ABUJA/CONAKRY — Coup leaders in Niger are open to diplomacy to resolve a standoff with West Africa’s regional bloc, a group of senior Nigerian Islamic scholars said on Sunday after meeting the junta in Niamey. The group’s meeting with junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani lasted several hours, said Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, who led the delegation. “He said their doors were open to explore diplomacy and peace in resolving the matter,” Lau said in a statement on Sunday. There was no immediate comment from the junta on the meeting, but Tiani’s reported comments are one of few recent signs he is open to negotiation. In the footage, Doumbouya – who led a coup in Guinea in September 2021 – did not say whether Conakry’s support for the Niger junta would include military backing if ECOWAS decided to use military force.
