Rebels abduct four French nationals in Niger

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

LAGOS (AFP) — Tuareg rebels abducted four French nationals working for nuclear group Areva in the uranium-rich north of Niger and said Sunday they would be freed quickly "with a message for the Areva management".

The four were seized in the northwest African country by an ethnic Tuareg rebel group, the Movement of the People of Niger for Justice (MNJ), said an Areva spokesman.

Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier said three men and one woman had been abducted in the northern region of Niger where Areva has mining contracts, but were "safe and well."

The group, including the group's local operations director and a geologist, "were able to enter into contact with their colleagues," Saulnier added.

Speaking for the MNJ rebel group, Agali Alambo told AFP by...