Posted on 08/17/2004 8:27:46 AM PDT by piasa
TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Niger's Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou conferred here Monday with President Mohammad Khatami and submitted to him a written message from his Niger's counterpart.
At the meeting, President Khatami highlighted the principled policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran which underlines expansion of relations with world countries based on mutual respect and voiced Tehran's willingness to broaden ties with the African countries and the Islamic states in particular.
Last century was a century of independence for African continent from claws of colonization, he said adding that Africa should keep up with ongoing developments and make good on its backwardness as soon as possible.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to move shoulder to shoulder with African nations and governments, he said.
It is necessary that the African countries avoid war and conflicts in order to create suitable grounds for development, he said.
The so-called advocates of democracy and human rights have ignored many shortcomings as poverty and backwardness in Africa; he said adding that they even instigate unrest in the continent which indicates that they are not committed to their obligations.
The Niger foreign minister, for her part, expressed satisfaction with expansion of ties with Tehran and lauded Iran's policy to bring about solidarity among Islamic countries which will prepare the grounds for development of those countries. Referring to signing of documents pertaining to the formation of Iran-Niger Joint Economic Commission, she said "We call for expansion of all-out cooperation as well as benefiting from the country's experiences in various fields."
She also extended an official invitation on behalf of the Niger president to President Khatami to pay a state visit to Niger.
fyi
Yellowcake served at the meeting, we presume.
Nah. Iran's interested in their cowpeas.
http://www.afrol.com/articles/13703
Radio director arrested in Niger
afrol News, 13 August - Yesterday, the director of the independent radio station 'Saraounia FM' and correspondent of 'Radio France International', was arrested by agents of the Gendarmerie in the capital of Niger, Niamey. The arrest came after the station aired an interview with a rebel group, claiming responsibility for Tuesday's attacks on travellers on the trans-Sahara highway.
The Accra-based Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) today informs that 'Saraounia FM' director Moussa Kaka yesterday at noon was picked up by the Nigerien Gendarmerie at the radio station and arrested. He was now being "held incommunicado," MFWA says, quoting sources in the Nigerien capital.
The security officers were also said to have searched Mr Kaka's office and home, confiscating his address books and other documents, the regional media watchdog group said, condemning the actions by the Nigerien Gendarmerie.
According to MFWA sources in Niger, Mr Kaka was arrested only after 'Saraounia FM' had broadcast a telephone interview with the head of a new rebel movement in its 11 August afternoon news bulletin. The group had claimed responsibility for armed attacks in the north of the country.
On 10 August, on the evening before the broadcast, armed men had attacked three transport buses between Agadez and Arlit, 1,100 km north of Niamey. The armed men killed three of the passengers, seriously injured 14 others and took hostage two gendarmes accompanying the transport buses.
The government of Niger only informed about the incident on state broadcasters 24 hours after it had occurred. Interior Minister Albade Abouba said in a statement that "armed bandits" had launched "a series of attacks on buses driving along the main trans-Sahara highway in northern Niger."
The Minister described the incident as robbery, not as a rebel attack. Following the statement of Minister Abouba, state media and international reporters wrote "bandit attacks on trans-Sahara highway" (UN media).
Only 'Saraounia FM' did further investigations into the case, using its contact network in northern Niger. Editor Kaka found out that there indeed was a new rebel group operating in the inaccessible Saharan north of the country, a group of armed men that have yet to describe their motives for the attack they claimed responsibility for.
The government of Niger originates from a coup-making military junta that has legitimised its grip to power by highly questionable "multi-party elections". In cases affecting national security, the junta-turned-civilians mostly stick to the methods of a military government. Free press reporting on such issues are not welcome.
The MFWA today protested the harsh methods by the Nigerien government. The foundation has sent an appeal to President Tandja Mamadou, "condemning the arbitrary arrest and detention" of Mr Kaka and the confiscation of his personal documents without a search warrant.
According to the regional press freedom body, the Nigerien government should "pursue Mr Kaka through legal channels if it can demonstrate probable cause for any offence he may have committed in the course of his journalistic investigations."
By staff writer
© afrol News
Reuters AlertNet http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1688130.htm
Niger radio journalist released 16 Aug 2004 19:32:31 GMT
NIAMEY, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The correspondent for Radio France Internationale in Niger, detained last Thursday after interviewing a suspected rebel, was released on Monday by the prosecutor's office in the capital Niamey.
Moussa Kaka, who is also head of private radio station Saraounia, was freed because he had not been given access to a lawyer after 24 hours in detention, in line with the West African country's legal code, his lawyer Moussa Coulibaly said.
"I've just been released. I will continue to carry out my profession as it should be done. I will not retreat before any threat," Kaka told Reuters.
Coulibaly said the prosecutor's office had asked Kaka to remain at the disposal of the police in case they needed to question him further.
Kaka was taken in for questioning after broadcasting a telephone interview with a man, presented as a member of the revived Tuareg rebel group the Liberation Front of Air and Azawad, who claimed responsibility for a recent attack.
Gunmen attacked several buses on a road in northern Niger last Tuesday, killing three passengers and kidnapping two paramilitary policemen, or gendarmes. It is the latest in a spate of attacks in the remote northern desert regions.
The movement (FLAA) was disbanded after a peace deal between the government and the turban-clad Tuareg of the north, who were fighting for greater autonomy from central government.
But a group of Tuareg said in June they had recreated the FLAA, pledging loyalty to a former rebel leader who was sacked as tourism minister earlier this year and arrested for aiding and abetting murder. The government has repeatedly denied that there is a new rebellion and has blamed a spate of attacks on armed bandits.
Attacks on vehicles are on the rise in Niger. In 2003 about 40 people were killed by bandits in such attacks, up from some 20 a year earlier.
Unidentified armed men attacked another bus on Sunday, killing one person and seriously injuring four, some 200 km (120 miles) from the capital in the southeast of the former French colony, according to police and relatives of the injured.
Wilson is working on his next op-ed piece assuring us, from his apartment in the states, that uranium was not on the agenda, that it never came up in any discussions, and that while he was not literally "at" the meeting, he has it on good authority that neither the French nor the Nigerien government would ever bring up uranium in a meeting.
Any minutes indicating the contrary are forgeries, prima facie.
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