Kidnapped Areva Officials Still Missing in Niger, Africa 1 year later

NIAMEY — Four Frenchmen held by Al Qaeda's North African franchise on Friday marked a year since their capture, with negotiations for their release complicated by the fallout of the Libyan chaos.

On September 16 last year, seven people were snatched by the radical group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Arlit, a uranium mining town in northern Niger.

Amomg them was a senior employee with the French mining group Areva and his wife. The other five, employed by an Areva subcontractor, included three Frenchmen as well as a Togolese and a Malagasy.

On February 24, the woman and the two Africans were released at a desert spot close to where the borders of Niger, Mali and Algeria meet.

However Daniel Larribe, Thierry Dole, Marc Feret and Pierre Legrand are still being held by AQIM and their families are demanding more tangible efforts to secure their release.

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, whose country is also affected by the activities of the Al Qaeda-affiliated group, said earlier this week he thought the hostages were still alive.

"All state agencies have been mobilised since the very first day and are doing everything they can for our compatriots to recover their freedom," the French foreign ministry said Thursday.

"We're in contact with the kidnappers, physically, by phone and through intermediaries," one mediator told AFP recently.

Some sources even predict the hostages could be freed soon.

AQIM does not appear to have modified its demands since it released a video of the hostages "begging" Nicolas Sarkozy to pull his troops out of Afghanistan, something the French president promptly ruled out.

However, France has since announced its intention to withdraw around a quarter of its forces by the end of 2012, a decision believed to have been welcomed by AQIM.

Another of the hostage-takers' demands is the payment of a staggering 90 million euros (125 million dollars), which Paris has also officially rejected.

The situation is fluid in Niger, where two other French nationals were kidnapped in the capital Niamey earlier this year before being executed in Mali.

Areva's expatriate contingent, which had been sent home after last year's kidnapping, however returned to Arlit in July after France and Niger agreed to beef up security.

The new element affecting regional security is the change of regime in Libya, where Western-backed rebels toppled Moamer Kadhafi.

Neighbouring countries and security experts have expressed fears that chaos in Libya would scatter Kadhafi's arsenal across the region and eventually give AQIM access to new and more sophisticated weapons.

"We used to focus mainly on AQIM, now we have to watch everything at the same time," a Nigerien army officer stationed in the north explained.

The Rest @ AFP

Tuaregs Fighting for Gaddafi

Niger Rebels have been given asylum and support by Gadaffi in Libya for half a century; so it is natural that he would call on the Tuareg in Northern Nigeria to help him start an insurgency.

Shimron Issachar ( see article below)

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The Libyan leader has turned for additional firepower to the Tuareg berber people, who have a history of relations with Tripoli -- and their own longstanding conflict with the Niger government.

Doctors in Brega, Libya show identity card of a slain pro-Gaddafi fighter they say was a Tuareg from Niger

AGADEZ - “We’re here, and everything’s fine. They gave us weapons in Tripoli, and for now we have to stick to Sabaha (in southern Libya). But we’ll be on the frontlines soon….Long live Gaddafi!”

Reached from Agadez, in northern Niger, Suleiman’s laughter is lost in the static of the cell phone. Communication is cut off somewhere in the Sahara desert, a thousand kilometers away from the Aïr mountains of Niger where Suleiman was born.

The northern mountain range remains the stronghold of the rebellion of the Tuareg, a nomadic Berber people, who have fought on and off against the authorities in the capital of Niamey.
That Tuaregs from Niger have been recruited as mercenaries for the Libyan regime is Agadez’s worst kept secret. But it is hard to meet a volunteer who’ll speak openly about it -- and impossible to know just how many have taken Muammar Gaddafi’s side since the beginning of the Libyan crisis.

“There are hundreds of them,” estimates a former rebel leader in Agadez. “They leave in caravans. The ride is long but easy. We avoid Nigerien army checkpoints, and once in Libya, we’re at home. We’ve always been welcome there.”

The desert is unconquerable. North of a line going from the Malian border to Libya, passing through Tahoua, Agadez and Dirkou, the Tuaregs know the dirt roads that lead up into Algeria and Libya better than anyone else.

These roads see all sorts of traffic: arms and drugs, goods and African migrants heading to Europe. For years, these roads have been leading them to Libya, a land of asylum and a sanctuary for generations of Tuareg rebels since the 1960s.

It is a land of financial and personal integration for the luckiest, of thankless seasonal labor for others. For a Tuareg community that doesn’t feel welcome in its own country, one of the poorest in the world, Libya is a gold mine.

“Unemployment, idleness, destitution and political frustration, added to the feeling that they are in debt to Gaddafi… All the ingredients are there to make the Tuaregs fight by his side.

Gaddafi doesn’t need equipment or money, he needs menNigerien Patriotic Front (NPF) rebel group.,” says Issuf Maha, 46, a former official of the

• Nigerien Tuaregs in Libya, with full access to Gaddafi’s inner circle, have activated networks.
• “Rhissa Boula and Aghali Alambo (two former rebel leaders) contacted a number of people,” Maha adds.
• One young man, Houcene, hasn’t made up his mind about going to Tripoli. “A friend called me,” he says. “They promised up to $100 a day. It’s tempting, but I don’t really want to fight for a foreign country, even if it’s Libya.” One of his friends went. “He left with about 60 others from the Tahoua region.
• Once in Tripoli, thanks to the old commanders’ connections, Libya gave them weapons. They formed small units and now they’re in Benghazi (the opposition stronghold) to take the city.”

Gaddafi has often used battalions of Tuaregs, picking these rugged warriors from tribes living in Southern Libya but mostly in the Tuareg communities of Mali and Niger, the largest, “about 1.5 million people for a population 11 million,” according to a Nigerien general.

Integrated in the ranks of the Islamic Legion, these men fought in Lebanon, despite not speaking Arabic, and in Chad in the 1980’s. Many then stayed in Libya. Some worked their way up to the top of the Libyan military ranks, unheard of in their native Niger, where Tuaregs are under-represented in government bodies. One of Gaddafi’s closest advisors is a Tuareg and two Southern shabiyats (districts), Ghat and Wadi al Hayaa are run by Tuaregs.

