Gunfire erupts in Niger capital in apparent coup bid

Smoke was seen rising from the presidential palace amid heavy gunfire in Niger's capital, Niamey, on Thursday in an apparent coup attempt. "We can hear gunshots from time to time but ... the president is in his office," a security source inside the presidential palace told Reuters by telephone. Witnesses said machine gun and heavy weapons fire erupted in the city at about noon GMT and that smoke was rising from the presidential palace. A Reuters witness later saw five injured soldiers at a hospital in Niamey.

Niger President Mamadou Tandja and his cabinet are being held by soldiers after gun battles in the capital. Gunfire broke out around the presidential palace at about 1300 (1200 GMT) and continued for 30 minutes, says the BBC's Idy Baraou in Niamey. State radio is playing military music - a similar pattern to two coups in the 1990s. Tensions have been growing in the uranium-rich nation since last year. Mr Tandja was widely criticised when he changed the constitution in August to allow him to stand for a third term.

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Saharan neighbours join forces against Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb

Military chiefs from Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger convened a closed-door meeting on 13 and 14 August to discuss the regional security situation and share strategies in the ongoing campaigns against armed Islamic insurgents in the Saharan region. The meeting followed an agreement made public by Algeria and Mali, as well as Libya, to pool intelligence resources and join forces against the network of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) cells that have carried out suicide attacks, ambushes and kidnappings across the region - particularly targeting security forces.

It also preceded an anticipated regional security conference that is expected to draw representatives from Chad and Burkina Faso. No date has yet been announced for this conference, first floated during the African Union summit in Libya in May.

The aim of the meeting was to broaden the regional co-operation in the fight against AQIM. Algeria has spearheaded regional efforts to co-ordinate operations and has delivered several loads of equipment and weapons to Mali for that country's own campaign in the Sahara, begun in June. Niger and Mauritania were also due to receive similar arms shipments, according to reports in the Algerian media.

• “Saharan neighbours join forces against Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb”, Jane’s Information Group, 8/19/09.
• “Al-Qa’ida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)”, Australian Government, 8/8/08.

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