RABAT, August 19. /TASS/. A delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is in Niamey to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis in Niger, has demanded the rebels release President Mohamed Bazoum, ousted at the end of July, the Al Arabiya TV channel reports.

The ECOWAS delegation reportedly said the release of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum was a priority demand.

The program of the ECOWAS delegation's visit includes a meeting with the head of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, General Abdurahman Tchiani and interim Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zein, Al Arabiya noted. The ECOWAS delegation arrived in Niamey on Saturday.

On July 26, a group of military officers from Niger's presidential guard mutinied and announced the removal of the president. The Tchiani-led National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland was formed to govern the country. ECOWAS leaders imposed harsh sanctions on Niger and demanded that the mutineers release Bazoum, threatening to use force otherwise.

On August 18, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel Fatau Musah, said following a meeting of the chiefs of ECOWAS armed forces’ general staffs in the capital of Ghana that the exact date of the beginning of the military intervention by ECOWAS forces in the situation in Niger had been determined, but it would not be announced for the time being.