[Regnum] The countries of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) at their emergency meeting developed a plan in case of military intervention in Niger, ECOWAS Commissioner for Peace and Security Abdel-Fataw Musaha said August 4, according to Reuters.
Reuters: ECOWAS countries agree on military intervention in Niger
“All elements of a possible military intervention in Niger were worked out during the meeting. They include the resources needed, as well as how and when we are going to deploy forces,” he said.
Musaha emphasized that the leaders of the ECOWAS countries would make the final decision on how to proceed with Niger. According to him, the plan for a possible military intervention in Niger is drawn up in case the rebels do not give up power and restore constitutional order.
Earlier it was reported that the military leadership of ECOWAS refused to use force against Niger.
As IA Regnum reported , on the night of July 27, a group of military men in Niger announced a coup d'état and the overthrow of President Mohamed Bazum . Colonel Amadou Abdramane , who led the coup , explained that the military opposed the country's leader "because of the deteriorating security situation and poor governance." The command of the Armed Forces of Niger supported the rebels.
On July 30, ECOWAS leaders threatened that if President Bazum did not return to power within a week, military action would be taken against the rebels.
Meanwhile, the president of Niger, who was overthrown by the rebels, through the Washington Post, turned to the US authorities and the international community with a request to help restore constitutional order in the country.
The military leadership of the Economic Community of West African Nations (ECOWAS) has renounced the use of force against Niger, Al Arabiya TV reported on August 4, citing a statement by the regional organization's defense ministers.
ECOWAS leaders abandon plans to use military force against Niger
ECOWAS, as the TV channel notes, instead of military intervention, will increase sanctions pressure to force the rebels to release the President of the Republic, Mohamed Bazum.
As IA Regnum reported, on the night of July 27, a group of military men in Niger announced a coup d'état and the overthrow of the president. Colonel Amadou Abdramane, who led the coup , explained that the military opposed the country's leader "because of the deteriorating security situation and poor governance." The command of the Armed Forces of Niger supported the rebels.
On July 30, ECOWAS leaders threatened that if President Bazum did not return to power within a week, military action would be taken against the rebels.
The French authorities, meanwhile, announced on August 1 their intention to begin the same day the evacuation of their citizens from Niger, a former French colony that traditionally remained in the sphere of influence of Paris. Some employees of the US embassy in Niger have been ordered to leave the country with their families.
Meanwhile, the president of Niger, who was overthrown by the rebels, through the Washington Post, turned to the US authorities and the international community with a request to help restore constitutional order in the country.
In Niger, the rebels who seized power want to denounce military agreements with France, Agence France-Presse reported .
"Faced with France's unceremonious attitude towards the situation in Niger, the National Council for the Salvation of the Motherland has decided to denounce security and defense cooperation agreements with that country," the communiqué said.
The rebel ruling body (CNSP) on August 3 announced the termination of the powers of Niger's ambassadors to France, the United States, Nigeria and Togo, council spokesman Colonel Amadou Abdraman told national television .
In addition, the new authorities said that "aggression or attempted aggression" by the economic community of West African countries will be followed by an immediate response.
As reported by IA Regnum , on August 3, representatives of the French media said that the authorities of Niger interrupted their broadcast. The French Foreign Ministry in a statement condemned the shutdown of a television and radio station in Niger, calling on the rebels to end "authoritarian repression" and ensure freedom of the press.
Since August 2, Niger has reopened its borders with Algeria, Libya, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso. The authorities closed them after the coup d'état.
On the night of July 27, a group of military men in Niger announced a coup d'état and the overthrow of the country's president, Mohamed Bazum . On July 30, leaders of the Economic Community of West Africa announced that if President Bazum did not return to power within a week, military action would be taken against the rebels.
Niger's President Mohamed Bazum , who was overthrown by the rebels , appealed to the US authorities and the international community through the Washington Post to help restore constitutional order in the country.
It is noted that he did this while being held hostage by the putschists.
“The people of Niger will never forget your support at this turning point in our history,” the president assured, adding that the coup attempt was a tragedy.
As reported by IA Regnum, some employees of the US embassy in Niger have been ordered to leave the country with their families. As explained in the US State Department, the corresponding decision was made after Mohamed Bazum was placed under house arrest by local security forces.
The armed coup in Niger on July 27, which became a successful informational support for the Russia-Africa summit and gave rise to a significant number of memes, is far from over. The situation is developing rapidly, and the coming to power of the military on the Black Continent, which is quite familiar for the last two years, in this particular case, can turn into a major inter-regional conflict.
