ECOWAS Delegation Meets Deposed Niger President “Bazoum”

 

An ECOWAS delegation in Niger for talks with the officers who seized power also met with ousted President Mohamed Bazoum Saturday, a source close to the West African bloc told AFP.

 

Bazoum was “in good spirits”, the source added. A Niger news agency journalist at the presidential palace confirmed that the meeting had taken place.

 

Although his electricity was still cut off.

A Niger news agency journalist at the presidential palace on Saturday afternoon confirmed that the meeting had taken place.

 

The delegation arrived in Niger Saturday for talks with the senior army officers who seized power in a coup last month in the hope of heading off a military confrontation.

 

Led by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar the ECOWAS representatives also met with some of the senior officers who seized power, said the source, without saying if they included coup leader General Abdourahamane Tiani.

 

A previous ECOWAS delegation led by Abubakar earlier this month had tried and failed to meet him.

 

A source close to the latest delegation said it would send “a message of firmness” to the army officers and would meet Bazoum.

 

ECOWAS defence chiefs met this week in the Ghanaian capital Accra to fine-tune details of a potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.