FORMER PRIME MINISTER DETAINED AND QUESTIONED

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000024 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON NG SUBJECT: FORMER PRIME MINISTER DETAINED AND QUESTIONED REF: 07 NIAMEY 1412 ¶1. (U) Former Prime Minister Hama Amadou was questioned by police for about five hours on January 7. Details are still sketchy, but the questioning apparently followed a scuffle earlier in the day involving youth elements of the ruling MNSD party. One of the youth had questioned Amadou, who heads the MNSD, regarding party finances. Amadou reportedly objected to the call for an audit and his supporters attacked the person who raised the issue, burning his car. Amadou was called in for allegedly inciting violence. Many of his supporters gathered at the police station while he was being questioned. ¶2. (SBU) The incident takes place in the context of a rivalry between Amadou and President Tandja over control of the MNSD. A number of prominent Amadou supporters in the MNSD, including the mayor of Niamey, were recently arrested on corruption charges (reftel). The mayor of Maradi, who is not a MNSD member, was also later arrested on corruption charges, but released pending trial. Amadou supporters have questioned why the Niamey mayor was not similarly released. ALLEN