By Abdoulaye Massaslatchi, ANTARA News/Reuters,
Niamey : Tuareg-led guerrillas in Niger handed over four French hostages to the Red Cross on Wednesday, three days after they seized them in the north of the country, the group and the Red Cross said.
“We have just handed over, in a safe location … the four French nationals to the Red Cross,” the rebel Niger Justice Movement (MNJ) said in a statement posted on its website http://m-n-j.blogspot.com.
The MNJ has said it seized the four French nationals, working for the French nuclear group Areva, to disprove the Niger government`s assurances that it would guarantee the safety of foreign investors.
Juan Coderque, of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) regional office in Senegal, told Reuters, “We can confirm that the four French citizens, and a Nigerien (Niger) citizen as well, have been handed over to the ICRC.”
He added, “We will hand them over to the Niger authorities. If everything goes well it will happen tomorrow.”
The guerrilla group initially said it would release the hostages as early as Sunday, but humanitarian officials in the region said the practical arrangements for a transfer in northern Niger were complicated.
The MNJ, led by nomadic Tuareg tribesmen, wants greater autonomy for the northern region and a larger share of revenues from the uranium being mined there by the French company.
Uranium royalties have soared in the past two years and the country hopes to become the world`s no. 2 uranium producer by 2011 thanks to new mines being opened by Areva and the China Nuclear International Uranium Corp. (Sino-U).
“Regarding Areva, we hope it will take our message into account to avoid any misunderstanding in the future,” the MNJ statement said.
On Tuesday, the group said government military helicopters tried to attack its bases in northern Niger, endangering the hostages` lives, in an effort to discredit the guerrilla movement.
Officials from the government, which dismisses the rebels as drug traffickers, arms smugglers and bandits with no political legitimacy, were not immediately available for comment.