We want to ensure Niger's President Bazoum is safe: US State Department

The US State Department on Tuesday stated that in connection with the Niger coup, the utmost priority of Washington is the safety of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family and respect towards the "hard-earned" democracy of Niamey.

The State Department also affirmed its support towards Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in achieving the stated objectives.

"We continue to work with ECOWAS, with the African Union, with other partners around the world as well as regional partners to get this situation back on track and to maintain Niger's hard-earned democracy," US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel said at the state briefing on Tuesday.

He added, "…Every day, every minute that President Bazoum and his family continue to be detained, and this - and every day that Niger's hard-earned democracy is not respected, that window closes a little bit. And that is why we're so actively engaged in this and why we're hoping to find a diplomatic resolution to this".

Vedant Patel further said that the two outcomes that US wants to see in the situation is safety and the release of President Bazoum and his family, and the respect of 'hard-earned' democracy of Niger.

"We have been incredibly clear throughout the duration of this about the two outcomes that we would like to see, and that is, first, we want to see and ensure that President Bazoum and his family are kept safe, we want to see them released, and we want to see the hard-earned democracy of Niger respected. And that continues to be our point of view and what we are calling for in our engagements, and it's a point of view that we know is shared by ECOWAS and the African Union as well," he said.

Previosuly, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken also reiterated the priorities of the US and affirmed Washington's strong support towards the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the issue.

"With regard to Niger, first, we reiterate the imperative of releasing President Bazoum, his family, from detention. And we reiterate the imperative of returning to the constitutional order in Niger. We're in strong support of what ECOWAS is doing to achieve exactly those results. You heard from ECOWAS just a couple of days ago about how they see the path forward. And we remain very focused on diplomacy for achieving the results that we want, which is the return to the constitutional order. And I believe that there continues to be space for diplomacy in achieving that result," he said.

Blinken added, "The pressure that's been exerted by many countries, including through ECOWAS, on the military leaders responsible for disrupting the constitutional order in Niger is mounting. I think they have to take that into account, as well as the fact that their actions have isolated them from the region and from the world, as well as the fact that there is a diplomatic path forward under the constitution that would restore a constitutional order. That's what we're focused on".

Niger has been engulfed in political chaos since late last month when President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted in a coup d'etat by the presidential guard. Bazoum, has said he has been deprived of all human contact and was given just dry rice and pasta by the military junta, CNN reported.

The Niger junta on Sunday even stated that it had gathered evidence to prosecute the country's ousted President Mohamed Bazoum for "high treason."

The coup has drawn severe criticism from the West, especially the US and France. However, African countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea have expressed support for Niger's new military authorities.

Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is considering its options to restore civilian rule in Niger, including potential military intervention. For now, ECOWAS is pursuing efforts for further negotiations with Niger military leaders.

The deadline on August 6 expired without any change in the political situation. ECOWAS leaders have said their preference is to find a diplomatic solution to the situation and would dispatch troops as a last resort.