In Agadez, many dream of such promotions. “If we want security in the North of the country, we have to integrate Tuaregs in the army. They know the region better than anyone else. But the army sees us as thugs,” regrets Mohamed Anako.

Still, Agadez has been precariously calm since a verbal peace agreement quickly put together in the Libyan port city of Syrte in April 2009, under Gaddafi’s supervision, which put an end to a two-year Tuareg uprising in Niger.

“It was just a tacit agreement to start the peace process,” says Aklou Sidi Sidi. Niamey only partly recognized the protocol. “Gaddafi paid for everything but as usual, he just gave suitcases full of dollars to rebel leaders,” says Maha.

With the Libyan money, the 3,000 or so identified rebels were demobilized and disarmed. In exchange, Niamey called a general amnesty, freed prisoners and lifted the state of exception installed in Agadez and the surrounding region. But no economic or social measures were taken.

“They should have integrated former rebels, given young people jobs, but they never followed up,” says the region’s governor, Colonel Yaye Garba, a Zarma appointed in Agadez by the military junta.

The makeshift peace agreement has frustrated 35-year-old Houcene. He’s among those low-ranking rebels who only got a little money for their demobilization after two years of guerilla in the bush. “Former leaders took the lion’s share.

They drive around Niamey in fancy SUVs, live in big villas,” he says. Some haven’t even been back to Agadez, afraid to face their former brothers in arms. Especially since the money paid was less then what Libya had promised. “Gaddafi promised $20 million and only paid four million,” says Issouf Maha. Houcene, who’s been unemployed since he gave up his weapons, says there’s no place left to turn.

“We were betrayed by everyone: Niamey, Tripoli and our own leaders.”
Read the original article in French

By Christophe Chatelot

The Rest @ WorldCrunch-LeMonde

Gaddafi Fleeing to Niger?

(Reuters) - Scores of Libyan army vehicles have crossed the desert frontier into Niger in what may be a dramatic, secretly negotiated bid by Muammar Gaddafi to seek refuge in a friendly African state, military sources from France and Niger told Reuters on Tuesday.

The convoy of between 200 and 250 vehicles was given an escort by the army of Niger, an impoverished and landlocked former French colony to the south of Libya, and might, according to a French military source, be joined by Gaddafi en route for neighboring Burkina Faso, which has offered him asylum.

It was not clear where the 69-year-old former leader was. He has broadcast defiance since being forced into hiding two weeks ago, and has previously vowed to die fighting on Libyan soil.

Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, the heir apparent before the uprising which ended his father's 42 years of personal rule two weeks ago, also was considering joining the convoy, the French source added. France played a leading role in the war against Gaddafi and such a large Libyan military convoy could hardly have moved safely without the knowledge and agreement of NATO air forces.

Sources told Reuters that France may have brokered an arrangement between the new Libyan government and Gaddafi.

But a spokesperson for the French foreign ministry in Paris could not confirm the report of the convoy's arrival in the northern Niger desert city of Agadez nor any offer to Gaddafi, who with Saif al-Islam is wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

Officials in other Western governments and in Libya's new ruling council were not immediately available for comment.

The sources said the convoy, probably including officers from army units based in the south of Libya, may have looped through Algeria rather than crossing the Libyan-Niger frontier directly. It arrived late on Monday near the northern city of Agadez. Algeria last week took in Gaddafi's wife, daughter and two other sons, angering the rebels who ended his 42-year rule.

"HIGH SPIRITS"

NATO warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft have been scouring Libya's deserts for large convoys of vehicles that may be carrying the other Gaddafis, making it unlikely that it could have crossed the border without some form of deal being struck.

Libya's new rulers have said they want to try Gaddafi before, possibly, handing him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has charged him with crimes against humanity.

Earlier on Monday, Gaddafi's fugitive spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said he was in good health and good spirits somewhere in Libya. "Muammar Gaddafi is in excellent health and in very, very high spirits," Ibrahim said in remarks broadcast on television.

"He is in a place that will not be reached by those fractious groups, and he is in Libya," Ibrahim told Arrai TV.

The head of Gaddafi's security brigades, Mansour Dhao, along with more than 10 other Libyans, crossed into Niger on Sunday, two Niger officials had said earlier on Monday.

The French military source said he had been told the commander of Libya's southern forces, General Ali Khana, may also be in Niger, not far from the Libyan border.

He said he had been told that Gaddafi and Saif al-Islam would join Khana and catch up with the convoy should they choose to accept Burkina Faso's offer of exile.

Burkina Faso, also once a French colony and a former recipient of large amounts of Libyan aid, offered Gaddafi exile about two weeks ago but has also recognised the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) as Libya's government.

Burkinabe Foreign Minister Yipene Djibril Bassolet said that Gaddafi could go into exile in his country even though it is a signatory of the ICC treaty.

Gaddafi has said he is ready to fight to the death on Libyan soil, although there have been a number of reports that he might seek refuge in one of the African nations on whom he once lavished some of Libya's oil wealth.

His spokesman Ibrahim said: "We will prevail in this struggle until victory ... We are still strong, and we can turn the tables over against those traitors and NATO allies."

BESIEGED TOWN

Last week, a senior NTC military commander said he believed Gaddafi was in Bani Walid, 150 km south of Tripoli, along with Saif al-Islam. Libyan forces have massed outside the town -- that has refused to surrender -- building a field hospital in preparation for a possible last stand.

Some NTC officials said they had information that Saif al-Islam had fled Bani Walid on Saturday for the southern deserts that lead to the Niger and Algerian borders.

On-off talks involving tribal elders from Bani Walid and a fog of contradictory messages in recent days, have reflected the complexities of dismantling the remnants of Gaddafi's rule and building a new political system.

At a military checkpoint some 60 km (40 miles) north of the town on the road to the capital, Abdallah Kanshil, who is running talks for the interim government, told journalists a peaceful handover was coming soon. Nevertheless, a dozen vehicles carrying NTC fighters arrived at the checkpoint.

