Mali, Burkina Faso to send joint delegation to Niger over coup crisis

By Xinhua

OUAGADOUGOU, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Mali and Burkina Faso will send a joint delegation to Niamey, the capital of Niger, on Monday in a show of solidarity amid a coup crisis, the Malian army said.
   "Burkina Faso and Mali are sending a delegation to Niamey ... to show the solidarity of the two countries with the brotherly people of Niger," the army tweeted.
   The transitional governments of Burkina Faso and Mali, which were established after the military took power by force in 2020 and 2022 in the two countries, also declared their support for the Nigerien soldiers who overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and rejected "the illegal, illegitimate sanctions against the Nigerien people and authorities."
   The two countries also warned that any military intervention in Niger would be considered as a declaration of war against them and would lead to the withdrawal of Burkina Faso and Mali from the Economic Community of West African States, a regional political and economic union of 15 countries located in West Africa that threatened to restore order in Niger by force.  Enditem