On August 1, the French authorities announced their intention to begin the same day the evacuation of their citizens from Niger. In this country in West Africa, a former French colony that traditionally remained in the sphere of influence of Paris, last week, as you know, there was a military coup. Colonel Amadou Abdramane , who led the coup , explained that the military opposed the country's leader "because of the deteriorating security situation and poor governance." The command of the Armed Forces of Niger supported the rebels.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] 1. The military in Niger announced the rupture of agreements on military cooperation with France. The next step may be to break the agreement on the deployment of French bases in the territory of Niger and the demand for the withdrawal of French troops from the territory of the country.
2. The new authorities of Niger are actively forming new central and regional authorities, although some members of the old authorities continue to pretend that they are in control of something in the country.
3. Deposed President Bazuma called on the US to help him regain power and "restore democracy." In fact, this is an invitation to foreign interventionists against the background of the absence of any serious speeches in his support within the country. In fact, the situation with Yemen could be repeated here, where the ousted Hadi tried to return on Saudi bayonets with well-known consequences for Yemen.
4. Meanwhile, the curfew has already been lifted in Niger today, and ambassadors have been replaced in 4 countries hostile to Niger, including France. The military demonstrate with all their might that they have everything under control and the power of the new military junta for a long time and they will respond to threats from abroad with force.
5. The military of Niger is consulting with the military of Mali in order to coordinate actions in the event of an attempted foreign military intervention. Mali has previously confirmed (like Algeria with Burkina Faso) that it will enter the war on the side of Niger against the interventionists. Thus, intervention, if it starts, will provoke a major regional war, in which several states will be involved at once. Given Niger's large borders with Algeria, Mali and Burkina Faso, organizing the delivery of weapons to Niger is more than possible.
6. In the event of an aggression against Niger, it would be reasonable for us to supply the Niger army with drones, MANPADS and other weapons to strike at the French occupiers and destroy the territories of French military bases by the Niger military, and in tough scenarios, US bases. The main problem for the military is the small number of armed formations under their control, up to 10-12 thousand security officials with a small number of heavy weapons. So without someone else's help, it will be difficult to fight off full-fledged aggression.
7. The position of Russia at the moment is that the events in Niger are the internal affairs of Niger and there should not be any intervention there. In the event of a war in Niger, Russia will have the opportunity, through small investments, to create problems for its opponents in West Africa, including killing American and French soldiers by proxy.
The ECOWAS ultimatum demanding that the military surrender power to the deposed French puppet expires on August 6.
Friend Recep decided to stick a scimitar in the back of Macron, supporting the military coup in Niger.
The cessation of the supply of uranium from Niger to France can be considered retribution for many years of injustice by Paris towards Africans. Of course, France is not doing this for the first time, what they did in Algeria, Rwanda and Mali is known in world history. Africans know this well. Now the supply of gold and uranium to France from Niger has been completely suspended. This is a retribution for the years of cruelty against these countrie."(c) Erdogan
PS. The French, meanwhile, continue to yell that the Niger authorities allegedly have already concluded an agreement with the Wagner PMC and that they are not going to leave Niger, even despite the break in agreements on deployment French troops in this country.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Viktor Lavrinenko
[REGNUM] In Finland, the scandals associated with the "skeletons" pulled out of the cabinets of ministers of the new government do not stop. First, they had to dismiss the Minister of Economics, Wilhelm Ünnila , who was convicted of neo-Nazi sympathies. Then the press unearthed facts showing that Finance Minister Riikka Purra holds similar beliefs. This is not enough: it turned out that Yunnila's replacement, Ville Rydman, is also an inveterate racist!
FIRST LOSSES
The beginning of the work of the new government of Finland, headed by Petteri Orpo ("National Coalition"), was marked by a loud scandal - the press unearthed incriminating facts about the freshly minted Minister of Economy Wilhelm Junnil ("True Finns").
It turned out that Yunnila loved to flaunt his addiction to the digital combination “88” (the coded greeting “Heil Hitler!” Adopted by neo-Nazis), led his campaign under the slogan “Give it gas!”, Attended ultra-right radical events, and even lied about the created them startups.
Prime Minister Orpo tried to defend Minister Yunnilu, but he still had to retire. But his place in the government was taken by a no less "exotic" replacement.
At one time, Ville Rydman was a member of the National Coalition, but was expelled from it after he became the hero of a pedophile scandal. In 2022, journalists found out that Rudman was suspected of repeated episodes of harassment of underage girls. Rudman was also accused of having sex with women by secretly filming his sex with them, and then showing these videos to his friends.
