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336 EPILOGUEnumber of warriors, including a large group of Idnan fighters beside Bahanga’sIforgoumoussen continued the fighting. 37 They found new allies in the Mouvementdes Nigériens pour la Justice (MNJ). 38 As in Mali, new fighting hadbroken out in Northern Niger in February 2007. Here a number of key issuesled to renewed violence. The first was the lack of application of the variouspeace agreements of the late 1990s, together with political tensions aroundformer rebel leader (and then minister in various governments) Ghissa agBoula, and general dissatisfaction with the Government of President MamadouTandja. But more important were tensions over the possible discovery of newmineral riches. With oil prices staggering to unprecedented heights and thesearch for other energy sources becoming more urgent, uranium prices also roseand so did international interest in Niger’s uranium and petrol potentials. Thecarving-up of the entire northern part of the country into prospection andexploitation blocks for crude oil and yellow cake led to intense concerns amongthe Kel Tamasheq about environmental issues (of which they had plenty experiencethrough the open-air uranium mines at Arlit), the possible loss ofaccess to pastures and, not least, the distribution of the revenues of these newriches. Contrary to the Kel Tamasheq of the ADC, the MNJ made no publicclaims to more autonomy, let alone independence. They claimed to defend therights of all inhabitants of Northern Niger, regardless of ethnical background,and the presence among their ranks of a few Fulani, Arabs and, especially, agroup of regular army officers, gave these claims some credibility. 39 In July2007 Ibrahim Bahanga formed a formal alliance with the MNJ called theAlliance Touarègue Niger-Mali pour le Changement (ATNMC). 40 Bahanga andhis men joined in a number of attacks in Niger but the alliance was short-lived.The ATNMC was quickly rebaptised Alliance Touarègue Nord-Mali pour leChangement, allowing it to keep its previous acronym, and concentrated on37383940The motivations for the Idnan to join Bahanga in his continued struggle can only beguessed at. It might well be that this was a temporary alliance of two groups –Iforgoumoussen and Idnan – because both sought more independence for themselvesand hence less power for the Ifoghas, this despite the fact that the Iforgoumoussenofficially still formed part of the Ifoghas tewsit.Deycard, F. 2007. I am less familiar with the internal political constellations of theKel Tamasheq in Niger, but undoubtedly a number of internal political issues playedan important role in the new conflict as well. I have not yet come across a soundanalysis of these internal issues.The presence of Nigerien Army Officers among the MNJ was due to internal conflictswithin the Nigerien Armed Forces dating back to the time of the coup d’état byColonel Ibrahim Mainassare Baré in January 1996, assassinated in a counter coup inApril 1999 by Major Daouda Malam Wanké, leading to mutinies by troops loyal toBaré.http://atnmc.blogspot.com/