There has been a coup d’état in Niamey, the new strong man in Niger seems to be the army major Adamou Harouna. President Mamadou Tandja is hold in captivity by the rebels.
Is this the end of the Nigerien constitutional crisis convulsing Niger since August 2010? Difficult to judge now, – perhaps the situation will improve, perhaps the situation will worse. Nobody knows.
This is the fourth coup d‘ Etat since 40 years in Niger. Niger is one the world’s least-developed nations, perhaps one of the poorest African states. But Niger is still a state. A state with some financially rewarding resources like Uranium. But also a state where natural resource depletation, growing demographic pressures, ecosystem degradation will enormously stress every form of government.
Finishing the short posting with the question – how long will the news of the Coup d’état in Niamey take to reach the world (outside the francophone world) ( BBC news has posted this report „Niger leader Mamadou Tandja ‚held by soldiers‘ „ ), when will the news arrive in Germany? Is anybody in Germany concerned by political struggle in Niger? Perhaps some motor-bike tourists searching the famous „Arbre du Ténéré„? Perhaps?
P.S. I (19.2.2010 8:40): The eastern Sahel , Niger included, is facing a new hunger crisis – and perhaps this should also be taken into consideration in our analysis of the current political process in Niger.
P.S. II (19.2.2010 11:40): The new strong men seems to be chef d‘ escadron (major) Salou Djibo. He heads the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (French: Conseil suprême pour la Restauration de la Démocratie , or CSRD).
P.S. III (19.2.2010 11:50): At 11:40 19.2.2010 the SPON published an article called „Putsch – Militär übernimmt die Macht in Niger“ – describing the coup and analyzing the actual political situation in Niger.
paysages 
I would be interested in knowing the role of France’s energetic policy in that and whether there might be some (indirect) affiliation.
The first coup in 1973 coincides with France’s nuclear policy during the first oil shock. And obviously that policy heavily relied on buying very cheap uranium from Niger.
An article from I think Les Afriques newspaper reported how France / Areva has been buying uranium at just 1/3 of international price until recently (it was not so long ago if I remember well, as the article dates back to 2006 or 07), which was all the more surprising (& difficult to admit) as it is well known that Niger is one of the poorest countries today.
Also, several organizations have reported that the work conditions at Areva, or its subsidiary operating in Niger, were horrendous (leading to many diseases due to working in contact with uranium, sometimes with bare hands).
While NGOs were raising voices, there have been some negotiations between the current president of Niger & france last year if I remember well, to make sure France can still buy uranium at a fairly low price. Could it be that this happened in exchange for closing eyes on the latest constitutional changes?
Back 2007 or 2008 I think, there had also been rumors that an Areva manager was instrumentalizing local guerrillas / rebellious movements in the interest of his company, who had to resign.
Maybe interesting articles:
http://www.lesafriques.com/energies/areva-s-octroie-le-plus-grand-gisement-d-uranium-d-afrique-3.html?Itemid=308
http://www.lesafriques.com/produits-de-base/l-exploitation-d-imouraren-par-areva-suscite-de-l-inquietude-chez-le.html?Itemid=308
I would love to know more about this!
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„Is this the end of the Nigerien constitutional crisis convulsing Niger since August 2010?“
Is this the beginning of back to the Future?
Could you give us the next lottery winning numbers?
Regards
PL
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@Audrey
yes indeed the „uranium-question“ is perhaps one of the key elements of the political dynamics in Niger
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