Text by: News WiresA West African leaders' summit opens on Sunday amid political turmoil 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 marks another test for the regional bloc they split away 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 weakened bloc would respond after Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso adopted a treaty establishing a "Confederation of Sahel States" in Niamey on Saturday.
Backs turned
The juntas in those three countries came to power in a series of coups over recent years and announced their joint departure from ECOWAS in January.
They have shifted away from former colonial ruler France and expelled French troops, with Niger's General Abdourahamane Tiani calling for the establishment of a "community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers".
"Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," General Tiani said on Saturday, rebuffing the bloc's pleas to come back into the fold.
The Sahel countries' ECOWAS exit was fuelled in part by their accusation that Paris was manipulating the bloc and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.
France 24
