Niger junta says France plotting to 'intervene militarily'

Niger’s new junta on July 31 accused France of seeking to “intervene militarily” to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum as tension mounted with the former colonial power and neighbours.

Niger's new junta on July 31 accused France of seeking to "intervene militarily" to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum as tension mounted with the former colonial power and neighbours.

Mr. Bazoum, a western ally whose election just over two years ago was a watershed in Niger's troubled history, was toppled on July 26 by the elite Presidential Guard.

Guards chief General Abdourahamane Tiani declared himself leader — but his claim has been shunned internationally and the West African bloc ECOWAS has given him a week to hand back power.

Mr. Bazoum's PNDS party on July 31 warned Niger risked becoming a "dictatorial and totalitarian regime" after a series of arrests.

On July 31 morning, Oil Minister Mahamane Sani Mahamadou — the son of influential former President Mahamadou Issoufou — and Mining Minister Ousseini Hadizatou were arrested, the party charged.

The head of the PNDS's national executive committee, Fourmakoye Gado, was also arrested, it said.

The junta had previously arrested the Interior Minister, the Transport Minister and a former Defence Minister, the party said.