Niger's junta supporters take part in a demonstration in front of a French army base in Niamey, Niger, August 11, 2023.
REUTERS/Mahamadou Hamidou/File PhotoDAKAR, Aug 12 (Reuters) - West Africa's regional bloc kept up its search on Sunday for diplomatic ways to overturn last month's coup in Niger, while retaining the threat of military intervention amid a crisis that has sucked in global superpowers.
U.S., French, German and Italian troops are stationed in Niger, in a region where local affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State have killed thousands and displaced millions.
Western powers fear Russia's clout could increase if the junta in Niger follows neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, which ejected the troops of former colonial power France after coups in those countries.
Reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Mahamadou, Mohamed Bazoum, Bola Tinubu, General Abdourahamane Tiani, erodes, Edward McAllister, Ingrid Melander, Hugh Lawson
Organizations:
REUTERS, West African States, ECOWAS, Nigerian, al, Islamic, Thomson
Locations:
Niamey, Niger, DAKAR, West, Central Africa, United States, West Africa, U.S, al Qaeda, Mali, Burkina Faso, France