REUTERS, Niamey

Niger’s junta braced for a response from the West African regional bloc yesterday after ignoring its deadline to reinstate the ousted president or face the threat of military intervention. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has sent military forces into troubled member states in the past, said it would issue a statement on its next steps, responding to the junta’s refusal to stand down by Sunday. The bloc has taken a harder stance on the July 26 power grab, the region’s seventh coup in three years, than it did on previous ones. On Sunday, as the ECOWAS deadline expired, the junta closed its airspace until further notice.