Niger severs ties with Israel Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit AFP via Times of India - April 22, 2002 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=7625262 Niger severs ties with Israel NIAMEY, Apr 22 (AFP)--The Muslim-dominated African country of Niger announced on Sunday it was cutting diplomatic relations with Israel, in an official statement broadcast on the radio. "At this dramatic and particularly grave moment in which the martyrs of Palestine are living, the government has ceased to have diplomatic relations with the state of Israel," it said. Niger blamed the move on the "intransigence" of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the 18-month conflict with the Palestinians. "He has clearly shown his desire to risk all the gains made under the peace process ... and poses the gravest threat to peace and security throughout the entire region." The west African country, where more than 90 per cent of the population is Muslim, restored diplomatic ties with Israel in 1996 after severing them in 1973 following the Arab-Israeli war. Earlier this month, the Niger government lambasted the "inhuman and barbaric war unleashed by the racist government of Sharon" against the Palestinians. Israel launched a massive invasion of Palestinian towns in the West Bank in late March after a suicide attack in the Israeli resort town of Netanya killed 25, the deadliest bombing since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000. Thousands demonstrated at the main mosque in the capital Niamey a week ago to support Palestinians in their struggle against the "Zionist enemy." ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytaf-04.25.02-18:10:25-32031