The president of the West African state of Niger was being held by members of his guard on Wednesday in what regional powers condemned as an attempted coup.
The West African bloc Ecowas, the African Union and the European Union all condemned what they called an "attempted coup d'etat".
Members of the elite Presidential Guard on Wednesday morning sealed off access to the residence and offices of President Mohamed Bazoum, and after talks broke down "refused to release the president", a presidential source said.
"The army has given them an ultimatum," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Another source close to the president said that the attempt to seize power was "doomed to fail".
'Fit of temper'
In a message on Twitter, the president's office said "elements of the Presidential Guard (PG) had a fit of temper... (and) tried unsuccessfully to gain the support of the national armed forces and the national guard".
"The army and national guard are ready to attack the elements of the PG who are involved in this fit of temper if they do not return to a better disposition," the presidency said.
"The president and his family are well," it added.
The reason for the guards' anger was not disclosed.
Access was blocked off to the presidential complex in Niamey, although there was no abnormal military deployment or sounds of gunfire in the area, and traffic was normal, a journalist for French news agency AFP saw.
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission @AUC_MoussaFaki condemns the coup attempt in #Niger.https://t.co/bWYHc36OgU pic.twitter.com/kqtrX0xqWm
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) July 26, 2023
Ecowas (the Economic Community of West African States) called for Bazoum's immediate and unconditional release, and warned that all those involved would be held responsible for his safety.
The EU said it "associates itself" with the Ecowas statement, with foreign policy chief Josep Borrell posting online: "The EU condemns any attempt to destabilise democracy and threaten the stability of Niger."
Multiple overthrow attempts
A close ally of France, Bazoum was elected in 2021, taking the helm of a country mired in poverty and with a history of instability.
The landlocked Sahel state has experienced four coups since independence from France in 1960 as well as numerous other attempts on power, including against Bazoum himself.
The last coup occurred in February 2010, overthrowing then president Mamadou Tandja.
There was an attempted coup just days before Bazoum's inauguration in April 2021, according to a security source at the time.
Several people were arrested, including the suspected ringleader, an air force captain named Sani Gourouza.
A second bid to oust Bazoum occurred in March this year "while the president... was in Turkey", according to a Niger official, who said an arrest was made.
The authorities have never commented publicly on the incident.
French military hub
Lying in the heart of West Africa's arid Sahel, Niger is two-thirds desert and persistently ranks at the bottom, or near it, in the UN's Human Development Index, a benchmark of prosperity.
The country is struggling with two jihadist campaigns -- one in the southwest, which swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015, and the other in the southeast, involving jihadists based in northeastern Nigeria.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, stoking a humanitarian crisis and further straining the economy.
Niger's military has received training and logistical support from the United States and France, which have military bases there.
The country is also the hub of France's anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel, which were reconfigured after French forces quit Mali and Burkina Faso following political bust-ups with those countries.
(with AFP)
