FRANCE-NIGER-COUP-PRESSER

Niger Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou looks over as he speaks with the press outside the Niger Embassy, in Paris on August 5, 2023, days after coup plotters ousted Niger's President, holding him with his family in his official Niamey residence since July 26. A West African delegation failed to secure the return to power of Niger's elected government under Mohamed Bazoum, on August 4, 2023, despite proposals to resolve the crisis as the junta curtailed military cooperation with former colonial power France. Pressure on the leaders of a coup in Niger mounted on August 5, 2023, on the eve of a west African bloc's deadline for the military to relinquish control or face possible armed intervention. (Photo by STEFANO RELLANDINI / AFP) (Photo by STEFANO RELLANDINI/AFP via Getty Images)