<h1>Withdrawal from regional bloc prompts formal exit while ECOWAS urges continued membership privileges and free movement.</h1> Formal withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from ECOWAS is effective, with the bloc asking member states to continue granting the departing states membership privileges, notably free movement and recognition of ECOWAS passports. The exit follows coup-led announcements of departure and the formation of the Alliance of Sahel States as a rival security partnership, representing an unprecedented disintegration of regional membership and challenging the operation of ECOWAS's cooperation and integration mechanisms.