Then the politician managed to get away with it, but paid with membership in the National Coalition. Such a “valuable shot” was picked up by the “True Finns”, and already in their ranks, Rudman participated in the elections in 2023 and ended up in the government.
Then the Minister of Finance, the head of the "True Finns" Riikka Purra got into a scandal.
Journalists picked up her Internet comments from 2008, in which she insults black people, Muslims and makes statements that can be regarded as a call for violence against these groups.
Unlike Yunnila, Purra tightly clung to the ministerial chair. Purra assures that those fifteen-year-old statements of hers “were taken out of context” - they say, it was such a “humor”! — and that she "never condoned violence of any kind."
INCIDENT NOT OVER
In connection with these two scandals, the leaders of all four parties that formed the government have publicly stated that they do not support racist views in any way.
After that, Prime Minister Orpo began to pretend that the incident was over and Purra could continue working in the ministry. One can understand the head of government - he does not want his office to be accompanied by a scandalous trail caused by the second resignation of a racist minister in a short time. But many members of the general Finnish public do not think so.
The collection of signatures for the resignation of Purra began - this initiative was supported by over 121,000 people.
On July 19, an anti-government demonstration took place in Helsinki. More than a thousand Finns came to the parliament under the slogan "Zero Tolerance". One of the organizers of the rally, Pessi Jouste, said: "True Finns" is a racist party. The proof of this is the publications of Riikka Purra and Wilhelm Junnila's connections with Nazism. We want this to be taken seriously with zero tolerance for racism."
Jouste recalled that Riikka Purra apologized for the fifteen-year-old posts, but she also has more recent posts of this kind. For example, in 2019, she referred to Muslim women who cover their faces as “black bags.”
Another organizer of the demonstration, Outi Aaltonen , says covert racism is a common phenomenon in Finnish society. According to her, the difficult economic situation in Finland contributed to the growth of the True Finns' popularity - in such times, people tend to believe populist politicians who offer simple solutions to difficult issues.
But, despite the mass indignation, Riikka Purra flatly refuses to resign. “Contrary to media claims, my comments do not glorify or incite violence. I have never supported violence or extremism. I have always been against this ,” writes the leader of the “True Finns” on the social network.
But then a new scandal arrived - the third in a row.
THIRD TIME - ALREADY STATISTICS
Helsingin Sanomat published the details of the personal correspondence of the successor Wilhelms Junnila, the current Minister of Economics Ville Rydman, with his then girlfriend. The correspondence took place in 2016.
The future minister, then the deputy of the parliament, called the immigrants from the Middle East the “monkeys”, compared the Somalians with the “weeds” (and therefore “them”, they say, it was necessary to identify and move to another place), and discussed the “black Nigerian niggra”.
The deputy sent his friend a song about a Muslim who raped a girl, adding that this could be sung at a student party. The author of the song is Rydman's current fellow party member in the "True Finns" Juho Eerola, who at that time was also a member of parliament.
In correspondence, Rydman called himself a "Nazi" and scolded the Germans who destroyed monuments to their Nazi leaders.
And the situation with Purra was repeated again - the government is trying to pretend that nothing special has happened.
Prime Minister Orpo said he "trusts" Rudman, though he added that his comments in private correspondence were "unacceptable." Orpo recalled that now Rudman supported the government memorandum on the inadmissibility of racism, which means that the minister can be considered reformed.
But it is doubtful that Rudman, like Purra, will be allowed to get away with it.
Opposition parties demand their removal from the government. Already now it can be stated that a targeted attack is being carried out on the Orpo cabinet, and the opponents of the current government, using the press, are ready to extract more and more “skeletons” from the cabinets of ministers from the “True Finns”. The blessing of "skeletons" should be enough - this right-wing party has always enjoyed the image of a nest of neo-Nazis.
FINNS KNOW WHO THEY CHOOSE
How did this series of scandals affect the popularity of the ruling parties.
In a recent survey commissioned by the national broadcaster Yle, it turned out that there really is an effect. However, its scale should not be overestimated. Support for the National Coalition and the True Finns dipped a bit.
According to sociologist Jussi Vestinen , a representative of the polling company Taloustutkimus, among those who recoiled from the "coalitionists" and the IF, the majority are women and voters under the age of 35 - as Vestinen notes, these are those representatives of the electorate who are more "tolerant and are less likely to tolerate racism. Women, according to various studies, are more tolerant than men.
