1:01 a.m.: The ruling military appoints Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as Prime Minister
The military perpetrators of the coup in Niger announced Monday night the appointment of a Prime Minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, in a statement read on national television. "Mr. (Ali Mahaman) Lamine Zeine is appointed prime minister," Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane reported.
As soon as he came to power, former President Mamadou Tandja appointed Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine as Chief of Staff in 2001, then Finance Minister in 2002, to redress a chaotic economic and financial situation.
Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine had been finance minister until the overthrow of Mamadou Tandja in a coup d'état in 2010 by commander Salou Djibo, before a presidential election won by Mahamadou Issoufou, predecessor of Mohamed Bazoum, deposed on July 26. Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, an economist by training, has also served as the African Development Bank's (AfDB) Resident Representative in Chad, Côte d'Ivoire and Gabon.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Habibou Assoumane" was also "appointed commander of the presidential guard," Abdramane added.
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ECOWAS is scheduled to meet on Thursday in Abuja on Niger.
Earlier, the Malian army announced the dispatch to Niamey of an official joint Mali-Burkina Faso delegation to "show the solidarity of the two countries" with the perpetrators of the coup.
This is a decisive week for Niger, a day after the expiration of a West African ultimatum demanding a return to constitutional order.
With AFP and Reuters
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