(Tribune News Service) — Niger’s self-declared military leader on Saturday proposed a return to democracy within three years.

General Abdourahmane Tchiani, the leader of last month’s coup, said he had given the government 30 days to define a framework for a return to democracy after a transition that “cannot exceed three years.”

The developments come after the West African regional bloc, while still hoping to solve the crisis in Niger by diplomatic means, said it stands ready to apply force to overturn the July 26 coup if talks fail.

A delegation from the Economic Community of West African States arrived in Niger on Saturday to meet with the country’s military leaders and ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Kathleen Fitzgibbons has arrived in Niamey to lead the U.S. mission in Niger, the U.S. State Department said on Saturday. Fitzgibbons, a career diplomat with extensive experience in Africa, will “bolster efforts to help resolve the political crisis at this critical time.”

Soldiers led by Tchiani, chief of the presidential guard, seized power in July and took Bazoum hostage. He remains in detention along with his family and government members. Ecowas has taken a hard line against the soldiers by closing borders, issuing harsh sanctions and activating a standby force.

Top military officers representing the bloc’s member-states had completed a plan to enter Niger, Abdel-Fatau Musah, the economic group’s commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, said after meetings in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on Friday.

The junta and its allies, neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso — both of which are under military rule — are preparing to counter a possible military intervention.

“In the event of an attack, our leaders have said that we’re ready. We’re prepared to support Niger,” Burkina Faso’s Defense Minister Kassoum Coulibaly told Russia’s state-owned news agency, RIA, after the military chiefs’ meeting in Accra.

Western ally

Coup leaders had no intention of collaborating with the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group or harming the deposed president, junta-installed Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine told the New York Times.

Niger has been a key Western ally and a relative bastion of stability in one of the world’s most volatile regions. The U.S. has a military drone base in the country, and France has about 1,500 troops stationed there, targeting insurgents affiliated with al-Qaida and Islamic State in cooperation with Nigerien forces.

The landlocked nation, more than twice the size of France, ranks among the least-developed countries. It has a population of over 25 million and one of the highest birth rates in the world.

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