"Until Ukraine wins." Russian citizens cut off from Finnish real estate
At the same time, curiously, the revelations hit the “coalitionists” more painfully than the “True Finns”, in whose ranks, in fact, the disgraced ministers are: support for the former fell by 2.3 percentage points, and for the latter - by only one.
“It seems that racist publications and statements have not become a problem for the majority of the True Finns electorate,” Westinen concludes. Indeed, for the most part, people who vote for the IF know perfectly well who exactly they are voting for. This is another confirmation of the thesis about the prevalence of racist sentiments in Suomi.
Although the electoral losses of the ruling parties have not yet been so great, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo had to comment on the decline in the rating of the National Coalition he leads. Orpo reluctantly admitted that one of the reasons for this could be the revealed neo-Nazi sympathies of individual members of the government he headed.
“The discussion about racism is a serious topic, it worries Finns, including me. This, of course, is reflected to some extent in the results of the survey,” Orpo noted in an interview with Yle. He once again emphasized that he considers it important to put an end to this phenomenon.
“Personally, I will do my best to ensure that no racism or discrimination of any kind is allowed in the work of the government. Attention will be paid to this ... If necessary, this can even lead to a change of minister if this rule is violated,” Orpo said.
In other words, he made it clear that he might have to sacrifice Purra and Rydman if the opposition parties in parliament did not “get off the topic” and continued to demand the resignation of disgraced ministers.
RADICALS ARE READY TO FIGHT NOT ONLY ON THE INTERNET
Amid reports of racist views among members of the government, Finns were shocked by reports of a neo-Nazi group planning terrorist attacks on the territory of the state.
At the end of July, the Suomi police announced that they were completing a preliminary investigation into the case of four men who are suspected of preparing attacks on civilians. As the law enforcement officers assure, the suspects were engaged in the manufacture of submachine guns of the FGC-9 type, which they “printed” on a 3D printer.
According to Tuomas Kuure, a police inspector from the Häme region (in the south of the country), four Finns were preparing to carry out massacres - and they were going to kill people of a different skin color, as well as those who do not share radical views. In communicating with each other, the terrorists used the terms "siege", "incitement" and "racial war".
Previously, two of the suspects have already come to the attention of the police.
One of them, a 22-year-old native of the city of Oulu, was suspected in 2020 of stealing and burning flags with "rainbow" symbols, with which representatives of the LGBT community went to their rallies.
Another of the suspects, a man named Tero Ala-Tuuhonen (born 1957), is a well-known opinion leader in far-right and neo-Nazi circles in Finland. In 2020, he was accused of preparing an assassination attempt on True Finns activist Pekka Katai , but then managed to prove his alibi. Tuukhonen was also convicted of “leaking” in private correspondence the home addresses of former Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo and Attorney General Raya Toiviainen , after which, according to the initial police assessment, they could become the target of neo-Nazi assassination attempts.
However, Tuukhonen even at that time managed to "get away", saying that he had collected and distributed the addresses of senior government officials for the purpose of "pranking".
In recent years, the Finnish press has been writing a lot about the activation of radical nationalists.
This is facilitated by the arrival in Suomi of a fairly large number of migrants from the countries of the Middle East and Africa - with their presence they arouse the hatred of some Finns. The radicals are calling for the preservation of “white Finland”, if necessary, with arms in hand.
And as the example of Yunnila, Purra and Rydman shows, such sentiments are by no means the lot of only the marginalized from the social bottom. Some representatives of the ruling elite think the same way - it's another matter that they do not have the opportunity to express their views openly.
#1
Perhaps readers should be warned that the source for this long repetitive article is a Russian propaganda outlet. Wiki which is itself to be digested with a grain of salt notes: EGNUM News Agency is a Russian nationwide online news service disseminating news from Russia &abroad from its own correspondents, affiliate agencies and partners. REGNUM covers events in all regions of Russia as well as neighboring countries in Europe, Central Asia and the South Caucasus.
#3
Finland is about as white as any country could be today. I'm sure they'll pretty much stay the same regardless of the pejoratives someone wants to label them as.
[AlAhram] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... 's annual inflation climbed in July to 47.83 percent, up sharply from 38.2 percent, official data showed on Thursday.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/05/2023 01:47 ||
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Extensive war crimes are being committed by both sides in the conflict that has been raging in Sudan since April, Amnesty International said on Thursday.
The Britain-based human rights group said in a report that the crimes committed by the warring parties, led by two feuding generals, included sexual violence against girls as young as 12 and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians.
