Arrests in Niger over kidnapping

The security forces in Niger are reported to have arrested at least four army officers in connection with the kidnapping of the spokesman for the former military government.

The spokesman, Major Djibrilla Hamidou Hima, was released on Sunday after being seized on Saturday.

Reports from Niamey say he was kidnapped by disaffected ex-soldiers who had been dismissed from the army last November after a series of mutinies.

The authorities say the kidnapping was not related to troubles within the army. Mr Hima was the spokesman for the military government that seized power following president Ibrahim Bare Mainassara's assassination in April 1999.

The military handed power to the democratically elected president, Mamadou Tandja, in December.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service