Niger coup could still be overturned through diplomacy: Ousted prime minister

Niger’s ousted prime minister says he is still hopeful that the leaders of the country’s recent coup, who have overthrown the civilian rulers, might still give in to diplomatic overtures.

“We are still hopeful,” Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, who was in Rome when the coup occurred, said on Saturday.

Niger’s military has been holding the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, since last month in the seventh coup to hit Africa’s Sahel region in recent years. General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the powerful presidential guard, has declared himself leader.

“We expect President Bazoum to be released, reinstated, and all institutions that were allegedly dissolved to be restored in their entirety,” the premier said.

On Wednesday, the self-declared new leader of Niger said the junta would not bow to pressure to reinstate the deposed head of state, intensifying a standoff with the main West African bloc of countries, which has threatened to intervene.