Iran Press/ Africa: The United States will work to ensure full restoration of constitutional order in Niger after the military takeover, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, told the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum, in a phone call late on Friday, offering him his “unflagging support”.
The US is communicating with “a broad array” military leader in Niger, the state department said, after coup leaders declared Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani – the Nigerien military leader behind the detention of the country’s democratically elected president – the new head of state.
Tchiani, the head of the presidential guard since 2011, appeared on state television on Friday, saying he was the “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland” and warning that any foreign military intervention would lead to chaos.
The general, who has previously kept out of public life, presented the coup as a response to “the degradation of the security situation” linked to jihadist bloodshed.
On Friday, the UN security council condemned “the efforts to unconstitutionally change the legitimate government” and called for Bazoum’s immediate release.
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General Tchiani become head of transitional government of Niger
