NIAMEY  -  Niger’s putschists named an army general as the new lead­er of the unstable jihadist-hit nation on Friday, the third day since elected President Mo­hamed Bazoum was detained.

Former colonial master France said hours earlier that it did not consider the coup “fi­nal”, adding there was time for plotters to heed internation­al calls to leave democratical­ly-elected Bazoum in office.

But General Abdourahamane Tchiani, head of the Presiden­tial Guard since 2011, read a statement on national TV as the “president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland”. The general pre­sented the coup as a response to “the degradation of the secu­rity situation” linked to jihadist bloodshed.

French President Emmanuel Macron described the events in Niamey as a coup affecting the wider Sahel region as Western powers scramble to preserve a key ally in the insurgent-strick­en region.

“This coup is completely ille­gitimate and profoundly dan­gerous, for Nigeriens, for Niger and for the whole region,” Ma­cron said, calling for Bazoum’s release. General Tchiani said that while Bazoum had sought to convince people that “all is going well... the harsh reality (is) a pile of dead, displaced, humiliation and frustration”.

“The security approach today has not brought security to the country despite heavy sacrific­es,” he said.

Bazoum and his family have been confined since Wednes­day morning to their residence at the presidential palace locat­ed within the Guard’s military camp. He is said to be in good health and has been able to talk by telephone to other heads of state including Macron.

The Guard’s chiefs staged the coup and on Thursday they won broad army support.

Armed forces chief General Abdou Sidikou Issa swung his weight behind the putschists saying it was “in order to avoid a deadly confrontation”.

The latest target of a coup in Africa’s turbulent Sahel, Ba­zoum has tried to stand his ground as condemnations swelled from African and inter­national organisations, allies Germany and the United States, as well as France.

“The hard-won (democratic) gains will be safeguarded,” Ba­zoum said on Twitter, which is being rebranded as X.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna had held out hope for Bazoum’s position.

“If you hear me talking about an attempted coup, it’s because we don’t consider things final,” she said. “There is still a way out if those responsible listen to the international communi­ty.” The Economic Community of West African States (ECOW­AS) would hold a summit “probably on Sunday”, where “possible sanctions could be decided”, Colonna said.

Former colonial power France, which has 1,500 sol­diers in Niger, would support sanctions. ECOWAS has de­manded Bazoum’s “immediate release”, saying he “remains the legitimate and legal President of Niger”.

The landlocked state is one of the world’s poorest. Since gaining independence in 1960, it has seen four coups as well as numerous other attempts -- including two previously against Bazoum. The 63-year-old is one of a dwindling group of elected presidents and pro-Western leaders in the Sa­hel, where a jihadist insurgen­cy has triggered coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Their juntas have forced out French troops, and in Mali the ruling military has woven a close alliance with Russia.