NIAMEY, Niger – Renegade soldiers stormed Niger's presidential palace with a hail of gunfire Thursday, kidnapped the country's strongman president and then appeared on state television to declare a successful coup.
The soldiers said the country's constitution had been suspended and all its institutions dissolved. They said the country was now being led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and asked citizens and other countries to have faith in them.
As the coup was under way, smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and machine-gun fire sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the desert country's downtown boulevards at midday.
French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers neutralized the presidential guard before entering the room where President Mamadou Tandja was holding a Cabinet meeting. They escorted him outside to a waiting car, which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital. His whereabouts remained unknown hours later.
Tandja first took power in democratic elections in 1999 that followed an era of coups and rebellions. He was supposed to step down, as mandated by law, on Dec. 22, but in August he triggered a political crisis by pushing through a new constitution that removed term limits and gave him near-totalitarian powers.
Niger has become increasingly isolated since then. The 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspended Niger from its ranks, and the U.S. government cut off non-humanitarian aid.
A diplomat in neighboring Burkina Faso said that the mutinous soldiers are led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, the former top aide to Niger's previous coup leader, Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke.
Wanke led a 1999 coup, seizing power after the country's former military strongman was gunned down in what was called an accident. Wanke organized democratic elections less than a year later, which Tandja won.
The diplomat said Harouna is part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.NIAMEY, Niger – Renegade soldiers stormed Niger's presidential palace with a hail of gunfire Thursday, kidnapped the country's strongman president and then appeared on state television to declare a successful coup.
The soldiers said the country's constitution had been suspended and all its institutions dissolved. They said the country was now being led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and asked citizens and other countries to have faith in them.
As the coup was under way, smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and machine-gun fire sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the desert country's downtown boulevards at midday.
French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers neutralized the presidential guard before entering the room where President Mamadou Tandja was holding a Cabinet meeting. They escorted him outside to a waiting car, which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital. His whereabouts remained unknown hours later.
Tandja first took power in democratic elections in 1999 that followed an era of coups and rebellions. He was supposed to step down, as mandated by law, on Dec. 22, but in August he triggered a political crisis by pushing through a new constitution that removed term limits and gave him near-totalitarian powers.
Niger has become increasingly isolated since then. The 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspended Niger from its ranks, and the U.S. government cut off non-humanitarian aid.
A diplomat in neighboring Burkina Faso said that the mutinous soldiers are led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, the former top aide to Niger's previous coup leader, Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke.
Wanke led a 1999 coup, seizing power after the country's former military strongman was gunned down in what was called an accident. Wanke organized democratic elections less than a year later, which Tandja won.
The diplomat said Harouna is part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.NIAMEY, Niger – Renegade soldiers stormed Niger's presidential palace with a hail of gunfire Thursday, kidnapped the country's strongman president and then appeared on state television to declare a successful coup.
The soldiers said the country's constitution had been suspended and all its institutions dissolved. They said the country was now being led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and asked citizens and other countries to have faith in them.
As the coup was under way, smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and machine-gun fire sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the desert country's downtown boulevards at midday.
French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers neutralized the presidential guard before entering the room where President Mamadou Tandja was holding a Cabinet meeting. They escorted him outside to a waiting car, which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital. His whereabouts remained unknown hours later.
Tandja first took power in democratic elections in 1999 that followed an era of coups and rebellions. He was supposed to step down, as mandated by law, on Dec. 22, but in August he triggered a political crisis by pushing through a new constitution that removed term limits and gave him near-totalitarian powers.
Niger has become increasingly isolated since then. The 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspended Niger from its ranks, and the U.S. government cut off non-humanitarian aid.
A diplomat in neighboring Burkina Faso said that the mutinous soldiers are led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, the former top aide to Niger's previous coup leader, Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke.
Wanke led a 1999 coup, seizing power after the country's former military strongman was gunned down in what was called an accident. Wanke organized democratic elections less than a year later, which Tandja won.
The diplomat said Harouna is part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.
