Former premier urges support for new military rulers

Mahamadou Issoufou, a former prime minister and opposition leader has told a rally in the Niger capital Niamey that although he "regretted" the assassination of President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara on 9 April, the public should support the new military government because it had pledged a return to democracy. In remarks on Monday carried by Gabonese 'Africa No 1 Radio' in broadcast monitored by the BBC, Issoufou said the international community which criticised the coup led by the country's new military ruler, Major Daouda Mallam Wanke, should bear in mind that Wanke had promised a nine-month transition to elections and civilian rule. "There is a new opportunity that the people of Niger must seize before creating the conditions for the establishment of stable republican institutions in order to create the conditions that should respond to the profound aspirations of the Niger people to democracy," he said. "The nine-month transition period envisages free and transparent elections - something that we have always demanded in Niger." It said more than 2,000 people had gathered to hear Issoufou and other former opponents of Mainassara.