After two years without an ambassador in Niger, the US state Department has named Kathleen FitzGibbon, soon to arrive in the country. She is a Senior Foreign Service officer in the class of Minister-Counselor. Her most recent posting was Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. Prior to that, she was first the Division Chief, West and Southern Africa, and then the Director of the Office of Africa Analysis, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, among other postings in the region.
The Committee of Chiefs of Defense Staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will meet in Accra, Ghana, on August 17-18, to once again discuss the plans of deployment of the rapid response forces in Niger, according to TASS.
While ECOWAS, itself, has not yet made a decision to use force, the African Union has rejected the possibility of a military solution in Niger, as reported by the French newspaper Le Monde, citing diplomatic sources. While recognizing the need for a peaceful settlement, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council decided to temporarily suspend Niger’s membership in the African Union.
