Niger president held, government dissolved in coup

NAIROBI/NIAMEY - Soldiers have seized power in Niger and dissolved the government after kidnapping President Mamadou Tandja, who last year raised tension with his attempts to cling to power.

The dissident soldiers stormed the presidential palace Thursday afternoon.

Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and seeing smoke rising from the area. Confusion reigned for hours until Colonel Goukoye Abdul Karimou, a spokesman for the soldiers, appeared on state television to inform the nation of the coup.

“The Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD) … has decided to suspend the constitution of the sixth republic and to dissolve all the state institutions,” he said, reading from a statement in a small office crowded with uniformed men.

“We ask the population to keep calm and remain united around the ideals of the CSRD, which will be able to make Niger an example of democracy and good governance.”

The whereabouts of Tandja, who was seized during a cabinet meeting along with some ministers, is unknown, although some reports suggest he is being held at an army barracks.

The president last year rode roughshod over parliament and the constitutional court to extend his rule and allow himself a chance at another term, raising tensions in the uranium-rich nation.

West African regional group ECOWAS suspended Niger after Tandja extended his term by three years, while the European Union and the US also imposed sanctions.

ECOWAS chairman, Nigeria’s acting President Goodluck Jonathan, said in a statement it condemned “all acts of ascension to power and remaining in power by unconstitutional means”.

The US said it was likely the coup was related to Tandja’s attempts to cling to power.

“President Tandja has been trying to extend his mandate in office,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. “Obviously, that may well have been … an act on his behalf that precipitated this act today.”

He added that while the US does not condone the use of violence, the coup highlighted the need for Niger to move forward and hold elections.

Several international companies have uranium mining operations in the West African nation.

The president, a former army officer, came to power in 1999 in the formerly coup-prone country, which has undergone long periods of military rule since it broke from France in 1960.