Niger suspending Arab expulsions

Niger's government has suspended a controversial decision to deport thousands of Arabs back to Chad.

The Mahamid Arabs, who are mostly nomads with animals, have lived in arid areas of Niger for several decades.

The communications minister told Reuters news agency that neighbouring countries intervened to request a halt to the expulsions begun on Thursday.

The Mahamid were accused of wrongdoing, including theft and rape, but critics say the move was politically motivated.

The Niger government initially said it was expelling more than 150,000 people who, it said, were in the country illegally.

The French foreign ministry said later that the actual figure was more likely to be around 4,000.

Many of the Mahamid crossed into Niger more than 30 years ago to escape drought, famine and fighting in Chad.

Presidential challenger

The decision to suspend the expulsions came after a cabinet meeting on Friday.

NIGER'S MAHAMID ARABS Originally nomads from Chad 150,000 live mainly in Diffa State Many came after 1974 drought More fled 1980s Chad fighting Fought against 1990s Tuareg rebellion

Earlier this week, the governor of Diffa State, where most of the Mahamid live, told them it was "high time" to pack and return to Chad.

While Niger's Interior Minister Mounkaila Modi said the Mahamid possessed illegal firearms and were a serious threat to the security of local communities and that their camels were draining local oases.

But observers say that the Mahamid, many of whom are wealthy and control the much of eastern Niger's economy, are backing a politician who plans to challenge President Mamadou Tandja in elections due in 2008.

There are also racial tensions with the local black population who accuse the Arabs of being "arrogant".

On Wednesday, Mahamid leaders told reporters they would defend themselves against attack and called on the United Nations to intervene.

They insisted they were citizens of Niger and "have no other country to go to", after being given five days to leave the country.

Many of the Arabs came to Niger from neighbouring Chad following the 1974 drought in Chad.

Others who were fleeing fighting in Chad arrived in the 1980s. Many have since risen to senior positions in the military, local administration and in business.

Culture clash

Like the rest of the country, the east of Niger is extremely arid.

It is populated by nomadic cattle herders, whilst the Arabs also own camels. Not surprisingly, one source of the tension between the communities is water.

With the Sahara desert expanding quite quickly there are growing fears that the scarcity of water could spark future problems in many African countries in the region.

The BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross says that with the spread of Islam to Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries, Arabs greatly expanded their presence and influence and there are many examples of how the African and Arab cultures have mixed.

For example, some 20% of East Africa's Swahili language comes from Arabic. Arab and non-Arab Africans both had the common goal of opposing European colonialists.

But there have also been areas where the cultures have clashed, one example being Sudan, which has been plagued by conflict between the Arab dominated government in the north and the black African south.