NIAMEY, Niger: Leaders of West Africa’s regional bloc said Monday that they would meet later this week to discuss next steps after Niger’s military junta defied a deadline to reinstate the country’s ousted president while its mutinous soldiers closed the country’s airspace and accused foreign powers of preparing an attack.
The meeting was scheduled for Thursday in Abuja, the capital of neighboring Nigeria, according to a spokesman for the ECOWAS bloc.
State television reported the junta’s latest actions Sunday night, hours before the deadline set by ECOWAS, which has warned of using military force if the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum is not returned to power.
A spokesman for the coup leaders, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane, noted “the threat of intervention being prepared in a neighboring country,” and said Niger’s airspace will be closed until further notice. Any attempt to fly over the country will be met with “an energetic and immediate response.”
The junta also claimed that two central African countries were preparing for an invasion, but did not name them. It called on Niger’s population to defend the nation.
The coup toppled Bazoum, whose ascendency was Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France in 1960. The coup also raised questions about the future of the fight against extremism in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence.
International airlines have begun to divert flights around Niger, which the United States and others had seen as the last major counterterrorism partner in the Sahel, south of the Sahara Desert, where groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group are expanding their influence.
Also Monday, Mali said it and Burkina Faso, both neighbors of Niger run by military juntas, were sending delegations to Niger to show support. Both countries have said they would consider any intervention in Niger as a declaration of war against them.
The Associated Press saw several security officers from Burkina Faso at a hotel in Niger’s capital.
Regional tensions have mounted since Niger’s coup nearly two weeks ago, when mutinous soldiers detained Bazoum and installed Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, former head of the presidential guard, as head of state. Analysts believe the coup was triggered by a power struggle between Tchiani and the president, who was about to fire him.
It was not immediately clear what ECOWAS leaders will do now. The region is divided on a course of action. There was no sign of military forces gathering at Niger’s border with Nigeria, the likely entry point by land.
Nigeria’s Senate has pushed back on the plan to invade, urging Nigeria’s president, the bloc’s current chair, to explore options other than the use of force. ECOWAS can still move ahead, as final decisions are made by consensus by member states.
Guinea and neighboring Algeria, which is not an ECOWAS member, have come out against the use of force. Senegal’s government has said it would participate in a military operation if it went ahead, and Ivory Coast has expressed support for the bloc’s efforts to restore constitutional order.
The junta does not appear interested in negotiation. An ECOWAS delegation sent to Niger last week for hours of talks was not allowed to leave the airport and met only with Tchiani’s representatives.
The junta has also asked for help from the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which operates in a handful of African countries, including Mali, according to according to Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center.
US officials say they are still able to communicate with Bazoum and that their most recent contact was Monday.
Two officials said the administration of US President Joe Biden intends to maintain both a diplomatic and military presence in Niger for the foreseeable future.
The administration is still weighing whether the developments amount to a coup, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic discussions. They said there was still time for Niger’s military leaders to reverse course.
If the US determines that a democratically elected government has been toppled by unconstitutional means, federal law requires a cutoff of most American assistance, particularly military aid.
Since the coup, extremists have been ecstatic because they are able to move around more freely without fear of attack, Boubacar Moussa, a former extremist fighter, told the AP. He had joined a nationwide program that encourages fighters to defect and reintegrate into society. The program’s fate is unclear.
Moussa said he’s received at least 10 phone calls from active militants in the Tillaberi region near the Mali border who said there’s been no concern about airstrikes. If there’s a military intervention by ECOWAS, they likely will attack the capital, Niamey, he said.
At a rally on Sunday, thousands cheered junta leaders who said their loyalty would be repaid.
“We are with you against them. We will give you the Niger that you are owed,” Brig. Gen. Mohamed Toumba said. After his speech, rallygoers beheaded a chicken decorated in the colors of former colonizer France.
The junta is exploiting anti-French sentiments to shore up its support base and has severed security ties with France, which still has 1,500 military personnel in Niger for counterterrorism efforts.
