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Iran’s Ahmadinejad visits uranium-producing Niger

…This month, several thousand people protested on the streets of Niamey against Areva, burning French flags.

 

Talks are continuing between Niger and Areva, which has agreed to pay 35 million euros ($46 million) in compensation over delays to the planned Imouraren project…..

Image source ; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9994964/Iran-does-not-need-nuclear-bomb-says-Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad.html

 

April 15, 2013

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi

NIAMEY, April 15 (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived on Monday in Niger, the world’s No. 4 uranium producer, where the French nuclear group Areva has seen its grip on the industry loosened by a government looking to diversify its partners.

Niger is the second of three stops on a trip aimed at deepening Iran’s ties with Africa, a continent Ahmadinejad has courted for business deals and diplomatic support as the Islamic Republic becomes increasingly isolated by international sanctions prompted by its disputed nuclear programme.

Some Western analysts say Iran may be close to exhausting reserves of raw uranium crucial to its nuclear activity and might have to seek out foreign sources, although the U.N. sanctions would forbid such purchases.

Last week, Iran said it had started up two uranium mines and a milling plant, and that Western opposition would not slow its nuclear work.

Before leaving Benin, Ahmadinejad said these plants “will completely provide for Iran’s needs” and that it did not need to buy uranium in Africa, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Niger Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum said uranium was not on the official agenda but might still come up.

“Even if Iran wants our uranium, the sale would need to be governed by international regulations,” Bazoum said. “Even if the question comes up, it will require a consideration of international laws.”

Ahmadinejad was greeted at the airport by Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou and, without making a statement, was taken in a convoy to the rundown riverside capital, Niamey.

Issoufou said last month he wanted to renegotiate the terms of Niger’s nuclear business with Areva and was looking for other partner countries.

After Niger, Ahmadinejad travels to oil-producing Ghana. However, his influence at home is already waning as he prepares to step down in August after completing his second and final term.

There is broad frustration in Niger that one of the world’s least developed nations, much of it desert, has not benefited more from decades of mining by Areva, which is controlled by the French state.

This month, several thousand people protested on the streets of Niamey against Areva, burning French flags.

Talks are continuing between Niger and Areva, which has agreed to pay 35 million euros ($46 million) in compensation over delays to the planned Imouraren project.

France remains an important partner for Niger, providing some 50 million euros in budgetary support last year on top of various other aid projects.

A report this month by two U.S. think-tanks, the Carnegie Endowment and the Federation of American Scientists, said the scarcity and low quality of Iran’s uranium resources would compel it “to rely on external sources of natural and processed uranium”.

“Despite the Iranian leadership’s assertions to the contrary, Iran’s estimated uranium endowments are nowhere near sufficient to supply its planned nuclear programme,” it added.

Iran denies Western accusations that it is stockpiling enriched uranium as potential nuclear weapons fuel, not for future civilian power stations as it maintains.

($1 = 0.7635 euros)

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Writing by David Lewis and Richard Valdmanis; editing by Mark Heinrich)

http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=68155

• As of 10 March, an estimated 3,586 individuals have arrived in Niger since the start of the military intervention in Mali. Given that the Level 2 Registration for the refugees in Agando and Chinwaren (in Tillia region) has yet to take place, and that no departures were reported, the planning figure in Niger remains 50,000 individuals.

• From 7 to 13 February, a total of 1,741 refugees (425 households) were relocated from Banibangou to Mangaizé camp. Relocated children will be integrated into the existing schools in the camp.

• On 9 February, there was a measles outbreak in Mangaizé with 33 cases reported. 32 of them were among refugees including 24 children under 15 years or less. An immunization campaign targeting unvaccinated children from 6 months to 14 years has been launched by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with partners responsible for health activities in the camp.

• From 25 March until 2 April, a joint survey is being undertaken by UNHCR, WFP and UNICEF in the camps to evaluate the current acute malnutrition rate among children 6 to 59 months. Immunization coverage against measles among children 9-59 months will also be determined in the 3 official refugee camps. This survey will be conducted using the SMART methodology.

• As of 10 March, 54,818 children under-five have been admitted to therapeutic feeding centres for severe acute malnutrition (SAM), while another 79,329 have been receiving treatment for moderate acute malnutrition (MAM).

• WFP, UNICEF and UNHCR agreed to extend the wet feeding programme in the camps for an additional two-month period (up until May 2013). This operation targeted 5,963 refugees through the month of February. Results of a MUAC survey among children aged 6-59 months are encouraging and show a positive impact on children’s nutritional status.

• The lack of emergency funding could jeopardize the 2013-2014 school year for all refugee children in Niger. An estimated US$2.5 million are urgently required to ensure uninterrupted emergency education.

• Despite the fact that protection issues are on the rise in camps, funding is not forthcoming. Gender-Based Violence, Children Associated with Armed Forces and other armed Groups, Separated and Unaccompanied Children, psychosocial distress affecting children remain threats to their well-being that need to be addressed through prevention, tracing and/or treatment.

• To ensure that host communities have equitable access to WASH facilities and are not deprived of their rights, UNICEF is advocating to immediately mobilize US$2.5 million for this sector.

http://reliefweb.int/report/niger/unicef-niger-monthly-situation-report-26-march-2013

Washington, D.C.—A high-level delegation of African security professionals, representatives of governments and regional institutions across Africa, and senior U.S. government officials convened in Washington April 10-12, 2013, for the second annual African Executive Dialogue, which provides a venue for candid discussion of current and emerging security challenges. Approximately 35 people attended the Executive Dialogue, hosted by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS).

http://africacenter.org/2013/04/u-s-african-executive-dialogue-examines-ways-to-unlock-potential-of-africa%E2%80%99s-peace-security-architecture/

April 15, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized