Kathleen FitzGibbon, a new U.S. ambassador to Niger Republic, would arrive in the country this week, the State Department said.

Ms FitzGibbon’s planned arrival came after the military junta, who seized power in Niger, revealed plans to prosecute the elected leader of the country, President Mohamed Bazoum.

Mr Bazoum, whose government was overthrown on July 26, was placed under house arrest since the military took over.

The Senate had confirmed Ms FitzGibbon, a career foreign service officer, as U.S. ambassador late last month after the coup d’etat, nearly a year after being nominated.

On Wednesday, the State Department said her arrival is a signal for the continued engagement of the U.S. government with the military junta in Niger.

“She (FitzGibbon) is going there to lead the mission during a critical time and to support the American community and to coordinate on the U.S. government’s efforts,” Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesperson for the State Department, told reporters.

Mr Patel added, “Her arrival does not reflect a change in our position, and we continue to advocate for a diplomatic solution that respects the constitutional order in Niger.”

Mr Patel said there were no plans for Ms FitzGibbon to present her credentials to the coup leaders, stressing that she did not need to work at the embassy.

ECOWAS has called on the coup leaders led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani to reinstate ousted President Bazoum back to office as the democratically elected president.

However, the military leaders have refused and rejected all attempts at negotiation from the democratic African government leaders in the West.

The coup and its aftermath have sucked in international powers with strategic regional interests.

Last week, a high-powered delegation of Muslim clerics led by the national leader of Jama’atul Izalatil Bid’ah Waikamatu Sunnah from Nigeria met junta leaders in Niamey in a bid to mediate an end to the crisis.

Ms FitzGibbon was the deputy chief of Mission in Nigeria. She assumed duty in June 2019.

In this capacity, she assisted the ambassador in leading the U.S. Mission’s nearly 1,200 American and Nigerian employees in Abuja and Lagos to advance U.S. strategic goals in security cooperation, democracy and governance, economic growth and trade, and development and humanitarian assistance, among other areas.