#alliance of Sahel States

[warningsine]

BAMAKO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, three West African Sahel nations ruled by military juntas, signed a security pact on Saturday promising to come to the aid of each other in case of any rebellion or external aggression.

The three countries are struggling to contain Islamic insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State and have also seen their relations with neighbours and international partners strained because of the coups.

The latest coup in Niger drove a further wedge between the three and countries of the regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, which has threatened to use force to restore constitutional rule in the country.

Mali and Burkina Faso have vowed to come to Niger's aid if it is attacked.

"Any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracted parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties," according to the charter of the pact, known as the Alliance of Sahel States.

It said the other states will assist individually or collectively, including with the use of armed force.

"I have today signed with the Heads of State of Burkina Faso and Niger the Liptako-Gourma charter establishing the Alliance of Sahel States, with the aim of establishing a collective defence and mutual assistance framework," Mali junta leader Assimi Goita said on his X social media account.

All three states were members of the France-supported G5 Sahel alliance joint force with Chad and Mauritania, launched in 2017 to tackle Islamist groups in the region.

Mali has since left the dormant organisation after a military coup, while ousted Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum said in May last year that the force is now "dead" following Mali's departure.

Relations between France and the three states have soured since the coups.

France has been forced to withdraw its troops from Mali and Burkina Faso, and is in a tense standoff with the junta that seized power in Niger after it asked it to withdraw its troops and its ambassador.

France has refused to recognise the authority of the junta.

[kirstythejetblackgoldfish]

[tilos-tagebuch]

Unipolar Multipolar – Hochverrat

In dieser Folge sprechen Dr. Karin Kneissl und Flavio von Witzleben mit dem Medienwissenschaftler und Buchautor Wilhelm Domke-Schulz, über die aktuellen Ereignisse auf der geopolitischen Schaubühne. Dabei geht es zunächst um den Jahrestag der Anschläge auf die Nordstream-Pipelines sowie die neuesten Recherchen des US-Investigativjournalisten Seymour Hersh. Außerdem besprechen die drei die aktuellen Entwicklungen im Ukraine-Krieg und werfen zuletzt einen Blick nach Niger, wo Frankreich seinen militärischen Rückzug aus dem Land angekündigt hat.

Grafic: Screenshot

🎧 https://www.0815-info.news/Web_Links-Unipolar-Multipolar-Hochverrat-visit-11304.html

[zvaigzdelasas]

Niger has extended an olive branch to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Nigerien Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, has invited all ECOWAS countries to join the seemingly budding Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This invite follows ECOWAS’s stated intention to bring the AES countries back to the West African bloc.

30 May 24

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Washington, D.C.: Demonstrate to Appreciate and Defend the Alliance of Sahel States!

Thursday, October 24 - 12:00 pm

Gather at Embassy of Mali, 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC

The Black Alliance for Peace's U.S. Out of Africa Network is calling on everyone who supports self-determination in Africa to turn out on Thursday October 24th, at noon, to rally outside the embassies of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso (all within 3 DC blocks) in a show of support and appreciation to those countries for expelling AFRICOM from their territories, and for their roles in forming the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). We are demonstrating also to affirm that we will not allow any of these countries to suffer the fate of Libya in 2011 at the hands of NATO led by the U.S.

The demonstration will begin by assembling at noon outside the Embassy of Mali at 2130 R Street NW, DC where we will hold a 20 minute rally. Then march one block to the Embassy of Niger at 2204 R Street NW, DC for another short rally. Then proceed to end at the Embassy of Burkina Faso at 2340 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC where we will conclude. In an historical expression of appreciation, each embassy will be presented with a formal letter.

This is a pivotal time for the struggle against imperialism in Africa. The emergence of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) represents an historic breakthrough for Pan-Africanism that the U.S. and NATO are eager to eliminate.

Join us!

[vague-humanoid]

Israel Violates Lebanon Ceasefire Over 100 Times, Middle East Still at Breaking Point

Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, joins the show to break down the escalating tensions in the Middle East. From the resurgence of terrorist groups in Syria to the unraveling ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, and the ongoing US-backed genocide in Gaza—Cafiero unpacks the latest developments and their far-reaching implications.

Belgian MP and Workers’ Party leader Peter Mertens joins the show to discuss his new book, Mutiny: How Our World is Tilting. Mertens analyzes the current global political moment—highlighting the decline of Western hegemony, China's rise as a superpower, and the growing influence of the Global South through alliances like BRICS—showing how these shifts are reshaping global power dynamics and opening new possibilities for the Left.

