BAMAKO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Though the junta has promised elections to get Niger back to civilian rule, the country's future hangs in the balance as the coup met condemnation from around the world.

The need to stabilize the situation, President Mamadou Tandja's future and the maneuver of the international community all pose great challenges to the military regime.

Coup leaders have already launched contacts with regional organizations to explain why they launched the coup in order to win support.

Colonel Djibrilla Hima, one of the coup leaders, told West African leaders in Mali that they will hold elections once the situation was stabilized.

"We plan to organize elections but first we have to stabilize the situation," Hima said, hinting an election is impossible at present due to the volatile situation.

Meanwhile, the military junta has faced mounting pressure as Niger's political opposition urged swift elections to restore civilian rule. The UN, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and many foreign governments have also condemned the coup.

The African Union (AU) said in a statement on Saturday that it had decided to suspend the participation of Niger in all activities of the AU until the restoration of constitutional order in the country.

Hima said he had won "understanding" after he explained the reason for the coup to the region's leaders gathered in the Malian capital of Bamako for a summit.

He said elections will be organized at "a right moment," adding they had to "ally the people and create conditions" for such a poll.

A delegation from the 15-nation ECOWAS led by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar, has arrived overnight for political consultations following Thursday's military coup.

Former ECOWAS President Mohammed Ibn Chambas told reporters in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Friday that the team would make contacts with those in authority.

President Mamadou Tandja was held captive and his whereabouts remain unclear after a group of soldiers in armored vehicles stormed the presidential palace on Thursday. Several soldiers were killed in crossfire with presidential guards.

"The government is dissolved," said a spokesman for the military junta, which claims itself as the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, in a statement on state television.

The junta described the coup as "successful" in putting an end to the tense political situation in the country.

The junta spokesman also called on the people of Niger and the international community to have faith in the junta's ideals which "could turn Niger into an example of democracy and of good governance."

There had been political tension in Niger since President Mamadou Tandja dissolved parliament and conducted a referendum to extend his two-term tenure last year.

Tandja's opponents condemned the August 2009 referendum that would allow Tandja, who was scheduled to step down in December 2009 after the expiration of two five-year terms, to stay in power till 2012.