West African nations have rejected a call by Niger's coup leaders for a three-year transition back to democracy, as the crisis-hit country's neighbors weigh whether to take military action.
The new military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani has declared he will hold off a return to civilian rule after army officers toppled President Mohamed Bazoum last month.
His announcement came after a delegation from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened to use force to reinstate Bazoum, visited Niger in a final diplomatic push.
Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS commissioner for politics and security, described the proposal of a three-year transition as "a joke" and said the bloc would "never accept it."
"We want constitutional order to be restored as soon as possible," he told Al Jazeera in an interview broadcast on Monday, August 21.
"Military action is not off the table," he warned.
In a televised address on Saturday, Tiani accused ECOWAS of preparing to attack Niger by setting up an occupying force in collaboration with a foreign army, without referencing which country.
"If an attack were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park some people seem to think," he said.
ECOWAS leaders say they have to act now that Niger has become the fourth West African nation since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
"We say we need a very short transition period... but we are not even talking about one year. It's going to be a lot shorter than that," said ECOWAS commissioner Musah.
"We had the same experiences with the three coups in the region in the past three years. Even as we speak those countries are still talking of extending the transition period already agreed with ECOWAS."
"We are not going to start another round of endless negotiations."
The bloc has agreed to activate a "standby force" as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger. It has said it is ready to act, although it is still pursuing diplomacy and has given no date or details about any intervention.
Unlike a previous ECOWAS mission in early August, this time the delegation held talks with Tiani and also met Bazoum, who is being held with his family at the presidential palace and could be facing treason charges.
Images on Niger television showed Bazoum smiling and shaking hands with members of the delegation.