PRETORIA, August 9. /TASS/. France is getting ready to carry out a plan to destabilize Niger by engaging the military contingent it has stationed there, Colonel Amadu Abdraman, spokesman for the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) that was set up in Niamey after the coup, said.

"The French military contingent stationed in Niger is attempting to set in motion a plan to destabilize the country so as to denigrate the CNSP and alienate it from the people who support the council’s actions," Abdraman was quoted by ActuNiger website as saying.

"There is also a goal to create a general impression of insecurity. Facing these prospects, the defense and security forces have been ordered to put the country’s armed forces on high combat alert and mobilize the population," he added.

The Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reported that earlier the rebels had blamed France for violating the African country’s airspace. According to the top brass controlling Niger, a French warplane took off from Chad’s capital of N’Djamena early in the morning and broke contact with air traffic control when entering Niger’s airspace. The plane was reported to have stayed in the African country’s airspace for over four hours. Niger closed its airspace on August 6, fearing foreign intervention.

In late July, a group of officers from Niger’s Presidential Guard launched a coup and announced that President Mohamed Bazoum was deposed. The National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie, CNSP) was formed to govern the country and was headed by General Abdurahmane Tchiani. Bazoum is still in custody at his residence, but can talk with leaders and representatives of other countries over the phone.

The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which includes Niger, had previously demanded that the rebels release Bazoum by August 7, threatening to use force among other options. Nevertheless, the neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso warned that they would consider such a step as an attack on themselves. Since the ECOWAS ultimatum was ignored, the community’s leaders will reconvene for a summit on August 10. The organization intends to step up the sanctions pressure on Niger and says it favors a diplomatic solution.