WELLINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday called for the immediate release of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum.
Bazoum has been removed from power, according to a group of soldiers who appeared on the West African nation's national television late on Wednesday, hours after the president was held in the presidential palace.
"Whether this constitutes a coup technically or not, I can't say, that's for the lawyers to say, but what it clearly constitutes is an effort to seize power by force and to disrupt the constitution," Blinken told a news conference in the New Zealand capital Wellington.
Blinken called for Bazoum's immediate release.
Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Alasdair PalOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Antony Blinken, Mohamed Bazoum, Bazoum, Blinken, Renju Jose, Alasdair Pal
Organizations:
WELLINGTON, African, Thomson
Locations:
Niger, New Zealand, Wellington, Sydney