Mutineers escape from prison

At least 80 mutineers in Niger who were arrested in August following the Diffa rebellion, escaped from prison on Saturday, news agencies reported on Monday. Radio France Internationale said that the mutineers escaped while being transferred from a camp in Zinder, 700 km east of the capital, Niamey. It quoted the Communications Minister Oumarou Sidikou as saying in a communique issued on national radio and television that a search had started for the escapees. According to the radio station, the head of government, Hama Amadou, had announced a few days earlier that all the mutineers were due to be tried in court. Disgruntled soldiers mutinied in the eastern Diffa region between 31 July and 9 August. The uprising began with the mutineers taking military and civilian officials hostage. They demanded the dismissal of the chief of army general staff, Colonel Moumouni Boureima. Government put down the mutiny, arrested the soldiers and clamped down on security in the region. Later security was relaxed following condemnation by civil society organisations including the Association nigerienne de defense des droits de l'homme (ANDDH, or Niger Association for the Defence of Human Rights). Four officers arrested on suspicion of involvement in the mutiny were reported to be associates of the late President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, who was assassinated in April 1999.