Blinken calls for immediate release of ousted Niger president

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in the Treaty Room with Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid (not pictured) at the State Department in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Wurm/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Saturday for the immediate release of ousted Niger President Mohamed Bazoum and the restoration of democratic order in the country.

Leaders of a coup in Niger declared General Abdourahamane Tiani as head of state on Friday, saying they had ousted Bazoum in the seventh military takeover in West and Central Africa in less than three years.