April 9, 1999

Coup Reported in Niger
Filed at 11:43 a.m. EDT


By The Associated Press


OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) -- Troops reportedly
swarmed the streets of Niger's capital on Friday as
unconfirmed accounts of a military coup attempt
filtered from the West African nation. 

Several Nigerien diplomats and businessmen in
neighboring Burkina Faso, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said government colleagues in the capital
of Niamey told them the takeover attempt began shortly
after sunrise. 

The status of President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara's
government was not immediately clear. Western
diplomats, who asked not to be identified, reported
that Bare was shot and killed by security guards. That
report could not be immediately confirmed. 

Other uncorroborated reports indicated mutineers had
shot at Mainassara as he tried to flee the country
from Niamey's airport. He had been scheduled to depart
today for Libya. 

The coup accounts could not be independently confirmed
and by late morning, telephone communications with the
desperately poor country at the edge of the Sahara
Desert were cut and the radio stations were off the
air. 

The turmoil comes amid opposition calls for
Mainassara's resignation after the annulment of
regional elections held earlier in the week. 

There were unconfirmed reports of violent attacks on
vote counters and, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court
annulled the elections and ordered a new round of
voting. 

Opposition politicians claimed they were winning the
elections and accused the government of inciting the
violence. 

Mainassara seized power in a January 1996 military
coup, ousting the country's first democratically
elected government. He placed then-President Mahamane
Ousmane under house arrest but released him three
months later. 

The former army colonel said he staged the coup
because Ousamane had failed to address Niger's
burgeoning economic and political problems. 

Mainassara's government quelled several army uprisings
and mutinies last year. 

Two leading opposition politicians, including the
former prime minister, and five army commandos were
arrested in early 1998 for allegedly plotting to kill
the president. 

Critics, however, say the allegations were fabricated
to justify a crackdown on political opponents.