NIAMEY, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Niger has invited France's military into its airspace and territory for the first time in almost 25 years, a source close to the northwest African country's government said on Sunday, the latest step in Sahelian countries' fight against al Qaeda's North African wing.
Five French nationals were among seven foreigners kidnapped in Arlit, in the northern uranium mining zone of Niger, last week. The radical Islamist group, known as AQIM, is thought to be behind the attack.
The source said around 100 French specialists in anti-terrorism had arrived in Niamey on reconnaissance aircraft.
A spokesman for the French Defence Ministry said he had no information about French military arriving in Niger.
'After what happened in Arlit, we gave our consent to France for it to deploy aircraft, and personnel on our soil, to find the hostages and free them,' said the source close to Niger's ruling military junta, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Frenchman Michel Germaneau, 78, held by hostage by AQIM, was killed in July after a raid in the Sahara desert involving French troops failed to free him.
At the time, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France was 'at war' with AQIM, and last week Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said France was on heightened terrorist alert, responding to questions about the Arlit kidnappings and two earlier bomb scares.
The vast Sahara-Sahel region in North and West Africa touches parts of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Algeria. Almost impossible to police, it is home to smugglers and armed gangs, and is increasingly the scene of AQIM activity.
Mauritanian military forces killed 12 members of al Qaeda's North African wing and suffered six fatalities in fighting along the border with Mali, the Mauritanian Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
((For stories on al Qaeda in the Sahara,))
(Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; Additional reporting by Pierre Serisier in Paris; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Alison Williams) Keywords: NIGER FRANCE/MILITARY (daniel.magnowski@reuters.com; Dakar Newsroom +221 33 864 5076) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Five French nationals were among seven foreigners kidnapped in Arlit, in the northern uranium mining zone of Niger, last week. The radical Islamist group, known as AQIM, is thought to be behind the attack.
The source said around 100 French specialists in anti-terrorism had arrived in Niamey on reconnaissance aircraft.
A spokesman for the French Defence Ministry said he had no information about French military arriving in Niger.
'After what happened in Arlit, we gave our consent to France for it to deploy aircraft, and personnel on our soil, to find the hostages and free them,' said the source close to Niger's ruling military junta, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Frenchman Michel Germaneau, 78, held by hostage by AQIM, was killed in July after a raid in the Sahara desert involving French troops failed to free him.
At the time, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France was 'at war' with AQIM, and last week Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said France was on heightened terrorist alert, responding to questions about the Arlit kidnappings and two earlier bomb scares.
The vast Sahara-Sahel region in North and West Africa touches parts of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Algeria. Almost impossible to police, it is home to smugglers and armed gangs, and is increasingly the scene of AQIM activity.
Mauritanian military forces killed 12 members of al Qaeda's North African wing and suffered six fatalities in fighting along the border with Mali, the Mauritanian Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
((For stories on al Qaeda in the Sahara,))
(Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; Additional reporting by Pierre Serisier in Paris; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Alison Williams) Keywords: NIGER FRANCE/MILITARY (daniel.magnowski@reuters.com; Dakar Newsroom +221 33 864 5076) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.