Washington: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged a peaceful resolution to undo the coup in Niger on Thursday and urged the junta that overthrew the government last month to guarantee the safety and security of President Bazoum, his family, and the detained officials.
In a statement issued by the US State Department, Blinken said, "The United States joins the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in calling for the restoration of constitutional order in Niger.
Blinken made his statement after the West African ECOWAS bloc ordered the standby force to be activated for potential use against the junta on Thursday. ECOWAS stated that all options, including using force, were on the table but that it preferred a peaceful return to democracy.
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The US values ECOWAS' resolve to consider all possibilities for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, he continued.
He said at a news conference with his Mexican counterpart, "ECOWAS, an organisation that unites West African countries, is playing a key role in making clear the imperative of a return to constitutional order, and we very much support ECOWAS' leadership and work on this."
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The West African bloc supported a standby military force for Niger at a summit in Abuja after its military ousted the country's elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, on July 26.
Blinken claimed that ECOWAS and the US were working together to demand Bazoum's safety. He claimed to have spoken to Bazoum about a dozen times since the coup.
In the statement, he said of the military chiefs of Niger, "Like ECOWAS, the United States will hold the Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland accountable for the safety and security of President Bazoum, his family, and detained members of the government."
Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, the prime minister of Niger, recently claimed that Bazoum was being held without water or electricity along with his wife and son.
Although vague, the invasion threat heightens tensions in and around Niger, a country that produces uranium and was a key ally of the West in the struggle against Islamist insurgents that were wreaking havoc in the Sahel.
The junta, which took over on July 26, disregarded an ECOWAS deadline of August 6 to disband, instead closing Niger's airspace and pledging to defend the nation from any outside attack.
The bloc promised to impose sanctions, travel restrictions, and asset freezes on those obstructing Bazoum's assumption of power.
