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NIGER: Government continues down the road of confrontation with Tuareg rebels

newsgroup.nordniger | 27.08.2007 20:25 | Analysis | Repression | Social Struggles | London

The Nigerien military is continuing to arbitrarily arrest civil servants from the department of Agadez in Niger, leaving no trace of them. At the same time landmines belonging to the military have been discovered that both the civilian population and Tuareg fighters acknowledge the existence of.

26th of August 2007 newsgroup.nordniger

NIGER
Nigerien government continues down the road of confrontation with Tuareg rebels

The Nigerien military is continuing to arbitrarily arrest civil servants from the department of Agadez in Niger, leaving no trace of them. At the same time landmines belonging to the military have been discovered that both the civilian population and Tuareg fighters acknowledge the existence of.

In recent weeks more and more sympathisers of the "Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice" (MNJ) have defected from the "Force armée nationale" (FAN) and the "Force nationale d'intervention et de sécurité" (FNIS) to take up arms with the MNJ. In May soldiers guarding a uranium mine owned by the French company AREVA, deserted and joined the MNJ, taking with them money and weapons.

In response to this the Nigerien government accused AREVA of funding the MNJ and therefore the Tuareg rebellion. This particular crisis peaked with the exiling of Dominique Pin, a representative of AREVA in Niger. At the end of June, Gilles Denamur, a security expert for AREVA was also exiled, due to accusations by the Nigerien government of aiding the rebellion of 1990 – 1995. AREVA has repeatedly denied the accusations.

On July 27th, French President, Nicolas Sarkozy intervened and pushed for a rapid solution. Following talks between both the French and Nigerien governments, and AREVA, Niger agreed to extend AREVA’s mining contracts. Until now AREVA has held the monopoly in uranium mining in Niger. The new contracts stand to greatly improve the Nigerien government’s financial gain from the uranium mines.

Because the Nigerien government still does not have control over rebel movements in the north, it has requested assistance from neighbouring countries to help contain the fighters. The president – Mamadou Tandja – still belittles the rebellion and the rebels, referring to them as "armed bandits" and "drug traffickers", making negotiations until now impossible. In mid-July, Burkina Faso offered to act as a mediator between the rebels and the government as in the previous rebellion, successful peace talks were accomplished with the help of Burkina Faso, among other countries.

On July 15th the MNJ set up a political office whose intention it is to reach the Tuareg – Diaspora living in the western world, to establish international representatives and relations and to co-ordinate charity campaigns.

The MNJ is still, and repeatedly, showing it's willingness to engage in negotiations. This willingness was reinforced by the release of six soldiers who were arrested during the attack of Tazerzayt.

From the 9th to the 10th of August the MNJ attacked an electricity station that provides power to a uranium mine belonging to AREVA, and a fuel deposit that is used by the FAN, in an attempt to have their demands heard. In successive fighting between the MNJ and the FAN, two civilians have been killed by the Nigerien military.

Further information:

Link German   http://de.indymedia.org/2007/07/188674.shtml
Link French   http://lille.indymedia.org/spip.php?article9732
Link English   http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/07/377118.html

Email: newsgroup.nordniger[at]yahoo.de

Website: newsgroup-nordniger.blogspot.com

Website of MNJ:  http://m-n-j.blogspot.com

News Agency Reuters:  http://www.reuters.com,  http://africa.reuters.com/NE

newsgroup.nordniger reports on the latest movements in the north of Niger since spring 2007, especially on the MNJ’s activities and all the according news and background information.

In the newsgroup.nordniger, people from the German speaking area are engaged who took over the task of reporting on news on the situation in northern Niger, the so-called Tuareg rebellion, the activities of the MNJ and everything that is related to it, as there is else only little or no information available.

newsgroup.nordniger is in contact with other groups with the same goal

newsgroup.nordniger


Comments

Hide the following 2 comments

Please stop posting bullshit

02.09.2007 22:18

This article is either written by a member of the so-called MNJ which is in fact a terrorist group indistinctly killing civilians and military with landmines, either by an innocent wester guy who have no idea of the reality in Niger. The fact MNJ is using land mines is recognized by almost everybody, and civilian in Mali and Niger are paying the price everyday. Will the author of this ridiculous article pretend that the mines that killed 11 malian civilians yesterday in mali were laid by the military? This rebellion has nothing to do with the future of Tuareg people. Niger is a country where everybody is uniformly poor, and no group was specially targeted. It is also known that until this year, the government hardly saw the revenues generated by the uranium sales, and in fact was unable to develop any region. These guys simply believe that deadly weapons and terror can be used to force the government to give 70% of its budget to less than 10% of the population. If they get it, they'll soon launch another rebellion to ask for more. Those who have an idealized opinion of these bandits should wake up: There is no blue warrior fighting for liberty but cowards planting mines in the middle of the night. CHILDREN ARE STARVING IN THE NORTH BECAUSE OF MINED ROADS.

A nigerien


Responding to "bullshit" ...

24.09.2007 17:11

(1) newsgroup.nordniger emphasizes that we do not believe in refering to opinions different from our own as "bullshit". We expect the same respect from any other person making comment on INDYMEDIA, especially if they prefer to remain anonymous.

(2) Naming MNJ a "terrorist movement" is incorrect and not acceptable.
MNJ has adhered to the rules of the Geneva Convention and has repeatedly released prisoners with NO conditions for their release.
Unfortunately, this cannot be said of the FAN.

(3) The use of land mines has been made on BOTH sides, unfortunately.

(4) The news posted by newsgroup.nordniger are posted by a group of concerned people who have a good idea of the "reality" in Niger and adjacent countries - as well as of the reality of other countries, globalisation and the importance of resources etc.

(5) Niger has covered - as the author himself points out unawarely - approx 70% of its national budget through uranium sales / royalties FOR MANY YEARS - NOT just lately.
People in the Northern part of the country (mainly Tuareg) are suffering from the detrimental environmental and health effects of uranium mining - whereas people in the North do NOT profit from the revenues.

(6) Last not least, the resources of uranium (and other resources) are located in the North - and thus in the territories of Tuareg people.
According to international covenants (such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) it is the local / indigenous peoples who own these resources and have the right to make decisions about them.

(7) We ask people who comment to refrain from insults and insulting terms such as "bandits" or "cowards".

So much for the facts. No "bullshit".

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mail e-mail: newsgroup.nordniger@yahoo.de


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