Niger's ousted president is said to be running low on food under house arrest 2 weeks after coup

The family is living without electricity and only has rice and canned goods left to eat, the advisor said.

Niger's deposed president is running out of food and experiencing other increasingly dire conditions two weeks after he was ousted in a military coup and put under house arrest, an advisor told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

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.

The family is living without electricity and only has rice and canned goods left to eat, the advisor said. Mr. Bazoum remains in good health for now and will never resign, according to the advisor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive situation with the media.

Editorial: Coup in Niger: On the ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum

Mr. Bazoum's political party issued a statement confirming the president's living conditions and said the family also was without running water.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Mr. Bazoum on Tuesday about recent diplomatic efforts, a spokesman said, and Blinken “emphasized that the safety and security of President Bazoum and his family are paramount.”

This week, Niger's new military junta took steps to entrench itself in power and rejected international efforts to mediate.