Africa's uranium business turns risky
Al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb, which claims to hold the hostages seized in Niger, declared in a statement France shouldn't take military action against it and cast its warning further afield.
It said Western firms "that steal our wealth and take advantage of our people should know that they are legitimate targets for the mujaheddin and they should leave promptly because our land is not a field for plunder and our wealth is not something to be taken advantage of."
That may be little more than jihadist rhetoric to cover a kidnap-for-ransom enterprise and there is considerable skepticism that AQIM has the resources to conduct such a campaign.
But the colonial legacy of France, Britain and Belgium and the backing they have given African dictators in return for access to the continent's wealth is sure to strike a chord among impoverished Africans whose leaders have plundered their countries' natural resources to enrich themselves.
People starve in Niger despite having large uranium reserves (video report)
AREVA Workers Kidnapped Abroad (video report)
AREVA, which has been mining uranium in Niger for more than 40 years and employs about 2,500 people there, has recently become more concerned about potential threats from a Tuareg militant movement and from Al Qaeda's north African affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which is active in the region.
In 2008, the company reinforced security after Tuareg rebels kidnapped four French citizens. The hostages were freed, unharmed, five days later.
Tuareg tribesmen, who say the government is not sharing the proceeds of the country's mineral wealth, have been fighting a low-level insurgency in northern Niger since 2007. Niger, one of Africa's poorest countries, has one of the world's largest uranium deposits.
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