Ecowas group seeking restoration to power of Mohamed Bazoum also met army officers behind coup

A delegation from west Africa’s economic bloc has arrived in Niger and met the ousted president on Saturday, as it sought a peaceful solution after army officers seized power in a coup.

Mohamed Bazoum was “in good spirits”, a source close to the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) told AFP – though he remained under detention and his electricity was still cut off.

Mohamed Bazoum – ousted by military last month – could face death penalty if found guilty

Niger’s military junta has said it will prosecute the deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, for “high treason” and undermining state security, as concerns were raised about the detention conditions and health of Bazoum and his family.

The statement on Bazoum’s prosecution came hours after the junta indicated to religious mediators that they were open to a diplomatic resolution to the crisis that followed July’s coup. Bazoum could face the death penalty if convicted.

Analysts says key figures in new regime were underestimated as elected president remains confined to residence

The leaders of the military takeover in Niger remained defiant this weekend, apparently confident that disarray among regional opponents, support from other military regimes in neighbouring countries and a wave of popular mobilisation at home will allow them to keep power for the indefinite future.

Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president of Niger, remains confined to his official residence in Niamey, the capital, amid faltering international efforts to convince the new rulers of the unstable but strategically important country to return to barracks two weeks after launching a coup.

Exclusive: Zazia Bazoum says Mohamed Bazoum and other family members denied electricity after coup and have little to eat

Niger’s overthrown leader and his family are being held under inhumane conditions by their military captors, who have cut off the electricity to the presidential residence, leaving them to rapidly lose weight while food rots in the fridge, the president’s daughter has told the Guardian.

Zazia Bazoum, who was on holiday in France when Mohamed Bazoum was detained by his own presidential guard last month, said she is in near daily phone contact with her father, mother and brother, who she says are living without clean water and relying on supplies of rice and pasta, although their gas oven is running out of fuel.

Ecowas says force is a last resort and would prefer diplomatic means of reinstating President Bazoum after army coup

Leaders of a powerful west African regional bloc have ordered the activation of its standby force, increasing the pressure on the senior army officers who deposed Niger’s democratically elected leader last month but leaving the door open for a diplomatic solution.

Speaking after an emergency Ecowas summit in Abuja, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria warned that “no option is taken off the tables including the use of force as the last resort”.

Mohamed Bazoum has been held at the presidential palace since the coup that deposed him

The US has expressed deep concern for Niger’s deposed president after his party said he and his family were running out of food and living under increasingly dire conditions.

President Mohamed Bazoum, the West African nation’s democratically elected leader, has been held at the presidential palace in Niamey with his wife and son since mutinous soldiers moved against him on July 26.

Supporters wave Niger and Russia flags as Ecowas deadline for military to cede power approaches

Thousands of coup supporters in Niger gathered on Sunday for a rally to cheer on the generals claiming power, as a deadline set by the west African bloc for the military to relinquish control or face possible armed intervention was due to elapse.

The Ecowas bloc, chaired by regional military powerhouse and Niger’s neighbour Nigeria, had given the troops that toppled President Mohamed Bazoum on 26 July a week to return him to power.

Defence chiefs deliver ultimatum for Sunday after mediation fails to reinstate elected president

West African defence chiefs have drawn up a plan for military action if Niger’s coup is not overturned by Sunday, the regional bloc said, after mediation failed in a crisis that threatens regional security and has drawn in global powers.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has given Niger’s coup leaders until Sunday to step down and reinstate the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

Delegation from Ecowas leaves early, having failed to meet detained president or coup leader

A west African diplomatic mission to Niger to seek the release and reinstatement of the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, after a coup has failed, raising the risk of a military intervention.

The delegation, which had flown to the Nigerien capital, Niamey, left on Thursday, earlier than planned, without having met Bazoum or the coup leader, Gen Abdourahamane Tchiani.

Coup leaders and Russia are attempting to frame takeover as anti-neocolonialism after misjudging reaction from Ecowas

In the square in central Niamey on Thursday, the anniversary of Niger’s independence from France, the mainly young men who gathered to demonstrate in favour of the military coup against President Mohamed Bazoum brought with them Russian flags and anti-French slogans.

It remained unclear whether the demonstration was spontaneous or organised to coincide with a speech by the coup leader Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani in which he decried the threat of interference by the west and regional powers led by Nigeria.