Wanke pledges November election

Niger's new military leader, Major Daouda Mallam Wanke, has pledged to hold elections for a civilian government and a new president in November. Wanke who heads a new ruling body of army officers called the National Reconciliation Council (NRC), made the announcement in a radio and television broadcast on Monday in which he said a new president would be sworn in after the elections on 31 December. In the broadcast, Wanke, again insisted that the death of his predecessor Ibrahim Bare Mainassara had been "accidental". Wanke seized power after Mainassara was gunned down on 9 April by members of a presidential guard unit which Wanke himself commanded. Wanke said the nine-month transition to civilian rule in a process agreed in consultation with the country's political parties would also be used to carry through a 1996 economic and financial reform programme. France, the impoverished country's main aid donor, has suspended assistance since the coup. The European Union has said it was "reviewing" its aid programme and Japan said it too would "reconsider" its assistance if democracy was not restored quickly in Niger. At the weekend, Wanke appointed a 20-member transitional cabinet with most portfolios going to civilians, two of them women. Only two army officers were appointed as the ministers of defence and interior.