On Monday, France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally discouraged any travel to Niger, Burkina Faso or Mali, and called on French nationals to be extremely vigilant. France has suspended almost $500 euros ($550 million) in aid to Burkina Faso.
It’s not clear what will happen to the French military presence, or to the 1,100 US military personnel also in Niger.
Many people, largely youth, have rallied around the junta, taking to the streets at night to patrol after being urged to guard against foreign intervention.
“While they (extremists) kill our brothers and sisters ... ECOWAS didn’t intervene. Is it now that they will intervene?” said Amadou Boukari, a coup supporter at Sunday’s rally. “Shame on ECOWAS.”
West African leaders will meet Thursday after Niger’s junta defies key deadline and shuts airspace
https://arab.news/jw32h
West African leaders will meet Thursday after Niger’s junta defies key deadline and shuts airspace
- The junta claimed that two central African countries were preparing for an invasion, but did not name them
- It was not immediately clear what ECOWAS leaders will do now
Syrian refugee murdered in UK had only been in town a fortnight: Uncle
- Ahmad Mamdouh Al-Ibrahim, 16, was stabbed in the neck in Huddersfield
- ‘He was a good boy. He came here (from Homs) to be a doctor, to save people’
LONDON: The uncle of a young Syrian refugee who was stabbed to death in the UK on April 3 said the boy had only lived in the town he was in for two weeks before his murder.
Ahmad Mamdouh Al-Ibrahim, 16, was stabbed in the neck in Huddersfield while out getting to know the area. Alfie Franco, 20, was arrested and appeared in court charged with Al-Ibrahim’s murder.
Al-Ibrahim was living in Huddersfield with the family of his uncle, who told The Guardian that he had encouraged his nephew to go out and make friends following the end of Ramadan.
“He was trying to make a friend, because he didn’t have friends here. I said to him, you have to go out into the town centre to know (where everything is), to know where you can go shopping … plus, you’re going to make friends,” said his uncle, who asked to remain anonymous.
“He’d only spent a few days with my kids but they loved him so much because he was a very nice boy, very lovely and kindly with the kids. He played with them and gave them a lot of time.”
He said rumors circulating online that his nephew was a drug dealer had caused him great distress, adding that he had not yet told his own children, all aged under 10, that their cousin is dead. They believe he is still in hospital.
“He was only 16,” he said tearfully. “He was a good boy. He went from a nice family (in Syria) to a nice family (in the UK).”
Al-Ibrahim, he said, had left behind his family in the Syrian city of Homs, where he had been a popular student with teachers and classmates, and had excelled at maths.
“That’s why he came here. He wished to be a doctor, to save people,” said his uncle, who fled the civil war in Syria.
“We’ve been eight years here — we’ve not had trouble, not had a problem. We go from work to home, school, that’s it.”
Al-Ibrahim’s uncle said when he first moved to the UK last October, his nephew had spent time in a refugee center in Swansea.
He told The Guardian that staff at the center, as well as the teenager’s social worker, were “heartbroken” by what had happened, and that they told him they had “never seen him happy like this” when they checked on his well-being after he moved to Huddersfield on March 20.
“They were crying for Ahmad, they said they loved him,” the uncle said, adding that the family had been left afraid by the killing.
“I’ve been (in Huddersfield) eight years. I thought it was a safe place. I didn’t worry before, like now.”
Many members of the local community have raised money for Al-Ibrahim’s body to be returned to his family in Syria.
Maneer Siddique, who owns a local tailoring business, launched a fundraising page that has raised over £10,000 ($12,910) for the family.
“You would want help if you were in a dire situation, so why shouldn’t you help somebody else in a dire situation,” Siddique told The Guardian.
