JUST IN: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger Pull Out Of ECOWAS

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three West African states led by the military, said on Sunday they are immediately leaving the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional economic bloc that has been urging them to return to democratic rule.

The decision by the three, announced in a simultaneous joint statement on their national television channels, is a blow to the bloc’s regional integration efforts after it suspended the three following coups.

The move could further weaken ECOWAS which has struggled to contain a democratic retreat in the West Africa region.

In response to the withdrawal ECOWAS said it is yet to receive any formal notification about the withdrawal and declined further comment.

The bloc had previously said it does not recognise the military-led governments, vowing that coups would no longer be tolerated after the military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea and an attempted coup in Guinea-Bissau.

Since the coups – and despite sanctions, negotiations and threats of military intervention – the military leaders have failed to provide a clear timetable for a return to constitutional rule.

Instead, they have hardened their rhetoric against the bloc and accused it of being influenced by external powers. The three have also cut military and other ties with former colonial master France, and turned to Russia for security support.