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full screen Ibrahim Traoré, leader of Burkina Faso who seized power in a military coup in September 2022. File photo. Photo: Kilaye Bationo/AP/TT
The military leaders who rule Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have formed a new coalition called the Alliance of Sahelian States.
All have come to power through coups in recent years and have directed strong criticism at the West and especially France, which they believe has too much influence in the West African region.
The meeting for the leaders of the new coalition is the first summit since they all left earlier this year the West African cooperation organization Ecowas, which reacted strongly against the coups and tried to influence the development with, among other things, sanctions.
The Sahel States Alliance was formed last year, but the cooperation agreement between the three countries was signed on Saturday.
– Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on Ecowas, says Niger’s ruling general, Abdourahamane Tiani to his colleagues: Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré and Mali’s Assimi Goïta, at the opening of the summit in Niger’s capital, Niamey.