Dae-Han Song, with the International Strategy Center and a member of the No Cold War collective, explains South Korea’s escalating political crisis as President Yoon Suk Yeol faces growing calls for his resignation after declaring—and then rescinding—emergency martial law to target so-called “pro-North Korean forces.” Hong discusses the motives behind Yoon’s decree and how Korean people are rising up to fight for true democracy and sovereignty.

Alex Anfruns Millán, journalist and author of Niger: Another Coup D’État… or the Pan-African Revolution?, discusses the seismic shifts in the Sahel following the anti-colonial uprisings that swept the region. Millán explains how, one year after the popular uprising that ousted the French military, Niger and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) are forging a new path away from US-French control.

Professor Junaid S. Ahmad, Director of the Center for the Study of Islam and Decolonization in Islamabad, discusses last week’s massive protests in Pakistan, where despite a total lockdown, hundreds of thousands of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters marched on the capital demanding the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Ahmad will discuss how despite extreme repression, Pakistanis continue to rally in defense of Khan and mobilize against the country’s US-backed authoritarian military regime.

[stele3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mozambique-top-court-confirms-ruling-party-victory-disputed-election-2024-12-23/

[ptseti]

GERMAN TROOPS TO EXIT NIGER, ANOTHER NEOCOLONIAL DOMINO DOWNGermany is likely to become the third Western country whose military forces will leave Niger.On 16 July, German Foreign Affairs minister Annalena Baerbock announced Germany is no longer able to continue military operations due to Niger’s partnership with Russia and Niger’s lack of trust in Germany. This came after Niger refused to allow immunity from prosecution for German troops.Niger also recently expelled troops of Germany’s fellow NATO allies, France and the US. France exited in December. Germany is set to evacuate by 31 August. The US is due to depart by 15 September. Italy is the only remaining Western entity occupying Niger.Germany pulled out of Mali in December 2023 for similar reasons.Nigerien civilians, like their Malian and Burkinabé neighbours, prefer their government not to partner with US and European countries to combat terrorism. Niger has instead strengthened its relationship with Russia and Iran.It has also entered into the Alliance of Sahel States with Burkina Faso and Mali, a confederation with shared economic, foreign and security policies. All three alliance members ousted Western-backed leaders in recent years to the applause of most of their populations.

[dzthenerd490]

News Post

Palestine

Hamas and Fatah sign unity deal in Beijing aimed at Gaza governance | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

Sinan Antoon on Palestine activism, literature and perseverance (newarab.com)

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters arrested on Capitol Hill ahead of Netanyahu visit (nbcnews.com)

Ex-Biden Staffer Who Quit over Gaza Says Kamala Harris Must “Chart a New Path” on Israel-Palestine | Democracy Now!

Ukraine

Russia outguns Ukraine but suffers 3 times higher losses, Syrskyi says (kyivindependent.com)

Ukraine war: Russia is offering Moscow residents a record $22,000 to join the military | CNN

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 880 | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera

Sudan

https://sudantribune.com/article288577/

Sudan paramilitary leader plans to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland hosted by US, Saudi Arabia - ABC News (go.com)

Bringing More Attention to Sudan’s Crisis | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

Iran, Sudan exchange ambassadors after eight years | News | Al Jazeera

Other

Egypt showing flexibility on IDF staying along its Gaza border to block arms smuggling | The Times of Israel

Could the Nile dam dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia escalate? (newarab.com)

Huge rise in Mpox cases in DR Congo: govt (medicalxpress.com)

Pakistan Reopens Key Border Point With Afghanistan After Months Of Closure (rferl.org)

Violence spirals with Afghan community in Tehran following death of Iranian | Iran International (iranintl.com)

At least 229 people killed in Ethiopia landslides | Weather News | Al Jazeera

Myanmar junta leader assumes presidential powers as president takes ‘sick leave,’ state media reports | CNN

What’s behind the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States? | Politics News | Al Jazeera

[greatrunner]

African Stream's TikTok account was taken down yesterday (IIRC). I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before their Twitter account is targeted next.

For the uninformed, African Stream is an African-run news org that reports on the historical and political present of the continent of Africa.

Recently, their reports on what's been happening in Somalia, Haiti, Kenya, and with the Alliance of Sahel States (both from the local and political level) brought them into the crosshairs of the US State Department, which claimed they were "Kremlin-run" propagandists because their reporting contradicted whatever narrative the US was spinning about African politics.