"The surrender of the city is imminent," he said on Monday. "It is a matter of avoiding civilian casualties. Some snipers have surrendered their weapons ... Our forces are ready."

Similar statements have been made for days, however. With communications cut, there was no word from inside Bani Walid.

But 20 km closer to the town, NTC forces built a field hospital and installed 10 volunteer doctors to prepare for the possibility that Gaddafi loyalists would not give up.

"The presence of pro-Gaddafi forces in Bani Walid is the main problem. This is their last fight," said Mohamed Bin Dalla, one of the doctors. "If Bani Walid is resolved peacefully then other remaining conflicts will be also be resolved peacefully."

Forces loyal to the National Transitional Council are also trying to squeeze Gaddafi loyalists out of his home town of Sirte, on the coast, and a swathe of territory in the desert.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Alex Dziadosz in Tripoli, Sherine El Madany in Ras Lanuff, Emma Farge in Benghazi, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Barry Malone and Alastair Macdonald in Tunis, Sami Aboudi, Amena Bakr and Omar Fahmy in Cairo, Abdoulaye Massalatchi and Nathalie Prevost in Agadez and Richard Valdmanis in Dakar; Writing by Barry Malone; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Michael Roddy)

AQIM Says it Spreads its hostages out

It appears that The 7 hostages captured by AQIM in Mali have been separated and spread out to prevent a rescue attempt.

-Shimron

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Hostages held by al-Qaeda scattered: Mali source

Seven hostages, including five French nationals, held by an al-Qaeda regional offshoot have been scattered and are no longer in Mali, a Malian source close to the case said Sunday.

"The seven hostages have been scattered and are no longer on Malian territory. We are sure of that," said the source, who added that this was likely to make it more difficult to locate them.
"There are Malian and Niger people of goodwill trying hard to obtain satisfactory results. But it's not easy," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.

The seven hostages -- five French nationals, a Togolese and a Madagascan -- were seized from Niger's uranium mining town of Arlit in September and later taken across the border into Mali.
Their abduction was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), whose leader warned France to pull its troops out of Afghanistan if it wants to see the safe return of five French hostages.

Francoise Larribe, one of the five, is suffering from cancer and had undergone chaemotherapy shortly before the kidnapping, according to her family.

AQIM in July killed a 78-year-old French hostage who was kidnapped in Niger after six of its militants were killed in a joint French-Mauritanian rescue bid.

In a tape broadcast on Al-Jazeera television last Friday, Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden bin Laden meanwhile said the release of French hostages depends on a pullout of French soldiers from Afghanistan and warned Paris of a "high price" for its policies.

[Osama Bin Laden suggested the two French Hostages in Afghanistan-it is not clear whether his ultimatum applies to the Mail captives...Shimron]


Two French journalists were seized along with three Afghan colleagues in December 2009 east of Kabul. Several other French hostages were seized last year in Niger in a kidnapping claimed by AQIM.

On the tape bin Laden, addressing the French people, said: "The refusal of your president to withdraw from Afghanistan is the result of his obedience of America, and this refusal is a green light to kill your prisoners."

He warned that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's stance would "cost him and you a high price on different fronts, inside and outside France."

The Rest @ AFP By way of Expactica

Niger: Two AQIM Prisoners in Custody after Two French Civilians killed

Niger holding 2 suspects in French killings: sources
Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:42pm GMT

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger security forces are holding two men prisoner they believe were among a group of al Qaeda militants that kidnapped and killed two French nationals at the weekend, according to security sources.

The two Frenchmen were found dead after French special forces joined a failed attempt to rescue them in the West African state on Saturday.

"Two AQIM elements captured during clashes are being interrogated by the national guard," according to a Nigerien security source with knowledge of the case.

A second source said French police were assisting in the interrogation of the two prisoners.
The two victims were abducted from a bar in Niger's capital Niamey, bringing to eight the number of French people snatched in Niger since last April.

They were the first to be seized in Niamey, far from the lawless desert where militants, rebels and bandits operate.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Monday he was almost certain that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was behind the incident.

Niger's government said four other militants were killed in the clashes, along with three Nigerien soldiers.

AQIM is holding another five French citizens, employees of French firms Areva and Vinci, taken from the northern mining town of Arlit in September.

AQIM also killed French tourist Michel Germaneau in July after kidnapping him in Niger three months earlier.

The Rest @ Reuters

AFP Reports - US to Suspend Aid to Niger

AFP - 23/12/09. Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The United States will suspend their aid to Niger to protest against the continuation in office of President Mamadou Tandja, told AFP on Wednesday a U.S. official on condition of anonymity.

"Since we do not see enough progress on site, we will ban travel to the United States of people who support Tandja and we will suspend our assistance in Niger," said this source within the State Department.

"We believe that (Mr. Tandja) must relinquish power peacefully and allow transparent elections," said the diplomat. " We have made our position clear for months."

U.S. aid to Niger was approximately $ 27 million in 2009. The second five-year successive term for Tandja is to expire December 22 but was extended by the adoption of a controversial new constitution in August, sparking protests from the Economic Community of African States (ECOWAS) , a mediator in negotiations with the opposition.

The European Union had suspended aid to development in November.

The Rest @ Issikta 16:23














Shimron Issachar

Reogranization of MNJ

INFORMATION

The Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ)announced a reorganization

has the honor to inform national and international opinion that since 09 October 2009, its delegation members Executive Movement from the MNJ reorganization of August 31, 2009, Located in Agadez.

Composition of the Delegation :1 --

• Mr. KALAKOUWA Amoumoune : Chief of General Staff of the NJ and Executive Chairman of the Movement2 --
• Mr. FELTOU Ghissa : Policy Coordinator, head of the NJ Committee for negotiations and a member of the Management Movement,3 --
• Captain WARTARÈNE Aghali : Member of the General Staff of NJ and member of the Management Movement,4 --
• Mr. MOHAMED Issony : Member of the General Staff of NJ and member of the Management Movement,5 --
• Mr. HALIL Amoumoune : Member of the NJ Committee for negotiations and a member of the Management Movement,6 --
• Mr. EZAGHAGUE Alhadi : Member of the NJ Committee for negotiations and a member of the Management Movement,7 --
• Mr. Mohamed EKIJI : Member of the NJ Committee for negotiations and a member of the Management Movement.
• This move follows a meeting of Sabha in Libya meeting at which the MNJ has shown its full availability and given all the guarantees for a return of peace in our country.

