PARIS, August 19. /TASS/. Members of the Economic Community of West African States' delegation to Niamey have met with ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum, the RFI radio station said.

According to the newscast, the meeting with Bazoum was attended, among others, by former Nigerian President General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who led the ECOWAS delegation, and the head of the rebel government, Ali Lamine Zaine.

The RFI notes that there were no serious discussions at the meeting and that ECOWAS delegates came primarily to see the conditions of the ousted president.

The delegation first met with the rebels, led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani. ECOWAS called on the plotters to restore constitutional order. 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 Niger had been determined, but it would not be announced for the time being.