Junta states’ exit hangs over West African summit

ABUJA: A West African leaders´ summit opened amid political turmoil on Sunday after the military rulers of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso cemented a breakaway union at a rival meeting.

The three countries announced they were forming a new confederation, and their defiant first gathering on the eve of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit marked another test for the regional bloc they split from earlier this year.

ECOWAS is already wrestling with sweeping jihadist violence, financial trouble and the challenges of mustering a regional force.

It was not clear how the fractured bloc would respond after Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso adopted a treaty establishing a “Confederation of Sahel States” in Niamey on Saturday.