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Niger may sue over uranium slur 

The government of Niger is being pressurised to sue the US for damages over
allegations that Iraq tried to buy uranium from the West African country.
The Chairman of the opposition Alliance for Democracy and Progress, Issoufou
Bachar, says that Niger must seize the opportunity and file claims for
"heavy damages". "The US forged a letter on Niger's behalf ....this is a
shame," local Tenere FM radio quoted Mr Bachar as saying. US President
George W Bush claimed in his State of the Union speech to Congress in
January that Iraq had been seeking to buy uranium from Niger for its nuclear
programme. But supposed documents backing up the claim were then shown to be
crude forgeries, leading the White House to withdraw the charge. 

Pressure 

President Mamadou Tandja of Niger on Sunday again rejected the claims, on
the same day that Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that the US
was pressurising the West African country to keep quiet on the issue.
President Tandja also said that the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, had cleared his country of all suspicion.
"Even the IAEA cleared Niger of all suspicion before the United Nations
Security Council," President Tandja said during an address to mark his
country's 43rd anniversary of independence from France. Niger is the world's
third largest exporter of uranium after Canada and Australia, which between
them account for about half the world's production. 

In 1997, Uranium accounted for 70% of Niger's export revenues. 


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/3132263.stm

Published: 2003/08/07 15:41:09 GMT

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