After Agadez, part of the delegation leaves today October 10, 2009 in Niamey for a meeting with more affrondie authorities in Niamey, before leaving for Tripoli, where they will be joined by other members of the Management Movement, including those living abroad and whose availability permitting, to implement the various commitments of Sabha.

Then return to Tripoli

• 1 - Mr. KALAKOUWA Amoumoune,
• 2 - Captain WARTARÈNE Aghali,
• 3 - Mr. MOHAMED Issony,
• 4 - Mr. Mohamed EKIJI

Remain in Agadez to address practical issues of combatants:

• 1 - Mr. FELTOU Ghissa,
• 2 - Mr. HALIL Amoumoune.
• 3 - Mr. EZAGHAGUE Alhadi,

The Rest @

What Has Happened to Robert Fowler and Louis Guay?

The international community's efforts to encourage the Niger government toward negotiations with the Tuareg-led MNJ rebels have come up against new hurdles.

The United Nations appointed a peace-maker, but he and his companions were kidnapped three days after arriving; they have not been found for over a month (news synthesis, below).

• The national army's atrocities on Tuareg civilians appear to continue unabated in the north (MNJ January 4, 2009).
• Two Canadian diplomats, Robert Fowler and Louis Guay, along with their Nigerien chauffeur Soumana Mounkaila, sent by the UN to explore the possibility of peace talks, were apparently abducted in Niger on December 14th just outside of the capital of Niamey, over 700 miles from the MNJ base and conflict area in the Air Mountains.
• Their vehicle, clearly marked with the UNDP insignia, was found empty the following day, with the engine running and turn signal light flashing; the doors left open, and expensive equipment including three mobile phones and a camera left inside the vehicle.
• A Nigerien reporter thinks the men may have pulled over voluntarily, since the turn signal light was still on; they may have been responding to a gesture or signal from an official vehicle (Edwards, January 12, 2009).
• The men disappeared after 6:30 PM on Dec. 14th following their visit from 10:30 AM-3:30 PM to a gold mine at Samira Hill that was owned by two Canadian companies, Etruscan Resources and Semafo, Inc.
• The UNDP vehicle was found abandoned near a ferry crossing on the Niger River, about half way between Niamey and a Canadian-run gold mine where they had toured the mines and shared lunch with the mining employees (Clark Dec. 19, 2008).
• Fowler, 64, was a veteran Canadian diplomat appointed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in July 2008 as a special envoy to Niger to try to help sort out the conflict; the MNJ rebels had been hoping for a mediator.
• On their website, the MNJ suggest that the Niger government may have kidnapped the UN officials. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon, has not ruled out the possibility that the government of Niger may have been involved, although there is no evidence that has "publicly emerged" that would indicate the Niger government's role in the kidnapping (Edwards, Jan. 12, 2009).
• Nigerien journalists have also said they secretly suspect their government is responsible for the men's disappearance (Edwards, January 12, 2009).
• Reporters in Niger must remain cautious and circumspect, because the government of Niger has placed a ban on unbiased coverage of the conflict, and has jailed reporters suspected of interviewing the MNJ, so that self-censorship has become a necessary means of survival among the news agencies in Niger.
• One Nigerien reporter said that the men's disappearance was all the more mysterious because the area where they had been travelling was under heavier than usual military surveillance, with reinforced government security forces to make the zone safe for a national festival that was about to take place at the town of Tilabery, and so it's difficult to imagine how criminals or terrorists could have carried out a kidnapping under such high security.
• One source says that reporters in Niger have called Mr. Fowler "Mr. Africa," and say he is "Niger's friend" (Edwards, Dec. 19, 2008).

Both Canadian and Nigerien investigators have even considered the possibility of an armed Islamist group taking the men for ransom, or of some other group kidnapping the men and delivering them to an Islamist group, although there has been no indication in the past month that a demand for ransom is forthcoming.

Over the past few years, armed Muslim radicals including some associated with the group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), have kidnapped Europeans in the Sahara on several occasions, but their main motive seems to have been to obtain ransom money. The Canadian government, anxious to find the missing men, has enlisted the help of the Malian government, where two Austrian tourists were kidnapped for an $8 million ransom by AQIM in February 2008 (AP, December 30, 2008).

AQIM took 19 days before announcing its demand for ransom. The fact that no one has come forward to claim responsibility and no ransom has been demanded at this point indicates that the outcome is less likely to be a positive one (Fitzpatrick, January 7, 2009).

The UN convoy that was sent to explore the possibility of getting peace negotiations started simply disappeared in Niger.

But Niger's ambassador to Canada, Nana Foumakoye, said that the Niger government had accepted the UN envoys' mission and approved it. She claimed that the Niger government was very interested in Fowler's mission, and that if there had been any objection, they could have prevented the UN mission through diplomatic channels.

One anonymous Western observer points out that Niger would have known that "the international community would get to the bottom of this kidnapping," and another observer said he doubted any role of the Niger government, because the country depends on foreign support.

However, according to Canadian sources, the UN envoy was sent to Niger in near secrecy by the UN for exploratory security talks (Fitzpatrick, January 7, 2009; Edwards, January 12, 2009), so it is not clear that the Niger government was in agreement with the proposed talks.

• The mission was not acknowledged publicly by the UN until after the men went disappearing (Edwards, Dec. 17, 2008).
• It is not uncommon for the UN to keep a low profile on such appointments, to maintain discretion in very delicate diplomatic situations (Edwards, Dec. 16, 2008).

For the past two years, the Niger government has refused negotiations with the rebels, and has never officially asked the UN to mediate (AFP Dec. 21, 2008). The leadership of Niger has, on the contrary, repeatedly asserted that it will not negotiate.

