Who is Omar Tchiani, the suspected brain behind Niger coup?
The general has been in charge of the presidential guards since 2015 and was a close ally of former President Issoufou.
Tchiani is from Niger's western region of Tillaberi, a main recruitment area for the army.
He has been heading the presidential guards since 2015 and was a close ally of former President Mahamadou Issoufou – the politician who led the country until 2021.
Ironically, he led the unit that blocked an attempted coup in the country in March 2021, when a military unit tried to seize the presidential palace days before Bazoum who had just been elected, was due to be sworn in.
The motivations behind Tchiani spearheading the coup remain unclear but there were rumours that the deposed president wanted to dismiss him only a few days ago, Paul Melly, Niger expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House, told Al Jazeera.
There was also speculation that this may have been because of the general's age, who is 62, or suspected discontent among some elements of the army including within the presidential guards. Al Jazeera could not independently verify these speculations.
Another possible reason, Melly noted, is that Bazoum wanted “to mark himself out as his own man” from Issoufou’s presidency by changing the composition of the presidential guards, including replacing Tchiani.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/27/who-is-omar-tchiani-the-suspected-brain-behind-niger-coup
So the US’s solution is to double the amount of money going to Niger. Then, maybe they will like us....
Two days after Niger’s democratically elected President Mohammed Bazoum was detained and removed in a coup led by members of his presidential guard, it was still unclear as of Friday morning who was running the country and what mediation efforts were under way.
The soldiers have not announced a leader and President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in March 2021 in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transition since independence from France in 1960, has not resigned.
On Thursday the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it has paused operations in Niger, where more than 370,000 people are internally displaced and more than four million rely on aid.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/28/power-impasse-continues-in-niger-48-hours-after-coup
General Abdourahamane Tchiani is the new leader of Niger following a military takeover, state television reported Friday, two days after the country’s president was detained by members of his own guard. Appearing on state television, the general said soldiers had seized power due to the deteriorating security situation in the Sahel country