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NIAMEY, Niger - The military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa Saturday as they signed a treaty setting up a confederation between them.
The three leaders, who took power through coups in recent years,"decided to take a step further towards greater integration" and"adopted a treaty establishing a confederation", they said in a statement issued at the end of the summit.The"Confederation of Sahel States", which will use the acronym AES and be headed by Mali in its first year, will group some 72 million people.
All three have expelled anti-jihadist French troops and turned instead towards what they call their"sincere partners" - Russia, Turkey and Iran.Insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have carried out attacks for years in the vast"three borders" region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihadist forces.
Niger's Tiani first welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital on Friday, followed by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita who arrived Saturday."The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity," said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi.
Notably, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.
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