The soldiers said the country's constitution had been suspended and all its institutions dissolved. They said the country was now being led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and asked citizens and other countries to have faith in them.
As the coup was under way, smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and machine-gun fire sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the desert country's downtown boulevards at midday.
French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers neutralized the presidential guard before entering the room where President Mamadou Tandja was holding a Cabinet meeting. They escorted him outside to a waiting car, which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital. His whereabouts remained unknown hours later.
Tandja first took power in democratic elections in 1999 that followed an era of coups and rebellions. He was supposed to step down, as mandated by law, on Dec. 22, but in August he triggered a political crisis by pushing through a new constitution that removed term limits and gave him near-totalitarian powers.
Niger has become increasingly isolated since then. The 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspended Niger from its ranks, and the U.S. government cut off non-humanitarian aid.
A diplomat in neighboring Burkina Faso said that the mutinous soldiers are led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, the former top aide to Niger's previous coup leader, Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke.
Wanke led a 1999 coup, seizing power after the country's former military strongman was gunned down in what was called an accident. Wanke organized democratic elections less than a year later, which Tandja won.
The diplomat said Harouna is part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.NIAMEY, Niger – Renegade soldiers stormed Niger's presidential palace with a hail of gunfire Thursday, kidnapped the country's strongman president and then appeared on state television to declare a successful coup.
The soldiers said the country's constitution had been suspended and all its institutions dissolved. They said the country was now being led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and asked citizens and other countries to have faith in them.
As the coup was under way, smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and machine-gun fire sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the desert country's downtown boulevards at midday.
French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers neutralized the presidential guard before entering the room where President Mamadou Tandja was holding a Cabinet meeting. They escorted him outside to a waiting car, which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital. His whereabouts remained unknown hours later.
Tandja first took power in democratic elections in 1999 that followed an era of coups and rebellions. He was supposed to step down, as mandated by law, on Dec. 22, but in August he triggered a political crisis by pushing through a new constitution that removed term limits and gave him near-totalitarian powers.
Niger has become increasingly isolated since then. The 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspended Niger from its ranks, and the U.S. government cut off non-humanitarian aid.
A diplomat in neighboring Burkina Faso said that the mutinous soldiers are led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, the former top aide to Niger's previous coup leader, Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke.
Wanke led a 1999 coup, seizing power after the country's former military strongman was gunned down in what was called an accident. Wanke organized democratic elections less than a year later, which Tandja won.
The diplomat said Harouna is part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.NIAMEY, Niger – Renegade soldiers stormed Niger's presidential palace with a hail of gunfire Thursday, kidnapped the country's strongman president and then appeared on state television to declare a successful coup.
The soldiers said the country's constitution had been suspended and all its institutions dissolved. They said the country was now being led by the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and asked citizens and other countries to have faith in them.
As the coup was under way, smoke rose from the white-hued multistory palace complex and machine-gun fire sent frightened residents running for cover, emptying the desert country's downtown boulevards at midday.
French radio station Radio France Internationale reported that the soldiers neutralized the presidential guard before entering the room where President Mamadou Tandja was holding a Cabinet meeting. They escorted him outside to a waiting car, which drove him toward a military camp on the outskirts of the capital. His whereabouts remained unknown hours later.
Tandja first took power in democratic elections in 1999 that followed an era of coups and rebellions. He was supposed to step down, as mandated by law, on Dec. 22, but in August he triggered a political crisis by pushing through a new constitution that removed term limits and gave him near-totalitarian powers.
Niger has become increasingly isolated since then. The 15-nation regional bloc of West African states suspended Niger from its ranks, and the U.S. government cut off non-humanitarian aid.
A diplomat in neighboring Burkina Faso said that the mutinous soldiers are led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, the former top aide to Niger's previous coup leader, Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke.
Wanke led a 1999 coup, seizing power after the country's former military strongman was gunned down in what was called an accident. Wanke organized democratic elections less than a year later, which Tandja won.
The diplomat said Harouna is part of an army faction that is deeply disillusioned with Tandja for violating his constitutionally mandated term limit.
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