A delegation from West Africa's ECOWAS bloc arrived in Niger on Saturday seeking a peaceful rather than military solution after senior army officers seized power in a coup.
The delegation led by former Nigerian president Abdulsalami Abubakar flew into the capital early afternoon, a day after ECOWAS military chiefs announced they were ready to intervene to reinstate the ousted president.
It was met at Niamey airport by the junta-appointed prime minister and was due to hold talks with the self-declared authorities, Reuters news agency reports quoting a source that spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has agreed to activate a "standby force" as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger after generals detained President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.
But it says it favours dialogue to defuse the crisis.
'Message of firmness'
A previous ECOWAS delegation headed by Abubakar on August 3 tried and failed to meet Bazoum and the coup leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani.
A source close to Saturday's delegation said it would send "a message of firmness" to the army officers and meet Bazoum.
He has been held with his family at the president's official residence since the coup, with growing international concern over his conditions in detention.
ECOWAS chair and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Friday threatened Niamey with "grave consequences" if the new regime allows Bazoum's health to worsen, an EU official said.
Niger's military-appointed prime minister, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, told The New York Times that Bazoum would not be harmed.
Little flexibility
"Nothing will happen to him, because we don't have a tradition of violence in Niger," the most senior civilian in the new regime told the daily.
Niger's new rulers have so far shown little flexibility and warned against an "illegal aggression".
Thousands of volunteers turned out in cent al Niamey on Saturday answering a call to register as civilian auxiliaries who could be mobilised to support the army.
ECOWAS defence chiefs had met this week in the Ghanaian capital Accra to fine-tune details of a potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.
Applied sanctions
ECOWAS leaders say they have to act after Niger became the fourth West African nation since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
The Sahel region is struggling with growing jihadist insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. Frustration over the violence has in part prompted the military takeovers.
ECOWAS troops have intervened in other emergencies since 1990, including civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ivory Coast, Benin and Nigeria are expected to contribute troops to a Niger mission.
ECOWAS has already applied trade and financial sanctions on Niger, while France, Germany and the United States have suspended aid programmes.
