VZCZCXRO4463
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHNM #1430/01 3391819
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051819Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3947
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0619
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 001430 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MOPS PGOV PREL NG
SUBJECT: NIGER: THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH 
 
REF: (A) NIAMEY 1404(B) NIAMEY 1391 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) A truck hit a landmine south of Agadez on December 
¶5.  The Nigerien Military has resupplied its garrison in 
Ifeoruane.  The MNJ claims the United States as friend based 
on a VOA stringer's contact with it.  The GON is organizing a 
regional conference on trafficking.  A UN consultant has 
provided information on the use of landmines in Niger.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Latest Mine incident 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) A civilian truck carrying commercial goods hit a mine 
just south of Agadez on the road to Zinder December 4. It 
does not appear that anyone was killed in the incident. 
 
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Nigerien Military relieves Iferouane 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (U)  A large Nigerien Armed Forces (FAN) convoy reached 
the beleaguered northern town of Iferouane the week of 26-30, 
bringing much needed supplies and fresh troops to relieve the 
several hundred soldiers there.  The vast majority of the 
civilian population of the town had already left due to 
shortages of food and other essential goods, as well as 
security concerns (ref B). 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The details of the resupply mission remain murky. 
The MNJ has claimed on its web site that the convoy was a 
failed offensive on the MNJ stronghold at Tezarzeit that 
suffered significant casualties, including the convoy 
commander.  In an interview with RFI, the GON spokesman said 
that the convoy was not an offensive, and that it suffered 
only three killed. A US NGO with operations in Agadez reports 
that military sources in Agadez have claimed that the FAN had 
attacked rebel camps in the Mount Tamgak region. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: All indications are that the convoy's 
primary objective was to resupply Iferouane rather than to 
attack MNJ positions.  It appears to have succeeded in that 
task and has returned to Agadez.  We have no independent 
information on casualties. 
 
--------------------- 
MNJ names its friends 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) In a November 30 posting on its web site, the MNJ said 
that the Nigerien people should recognize who their true 
friends are: the United States and Italy.  Those countries 
are concerned about the Nigerien people, as evidenced by two 
articles, which the site reprints.  The first is a November 
11 VOA broadcast titled "Tuareg Rebels Gathering Strength in 
Niger.  The second is an article in an Italian publication. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The VOA item cites Phuong Tran as reporting by 
satellite phone from an undisclosed location in Niger where 
she had been traveling with the Tuareg rebels.  We have had 
no contact with Tran, but understand that she is a VOA 
stringer based in Dakar who entered Niger (probably 
illegally) from northern Mali. 
 
----------------------------------- 
GON to organize regional conference 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) GON officials have long cited a proposal to hold a 
regional security conference.  At a December 4 ceremony, it 
installed the committee charged with organizing "an 
International Conference on the trafficking of drugs, arms 
and cigarettes."  The organizing committee will be chaired by 
the Interior Minister and will include the Ministers of 
Justice, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Regional Integration, and 
representatives of a host of Ministries.  In his speech 
announcing the organizing committee, the Prime Minister did 
not provide details on where the conference would take place, 
when it would take place, or who would be invited. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: The description of the proposed conference 
as dealing with trafficking is consistent with the GON's 
long-standing claim that the MNJ are criminals and bandits. 
 
NIAMEY 00001430  002 OF 002 
 
 
It also suggests that the conference will not address the 
grievances made by the MNJ or other rebel groups in the 
region.  However, High Commissioner for Peace Restoration 
Mohamed Anacko, who is charged with overseeing the 
implementation of the peace accords that ended the rebellion 
in the early 1990s, is a member of the organizing committee. 
 
 
 
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UNDP Mine briefing 
------------------ 
 
¶10. (U) A UN consultant who had been in Niger looking into 
the use of land mines briefed the diplomatic corps on 
November 30. Following are key points: 
 
-- From April 14 to November 24 there have been 21 landmine 
incidents resulting in 78 victims (12 civilians and 66 
soldiers), of which 27 were killed and 51 wounded. 
 
-- These incidents have contributed to a 80 percent decline 
in commercial and passenger traffic in northern Niger, a 40 
percent fall in garden crop production and a 100 percent 
decline in tourism.  The tourism losses are estimated at cfa 
5 billion (about $11 million). 
 
-- All landmines known to have been used to date are 
anti-tank mines.  No antipersonnel mines have been used. 
 
-- The MNJ has used old Belgian PRBM3A1 mines weighing about 
six kilograms.  The mines are smuggled in from Chad and cost 
about cfa 300,000 - 500,000 each (about $671 - 1,119 at the 
current exchange rate). 
 
-- There are reports that the mines were provided by Chadians 
who had been trained in demining some years ago, and are now 
digging up mines to sell. 
 
-- There are also reports of the use of Italian mines that 
are harder to detect than the Belgian mines. 
 
-- FAN chief of operations Colonel Soumaila Garba said that 
the FAN only uses mines for defensive purposes, although he 
was unclear as to whether it used anti-personnel mines as 
well as anti-tank mines.  He said that it was no secret where 
the FAN obtained its mines, but it he did not say where that 
was. 
 
--  The UN consultant said that no unexploded ordnance had 
been found, but the French Defense attache said he had photos 
of unexploded ordinance found near the scene of a June 24 
attack at Tezerzait. 
 
-- The UN consultant was in Niger November 11 to December 1. 
He was not able to go north of Agadez due to security 
concerns.  A vehicle in the convoy in which he returned from 
Agadez struck a mine on November 24. 
 
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MNJ web site 
------------ 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment: In the last few weeks the MNJ has 
increased the frequency of postings on its web site.  The 
tone of the postings have become increasingly shrill.  The 
quality of the French as declined and the postings 
increasingly resort to hyperbole and the use of large fonts 
and red ink for emphasis.  The web site appears to claim more 
military success than the MNJ has accomplished, and the 
bellicose tone may be designed to mask the relatively limited 
MNJ military actions since the end of its Ramadan ceasefire. 
ALLEN