factfinder

NIGER in the war clouds happily fomented by the world powers
In June 07 the army consisting of several thousands of soldiers was humiliated when the Tuaregs (the poorest ones of them from the pastoral Massif of Aïr ) from the Movement of Niger for the Justice (MNJ) successfully attacked the army camp Tazerzeit to the north of Agadez, killing 15 soldiers and injuring several tens of them .The government of pres. Mamadu Tandja then placed the North under an exceptional regime forbiding journalists to enter it .
The Tuaregs are travelling in brand-new jeeps and are equipped with weapons which they have captured from the army or bought in the neighbouring states representing a major weapon trafficking area … The Tuaregs are allegedly supported by Kadhaffi ´s Libya and the French nuclear group Areva that exploits the uranium mines of Niger and that is interested in the instability in the northern region of Niger …
The army (FAN ) is equipped with army vehicles from China and with attack helicopters from Russia while the US whose presence in this Sahara region has been significantly raised in the name of antiterrorism is pleased to supply the FAN with the satellite spy information on the Tuareg rebels , providing them with the transcriptions of satellite phone calls …
In its hunger for the revenge the FAN can rely on the support of a few militant activists, such as an economist Nuhu Arzika, a populist tribune, who within a few months has turned from a militant fighting „ against the rising prices “ into a violent racist and nationalist … On the internet several racist sites have recently appeared on which the Tuaregs are treated as „ rats without conscience „ and Nicolas Sarkozy is asked „ not to send the Tuaregs to the war to the death „ …