The deposed president of Niger warns in an American newspaper: "The region could fall under Russian influence"

The deposed president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, who has been held since last week while his country suffers a coup attempt, warned this Thursday in a column in The Washington Post that if the coup succeeds, “the entire region could fall under Russian influence.”

“With an open invitation from the cabalists and their regional allies, the entire central Sahel region could fall under Russian influence through the Wagner group, whose brutal terrorism has been clearly seen in Ukraine,” Bazoum wrote.

In the article, published on Thursday afternoon, the president has asked the United States and the international community to support his government “at this momentous moment.”

He has also criticized neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso for “supporting the illegal coup”, accusing them of employing Wagner mercenaries “at the expense of the dignity and rights of their citizens”.

Bazoum has also made a passionate defense of his government so far and stressed that the country is safer than in the last 15 years.

Biden calls for Bazoum's release

This Thursday, when Niger's Independence Day is celebrated, US President Joe Biden has launched a message calling for Bazoum's immediate release and urging to “preserve hard-won democracy” in the country.

The US president, however, has avoided referring to what is happening as a “coup d'état”, a position defended on Wednesday by the State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, who believes that the situation can be reversed with the return to the power of Bazoum.

Also on Wednesday, Washington ordered the departure of non-essential personnel from its embassy in Niamey, the capital of Niger, which has suspended its routine services to only process emergency assistance to US citizens in the country.

Currently, the US has some 1,100 soldiers in Niger dedicated to anti-terrorism, surveillance and intelligence tasks, in cooperation with the Nigerien forces, and for the moment it has given no sign that it is going to withdraw these soldiers from the country.