Niger closes airspace as it refuses to reinstate president

Niger closed its airspace on Sunday until further notice, citing the threat of military intervention from the West African regional bloc after coup leaders rejected a deadline to reinstate the country's ousted president.

Earlier, thousands of junta supporters flocked to a stadium in Niamey, the capital, cheering the decision not to cave in to external pressure to stand down by the deadline following the July 26 power grab.

The coup, the seventh in the past three years in West and Central Africa, has rocked the Sahel region, one of the world's poorest.

Besides its uranium and oil riches, Niger has played a key part in Western strategies to combat jihadist insurgencies that have plagued the Sahel since 2012.

Defense chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have agreed on a possible military action plan, including when and where to strike, if the detained president, Mohamed Bazoum, is not released and reinstated by the deadline.

"In the face of the threat of intervention that is becoming more apparent, Nigerien airspace is closed effective from today," a junta representative said in a statement on national television on Sunday evening.

He said there had been a pre-deployment of forces in two Central African countries in preparation for an intervention, but did not give details.

"Niger's armed forces and all our defense and security forces, backed by the unfailing support of our people, are ready to defend the integrity of our territory," he said.

ECOWAS did not respond to a request for comment on what its next steps would be, or when exactly on Sunday its deadline expires. A spokesman earlier said it would issue a statement at the end of the day.

The bloc's military threat has raised concerns about further conflict in a region already battling the deadly Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands and forced millions to flee.

Any military intervention could be complicated by a promise from juntas in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso to come to Niger's defense if needed.

Bazoum's prime minister, Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, said on Saturday in Paris that the overthrown government still believed a last-minute agreement was possible.

(Reuters)