Thus the UN Security Council itself did not know about the secret envoy, although the Canadian and Nigerien governments did. UN officials have not commented except to say that Fowler was on a "official trip" for meetings with officials, while the government of Niger says that the envoy's visit was "private," on "private business," and that he had "left Niamey without informing the authorities" to visit the gold mine (BBC Dec. 24, 2008; AFP, Dec. 28, 2008).

Nigerien reporter Boubacar Diallo, who is president of the Niger Association of Independent Press Editors and works on human rights issues, says that foreign officials must provide an account of where they are going, and take a "protocol official" with them (Edwards, Dec. 17, 2008).

• Travel within Niger, as with many other African countries, even between one town and the next, requires formal permission from the government, and apparently the envoy did not have it.
• One source points out that Guay had been involved with the mining industry for a number of years, and questions what Fowler and Guay were doing when they were kidnapped, since they were not in a Tuareg region, did not have UN security with them or a Nigerien protocol officer (Lee, Dec. 18, 2008).
• However, Canadian authorities point out that "it's not unusual for Canadian dignitaries to visit the Samira Hill mine … It's one of the biggest Canadian operations in Niger, and embassy officials like to showcase a success" (Bagnall, Dec. 18, 2008). This resonates with statements made by Mr. Guay himself several months before his trip, according to the CEO of Semafo, Inc., who recalled Mr. Guay as saying he was interested in seeing a "Canadian success story" (Edwards, Dec. 18, 2008).

It may be that a few sources have read too much into the connection between the members of the UN envoy and the gold mines; after all, mining is one of the central issues of the Tuareg-led MNJ's claims, and one could see how someone familiar with mining concerns in general could be useful in negotiating better work conditions, environmental safety, jobs, revenues, relationships with the community, and so forth for the people who are lobbying for them.

Also, the gold mines are said to be a popular excursion for visiting Canadian officials. It's not uncommon for visiting officials to want to see some sights while they are in a country, and this was on a Sunday, presumably a day off from work.

On the other hand, the Inner City Press at the UN alleges that there was a conflict of interest in the UN's initiative to explore peace talks with the Tuareg-led rebels who want reforms to the mining industry and a share of the revenues, saying that the UN has employed people who have "conflict-sensitive business practices" who are themselves involved in the mining industry in collaboration with the government of Niger.

The source claims that the UNDP helped build the Canadian-owned gold mines at Samira, and that the UN's "Global Impact" board includes a CEO of the French-owned uranium mine Areva, which is a major focus of the Tuareg-led rebellion (Lee, December 18).

However, corporate representatives affiliated with Global Compact, "the world's largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative," have called on governments to meet their human rights obligations and care for the environment, both of which are goals MNJ is seeking for Niger.

According to the Inner City Press at the UN, one of the two Canadian-owned gold mining companies at Samira, Semafo, is involved in uranium extraction in the north, where Tuareg pasture land is being appropriated for the uranium industry.

One of Fowler's specializations is the illegal weapons trade, and Inner City claims that Niger buys weapons from Canada (Lee, December 16 & 17, 2008).

They suggest that such connections might have made the rebels distrust the UN envoy.

However, China, according to the MNJ, has been a major supplier of weapons to Niger, including the landmines and tanks used against MNJ forces; yet, when the MNJ took a Chinese mining executive hostage in 2007, the MNJ acknowledged it publicly and quickly released him unharmed after talking with him.

The Nigerien head of Niamey's UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Modibo Traore, said "Mr. Fowler came here as part of an official UN visit, but we were not aware of his trip out of town to the Samira gold mine."

He also said that Mr. Fowler was the UN's special representative for Niger, "and in that capacity he is responsible for humanitarian problems and for finding a solution to the [Tuareg] rebellion." Mr. Fowler arrived in Niger on Dec. 11, and on Dec. 12 he met with Niger's Minister of the Interior, Albade Abouba, and Justice Minister, Dagra Mamadou.

However, Niger's Communications Minister, Mohamed Ben Omar, said that the UN envoy was "not on official business," but had entered the country on the basis of a desire to attend Niger's 50th anniversary celebrations in Tilabery on Dec. 18th (AFP Dec. 21, 2008). Apparently some have suspected that "Fowler was, at least on this trip, using the UN, its Laissez Passer and other benefits, for some other purpose," because he visited the gold mine (Lee Dec. 19, 2008). Ben Omar also added that there was a second car that had followed behind the UNDP vehicle when it left Niamey, and it had Togolese license plates, but the second car had not been located.

• A Nigerien who operates a restaurant close to the ferry landing where the UNDP vehicle was allegedly discovered says "There's no way the car can have been found on the ferry car park. There were far too many people for something like that to happen under our noses. We stay open until midnight and after that private security guards take over to look after our things until morning."

He claimed he had seen the car as it left the ferry at about 6:30 PM after it had crossed the river from visiting the gold mine, and the car continued on, heading towards Niamey. When the UN envoy did not return to Niamey by 7 PM, a UN staffperson in Niamey called a resident at the ferry town to alert the police; however, the police apparently did not discover the vehicle until the following morning (Edwards, Dec. 17, 2008).

It wasn't until one month (Jan.13th) after the men's disappearance on Dec. 14th that the president of Niger, Tandja Mamadou, made a public statement about it at a New Year's celebration in Niamey, saying he believes that "ethnic Tuareg rebel groups" abducted the two Canadians. He says that the rebels have been trying to overthrow the government because the revenues from the uranium mining are not benefiting the Nigerien people. He asserts that the rebels are "terrorist" groups involved with drug trafficking, and smuggling of weapons and people across borders.
The rebel group, MNJ, has kidnapped several French and Chinese uranium mining executives briefly over the past two years, and then handed them over to the Red Cross after a few days. They claim they did so in order to speak with them personally and tell them their grievances about the marginalization of their people, and they did not harm them. The MNJ seems to want to show that they are being transparent about their actions and motives by reporting the details on their website, and making their demands known quickly. They have never kidnapped for ransom.

