of betrayal

by Thierry Meyssan

Nothing happens by chance in politics. The French don’t understand why French-speaking Africans suddenly reject them. They console themselves by accusing Russia of dark machinations. In reality, they are only reaping the rewards of what they have sown over the last 12 years. This has nothing to do with colonialism or Françafrique and everything to do with putting the French army at the service of U.S. strategy.

Faced with the wave of regime changes in French-speaking Africa, the French media are stunned. They can’t explain the rejection of France.

The old refrains about colonial exploitation are unconvincing. For example, Paris is exploiting Niger’s uranium, not at market price, but at a ridiculously low one. However, the putschists have never raised this argument. They’re talking about something else entirely. Accusations of Russian manipulation are no more credible. Firstly, because Russia doesn’t seem to be behind the putschists in Mali, Guinea, Burkina-Faso, Niger or Gabon, but above all because the evil far predates their arrival. Russia only arrived in Africa after its victory in Syria, in 2016, whereas the problem dates back to at least 2010, if not 2001.

As always, what makes the situation unreadable is forgetting how it came about.

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States assigned a role in Africa to its vassal, France. The aim was to maintain the old order there, while waiting for AfriCom to settle in, and for the Pentagon to extend to the dark continent the destruction of political institutions it was already carrying out in the "wider Middle East". [1] Gradually, Republican politics gave way to tribal politics. From one point of view, this was an emancipation from heavy French aid; from another, it was a formidable step backwards.

In 2010, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, probably on Washington’s advice, took the initiative to settle the Ivorian conflict. While the country was riven by tribal conflict, an operation led first by ECOWAS, then by Barack Obama’s cousin [2] Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, attempted to negotiate the departure of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo. Their problem is not Gbagbo’s authoritarian regime, but the fact that he has transformed himself from a submissive CIA agent into a defender of his nation. Paris intervened militarily after the presidential election to arrest Gbagbo - allegedly to stop genocide - and replace him with Alassane Ouattara, a long-standing friend of the French ruling class. Laurent Gbagbo was subsequently tried by the International Criminal Court, which, after an interminable trial, recognized that he had never committed genocide and that France was therefore not justified in intervening militarily.

In 2011, President Nicolas Sarkozy, advised by Washington, committed France to Libya. Once again, the official aim was to stop a genocide committed by a dictator against his own people. To lend credibility to this accusation, the CIA, which was behind France’s actions, organized false testimony before the Human Rights Council in Geneva. In New York, the United Nations Security Council authorized the major powers to intervene to stop the massacre, which did not exist. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev turned a blind eye. U.S. President Barack Obama wanted AfriCom to finally begin operations in Africa, where he did not reside, as his soldiers were still stationed in Germany. But at the last minute, AfriCom’s commander refused to fight against Muamar Gaddafi alongside the jihadists who had fought his comrades in Iraq (the US military still hasn’t admitted the CIA’s double game of supporting the jihadists against Russia, often to the detriment of Westerners). Barack Obama therefore called on NATO, forgetting that he had previously promised not to mobilize it against a Southern country. Nevertheless, Muamar Gaddafi was tortured and lynched, and Libya was dismembered.However, the Libyan Arab Jamahariya, which was not at all a dictatorship but a regime inspired by the French socialists of the 19th century and the Paris Commune, was the only African force aiming to unite Arabs and blacks. Gaddafi wanted to liberate the continent as he had liberated his compatriots from Western colonialism. He was even preparing to pilot, with IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a common currency for several African states. His fall awakened his enemies. Blacks were once again massacred by Arabs, even if they were Libyan nationals, and reduced to slavery, under the insensitive eyes of the Western victors. The poor African states economically supported by Libya collapsed, starting with Mali [3]. Arab jihadists, brought to power in Tripoli by NATO, supported certain Tuaregs against blacks in general. The problem gradually spread to the whole of Sahelian Africa.

Yet, unable to learn from these crimes, French President François Hollande organized a new regime change in Mali. In March 2012, as President Amadou Toumani Touré’s term of office drew to a close and he was not standing for re-election, a group of U.S.-trained officers overthrew him, without being able to explain their action. He interrupted the current presidential campaign and appointed Dioncounda Traore as "transitional president". This sleight of hand was endorsed by ECOWAS... now chaired by Alassane Ouattara. Unsurprisingly, transitional president Dioncounda Traore called on France for help in fighting the jihadists who were attacking him. Paris’ idea was to station troops in Mali so as to be able to attack Algeria, its real target, from the rear. This was "Operation Serval". Aware that they were next on the list, the Algerian generals cracked down hard on a hostage-taking by jihadists at the In Amenas oil site. In so doing, they discouraged France from intervening against their people.

No problem! France reorganized its forces, calling it "Operation Barkhane". The French army was placed at the disposal of its American overlord. Everything was organized by AfriCom, still stationed in Germany. French troops, now backed up by members of the European Union (Denmark, Spain, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the Czech Republic), destroyed the targets indicated to them by AfriCom. In this formerly French region, the French military had good contact with the local population, whereas the Americans faced a language barrier.

At this stage, the first observation is that operation Barkhane, regardless of its results, was not legitimate. True, it was officially a question of the West containing the jihadists, but any Sahelian understands that it is these same Westerners who created the jihadists in the region by destroying Libya. And that’s not all.

