NIAMEY,  (Reuters) – Niger’s military plans to run the  uranium-exporting country until politicians agree on a new  constitution and are ready for fresh elections, West Africa’s  regional mediator said after meeting the junta yesterday.

No timeframe has been set for the transition back to  civilian rule but a spokesman for the junta said on Sunday that  elections would be held “as soon as possible” and the situation  was similar to a coup in 1999 that led to transparent elections.

Niger’s military ousted President Mamadou Tandja in a swift  coup last week, putting an end to months of political wrangling  between him and the opposition.

The seizure was formally condemned but it is also widely  seen at home and abroad as a chance to end a political impasse.

“They have assured us there will be an opening for everyone  here in Niger, for an inter-Nigerien dialogue,” Mohamed Ibn  Chambas, president of the ECOWAS Commission, told reporters  after meeting the military junta.

“It is this process that will lead to a new constitution and  credible elections,” Chambas added. “They said they want a short  transition that ends as soon as possible, but it is also the  political dialogue that will define the timetable.”

Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital  Niamey on Saturday to show support for the army, but also to  call for elections to be organised.

Tandja and his rivals were locked in a dispute over the  president’s extension and deepening of his powers last year, a  move that drew criticism and sanctions from abroad.

Although he held a successful referendum that officially  gave him three more years in power after his mandate ran out in  December, the row divided the nation.

The military ended it by  blasting their way into Tandja’s palace to arrest him.

The junta says it had to act to end tensions.

“We were encouraged by the fact that the authorities  themselves are mindful that this is not their normal function  and they are eager to finish this task and go back to their  normal military and security duties,” Chambas said.

It was the third coup in West Africa in the last 18 months,  in what some observers say is an alarming shift away from  democracy in a region seeking stability and investment.

But a spokesman for the military junta, known as the Supreme  Council for the Restoration of Democracy, said the 1999 coup,  when the army ousted the president but held elections soon  afterwards, should allay concerns about the military’s plans.