The MNJ has enthusiastically denied any part in the disappearance of the UN envoy, and they suggest that it was the Niger government's security agencies that kidnapped the UN officials in order to discredit the rebel group. The MNJ has been calling for international intervention to get help with negotiations from their website for the past two years, and they say they openly welcome foreign reporters, relief agencies and diplomats. Issouf ag Maha, an MNJ representative, visited the UN in 2007, seeking international help to get negotiations started.

The UN's Special Advisor on conflict, Jan Egeland, made a tour through Mali and Niger in May 2008 and concluded that "the UN could and should do more to help with reconciliation at the local level, local development and empowerment for farmers and agricultural communities in the north and pastoralists." Egeland added, "There are people here who are advocating for a military solution to the rebellions, armed attacks and smugglers . . . but legitimate social, political and cultural grievances . . . require investment, development and dialogue" (IRIN, June 2, 2008; Egeland, June 4, 2008).

In July 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed Fowler, who has considerable experience with negotiations in African conflicts, "in an effort to calm escalating tensions among Tuareg rebels, the Niger government and mining companies." Ag Maha, who met Fowler in September 2008, said, "Fowler was working to bring peace to Niger" (Lebel Dec. 20, 2008). Thus, there doesn't seem to be any clear motive for rebels kidnapping Mr. Fowler, since they viewed him as trying to be of help in getting negotiations going. The MNJ has vowed to help in the investigation by calling on its networks in Niamey and elsewhere around Niger to obtain more information (Edwards, Dec. 18, 2008, MNJ Dec. 18, 2008).

According to news sources (The Star, Jan. 14, 2009), a splinter rebel group, the Front des Forces de Redressement (FFR), allegedly claimed responsibility on their website within a few days after the men's disappearance, but within hours they posted their denial of any responsibility.

Conclusions

• The FFR says their website was sabotaged via a secure communications protocol (Spencer, Dec. 19, 2008; BBC Dec. 24, 2008).
• "Our group does not practice hostage-taking, and we will not be the puppets in a game initiated by a group whose purpose isn't known," said the FFR on its website (Spencer, December 19, 2008).
• No rebel groups claim to have kidnapped the UN envoy. There is no evidence of any involvement of the government of Niger, just speculation.
• Both the rebels and the government of Niger have tried to be of help in finding them.
• Is there some other group, as yet undiscovered, that was responsible for the envoy's disappearance? So far, the Canadian government has not been able to discover anything of their whereabouts.
• The U.S. State Department has offered their full support to locate the missing men (Spencer Dec. 19, 2008).

The Rest @ Tuerg Culture and News

Albadé Abouba blamed by MNJ for delaying Peace

Saturday, 30 August, 2008

The MNJ web sight posted a statment suggesting that it is Niger's Interior Minister, Albadé Abouba who is undermining the discussions between them and the government.

In it, they acknowledge that the MNJ Initaited Hostilities.

What follows is a rough translation and summary from the french language site:

-Shimron

• After several months of research and investigations, we are now able to inform our countrymen of manoeuvers in Niamey which led to the stalemate in the conflict between us and the Nigerian Authorities.
• In initiating hostilities, the MNJ has set the goal of bringing the Nigerian Government to take into account the distress and anguish of our people and the development oinjustice in our country, because of multiple Peaceful efforts remained fruitless.
• The person of Minister of the Interior Mr. Albadé Abouba this windfall as the chance of his life:

Whenever the Nigerians are trying to work for peace and national reconciliation, the Minister of the Interior manages to dissuade President of the Republic, who believes that he is able to settle the conflict in his own way.

It then puts in motion a strategy as old as the World: "divide and conquer".

To achieve his ends, he [ Albadé Abouba ] managed to gather a few lost brothers in his living room and deploy an important intelligence apparatus.

[ this intelligence effort ] is A boon for many of our compatriots who find the way to round off their end month [ desire for money ] through hawking, slander and [finding ] informers.

For this, the Minister has the budget needed to carry out this [ Low life or underground ?] activity.

Some Nigerians have taken advantage of this situation to grow their business.

Thus, [ some have taken the position of ] "combatants who lay down their weapons".

• These traders buy weapons in a neighbouring country use of mercenaries who have no training in the profession of arms.
• The case of Gouré is illustrative of this maneuver unhealthy.

We hope that one day the president of the republic and the FAN discover his game and that justice is done.

- The movement.

The Rest @ MNJ Blogspot

Niger and Mali Rebels Coordinate Attacks

More evidence that al Aqeda is involved.

-Shimron


BAMAKO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Suspected Tuareg gunmen seized a military supply convoy in northern Mali taking 23 soldiers hostage, the latest sign of a concerted campaign with Tuareg rebels in neighbouring Niger, military sources said on Tuesday.

In the second attack in two days, a group of heavily armed men in Toyota pick-ups ambushed the convoy on Monday some 50 km (31 miles) from the town of Tinsawatene in Mali's desolate northern reaches near the border with Algeria.

After a gunbattle lasting several hours, the attackers captured a Toyota pick up, a lorry containing supplies, and large quantities of munitions. Six soldiers were able to escape.
"We're in shock. It was a heavy toll," said a senior Defence Ministry source. "Now it's a man hunt. We will spare no effort to find these men."

Military sources said several attackers were killed in the gunfight. It came a day after suspected Tuareg rebels captured 15 Malian soldiers in a remote Saharan town and carried them off toward Niger, where nomadic tribesmen are waging a seven-month old uprising.

The mountainous area where Sunday's abductions took place is regarded as a stronghold of Tuareg leader Ibrahima Bahanga, whom Malian authorities accuse of killing a gendarme in an attack in May backed by rebels from the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ).

"We are obliged to work closely with Niger because we believe there are links between the two groups," said the senior defence source.

"When they launch attacks in Niger they seek refuge in Mali, and when they attack in Mali they hide in Niger."

"There are contacts under way between military authorities in Mali and Niger to secure the area," the source added.

REGIONAL EFFORTS

Last week, Mali and Niger's security ministers met in the eastern Malian town of Gao and signed a deal allowing each others' security forces to pursue suspected bandits across their common border.

Bahanga, one of the leaders of a Tuareg revolt in the 1990s which won greater autonomy for the light-skinned tribesmen in Mali and Niger, has been disowned by a broader Malian rebel alliance, which signed a deal with President Amadou Toumani Toure in July 2006.

