 got no further than the airport. A planned second joint mission by Ecowas, African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) envoys, scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed after the junta said it was not the right time to meet them. Gen Tchiani is certainly living up to his reputation as stubborn and taciturn. He was not at the huge rally the junta organised in Niger's capital Niamey on Sunday. He has only appeared on TV on three occasions since the coup, and has spoken twice - once to present himself as Niger's new leader and once to make an Independence Day address. That is perhaps in part because even he does not really know where this crisis goes next. Will Ecowas, to whose good governance and democracy protocol Niger is a signatory, really launch a military intervention, as it has threatened to do? Or will the West Afr){kind=link}
Once involved in peacekeeping efforts in war-hit countries, General Abdourahmane Tchiani has now triggered a major crisis in West Africa by staging a coup in Niger.
Low-profile and hitherto little known outside his immediate circle, he was the commander of Niger’s presidential guard until he emerged from the shadows to overthrow the man he was charged with protecting, President Mohamed Bazoum.
Gen Tchiani declared himself the head of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland, the military junta set up after he seized power on 26 July.
Meanwhile, his former boss languishes under house arrest. Mr Bazoum has been in sporadic telephone contact with international leaders but he is otherwise isolated.
Gen Tchiani has, so far, rejected all suggestions of compromise. He has kept most international envoys at bay, but gave an audience to Nigeria’s ex-central bank governor and former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, on Wednesday.