[warningsine]

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/west-african-bloc-says-it-risks-disintegration-if-junta-led-states-leave-2024-07-07/

ABUJA, July 7 (Reuters) - The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said on Sunday the region risked disintegration and worsening insecurity after junta-led Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger made clear their intentions to leave the bloc by signing a confederation treaty.

The Alliance of Sahel States treaty, signed on Saturday, underscored the three countries' determination to turn their backs on the 15-member ECOWAS, which has been urging them to return to democratic rule.

ECOWAS commission president Omar Touray said freedom of movement and a common market of 400 million people were some of the major benefits of the near 50-year-old bloc, but that these were under threat if the three countries left.

Funding of economic projects worth over $500 million in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger could also be stopped or suspended, Touray told an ECOWAS summit in Nigerian capital Abuja.

"Considering these benefits, it is evident that disintegration will not only disrupt the freedom of movement and settlement of people, but it will also worsen insecurity in the region," he said.

The three countries' withdrawal will be a major blow to security cooperation particularly in terms of intelligence sharing and participation in the fight against terrorism, he added.

ECOWAS leaders gathered at the summit to discuss the implications of the treaty by the Alliance of Sahel States, whose juntas seized control in a series of coups in the three states in 2020-2023 and severed military and diplomatic ties with regional allies and Western powers.

A decision on a regional standby force to fight terrorism and a regional currency would also be made, Touray said.

[fatehbaz]

The franc CFA (originally denoting Colonies françaises d’Afrique) is the official currency of Senegal and most other former French colonies in Africa, from before national independence through the present-day. This monetary system and its history are the subjects of a new book by Fanny Pigeaud and Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency (2021), translated by Thomas Fazi from a 2018 French edition. The book brings to the attention of Anglophone readers the peculiar institutions through which the French Republic continues to exercise colonial rule over nominally independent African states. France’s recent “counterterrorism” operations across the Sahel region (supported and rivaled in scope by the United States’ Africa Command, AFRICOM) represent only one phase in what the Black Alliance for Peace (2020) has called France’s “active and aggressive military presence in Africa for years.” [...] One of Pigeaud and Sylla’s commitments and achievements is to show how “French ‘soft’ monetary power is inseparable from its ‘hard’ military power” (2021: 99). In their telling, the CFA franc has for decades been France’s secret weapon in “Françafrique,” the zone in Africa where France, its representatives, and its monetary system have never really left. [...]

---

The franc CFA was born in Paris on the 25th of December, 1945 [...]. The embattled empire was compelled to “loosen its grip” in Africa [in the midst of anticolonial fervor outside of Europe, and with rise of “decolonization” in metropolitan/European public discourses] [...]. Consequently, argue Pigeaud and Sylla, the creation of the CFA franc was “actually designed to allow France to regain control of its colonies” (13). What Minister Pleven called generosity might better be called a swindle. [...] French goods-for-export, now priced in a devalued currency (made cheaper), would find easy markets in the colonies [...]. African goods - especially important raw materials, from uranium to cocoa, priced too expensively for domestic consumption [...] -- would find buyers more exclusively in France [...]. In effect, the new CFA monetary policies re-consolidated France’s imperial economy even as the monopoly regime of the colonial pact could be formally retired in recognition of demands for change from colonial subjects. [...] [T]he egalitarian parlance of community and cooperation modernized French colonial authority, making it more invisible rather than marking its end. [...]

---

Most importantly, France has held up a guarantee of unlimited convertibility between CFA francs and French currency [as its so-called most benevolent feature] [...]. [But] CFA francs can only ever be converted into France’s currency [...] before being exchanged for other currencies [...]. In 1994, in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund and against the wishes of most African leaders, French authorities adjusted the franc zone exchange rate for the first time, devaluing the CFA franc by half. This blanket devaluation was the shock through which structural adjustment was forced upon Françafrique [...]. 

And the devaluation proved, to Pigeaud and Sylla, that France’s “‘guarantee of unlimited convertibility’ was an intellectual and political fraud” (74). Nevertheless, French authorities have continually held up - that is, brandished and exploited - this guarantee, without honoring it. [...] Pigeaud and Sylla do not mince words: “France uses its presumed role of ‘guarantor’ as a pretext and as a tool to blackmail its former colonies in order to keep them in its orbit, both economically and politically” (38). [...] In that respect, the CFA franc system has ensured [...] the stabilization of raw material exportation and goods importation, hierarchy and indirect rule, [...] accumulation and mass impoverishment, in short, the colonial order.

