West Africa
Former minister and rebel in Niger founds resistance movement
Supporters of Niger’s ruling junta cheer in the street. On July 26, officers of the Presidential Guard in Niger ousted the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. photo
© Sam Mednick/AP/dpa/Archive
What’s next in Niger after the coup? An influential former Tuareg rebel leader wants to restore order with a resistance movement. He himself is a dazzling personality.
Barely two weeks after the coup in Niger, a minister and influential former Tuareg rebel leader proclaimed a resistance movement in the West African country.
Rhissa Ag Boula, who was Minister of State before the coup, announced the formation of the so-called Council for the Resistance for the Republic (CRR) in a statement circulating on the Internet since the night. “The CRR is meant to be a political movement working towards bringing order, constitutional legality and the President Mohamed Bazoum in all functions,” says the letter dated Tuesday.
On July 26, officers of the Presidential Guard in Niger ousted the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum. The commander of the elite unit, Abdourahamane Tiani, subsequently proclaimed himself the new ruler. Shortly after Tiani came to power, the putschists suspended the constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions.
Council wants to support Eocwas and international partners
The CRR will “use all necessary means to eliminate this perfidious practice of questioning the decisions of the people by corrupt and irresponsible military,” it said. The Council pledges to support ECOWAS and its international partners, particularly in the event of military intervention to ensure the return to constitutional order.
Former rebel leader Rhissa Ag Boula is a colorful figure in politics in the Sahel country of around 26 million people, around two thirds of which are in the Sahara desert. In the 1990s he was one of the leaders of the uprising of the nomadic Tuareg in the north of the country bordering Algeria and Libya and became Minister of Tourism as part of a peace process. After being charged with the murder of a political opponent, he took up arms again between 2007 and 2010. As part of the government’s reconciliation with the rebels, Ag Boula then became the President’s special adviser and has served as Minister of State since 2016.