(6 Aug 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

++CLIENTS: RESENDING SHOTLIST TO AMEND SHOT 5 - IT IS BELIEVED TO BE GEN. MOHAMED TOUMBA ARRIVING++

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Niamey - 6 August 2023
1. Men waving Niger flag, chanting "Down with France" to drums outside stadium where coup supporters are rallying
2. Close of coup supporter dressed up as a soldier in green overalls and Batman mask
3. Coup supporters arriving for rally with Russian flag, chants of "Down with France"
4. Various of coup supporters walking to rally
5. Crowd chanting "Tchiani" as official believed to be Gen. Mohamed Toumba (with back to camera) arrives
STORYLINE:
A pro-coup rally was held in Niger's capital Niamey on Sunday, the day the deadline passed for Niger’s military junta to reinstate the country’s ousted president.

But ECOWAS, the West Africa regional bloc that has threatened a military intervention, faces prominent appeals to pursue more peaceful means.

Neighboring Nigeria’s Senate on Saturday pushed back against the plan by the regional bloc known as ECOWAS, urging Nigeria’s president, the bloc’s current chair, to explore options other than the use of force.

ECOWAS can still move ahead, as final decisions are taken by consensus by member states, but the warning on the eve of Sunday’s deadline raised questions about the intervention’s fate.

The threat of military intervention came in the wake of the Jul. 26 coup when mutinous soldiers installed their leader, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, as Niger’s new head of state.

Even as Tchiani asked for national and international support, fears swelled that the country’s political crisis could hinder its fight against jihadists and boost Russia’s influence in West Africa.

The coup adds another layer of complexity to the West Africa region that’s struggling with military takeovers, Islamic extremism and a shift by some states toward Russia and its proxy, the Wagner mercenary group.

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