In June's Ecowas talks Ouattara adopted a doveish line calling for more sanctions to be lifted and winning over more hardline figures such as the Nigérien president Mohamed Bazoum...

Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum even describing the group as 'dead' in May...

' This was the verdict of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum on 18 May three days after the Malian military regime announced its withdrawal from all institutions of the G5 Sahel the body once heralded as the key to stabilising a region beset by Islamist insurgencies...

Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum welcomed the cut which was condemned by Mali's Prime Minister Choguel Maïga as 'abandonment in mid-flight' after which France and other EU states pulled Barkhane and Takuba out of from Mali as trust was lost (AC Vol 63 No 4 France moves out of Mali)...

In early April President Mohamed Bazoum declared that the force 'has lead in its wings it's undeniable...

There President Mohamed Bazoum has stepped up his efforts to convince a sceptical public and even his own officials of the merits of this foreign force (AC Vol 63 No 5 Bazoum prepares to fight on two fronts)...

Among the leaders in the Sahel President Mohamed Bazoum faces the widest array of opponents from local activists hostile to France's presence to the jihadist insurgents trying to destabilise the country...

Geography helps explain why President Mohamed Bazoum overcame his initial reluctance to host European and French troops after they were expelled from Mali this month...

These are the details that were due to be worked out on 16 February when President Emmanuel Macron hosted the presidents of G5 Sahel members Mauritania Niger and Chad Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Mohamed Bazoum and Mahamat Déby...