A senior US official has said coup leaders in Niger refused to allow her to meet the West African country's democratically elected president, whom she described as under "virtual house arrest".Under-secretary of State Victoria Nuland also described the mutinous officers as unreceptive to US calls to return the country to civilian rule.

A senior US official has said coup leaders in Niger refused to allow her to meet the West African country's democratically elected president, whom she described as under "virtual house arrest".Under-secretary of State Victoria Nuland also described the mutinous officers as unreceptive to US calls to return the country to civilian rule.