Four French nationals abducted by rebels in Niger

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-23  |     ONLINE EDITION

FOUR French nationals employed by nuclear company Areva were abducted by rebels yesterday in the west African nation of Niger, where they worked in an area known for its uranium mines, France's Foreign Ministry said.

The four were believed to be in good health, the ministry said. Both the ministry and Paris-based Areva said they had been captured by the rebel Movement for Justice, which opposes the mining of ancestral lands. Areva, the world's largest nuclear power company, gets much of its uranium -- used to make nuclear fuel -- from Niger.

The three men and a woman, all Niger-based French employees of Areva, were abducted in the Arlit region of northern Niger, a spokesman for Areva said. Both Areva and the ministry said they had yet to make contact with the rebels.

The Movement for Justice has operated in the desert nation's arid northern region, engaging the army in sporadic gunfights as part of a struggle they claim is aimed at protecting lands from mining.

Niger's government describes the rebels as "bandits." The rebel group accuses the government of reneging on promises to improve economic opportunities for the nomadic Tuareg people and of trying to push the blue-robed nomads off uranium-rich lands so the state can profit.

A statement on the rebels' Web site alluded to a "commando" raid carried out overnight. The vague posting said those caught up in the raid "are not in any danger."

The Web site said the rebels were willing to turn those involved over to the Red Cross, adding that the goal of the raid was to teach a lesson to the local mining industry.

"The only objective of this commando operation is to be a reality check for the mining partners of our country, which seem to listen more to the illusions and fantasies of Niger's current government" and its guarantees for workers in the region, the statement said.

The French ministry said it set up a crisis team to work with Areva and the French embassy in Niger.