Posted on 02/18/2010 11:38:25 AM PST by Ben Mugged
Niger's President Mamadou Tandja was detained by mutinous troops on Thursday after a coup in the west African uranium exporter that left at least three soldiers dead, military sources said.
Three Nigerian military sources said the coup was led by a soldier named Major Adamou Harouna.
"The coup leader has succeeded. It is being led by Major Adamou Harouna," one source said. The president and the ministers are being detained not far from the presidential palace, the sources added.
Earlier in the day plumes of smoke were seen rising from the palace after soldiers attacked the building where Tandja was holding a meeting, sparking several hours of gunfire in the capital Niamey.
Political tensions have been high in Niger in recent months over Tandja's extension of his rule, which drew widespread criticism and international sanctions.
State radio, which had been broadcasting normally, began playing military music.
Witnesses said machine gun and heavy weapons fire erupted in the city at around 1200 GMT. Four hours later most shooting had eased.
Hospital sources said at least three soldiers were killed in the clashes. Earlier, a Reuters witness saw five injured soldiers at a hospital.
An intelligence officer, who asked not to be named, said the violence was a coup attempt that the presidential guard was trying to put down. A French diplomatic source called the incident a coup attempt but said the fighting was short-lived.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Oh come on now. Niger doesn't export uranium. Joe Wilson said so. You know, the GOOD Joe Wilson; the one that called Bush a liar, not the one that called BO a liar.
Get ready for a wave of Niger “refugees”.
Because Niger president gets more eyes popping...
Oh boy that was funny...just one letter yeee haw......good lord, grow up.
My first thought was America is saved but then I noticed this was in the Kenyan’s home continent.
I hope their Prince was able to get his money out of the country in time.
You ain't kidding!!!!!!
The problem is that the adjective form of Niger is “Nigerien,” which is almost identical to the adjective form of Nigeria (”Nigerian”), so to avoid confusion Reuters decided to user “Niger” as an adjective. You can bet your behind that Reuters wouldn’t have written a headline that said “France President Removed by Coup” instead of “French President Removed by Coup.”
Did Obama really just say, “I hear there’s a coupe going on in Niger.”
Obama is sending some corpsemen to take care of the wounded during the coup.....
GREAT handle, BTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’re joking, right? I mean, they should really spell words out phonetically in his teleprompter anyhow, what with “Corpsman” and all.
Yeah...I’m joking, but...........*LOL* Who knows....
Coming to a Greece near you soon...
I know, all excited for nothing......
There was a young lady from Niger
who went for a ride on a tiger
they came back from the ride
with the lady inside
and a smile on the face of the tiger
Taken from wikipedia:
The coup followed a year-long political crisis in Niger related to President Tandja’s efforts to extend his mandate beyond December 2009, when his second term was originally scheduled to end. Arguing that the people wanted him to remain in office, Tandja dissolved the National Assembly in May 2009 and subsequently appointed a new Constitutional Court, enabling him to push forward with a constitutional referendum in August 2009 that extended his mandate for an additional three years. The new constitution also enhanced Tandja’s power by scrapping the semi-presidential system of government in favor of a presidential system.
Um wait a sec... that’s exactly what Zelaya pretended to do in Honduras last yr. Will Hillary start to revoke visas?
All the wannabe dictators do the same, dissolve congress then reform the constitution to remain. See the pattern?
Beware America, beware.
Prior to independence, Niger was ruled by France and Nigeria was ruled by the UK.
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