Niger's military plans to run the uranium-exporting country until politicians agree on a new constitution

NIAMEY Niger’s military plans to run the uranium-exporting country until politicians agree on a new constitution and are ready for fresh elections, West Africa’s regional mediator said after meeting the junta on Sunday.No timeframe has been set for the transition back to civilian rule but a spokesman for the junta said on Sunday that elections would be held “as soon as possible” and the situation was similar to a coup in 1999 that led to transparent elections.

Niger’s military ousted President Mamadou Tandja in a swift coup last week, putting an end to months of political wrangling between him and the opposition.The seizure was formally condemned but it is also widely seen at home and abroad as a chance to end a political impasse.”They have assured us there will be an opening for everyone here in Niger, for an inter-Nigerien dialogue,” Mohamed Ibn Chambas, president of the ECOWAS Commission, told reporters after meeting the military junta.

“It is this process that will lead to a new constitution and credible elections,” Chambas added. “They said they want a short transition that ends as soon as possible, but it is also the political dialogue that will define the timetable.”Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Niamey on Saturday to show support for the army, but also to call for elections to be organized.Tandja and his rivals were locked in a dispute over the president’s extension and deepening of his powers last year, a move that drew criticism and sanctions from abroad.

Although he held a successful referendum that officially gave him three more years in power after his mandate ran out in December, the row divided the nation. The military ended it by blasting their way into Tandja’s palace to arrest him.The junta says it had to act to end tensions.”We were encouraged by the fact that the authorities themselves are mindful that this is not their normal function and they are eager to finish this task and go back to their normal military and security duties,” Chambas said.

COUP-HAPPY ARMY?

It was the third coup in West Africa in the last 18 months, in what some observers say is an alarming shift away from democracy in a region seeking stability and investment.But a spokesman for the military junta, known as the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, said the 1999 coup, when the army ousted the president but held elections soon afterwards, should allay concerns about the military’s plans.”If you want proof, in 1999 we had a similar situation and we handed back power and we had 10 years of stability. We are going to do the same thing,” Colonel Djibril Hamidou Hima said.Hamidou Hima also rejected accusations that the army, which has ousted four of Niger’s presidents, was too eager to step in.

“This is not the case. We left the political actors to try and find a solution. This did not happen. Social tensions got worse. We didn’t launch a coup we just re-imposed legitimacy, because this had already disappeared,” he said.Hamidou Hima said Tandja was being held in a villa in Niamey. The prime minister, interior minister and finance minister are also under house arrest.Despite a flurry of international criticism and Niger’s suspension from the African Union, many in Niger and diplomatic circles say the ousting of Tandja has unblocked a political stalemate that months of ECOWAS-run talks failed to resolve. (Reuters)

giant crocodiles from 100 million years

Rat Croc, Duck Croc and Pancake Croc. These are not the names of children’s cartoon characters, but giant crocodiles from 100 million years, ago, whose fossilised remains palaeontologists have unearthed in the Sahara.The crocodiles once ran and swam in present-day Niger and Morocco, when the region was covered by lush plains and broad rivers, as agile on land as they were in water.The palaeontologists say that the diverse array of fossils that they found offers important clues to why the ancestors of modern crocodiles survived while dinosaurs underwent mass extinction.The expedition, which began in 2000, found specimens of four new species, nicknamed Boar Croc, Pancake Croc, Duck Croc and Rat Croc. Many of the fossils were found lying on the surface of a remote, windswept stretch of rock and dunes.The discoveries, which are described today in the journal Zookeys, show that early crocodiles were much more varied in physique and behaviour than their modern ancestors.They were given nicknames by the scientists, based on their unusual physical features.

Boar Croc (Kaprosuchus saharicus) was a ferocious 20ft-long (6m) meat eater with an armoured snout for ramming and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs for slicing.Rat Croc (Araripesuchus rattoides) was 3ft long and used its bucktoothed lower jaw to dig for roots and grubs.Pancake Croc (Laganosuchus thaumastos) was a 20ft-long squat fish eater, with a 3ft-long flat head. It would have rested, motionless, for hours, waiting for prey to swim into its open jaws.

Duck Croc (Anatosuchus minor) was a 3ft upright species that ate fish, frogs and grubs. It had a broad, overhanging snout. Sensory areas on the snout helped it to root around shallow waters for prey.The team, led by Paul Sereno, of the University of Chicago, and Hans Larsson, of McGill University, Montreal, also found the most complete example of a previously discovered species, nicknamed Dog Croc. Dog Croc (Araripesuchus wegeneri) was a 3ft-long upright plant and grub eater with a soft, doglike forward-pointing nose.Yesterday Professor Sereno described Duck Croc as the “Pinocchio of crocs”, adding that its nose was more than just a physical flourish. Evidence of soft tissue in Duck Croc’s nose suggests that it had a highly advanced sense of smell.

Dr Larsson said: “We were surprised to discover so many species from the same time in the same place.”The fossils all date from about 100 million years ago, a time when dinosaurs still dominated the Earth.With the exception of the Pancake Croc, scientists believe all of the ancient species walked upright, like a land mammal, rather than with their limbs sprawled out to the sides and their bellies touching the ground.The animals would have been able to gallop on land, although scientists have not yet established how fast they were. Professor Sereno said: “We don’t think these animals were racehorses but they were pretty fast.“A human would have had a harder time outrunning them than they would a modern crocodile.”

Their skeletal remains suggest that the early crocodiles were already well-adapted swimmers, with agile tails and paddling claws.This early versatility may explain how crocodiles came to be the largest air-breathing survivors of the mass extinction event of about 65 million years ago that wiped out terrestrial dinosaurs. “Their amphibious talents in the past may be the key to understanding how they flourished in, and ultimately survived, the dinosaur era,” said Professor Sereno.Being semi-aquatic may have made it easier for them to scavenge from the carcasses of dead marine life. Modern crocodiles can live as scavengers and can survive for months without food.

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