Toure, during a weekend visit to Tripoli, said he had agreed with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to hold a regional summit on security in the Sahel.

Niger President Mamadou Tandja has also appealed for regional support in quelling the uprising, which his government has accused French nuclear power company Areva and "rich foreign powers" of supporting.

The company has strongly denied this.

Niger's government said on Tuesday it had demined and reopened the road between the northern uranium mining hub of Arlit and the oasis town of Iferouane, which lies more than 1,000 km (600 miles) from the capital Niamey and has been isolated for more than two months.

A military convoy was able to deliver 60 tonnes of emergency food aid to the settlement, which lies in the heart of the rebel zone and was the scene of its first attack in February.

(Additional reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi in Niamey)

The Rest @ Reuters

Is Le Mouvement des Nigeriens pour la Justice ( MNJ ) Getting Al Qaeda Resources?

The MNJ uprising in Niger, North Africa has a marketing scheme underway that is sophisticated, multi-dimensional, and has European connections. The government's main response is to ban cigarettes, displaying a breath taking lack of awareness that the MNJ's funding has evolved from just Sahara cigarette smuggling, to al-Qaeda-like criminality, including sophsitacted weapons and kidnapping.


First, The MNJ's propoganda tools keep getting better.

Seven months ago youtube got a new user envouaturesimone who seems to be close to the MNJ leadership, and has produced two low quality videos which champion the MNJ cause. This Month, al Jazeera sent a team in and has done several reports, including Niger's Nomand Army, and several others by other news groups.

Perhaps it is coincidetal that all this new video coverage has hit the web since the MNJ web set added three European Based "leaders" Issouf MAHA, who claims to be Chargé de la Communication Cellule Politique MNJ en Europe (Communication for political cells in Europe), Ahmed AKOLI, claiming to be Secrétaire Général Cellule Politique MNJ en Europe, (Seceretary General for political cells), and Ghissa FELTOU, who claims to be Coordinateur Cellule Politique MNJ en Europe, Coordinator of political cells).


Second, Their Weapons keep getting better.

The MNJ recently claim to have new anti-tank missiles that look suspiciously like the missils sold to Libya by France in an oild deal a cuple of months ago. Though It is likely these were bought from a corrupt Libyan official, it suggests that funding sources for the MNJ have become more diverse.

The Libyan connection casues me wonder if the MNJ are connected to the The Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT)the group that has held American Aid Worker Steve Godbold since September, 2007.

The MNJ has recently announced a new offensive, and claimed to have "downed" two Russian made government MI-24 Attack Helicopters.

Finally, This is the same pattern that AQIM followed before they became the al-Qaeda franchise in the Magreb region of the Western Sahara Desert.


What ever the reason, The situation put's France's primary Uranium source (nuclear power) at risk.

-Shimron

UN Food Program and the MNJ

It appears that the UN Food Program Office in France may be gathering information on an obscure Rebel Commander in the MNJ named Aghali Alambo, possibly to see if there is an al Qaeda connection.

-Shimron

MNJ on New Offensive, New anti-tank weapons

The MNJ has announced a new offensive, and appear to be equipiped with state of the art anti-tank weapons.

Here are exerpts from their web site, posted on 11/7/08

-Shimron

• During the night of 10 to 11 July 2008, 18h 30 Specifically, we conducted a raid on the company's military and the governorate of Agadez. .
• The raid is the prelude to the offensive that we will, in turn, bring against the army "Nigerian" and the power of Niamey, it is now clear, are unable to distinguish between responsibility and weakness .
• Indeed, the MNJ has used every means to show that despite the military option he has been forced to take, he always worked to give the conflict a pace that endeuillerait least Nigerian families.
• We encourage all civilians to evacuate the vicinity of military barracks and nearby institutions representing the power of Niamey, inside the country.

MNJ repots Battle At TEZIRZAÏT, MI 24 Helicopters Downed

The MNJ claim that Captain Asharif Mohamed Almocatr, a MNJ leader and 3 others were Captured by the Niger Armed Forces in a battle in TEZIRZAÏT. They aledge the Military poisoned the well there and then left in the direction of IFEROUANE,

They warn that the wells there may be poisoned as well.

On Friday, June 27, 2008, they claim that 2 new MI 24 helicopters acquired by the army were destroyed at ARLI, between the city and the mining area.

They Claim the helicopter wreckage is located TAMART IN-IBLISS between GOUGARAM and ARLIT.

-Shimron

Check it out

MNJ Claims to hold 4 AREVA Executives at Bases Attacked by Helecopter Gunship

On the their website Yesterday, Tuesday, 23/6, The MNJ claims to have been attacked.

The MNJ claims that it holds Four (4) AREVA executives, and that recent attacks by government gunships put them at risk, along with other prisoners of war.

This is possible, but could be simply a ploy to stop attacks that appear to have unnerved them.

-Shimron

English Transation (via google) from French

MNJ Threatens Senses Takers

The MNJ is threatening s new sensus being undertaken by the Niger government. This Pas posted on 21/6 in a threat : "We forbid any movement in the cities and towns under our control. The folowing is a translated quote from their website.

-Shimron

"The government of Niger has launched a pseudo revision of the electoral register.

• This is an attempt to force a passage in order to minimize the current problem of our country.
• We wish to emphasize strongly that the time is not that and that people, especially those areas that we control, are not in this frame of mind.
• That is why, and above all to avoid a sham census which does not reflect reality on the ground, we forbid any movement in the cities and towns and areas under our control.
• Also, any team or mission of the so-called census that tries to violate this development must know that it is exposed to incalculable risks which it will assume its own full responsibility."

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) Threatens China Oil and Gas exploration and development Corporation (CNODC)

The MNJ (Niger Movement for Justice) websight has posted a threat from the The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS).

See the following English Translation of a 6 June Post in French.

-Shimron

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) have learnt with dismay the recent signing of the agreement, oil field exploitation of Agadem between Niger and the Chinese firm China Oil and Gas exploration and development Corporation (CNODC).

