Algerian national radio reported late on Monday that it had learned from sources that Paris was planning a strike against Niamey’s new military rulers if they did not release Bazoum, who has been held in detention since July 26.
“Faced with Algerian refusal, France turned to Morocco, asking for authorization to pass its military planes through its airspace,” state radio said, according to the Nova News Agency.
France, which has some 1,500 troops in its former colony Niger and has been conducting operations in the Sahel region against jihadist insurgencies, has been accused by the coup leadership of plotting to intervene militarily to restore the ousted president’s rule.
The French foreign ministry denied any intention of armed intervention in the West African country but has repeatedly stated that it supports the efforts of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened to use force to reverse the coup.
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