Pope Francis in surprise St. Peter’s visit a day after meeting King Charles
- Pope Francis entered the sprawling basilica in his wheelchair, greeting workers engaged in restoration work and some gathered pilgrims
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who is recovering from life-threatening pneumonia, made an unscheduled visit to St. Peter’s Basilica Thursday, his second surprise event in two days after previously meeting King Charles III.
The public appearance, after Wednesday’s unscheduled private audience with the king and Queen Camilla, comes as the 88-year-old Catholic leader recovers at the Vatican after five weeks in hospital.
On Thursday afternoon, the pope entered the sprawling basilica in his wheelchair, greeting workers engaged in restoration work and some gathered pilgrims, Vatican News reported.
When a young restorer caught a glimpse of the pope, he beckoned to her to come closer so he could thank her and shake her hand, the ANSA agency reported.
The young woman replied “that she was sorry that her ‘hands were cold’ but the pope wanted to shake them anyway,” the agency reported.
Monsignor Valerio Di Palma, the canon of St. Peter’s, told Vatican News the pope’s appearance sparked “too much emotion.”
“My vision blurred from the tears and I couldn’t even take a photo,” he said.
Francis then proceeded to the tomb of Pope Pius X to pray, before departing back to the Santa Marta guesthouse, where he resides.
On Wednesday afternoon, the pope met privately with Charles and Camilla for 20 minutes, despite Buckingham Palace having earlier canceled a planned official audience due to the pontiff’s frail health.
It was the first meeting between Charles, the head of the Protestant Church of England, and the pope since the monarch ascended to the throne in 2022.
The Vatican published a photo of the meeting on Thursday morning, showing the pope clasping the queen’s hand, with the king looking on holding a gift box.
Francis offered his congratulations to the royal couple, who celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary Wednesday, the palace and the Vatican said.
During the encounter, the king — who is receiving treatment for cancer — and the pope also exchanged well-wishes for each other’s health, the Vatican said.
“Their majesties were delighted the Pope was well enough to host them — and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person,” a Buckingham Palace statement added.
Charles, 76, has been suffering from an unnamed cancer for more than a year and less than two weeks ago he was briefly admitted to hospital after experiencing side effects from his treatment.
He was out of action for a matter of days before resuming his official engagements on April 1.
Francis, who almost died twice during his treatment for double pneumonia, has been in convalescence since his return to the Vatican on March 23.
Despite being ordered to rest and recover for two months, the Argentine made an unexpected appearance in St. Peter’s Square last Sunday at the end of a mass.
On Tuesday, the Vatican said that Francis’s voice and mobility were improving, raising hopes that he may take part in upcoming Easter celebrations.
He has been using a cannula — a plastic tube tucked into the nostrils — to help him breathe, notably at night, but was not wearing one in the picture released Thursday.
First Bangladeshi company enters Saudi startup ecosystem through $110m merger
- Backed by Saudi, US investment, ShopUp merges with Sary to form SILQ
- Merger prompts Bangladesh’s central bank to establish special startup fund
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s largest B2B commerce platform ShopUp has entered Saudi Arabia’s startup ecosystem through a merger with Riyadh-based services and marketplace platform Sary, backed by US and Saudi investors.
Both ShopUp and Sary help small businesses buy products in bulk from wholesalers or manufacturers with digital ordering platforms, delivery and financial services.
Together they have formed SILQ Group, backed by a $110 million funding led by Sanabil Investments — a company owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
The companies said in their merger announcement on Wednesday that they are “set to become one of the world’s largest trade corridors. It is projected to reach $682 billion.”
“We’re building infrastructure that helps small businesses move goods, access financing, and grow. A key part of this is the launch of SILQ Financial, our dedicated financing arm focused on driving innovation in SME funding. It allows us to offer embedded financial products — natively within our platforms,” ShopUp’s CEO Afeef Zaman told Arab News.
“There’s a $682 billion trade opportunity emerging right here between the Gulf and Emerging Asia. We want to go deep and serve this corridor well ... We’re laying the foundation to expand beyond this corridor in the long term.”
