Niger: French military presence

France has installed, in Niamey, an “operational base” of 80 military persons in an attempt to find the seven hostages kidnapped on September 16 and transferred from Niger to Mali, according to security and diplomatic sources in the Sahel.

These soldiers, based at a hotel in Niamey, have at their disposal some Breguet Atlantic reconnaissance aircraft to conduct reconnaissance flights and are divided into five crews. France has sent a military intelligence unit to the region, but has said it wants to open communication with the militants in hopes of freeing the five French nationals and two Africans.

According to various sources, the French hostages would now be retained in the north-east of Mali, in a mountainous desert, between Mali and Algeria, and France “will do everything to find the hostages”, stated the spokesman of the French government, Luc Chatel, when asked about the possibility if France will engage a “military action” to try to free the hostages. But on Friday, France said it has no immediate plans to use military action to rescue the five French hostages, and the head of armed forces in France, Edouard Guillaud, said the hostages’ lives do not appear to be in immediate danger, but he said military intervention is possible if the situation worsens. The former Nigerian Minister of the Interior, Idi Ango Omar, said the private companies that insured the security of the French company, Areva, were working for former Touareg rebellion leaders. This statement could be interpreted as an agreement between AQIM and some of these Touareg private security elements, or even as an infiltration of the security companies by AQIM…