Thursday, February 18, 2010

Coup attempt launched in Niger

Elite guards are fighting to put down a suspected coup attempt against President Mamadou Tandja in the uranium-rich African country Niger.

Niger produces close to eight percent of the world's uranium, traditionally in partnership with French and Canadian mining firms.

In the last two years, it has signed deals with two Chinese state owned companies to extract uranium and pump oil from new wells. One of the Chinese deals, agreed in June 2008, is worth £3 billion.

Niger, where the main religion is Islam, is one of the countries in the region where Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - the network's North African affiliate - has become active. Read full story here below.

Coup attempt launched in Niger

Niger's President Mamadou Tandja Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Coup attempt launched in Niger
From The Daily Telegraph by Mike Pflanz, West Africa Correspondent
Published: 2:36PM GMT UK Thursday, 18 February 2010:
The sounds of machine-gun fire and heavy weapons were heard from the government district of the capital Niamey, and smoke was rising from the presidential palace.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the apparent attempt to oust President Tandja, who changed his country's constitution in August to allow him to stay in power.

"We heard automatic gunfire and then large detonations. The house was shaking. It lasted about a half hour, non-stop," Claire Deschamps, a French national living in Niamey, told the AFP news agency.

Soldiers were blocking the road near to the prime minister's office, and all other streets nearby were said to be deserted, with shops shuttered.

The president was not thought to have been injured during the first bout of sustained gunfire.

A member of his personal staff at the presidential palace told the Reuters news agency that "for now everything is alright".

But tensions have been rising in the vast West African country on the southern fringes of the Sahara, since the constitutional amendment two months ago.

Mr Tandja forced the change through by claiming that "his people" wanted him to stay past his prescribed two term limit in order to "finish the work I have started".

At the same time, he dissolved parliament and awarded himself extra powers, moves which drew international criticism and sanctions from neighbouring states.

Mr Tandja won elections in 1999 and 2004 that were widely seen as free and fair.

Niger produces close to eight percent of the world's uranium, traditionally in partnership with French and Canadian mining firms.

In the last two years, it has signed deals with two Chinese state owned companies to extract uranium and pump oil from new wells. One of the Chinese deals, agreed in June 2008, is worth £3 billion.

Niger, where the main religion is Islam, is one of the countries in the region where Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - the network's North African affiliate - has become active.
Also, read IRIN news report, Thursday, 18 February 2010 re NIGER: Constitution crisis turned coup.

Click on coup label here below to read related reports and latest updates.

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