ShopUp was founded by Zaman, Ataur Rahim Chowdhury, and Navaneetha Krishnan J. in 2017, while Sary was founded in 2018 by Mohammed Aldossary and Khaled Alsiari.
Zaman will serve as the CEO of SILQ Group and Aldossary as CEO of SILQ Financial.
ShopUp and Sary have served more than 600,000 retailers, hotels, restaurants, cafes, and wholesalers, to date. The combined network has facilitated over $5 billion in transactions and disbursed more than $750 million in embedded financing.
Zaman believes that more Bangladeshi startups will follow in ShopUp’s footsteps, as the Saudi market offers not only scale, capital, and sophistication, but also a cultural overlap, a strong consumer base — including 3 million Bangladeshi expats — “and a hunger for innovation” across retail, finance, and logistics.
“Bangladeshi startups have a lot to offer in terms of resilience and operating in high-density, resource-constrained environments. In return, Saudi Arabia offers access to institutional partnerships, forward-thinking regulation, and the ability to test and scale products that can work globally,” he said.
“Saudi Arabia is writing one of the most exciting startup stories in the world right now. The pace of change, the vision, and the level of institutional support — especially for high-impact sectors like fintech, logistics, and B2B — make it one of the most promising markets for founders.”
The Bangladeshi government welcomed ShopUp’s merger as “a defining moment” in its digital journey and “one of the most significant global expansion milestones ever achieved by a startup from Bangladesh.”
It also announced the establishment of a dedicated fund to provide capital support to startup companies.
“This moment is more than a funding headline — it’s a clear signal that Bangladeshi startups are ready for the world stage,” the government’s press wing said in a statement.
“To accelerate this momentum, Bangladesh Bank has committed to a landmark startup funding initiative: TK 800 crore (about $66 million) in equity and TK 400 crore (about $33 million) in debt. This fund will serve as a catalytic boost for early and growth-stage startups, empowering local founders to innovate, scale, and compete globally.”
Taliban morality enforcers arrest men for having the wrong hairstyle or skipping mosque
- UN report says the morality police regularly detained people arbitrarily “without due process and legal protections”
- During month of Ramadan, men’s attendance at mandated congregational prayers was closely monitored
The Taliban morality police in Afghanistan have detained men and their barbers over hairstyles and others for missing prayers at mosques during the holy month of Ramadan, a UN report said Thursday, six months after laws regulating people’s conduct came into effect.
The Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws last August covering many aspects everyday life in Afghanistan, including public transport, music, shaving and celebrations. Most notably, the ministry issued a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public.
That same month, a top UN official warned the laws provided a “distressing vision” for the country’s future by adding to existing employment, education, and dress code restrictions on women and girls. Taliban officials have rejected UN concerns about the morality laws.
Thursday’s report, from the UN mission in Afghanistan, said in the first 6 months of the laws’ implementation, over half of detentions made under it concerned “either men not having the compliant beard length or hairstyle, or barbers providing non-compliant beard trimming or haircuts.”
The report said that the morality police regularly detained people arbitrarily “without due process and legal protections.”
During the holy fasting month of Ramadan, men’s attendance at mandated congregational prayers was closely monitored, leading at times to arbitrary detention of those who didn’t show up, the report added.
The UN mission said that both sexes were negatively affected, particularly people with small businesses such as private education centers, barbers and hairdressers, tailors, wedding caterers and restaurants, leading to a reduction or total loss of income and employment opportunities.
The direct and indirect socio-economic effects of the laws’ implementation were likely to compound Afghanistan’s dire economic situation, it said. A World Bank study has assessed that authorities’ ban on women from education and work could cost the country over $1.4 billion per year.
But the Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has emphasized the primacy of Islamic law and the role of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue in reforming Afghan society and its people.
In a message issued ahead of the religious Eid Al-Fitr festival that marks the end of Ramadan, Akhundzada said it was necessary “to establish a society free from corruption and trials, and to prevent future generations from becoming victims of misguided beliefs, harmful practices and bad morals.”