---

And all along, France has found - or compelled, coerced, and more-or-less directly put in place - useful political partners in Françafrique. [...]

The CFA franc has been central to the French strategy of decolonization-in-name-only. [...]

When and where demands for self-determination and changes to the monetary system (usually more minor than exit or abolition) have been strongest, from charismatic leaders or from below, they have been met with a retaliatory response from France and its African partners, frequently going so far as “destabilisation campaigns and even assassinations and coups d’état” (40). [...]

The first case is exemplary. In 1958, Ahmed Sékou Touré helped lead Guinea to independence [...]. Guinea was alone in voting down De Gaulle’s “Community” proposal [...], and [...] the new state established its own national currency and central bank by 1960. [...] [T]he decision was ultimately made to make Guinea a cautionary tale for the rest of Françafrique. French counter-intelligence officials plotted and hired out a series of mercenary attacks (“with the aim of creating a climate of insecurity and, if possible, overthrowing Sékou Touré,” recalled one such operative), in conjunction with “Operation Persil,” a scheme to flood the Guinean economy with false Guinean bills, successfully bringing about a devastating crash (43). [...] Yet, Sékou Touré was never removed, only ostracized - unlike Sylvanus Olympio in Togo or Modiba Keita in Mali, others whose (initially minor) desired changes to the CFA status quo were refused and rebuffed and who were then deposed in French-linked coups. [...]

So too the Cameroonian economist Joseph Tchundjang Pouemi, an even more overlooked figure since his death at the age of 47 in 1984. Pouemi’s experience working at the IMF [International Monetary Fund] in the 1970s led him to recognize that the leaders of the international monetary system would “repress any government that tries to offer their country a minimum of wellbeing” (60) and could do so especially easily in Françafrique because of the CFA franc.

---

All text above by: Matt Schneider. “Africa’s Last Colonial Currency Review.” Society and Space [Book Reviews section of the online Magazine format]. 29 November 2021. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.]

[kirstythejetblackgoldfish]

[beardedmrbean]

New documents verified by FRANCE 24 illustrate the scale of the atrocities committed by the Burkina Faso army on February 25, 2024. In April, the NGO Human Rights Watch reported the massacre of 223 civilians, including women and children. New evidence shows other killings committed by the army between May 3 and 9 -10 in several towns in eastern Burkina Faso.

Warning: This report contains disturbing images.  (i'm not including them you can click the link for the article if you want)

FRANCE 24 was able to consult and verify documents detailing the scale of massacres allegedly committed by the Burkina Faso army on February 25, 2024 in the Soro area of Burkina Faso's northern Yatenga district and of the latest massacres south of Dori. 

A report published by the NGO Human Rights Watch had already documented the February 25 atrocities, which left at least 223 civilians dead, including women and children. 

The latest videos – viewed by Wassim Nasr, a FRANCE 24 journalist specialised in jihadist movements – show "piles of corpses of men, women and children, including very young children" in the village of Soro. Other graphic images show burnt corpses. 

"The Human Rights Watch report included satellite images of the mass grave [where people have been buried]. We have collected testimonies from people who had helped to bury the bodies," says Nasr. 

'Inhabitants are facing the army and jihadists alone'

The latest images of corpses left in several locations south of Dori were taken by JNIM (Group for Supporters of Islam and Muslims) jihadists who were first on the scene, as was also the case after the massacre in Soro and Nondin on February 25. 

New images were released of Burkina Faso soldiers filming their own crimes, in the eastern Foutouri area (south of the town of Dori) between May 3 and 9-10, 2024.

"NGOs have been driven out of this area, so the inhabitants are facing the army and jihadists alone," says Nasr.

"Today, more people are killed by the armed forces and the militias or auxiliary factions than by jihadists," says Nasr, backing up his statements with figures.

The army, which accuses the people attacked of colluding with the jihadists, has not yet managed to recapture these areas. Nasr says that "the number of areas outside state control is increasing steadily".

Other atrocities committed by jihadist groups

The jihadists, for their part, continue to commit atrocities. On February 25, on the day of the army massacre in the north, the jihadist Islamic State group attacked a church in the Dori region, killing around 15 people. 