Also, we wish to warn the Chinese company against any exploitation in this period of insecurity, Agadem block.

In addition, we reject most vigorously installation of a refinery in Zinder instead localities as N'Guigmi and Diffa.

We hold the government of Niger and CNODC responsible for everything that happens after the non-compliance with this caveat.

Signed Bocar Mohamed SOUGOUMA President P / I of FARS

FARS Joins MNJ in Niger Rebellion

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi
NIAMEY, April 8 (Reuters) -
Toubou tribesmen in the extreme southeast of Niger said on Monday they had killed seven soldiers, appearing to open up a new front in a growing conflict between Saharan nomads and the government.

The Toubou-led Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Sahara (FARS) said it had also captured six more soldiers in fighting over the weekend in the region of Diffa, 1,400 km (870 miles) southeast of the capital Niamey.

Niger's army confirmed the clashes but said only two people had been killed, one on each side.

FARS said last week it was joining forces with the Niger Justice Movement (MNJ),

a Tuareg-led insurgency which has killed at least 70 government soldiers since February last year in a campaign for greater economic and political autonomy.

• "The justice and good governance that we want for our country, we want for all people in Niger, be they in the south or north, the east or west," FARS President Bocar Mohamed Sougouma said on the MNJ Web site.

Numerous light-skinned ethnic Tuareg, Arab and Toubou groups in Niger's northern and eastern deserts staged a joint uprising in the 1990s to demand greater independence from the country's black African-dominated government.Some Tuareg groups accepted a 1995 peace deal but the Toubou FARS held out until 1997, when they were granted an amnesty.

Former fighters have since accused the Niger government of failing to respect those accords.

Frustrations have boiled over again as the government encourages more foreign mining companies to invest in the northern Agadez province, home to one of the world's richest reserves of uranium.

Some nomads who feel economically marginalised despite the 1990s peace deals, which were meant to better integrate them, say only the government more than 1,000 km (620 miles) away in Niamey is benefiting from the investment.

Niger's government does not recognise the MNJ, dismissing the group as common bandits and drug traffickers and has so far refused to negotiate with them.

The region around Agadez has been awash with arms since the end of the 1990s rebellion and is criss-crossed with smuggling routes carrying everything from

• fake cigarettes
• small arms
• migrants

often with the complicity of the security forces.A senior police commissioner and Interior Ministry official in Niamey, Abdoulaye Amadou, was detained this week and is being investigated for links to the rebellion, said the rebels and another senior police officer

"Information has been established that he had contacts with armed bandits, without any official authorisation, and we have to clear all that up," the officer said, asking not to be named.

The Rest @ africa.reuters.com

Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ) ads English Language Blog

As of First January, 2008 a new blog appeared, called Tuareg Culture News. It made a broad announcement about the progress made by the Niger Movement for Justice. the Blog touches suggest that it may be written by the same individual or team that writes the Fench Language M-N-J Blog.

Cross linking suggests that they are trying to promote the old site as well.
They reported an attack on 16-03-08

-Shimron

Tuareg-led MNJ rebels attacked the military post at Banaibangou, just 125 miles north of Niger's capital, Niamey. The attack began at 7 PM March 16, resulting in the death of 3 Niger army soldiers;

• MNJ took a policeman hostage, along with 2 vehicles and all of the weapons at Banibangou.
• MNJ stayed several hours after the attack in conversations with the local people who thanked them, according to MNJ.
• AFP, relaying the government's official stance, said that those killed were a soldier and a policeman, and that another policeman was "missing"
• The Niger government also claimed that several rebels were either injured or killed, and that they fled.

The Rest @ AFP

M-N-J (MNJ) Promises to Step up attacks in Niger

The following article was posted in France by a media outlet that has been accused byt the Niger government of having direct connections to the NMJ leadership. Possible conclusion from the article and other related traffic:

• The MNJ has been a nationalist rebel group, generally without Islamist objectives
• Islamist Jihadists often practice a perceived quranic and Hadith requirement to warn their enemies to repent before they attack.
• In the last year before other attacks, MNJ has initatied this practice
• This warning was released 12 days ago
• therefore attaks on Areva and other Uranium interests in Niger may be iminent

-Shimron


Paris - Niger's Tuareg rebels will attack uranium mines and convoys in a new phase of their battle against the industry, a leading figure in the rebellion warned in an interview published on Thursday.

The Tuareg Movement of Nigeriens for Justice (MNJ) can mobilise up to 1 000 fighters under military chief Aghali Alambo, the leader of the rebellion Rhissa Ag Boula told French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur.

"We are going to attack the uranium mines, including those of (French nuclear giant) Areva, to stop factories functioning, prevent the exploitation of new quarries, and seize the cargo that is en route to the sea," he said.

"You can't exploit uranium without us," he warned.

Poor and restive Niger finds itself sitting on a surprising treasure trove of uranium. The west African state on the edge of the Sahara is the world's third largest producer of an element whose price has soared.

Areva is Niger's top private employer and has operated two uranium mines in the country for the past 40 years.

The stakes are particularly high for former colonial power France: three-quarters of the nuclear-powered electricity produced by its main electricity company EDF uses uranium imported from Niger.

In April last year, MNJ rebels attacked Areva's biggest uranium project in Niger, demanding better application of the economic aspects of the 1995 peace agreements that ended the first Tuareg rebellion.

The MNJ says peace will not return to the north of Niger without better integration of Tuaregs into the army, paramilitary corps and the local mining sector. Since February 2007 it has carried out attacks on military targets in the area.

Rhissa Ag Boula said this new phase of the Tuareg rebellion would soon see the rebels occupy a dozen urban centres in the uranium-rich north, such as Agadez, Arlit, Iferouane, and In Gall.
"There will be legislative and presidential elections in 2009. This will all happen before then," he said.

President Mamadou Tandja, who refuses to negotiate with the MNJ, in November extended by three months a state of emergency that has reinforced the army's powers in the conflict zone.
The Tuaregs are a grouping of nomadic tribes who have roamed the Sahara since centuries before the countries of the region gained independence from colonial powers.

The Rest @ News 24