Military

DATE=8/6/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-292799

TITLE=NIGER / MUTINY (L ONLY)

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

INTRO: The government of Niger has announced a clampdown on journalists following an attempted mutiny in the capital, Niamey. Security remained tight on Tuesday as officials continued to negotiate an end to a series of mutinies that have shaken the West African country since last week. V-O-A West Africa Correspondent Luis Ramirez reports from Abidjan.

TEXT: The clampdown announced by the government of Niger includes a stern warning against any journalist who comments on the military's efforts to put down and investigate the string of mutinies.

The latest revolt happened on Monday when mutinous soldiers tried to storm three armories in Niamey. Loyalist forces said they put down the mutiny after hours of heavy gunfire.

The incident followed another mutiny in the eastern town of Diffa, where soldiers, angry mainly over pay issues, took several local officials hostage last Wednesday before releasing them on Sunday.

In a communiqué broadcast on state media late Monday, Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja said journalists who divulge information that could hamper national defense efforts could be suspended from their jobs or imprisoned. The decree added to already high tensions in the capital, where people like 39-year-old office worker Laweli Mahamane say they are living in fear.

/// MAHAMANE ACT - IN FRENCH - FADE UNDER ///

Mr. Mahamane says he does not know whether it is the government or the others who are in the right. All he wants, he says, is that there be negotiations between the two so that there can be a definite and durable solution to this problem. He says he has been living in fear since the sound of heavy gunfire kept him and his family awake in the pre-dawn hours of Monday.

Niger government officials continued to meet Tuesday with soldiers who started the series of mutinies last week in the eastern town of Diffa.

In spite of the negotiations, the government continued to hunt for those who led the revolts. A number of military officials were placed under arrest in Niamey on Monday. Government officials say they continued to search for a group of soldiers who they say made off with a truckload of weapons during Monday's attempted mutiny in the capital.

/// REST OPT ///

Heavily-armed soldiers guarded the presidential palace in Niamey Tuesday as residents returned to their normal routines.

The violence of recent days was the most serious in Niger since Mr. Tandja came to power three years ago. The country -- one of the world's poorest nations -- underwent a series of military coups and an armed rebellion during the 1990s.

NEB/LR/JWH/KBK