Niger and Gaddafi: Follow That Camel

What might spring to mind if asked to come up with any interesting facts about Niger? Assuming that the response was not “Duh…”, or “Nee-zhair? Don’t you mean Ny-juh?” (or another embarrassing pronunciation despite the lack of a second letter G), there might be scope for a mention of its landlocked status. Or that fact that it comprises a large amount of Sahara desert, leaving its population based largely in the far south west corner. Or the fact that one of the WMD related allegations about Saddam was that he had supposedly tried to obtain yellowcake uranium or from there. Or that for a brief period of time in 1999, after a coup that was not long followed by another, it was governed by a President Wanke (and his surname was indeed two syllables long).

That’s about it, really. So would they really want to become suddenly in the forefront of world awareness for offering Gaddafi a safe haven in exile? Perhaps the thought of a shadowy figure with dark flowing locks galloping towards the frontier on a camel is too much to resist.