Military quell mutiny

Loyal government troops in Niger have crushed an army uprising in the Madawela garrison near the northern town of Arlit and at Agadez, some 800 km northeast of Niamey, an official spokesman told IRIN on Tuesday. The spokesman of the ruling Conseil de reconciliation nationale, Major Djibrilla Hima, said the mutineers alleged that the army owed them bonuses so as to have a pretext for their action but “the bonuses had already been paid”. There was also unrest in Agadez, some 800 km northeast of Niamey, where a group of soldiers tried to free two of their colleagues arrested by local paramilitary police on suspicion of rape. Order was restored in both locations on Sunday. Hima said that the same group of soldiers had been revolting over the past nine years and that the Madawela garrison incident, which occurred on Thursday, was instigated by political parties opposed to the second round of presidential elections due on 24 November. Since the holding of a national political conference, he said, the mutineers were never punished. They were simply rotated into other units and continued to act with impunity. This time, however, they have been dismissed from the army. AFP quoted army Chief of Staff Colonel Boureima Moumouni as saying: “Henceforth, any solder who breaches military regulations will be dealt with vigorously.”