Niger's new military junta says it has dissolved the government after a coup that toppled President Mamadou Tandja in the impoverished but uranium-rich west African country.
The Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD) announced on Friday that its head would be squadron leader Salou Djibo, whose heavily armed unit played a key role in Thursday's coup.
"The government is dissolved," said a statement signed by Djibo and read by an unnamed military officer on state television.
"The CSRD informs the population that public business will be run by secretaries of ministries and local government administrators."
Soldiers in Niger ousted Tandja amid gunbattles that killed at least three troops on Thursday.
"On this day February 18, we the defence and security forces, decided to take our responsibilities in ending the tense political situation," said CSRD spokesman colonel Goukoye Abdoulkarim.
"(The CSRD) has decided to suspend the constitution of the Sixth Republic and dissolve all its institutions."
Tandja had defied outcry both inside the country and abroad at his move to change the constitution to allow himself to extend his grip on power.
Gunfire and loud explosions sounded across the capital Niamey as soldiers assaulted the presidential palace where Tandja, the country's strongman for the past decade, presided over a cabinet meeting.
The new military council declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew and announced the closure of all border entry points.
A French diplomat said Tandja's own guard had taken part in the coup while a senior US official suggested that Tandja only had himself to blame.
"President Tandja has been trying to extend his mandate in office. And obviously, that may well have been, you know, an act on his behalf that precipitated this act today," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
Tandja was reportedly detained at a separate location from his ministers. An official told AFP that Tandja was believed to be held in military barracks on the outskirts of the capital.
Djibo's junta called on the people of Niger - ranked last at 182 on the UN Human Development Index for 2009 - to say calm and united around its ideals of "restoring democracy and good governance".
Ex-colonel Tandja, 71, extended his term through a controversial referendum last August after dissolving parliament and the constitutional court, leading to the west African nation's international isolation.
Niger is a landlocked West African nation that is the world's third-biggest uranium producer.
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