Niger president rules out Tuareg talks
NIAMEY (AFP) — Niger President Mamadou Tandja has ruled out dialogue with Tuareg rebels waging a battle for uranium-mining and other rights in the vast country's Saharan north.
In a nationally broadcast address on Wednesday night -- on the anniversary of a 1995 peace deal with dissident Tuaregs -- Tandja said that "frank exchanges" would take place within a "republican" framework and only once rebels "immediately lay down arms."
"It is with great regret that we note how other Niger people supposedly dissatisfied with the application of the 1995 accord have again taken up arms," Tandja said.
The Movement of Niger People for Justice (MNJ), which recently entered into an alliance with minority Toubous, has claimed responsibility for raids which have led to approximately 10 government soldiers being held hostage.
The group contends Niamey authorities still marginalise the Tuaregs -- the traditional nomadic people of the southern Sahara -- and MNJ rebels are treated as "bandits" and "drug-dealers" by Niamey.
The MNJ wants greater Tuareg representation in the army, and is calling for 50 percent of uranium concession revenues to remain in Tuareg localities. The government has offered 15 percent.
Tandja also spoke of foreign "manipulation" of the group, and logistical support for the rebels in the desert region where neighbours include Mali, Algeria, Libya and Chad.
