Musings From Abroad

US official accuses Russian troops of entering base housing US military in Niger

Published

7 months ago

May 4, 2024

According to a senior United States defence official quoted by Reuters, Russian military soldiers have entered an air base in Niger that is housing American troops. This action comes after the junta in Niger decided to drive out American forces.

The West African nation, which up until a coup last year had been a crucial ally for Washington’s struggle against insurgents who have killed hundreds of people and displaced millions more, had demanded that Washington remove the almost 1,000 American military personnel.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior U.S. defence official stated that Russian personnel were using a different hangar at Airbase 101, which is close to Diori Hamani International Airport in the capital city of Niamey, Niger, rather than interacting with American troops.

Russian military action brings U.S. and Russian forces closer at a time when the country’s military and diplomatic rivalry is growing more intense due to the situation in Ukraine. Reuters was the first to report on the move. It also begs the question of what would happen to US installations in the nation after a pullout.

“(The situation) is not great but in the short-term manageable,” the official said.

When questioned about the Reuters article, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin downplayed the possibility that Russian forces would approach American military assets or pose a threat to American troops.

“The Russians are in a separate compound and don’t have access to U.S. forces or access to our equipment,” Austin told a press conference in Honolulu.

“I’m always focused on the safety and protection of our troops … But right now, I don’t see a significant issue here in terms of our force protection.”
The Nigerien and Russian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After coups that installed forces anxious to break away from Western governments in power, the United States and its allies were obliged to withdraw their troops from many African nations. Apart from the imminent withdrawal from Niger, American forces have recently departed Chad and been expelled from Mali and Burkina Faso.

Simultaneously, Russia is attempting to reinforce its ties with African countries by portraying itself as a friendlier nation with no colonial past in the region. For instance, Mali has emerged as one of Russia’s closest African friends in recent years, thanks to the deployment of the Wagner Group mercenary force there to combat jihadist insurgents.

Russia has said that ties with the United States are “below zero” due to American financial and military support for Ukraine’s defence against Russian forces on the invader’s territory.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

6 minutes ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.

Musings From Abroad

Russia vetoes Sudan conflict Security Council move

Published

8 hours ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A draft resolution from the UN Security Council urging Sudan’s warring parties to immediately end hostilities and guarantee the delivery of humanitarian supplies was vetoed by Russia on Monday.

China and every other member of the 15-member council supported the British-Serra Leonean-drafted motion.

In a decision described as “mean, nasty, and cynical” by British Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, Russia was the only member to vote against, sending a message to the warring parties that they may act without consequence.

The world’s greatest relocation crisis began in April 2023 when the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces engaged in a power battle ahead of a scheduled transfer to civilian administration.

The conflict’s participants were urged by the draft resolution to “immediately cease hostilities and engage, in good faith, in dialogue to agree steps to de-escalate the conflict to urgently agree a national ceasefire.”

In addition, it urged them to hold talks to reach agreements on humanitarian pauses and arrangements, guarantee the safe movement of people, and provide sufficient humanitarian relief, among other things.

The United Kingdom was accused by Russia of trying to interfere in Sudanese affairs.

“We agree with all Security Council colleagues that the conflict in Sudan requires a swift resolution. It is also clear that the only way to achieve this is for the warring parties to agree to a ceasefire,” Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the meeting.

He claimed Lammy’s critique was an “excellent demonstration of British neo-colonialism” and accused those who supported the proposed resolution of using “double standards” by allowing Israel to continue violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.

“One country stood in the way of the council speaking with one voice. One country is the blocker. One country is the enemy of peace. This Russian veto is a disgrace, and it shows to the world yet again, Russia’s true colours,” Lammy told the meeting.

“I ask the Russian representative, in all conscience – sitting there on his phone – how many more Sudanese have to be killed? How many more women have to be raped? How many more children have to go without food before Russia will act?”

Nearly 25 million people, or half of Sudan’s population, require help, according to the U.N., since 11 million people have abandoned their homes and starvation has spread to displacement camps. Of those, almost 3 million have departed for other nations.