Bello Haliru Mohammed |
Nigeria, West
Africa's regional powerhouse, will deploy troops to Guinea-Bissau this week,
Defence Minister Bello Haliru Mohammed said at a meeting of regional
defence chiefs.
Nigeria, he said,
remains "committed" to its pledges to deploy troops to Guinea-Bissau
and Mali in the wake of coups in both countries, he said, adding: "Our troops
are ready."
"In
Guinea-Bissau, we will deploy before the 18th of this month," he said,
without stating how large a force would be sent to the former Portuguese colony
whose government was overthrown on April 12.
"In Mali, we
await the signals from (the regional grouping) ECOWAS. We have all our forces
and equipment ready for airlift," Mohammed added.
West African
leaders decided at a summit in Abidjan on April 26 to deploy between 500 and
600 troops from at least four countries -- Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast and Senegal
-- to Guinea-Bissau following the coup there.
The summit also
decided to deploy a regional force to Mali where a coup overthrew President
Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22.
The minister said
that regional instability caused by internal conflicts in some member states
was "a severe impediment to achieving the desired political and economic
development in our sub-region."
Developments in
Guinea-Bissau and Mali were cause for concern about the long-term survival of democracy
in the region, Mohammed said.
The situation in
Mali, especially a rebellion in the northern part of the country, "portends
grave danger to our sub-region due to the assemblage of disparate armed groups
whose reach extends far beyond the sub-region," he also said.
"If not
decisively tackled, the development is capable of destabilising the entire region,"
he warned.
Mali coup leader
Captain Amadou Sanogo agreed last month to a deal brokered by ECOWAS that led
to a new transitional government.
Although he has
formally quit power, he remains an influential political force and has refused
ECOWAS demands for elections within 12 months.
Meanwhile
Guinea-Bissau coup leaders and west African mediators agreed last Friday that
parliamentary speaker Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo will lead a transition government,
ruling out the return of the ousted team.
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