US diplomat says Niger coup leaders refused to allow her to meet president

Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum (Sam Mednick/AP)

A senior US official says coup leaders in Niger refused to allow her to meet with the West African country’s democratically elected president, whom she described as under “virtual house arrest”.

Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland also described the mutinous officers as unreceptive to US calls to return the country to civilian rule.