Deposed Niger President's Lawyers Deny Escape Bid

Lawyers for Niger's ousted president on Friday rejected claims by the new military rulers that he had tried to escape, as France said its forces would be gone from the West African country by year's end as planned

Abidjan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Oct, 2023) Lawyers for Niger's ousted president on Friday rejected claims by the new military rulers that he had tried to escape, as France said its forces would be gone from the West African country by year's end as planned.

Since he was toppled by the military on July 26, Niger's president Mohamed Bazoum had been held at his residence in the heart of the presidential palace along with his wife and son.

The military regime said late on Thursday that Bazoum had "tried to escape" with his family, two cooks and two security agents.

The escape plan involved getting to a hideout on the outskirts of the capital Niamey before taking helicopters "belonging to a foreign power" towards Nigeria, regime spokesman Amadou Abdramane said on state television.