More than 3,300 mostly male inspectors are tasked with informing people about the law and enforcing it, according to the report.
The ministry has resolved thousands of people’s complaints and defended the rights of Afghan women, according to its spokesman Saif ur Rahman Khyber.
This was in addition to “implementing divine decrees in the fields of promoting virtue, preventing vice, establishing affirmations, preventing bad deeds, and eliminating bad customs.”
The ministry was committed to all Islamic and human rights and had proven this in practice, he said Thursday, rejecting attempts to “sabotage or spread rumors” about its activities.
Hamas urges UK govt to overturn terror designation
- Palestinian group submits legal filing to home secretary
- Official slams Britain’s ‘unwavering support for Zionism, apartheid, occupation, ethnic cleansing’
LONDON: Hamas has submitted a legal filing in Britain demanding it be removed from the government’s list of proscribed terror groups.
The organization is arguing that it is a “Palestinian Islamic liberation and resistance movement whose goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project,” and not a terrorist group.
The claim includes a witness statement by Mousa Abu Marzouk, Hamas’s head of international relations and the applicant for the filing. It was submitted to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Abu Marzouk’s statement said: “The British government’s decision to proscribe Hamas is an unjust one that is symptomatic of its unwavering support for Zionism, apartheid, occupation and ethnic cleansing in Palestine for over a century.
“Hamas does not and never has posed a threat to Britain, despite the latter’s ongoing complicity in the genocide of our people.”
The UK proscribed Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in 2001, and added its political wing to the list of terror organizations in 2021.
At the time, the government described the distinction between the two wings as “artificial” and said Hamas was a “complex but single terrorist organization.” Support for proscribed organizations is a criminal offense in Britain.
Hamas’s legal team at Riverway Law, which is representing the organization pro brono because it is illegal to receive funds from proscribed groups, sent a document to Drop Site News summarizing its arguments.
The team said: “Hamas does not deny that its actions fall within the wide definition of ‘terrorism’ under the Terrorism Act 2000.
“Instead, it notes that the definition also covers all groups and organizations around the world that use violence to achieve political objectives, including the Israeli armed forces, the Ukrainian army and indeed the British armed forces.”
The team added: “Rather than allow freedom of speech, police have embarked on a campaign of political intimidation and persecution of journalists, academics, peace activists and students over their perceived support for Hamas.
“People in Britain must be free to speak about Hamas and its struggle to restore to the Palestinian people the right to self-determination.”
Hamas is the “only effective military force resisting” Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, the team said, highlighting Britain’s obligations under international law to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity.
The proscription is also disproportionate as Hamas “does not pose any threat to Britain or British citizens,” the team added.
Hamas’s presence on the list of terrorist organizations is hindering its ability to broker a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the lawyers said.
Riverway Law’s director, Fahad Ansari, is leading the legal challenge. He is being helped by Daniel Grutters, a barrister at One Pump Court Chambers, and Franck Magennis, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers.
In December 2020, Magennis said: “Zionism is a kind of racism. It is essentially colonial. It has manifested in an apartheid regime calling itself ‘the Jewish state’ that dominates non-Jews, and particularly Palestinians.”
The Home Office said it does not comment on proscription cases. Deproscription is rare in the UK, with just four groups having been removed from the list of terrorist organizations.
Grutters represented pro-Palestinian students who set up a camp at the London School of Economics last May, the Daily Telegraph reported. The students were barred by the university through a court order.
Cooper said the government will reject Hamas’s appeal, and “maintains its view” that the group is a “barbaric terrorist organization.”
Priti Patel, the former home secretary who expanded Hamas’s proscription on the terror list in 2021, said the “evil” group still poses an “ongoing threat” to British national security.
“Those campaigning to end the proscription of Hamas fail to understand the seriousness of the threats and danger this terrorist organization poses,” she added.
