Tuareg minister sacked after murder in the north

Tourism Minister Rhissa Ag Boula, a former leader of the Tuareg tribal rebellion in northern Niger, has been sacked from the government following suggestions that he was linked to the murder of an official of the ruling party. Commenting on his exit from the cabinet, Laoual Kader, the Secretary General of the Government, said Ag Boula needed to be "free to prepare his defence against certain accusations made against him." Ag Boula had been Minister of Tourism and Handcrafts since 1997, surviving Niger's transition from military rule to elected civilian government in 1999. He had previously been a key leader of aTuareg rebellion in northern Niger which simmered away for 15 years before degenerating into sporadic banditry after a peace agreement in 19995. Political sources told IRIN that Ag Boula was likely to be implicated in the killing of an official of the ruling National Movement for Society and Development (MNSD) in the desert north of Niger two weeks ago. Adam Amangue, the MNSD chief in the town of Tchirozerine, near Agadez, the main administrative centre in northern Niger, was detained by armed men and shot dead 300 metres outside the town at the end of January. His body was found by the roadside with three bullets in the head. The Ministry of Tourism and Handcrafts was abolished following Ag Boula's sacking. However, another former Tuareg rebel was brought into the government on Thursday to occupy the newly created post of junior minister in the Finance Ministry in order to maintain the same level of Tuareg representation in the government.