Home > Bush Administration Warns Niger Government—’Don’t Talk!’

Bush Administration Warns Niger Government—’Don’t Talk!’

by Open-Publishing - Friday 8 August 2003

America silences Niger leaders in Iraq nuclear row
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By David Harrison in Niamey, Niger
The Telegraph (UK)
(Filed: 03/08/2003)

America has warned the Niger government to keep out of
the row over claims that Saddam Hussein sought to buy
uranium for his nuclear weapons programme from the
impoverished West African state.

Herman Cohen, a former assistant secretary of state for
Africa and one of America’s most experienced Africa
hands, called on Mamadou Tandja, Niger’s president, in
the capital Niamey last week to relay the message from
Washington, according to senior Niger government
officials.

One said: "Let’s say Mr Cohen put a friendly arm around
the president to say sorry about the forged documents,
but then squeezed his shoulder hard enough to convey
the message, ’Let’s hear no more about this affair from
your government’. Basically he was telling Niger to
shut up."

The dramatic American intervention reflects growing
concern about the continuing row over claims that
America and Britain distorted evidence to justify the
war against Iraq.

It follows The Telegraph’s exclusive interview with
Hama Hamadou, Niger’s prime minister, last week. Mr
Hamadou said that the Niger government had never had
discussions with Iraq about uranium and called on Tony
Blair to produce the "evidence" he claims to have to
confirm that Iraq sought uranium from Niger in the
1990s.

American officials denied that there had been any
attempt to "gag" the Niger government. The Niamey
official, however, said that there was "a clear attempt
to stop any more embarrassing stories coming out of
Niger".

He said that Washington’s warning was likely to be
heeded. "Mr Cohen did not spell it out but everybody in
Niger knows what the consequences of upsetting America
or Britain would be. We are the world’s second-poorest
country and we depend on international aid to survive."

Mr Cohen’s intervention suggests that Washington is
keen to draw a line under the "uranium from Africa"
affair, although The Telegraph has also learned that
senior American soldiers were in Iraq last week to
investigate the movement of Niger’s uranium.

http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/03/wwmd03.xml