RABAT, August 11. /TASS/. Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat has called on the rebels in Niger to stop escalating relations with Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

"The Chairperson calls on the military authorities [in Niger] to urgently halt the escalation of relations with the regional organization ECOWAS, including the cessation of the continued sequestration of President [Mohamed] Bazoum in worryingly poor conditions," the African Union said in a communique posted on its website on Friday.

"Such treatment of a democratically elected president through a regular electoral process is unacceptable," the document emphasizes.

"The Chairperson further calls for the immediate release of President Bazoum and all members of his family and government who are illegally detained with him. Their detention flies in the face of Nigerien law and the founding principles of the AU and ECOWAS. The Chairperson calls on the entire international community to unite efforts to save the moral and physical integrity of President Mohamed Bazoum," it reads.

Apart from that, Mahamat "expresses his strong support for the decisions adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on anti-constitutional change in Niger."

In late July, a group of military rebels in Niger announced the removal of Bazoum. They then established the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (Conseil national pour la sauvegarde de la patrie, CNSP), headed by General Abdourahmane Tchiani, to run the country. Bazoum remains detained at his residence but is reportedly in telephone contact with the outside world.

ECOWAS leaders demanded the rebels in Niger, which is a member of this organization, release Bazoum by August 7 and warmed about a military resolution of the situation. However, neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso said that they would consider ECOWAS’ possible intervention as an attack on themselves.

Since the ECOWAS ultimatum was not implemented the organization’s leaders gathered for another emergency meeting in the Nigerian capital city of Abuja on August 10 to express their commitment to the restoration of the constitutional order in Niger. Upon return from the summit, Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said that the ECOWAS leaders had agreed to launch a military operation in Niger as soon as possible.