AFP, Niamey

The military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa Yesterday, with Niger’s ruling general saying the junta-led countries have “turned their backs on” the regional bloc.

The three country’s leaders are taking part in the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), set up after pulling out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this year.

“Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS,” Niger’s ruling General Abdourahamane Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen at the gathering’s opening in the Nigerien capital Niamey.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger set up the mutual defence pact in September, leaving the wider Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc in January.