On the same day, JNIM – a jihadist alliance of organisations active in the Sahel region and affiliated to al-Qaeda – attacked army barracks in the town of Natiabouani and residents accused of helping the army. Some civilians were killed in the exchange of fire.

[tomorrowusa]

It's embarrassing to Putin that US intelligence is better than his own secret police at assessing the threat posed by ISIS inside Russia. And it's irresponsible of Putin not to have taken the US advisory seriously.

The US warned Moscow that ISIS militants were determined to target Russia in the days before assailants stormed the Crocus City Hall in an attack that killed scores of people, but President Vladimir Putin rejected the advice as “provocative.” Gunmen stormed the concert hall near Moscow on Friday, opening fire and throwing an incendiary device in the worst terrorist attack on the Russian capital in decades. Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack. Experts said the scale of the carnage – some of which was captured in video footage obtained by CNN showing crowds of people cowering behind cushioned seats as gunshots echoed in the vast hall – would be deeply embarrassing for the Russian leader, who had championed a message of national security just a week earlier when winning the country’s stage-managed election. Not only had Russian intelligence services failed to prevent the attack, they said, but Putin had failed to heed warnings from the United States that extremists were plotting to target Moscow.

Earlier this month, the US embassy in Russia had said it was “monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow,” including concerts, and it warned US citizens to avoid such places. US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the US government had “shared this information with Russian authorities in accordance with its longstanding ‘duty to warn’ policy.” But in a speech Tuesday, Putin had blasted the American warnings as “provocative,” saying “these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society.” That stance came despite Russian authorities having reported several ISIS-related incidents within the past month.

Some of us may recall another time when the leader of a large country didn't take warnings of a terror attack seriously.

Of course Putin is trying to blame the attack on Ukraine without providing any credible evidence. But anybody who seriously keeps an eye on terrorists understands that this attack was conducted by an ISIS related group. I mean, ISIS-K itself is openly taking credit for the Crocus City Hall rampage.

Russia and its predecessor the USSR have been angering Sunni Islamic militants for a long time. It doesn't take much for ISIS to get pissed off at you and Russia has been giving them lots of material.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 set off the forever war in that region.

Russian intervention in Syria where Putin has been propping up fellow dictator Bashar al-Assad since 2015.

Russia's de facto alliance with the Shi'ite régime in Iran has Sunni ISIS enraged; they consider Shi'ites to be heretics.

Russia's growing involvement in Africa puts it at odds with ISIS elements there – especially in the Sahel.

The Putin régime has been stepping up suppression of religions other than Orthodox Christianity in Russia.

Crocus City Hall, site of the shootings and fire, is in Krasnogorsk which is not terribly far from Putin's official suburban residence in Novo-Ogaryovo. In a direct line, the two are about 9 miles/14.4 km apart; that's the distance between downtown Chicago and the nearest suburb Oak Park. According to Google Maps, it's a 25 minute ride.

I bring this up because it was reported...

President of Russian Vladimir Putin conveyed get-well wishes to victims via Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova. He did not address the nation himself.

When the late Yevgeny Prigozhin was headed to Moscow with his mutineers last year, Putin apparently fled to the Saint Petersburg area. If the most senior official available just after the Crocus attack was a deputy prime minister, that may be an indication that Putin and other senior figures were headed out of town during the crisis.

Just one more observation: Crocus City Hall was the venue for Donald Trump's 2013 Miss Universe contest.

Crocus City Hall: The Trump-linked venue that's now the scene of a deadly IS attack

[head-post]

Burkina Faso frees four French nationals after year-long detention

Burkina Faso’s government said it had released four French nationals it labelled as spies after talks with France mediated by Morocco.

The country’s president, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, welcomed Morocco’s diplomatic efforts. He also noted that relations between France and Burkina Faso had deteriorated in recent years.

According to France’s Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, the detainees were members of the French armed forces. All four were arrested in Ouagadougou in December 2023 on charges of espionage. After two coups, the country of 20 million people expelled French troops and turned to Russia for security support.

Since then, Burkina Faso’s ruling forces joined with neighbouring countries to form the Alliance of Sahel States. The three countries of the alliance, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, are struggling to address security and humanitarian crises.

President Emmanuel Macron also thanked King Mohamed VI of Morocco for mediating the negotiations that led to the release of the four Frenchmen.

Amid France’s retreat in the Sahel, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates sought to improve security and trade co-operation in the region.

Read more HERE