Since April 15, regular army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been locked in a war with his former deputy, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
"Civilians throughout Sudan are suffering unimaginable horror every single day as the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces recklessly vie for control of territory," said Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard.
"The RSF and SAF, as well as their affiliated armed groups, must end their targeting of civilians and guarantee safe passage for those seeking safety," she added, AFP reported.
Burhan came to power, with Daglo as his number two, in an October 2021 coup that derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule after the military's ouster of long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 following a popular uprising.
But the two men then fell out in a bitter feud.
The fighting -- concentrated in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur -- has killed more than 3,900 people, according to the NGO ACLED and displaced more than 3.3 million, according to the UN.
"Extensive war crimes are being committed in Sudan as the conflict... ravages the country," Amnesty said, adding there were "mass civilian casualties in both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks by the warring parties".
It said men, women and children have been caught in the crossfire as both sides launch frequent attacks in densely populated residential neighbourhoods, often using explosive weapons with wide area effects.
Amnesty said scores of women and girls, some as young as 12, have been subjected to sexual violence, including rape, with some held for days in conditions of sexual slavery.
In most of the cases documented by Amnesty International, survivors said the perpetrators were fighters of the RSF or its Arab militia allies.
For its report, Amnesty said it had interviewed more than 180 people, primarily in eastern Chad where refugees from Darfur have fled, or remotely via secure calls.
The group said it had put its allegations to the army and the RSF, who had both responded "claiming adherence to international law and accusing the other side of violations".
[BenarNews] Militant groups are endangering efforts to disarm former Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas by trying to recruit them, the head of an autonomous Moslem region in the southern Philippines told 1,300 ex-combatants during their official decommissioning ceremony this week.
Some MILF members have reneged on the group’s promise to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to cooperate in the transition to peace in the south, said Murad Ebrahim, the ex-chief of the former separatist group who now heads the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Moslem Mindanao (BARMM).
"We are facing a very challenging situation because there are still groups out there that encourage our members to join them," Murad told news hounds Thursday during a ceremony here as he led 1,301 former MILF combatants in the third and final phase of a process to decommission them as fighters and have them turn over their weapons.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/05/2023 00:44 ||
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[NPASyria] On Friday, Ottoman Turkish authorities deported 120 Syrian and Iraqi refugees to the city of Tel Abyad in the north of Raqqa on the Syrian-Ottoman Turkish border.
An exclusive source told North Press that the Ottoman Turkish authorities forcibly deported 120 Syrian and Iraqi refugees, including 38 women with their children and 10 Iraqis, to Tel Abyad.
The city of Tel Abyad in northern Syria has been under the occupation of the Ottoman Turkish forces and has been controlled by the SNA factions since 2019 following the so-called "Peace Spring" military operation that aimed to push away the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under the pretext of protecting the Ottoman Turkish national security.
The source said most of the deportations took place through the Tel Abyad and Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) border crossings which are under the occupation of the Ottoman Turkish forces.
Though Syria is still unsafe for returns, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... tries to get rid of the refugees by forcibly deporting them, as the Ottoman Turkish authorities have intensified the forced deportation of Syrians, as part of what they call voluntary return to safe areas in northwestern Syria, according to media and documentary reports.
Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... previously told news hounds that the number of the Syrian refugees who have "voluntarily returned" has exceeded one million and would increase in the future.
Since August 1, more than 500 refugees, both Syrians and Iraqis, have crossed the Tel Abyad border crossing to Syria.
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08/05/2023 02:56 ||
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[KavkazUzel] Three women and 13 children, one of whom was left an orphan, were repatriated to Azerbaijan from Syria, where they were kept in a camp.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Azerbaijan periodically organizes the return of its citizens from camps in Syria and Iraq. So, on May 18, eight children and three women returned to their homeland, three more Azerbaijani citizens were repatriated on June 1. At least 120 women from Azerbaijan still remain in Iraq, Tofig Turkel, a columnist for the Turan agency, said.
Women and children brought to Azerbaijan on August 3 were kept in the Amerna camp in the Syrian city of Jerablus. Having established the place of their detention, the diplomats determined their identity and citizenship.
It was possible to organize their return to their homeland with the support of Turkey - repatriates arrived in this country from Syria before they arrived in Azerbaijan, APA reported with reference to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country.
One of the 13 children returned to their homeland lost both parents. All repatriates underwent primary medical and psychological examinations and received the necessary assistance, the publication says.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