Let’s take a step back. Let’s remember that all this began with the Pentagon’s determination to destroy African political structures with AfriCom, just as it had begun to destroy those of the "wider Middle East" with CentCom. On May 11, 2022, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Straussian Victoria Nuland, convened a meeting in Morocco of the 85 states participating in the coalition against Daesh. She announced the next step in the program: the jihadists are re-forming Daesh in the Sahel. They have weapons, officially destined for Ukraine. Soon, the whole region will be one huge inferno [4]. In November, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed the massive influx of US weapons into the hands of jihadists in the Sahel and the Lake Chad basin, initially destined for Ukraine.

It was in the face of this existential risk that the soldiers of Mali, Burkina-Faso and Niger took power to defend their people.

It’s important to understand that for years, African leaders have been complaining about France’s support for the jihadists it is supposed to be fighting. The point is not to blame the French military, but the role of its secret services working for the United States.

Right from the start of Operation Serval, Syrian jihadists complained that France had abandoned them in favor of their Sahelian counterparts. And President François Hollande had to hold back his troops until the Qatari instructors of the Malian jihadis withdrew. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the matter with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, who replied with a laugh: "It’s our realpolitik!

A sanctuary of al-Qaeda military camps was formed between the towns of Ghat (near the Algerian border) and Sabbah (close to Niger) in the Fezzan desert of southern Libya. According to the very serious Canard enchaîné, these jihadist academies were organized by the British and French secret services.

Three years ago, on October 8, 2021, Mali’s Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Maïga, gave an interview to RIA Novosti [5] that has been widely picked up and commented on throughout the region, but not in France, where no one but our readers know about it.

According to Yaou Sangaré Bakar, Niger’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Nigeriens Abroad, who wrote to the Security Council (Ref. S/2023/636), last month French agents freed terrorists who had been prisoners. They were rounded up in a valley in the village of Fitili (28 km northwest of Yatakala), where a planning meeting was held with the aim of attacking military positions in the tri-border area. Sixteen terrorist leaders were apprehended in three operations, including two in Niger and one in Mali.

In passing, Yaou Sangaré Bakar’s letter raises important questions about the role of ECOWAS [6], questions which are not new and have been raised since the change of regime in Côte d’Ivoire. This international institution has just imposed sanctions against Niger and mobilized troops to restore constitutional order. But the ECOWAS statutes do not authorize it to impose such sanctions, any more than the UN Charter authorizes it to take military action against one of its members.

The cases of Guinea and Gabon are somewhat different. They are not Lake Chad or Sahel states. They are not yet under threat. Their militaries first rebelled against authoritarian regimes, that of Alpha Condé in Guinea and Ali Bongo in Gabon. Both refused to relinquish power against the wishes of their populations. But the putschists in both countries were quick to blame the French military presence. Simply because they can safely predict that the French army will not defend the interests of the Gabonese, or even the French, but only those of Washington.

War is prepared years in advance. Today, the United States is transferring weapons in the shadow of the conflict in Ukraine. Tomorrow, it will be too late.

Against this backdrop, it is surprising to hear French President Emmanuel Macron preaching the defense of constitutional order. On the one hand, because all these states are in immediate danger, and on the other, because by placing the French army at the service of the ambitions of US leaders, he himself has betrayed his own Constitution.

Thierry Meyssan
Translation
Roger Lagassé

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French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna paid a visit to Nigeria on Friday, urging African nations not to develop relations with Moscow instead of Paris.

During her visit to the capital, Abuja, which she called “an opportunity to highlight the strong growth of cooperation,” the minister announced “the imminent return of $150 million of the funds embezzled by Sani Abacha” which were seized by the courts and have been frozen in France since 2021.

Nigeria’s former military ruler, General Sani Abacha, who died in 1998, is suspected of looting from $3 billion to $5 billion in public funds, according to Transparency International. The money stolen from the country was withdrawn abroad and ended up in financial institutions in several European countries and the US. Nigeria is still working to recover the money.

When a journalist asked Colonna whether Paris “is losing its grip” on the African continent, referring to a break in relations with Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, the minister replied: “I wouldn’t trade off France for Russia, if I were you.”

These three African countries are former French colonies whose pro-Paris governments have been overthrown by the military. The most recent coup took place this summer in Niger.

Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are part of the Sahel region, which also includes Chad and Mauritania. Colonna told the press that “the Sahel does not represent all of Africa,” noting that “there are many different and more positive situations beyond the Sahel.”

Meanwhile, many African countries maintain warm relations with Russia. The Russia-Africa Summit, which was held in St. Petersburg in July, was attended by representatives of all 54 African countries, including 45 heads of state or government.

During a meeting at the summit with Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goita, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would allocate $2 million to purchase food for the African country through UN channels.

Russia seeks to develop trade and investment cooperation with Mali, Putin said, noting that Moscow has “a growing trade turnover with many African countries.”

Putin added that Russia and African countries stand together for the construction of “a fairer architecture of the world order in opposition to the neo-colonial policies of the West.”

https://www.rt.com/news/586579-france-warns-africa-russia/

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPwyrBUpT0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5a5pihfyhc

NOW, LET'S BE ANALYTICAL HERE... WE CALL THESE RULERS JUNTA, MILITARY DESPOTS, WHATEVER... WHEN WE HAVE TO CONSIDER THAT AMERICA IS ALSO A JUNTA RULED BY THE PENTAGON....  SO THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE AFRICANS ARE NOT AS DECEITFUL AS THE YANKS...

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