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The new military leadership in Niger has promised to "withdraw from political life" after a nine-month transition to civilian rule, according to a statement broadcast by government radio on Tuesday.
It said Major Daouda Mallam Wanke, the army leader, had re-appointed Ibrahim Mayake as prime minister. It said the decision had been taken by Wanke's ruling National Reconciliation Council (NRC) in consultation with the country's political parties. News organisations said he had also appointed the former foreign minister, Maman Sambo Sidikou, as his chief aide.
The NRC, it said, had also lifted a ban on the activities of political parties imposed shortly after the assassination last Friday of President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara. He was gunned down by the presidential guard unit of which Wanke was the commander.
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