• Obama deploys drones, US military personnel to Niger

    By Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC News

    President Barack Obama has deployed American military personnel and drone aircraft to the African country of Niger, where they could be used to support a French counterterrorism mission in neighboring Mali.


    Defense Department officials told NBC News that a first wave will include two Raptor surveillance drones and 250 to 300 military personnel, including remote pilots and security and maintenance crews. They are expected to arrive soon.

    The officials stressed that the drones are meant for surveillance only. The White House has faced criticism for a legal memo concluding that the U.S. government can use drones to kill American citizens overseas in certain cases.

    Besides helping the French in Mali, the drones could be used to provide intelligence on a growing Islamic militant threat throughout North and East Africa.

    The president notified Congress on Friday under the War Powers Act, which requires him to tell Congress when heavily armed U.S. military personnel are newly deployed to a region or nation.

    Obama told Congress that the U.S. military presence was under the consent of the government of Niger, and that they would “facilitate intelligence-sharing” with the French. He said that the American military personnel were armed for their own protection and security.

    Next door in Mali, Tuareg rebels overthrew the government last year. Islamists then pushed the rebels aside, taking control of important towns and pushing toward the capital.

    France intervened last month — initially with airstrikes and later with about 4,000 ground troops. The United States has flown French troops and equipment into Mali and refueled French fighter jets there, the Pentagon has said. France plans to begin withdrawing troops from Mali next month, once African forces are in place to take over.

    On Friday, five people were killed in a remote Malian town in car bomb attacks by Islamists on Tuareg fighters, a spokesman for the Tuareg fighters said.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

    This story was originally published on Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:19 AM EST

  • US slaps sanctions on woman accused of helping Saadi Gadhafi, son of slain Libyan leader

    Mahmud Turkia / AFP - Getty Images file

    Saadi Gadhafi, son of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, speaks during a press conference in Tripoli on January 2010.

    By NBC News and wire services

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed financial sanctions on a South African woman accused of supporting the son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in his efforts to overturn the country's transition towards democracy.


    The U.S. Treasury said it was targeting 40-year-old Dalene Sanders because she was moving money from banks accounts in Uganda at the direction of Saadi Gaddafi, the former dictator's son. In February, she also met with Ugandan officials to discuss political asylum in that country for Saadi Gadhafi.

    Cynthia Vanier is being held in a Mexican jail on suspicion of attempting to help members of the Gadhafi family out of Libya as the Libyan regime was crumbling. CBC's Dave Seglins talks with Vanier about her situation.

    "We are determined to oppose all those who seek to foster violence, fear, or instability in Libya," David Cohen, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

    The Treasury's designation of Sanders is part of its broader goal of preventing funds that belong to the Libyan people from being misused, Cohen said.

    Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com 

    As a result of Treasury's action, Americans are prohibited from dealing with Sanders and any of her assets under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.

    Orly Weinerman claims she had a romantic relationship with Saif Gadhafi, the jailed son of the former Libyan dictator, and appeals for his release. NBC News' Karl Bostic reports.

    After his father’s regime was toppled, Saadi Gadhafi fled to Niger where he has been under house arrest. The new Libya government has moved to extradite him.

    In February, he gave a phone interview to the Al Arabiya news in which said a popular uprising is brewing and his return to Libya is inevitable.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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  • In Niger, child marriage on rise due to hunger

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Sarey Amadou, 14, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 20. Even though the boy she had a crush on offered a dowry for her, her father insisted that she marry her first cousin, who lives several hours away in the larger village of Guidan Roumdji. Even during the best of times, one out of every three girls in Niger marries before her 15th birthday, a rate of child marriage among the highest in the world, according to a UNICEF survey. Now this custom is being layered on top of a crisis. At times of severe drought, parents pushed to the wall by poverty and hunger are marrying their daughters at even younger ages. A girl married off is one less mouth to feed, and the dowry money she brings in goes to feed others.

    "Families are using child marriage, as an alternative, as a survival strategy to the food insecurity," says Djanabou Mahonde, UNICEF's chief child protection officer in Niger.

    This drought-prone country of 16 million is so short on food that it is ranked dead last by international aid organization Save the Children in the percentage of children receiving a "minimum acceptable diet."

    -- Reported by the Associated Press

    Read the full story.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Children help prepare the evening meal in a courtyard in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 21. In Hawkantaki, it is the rhythm of the land that shapes the cycle of life and crucially, when they marry their daughters.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Young girls stand in a field of millet outside the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 19. In a normal year, the green shoots vaulted out of the ground and rose as high as 13 feet, a wall tall enough to conceal an adult man. This time, they only reached the waist.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Rama, 14, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 18. Her mother says she is 12. Her husband brought a 100,000 francs ($200) dowry for her in the fall of 2011. Although her mother denies that poverty played a role in precipitating the marriage, Rama says her family would normally have waited at least one more year. "It's because the rainy season was not good that I was married off, and because we are very poor."

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Children play in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 19.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Shoubalee Lawali, 15, from Hawkantaki, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Kintee, Niger, July 19. Her husband is in his mid-20s. She was taken to his village, Kintee, where she now lives with him. "My father has three wives and 23 kids. There are lots of problems at home. I think it was for this reason that they married me."Last year, before the start of the harvest, there were 10 girls in Hawkantaki between the ages of 11 and 15. By spring 2012, seven were married, and another two are engaged.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Elders gather for prayer at the mosque in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 18. In Niger, the legal age of marriage is 15. The law, however, only applies for civil ceremonies officiated by the state.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A man and a boy exit after prayer at the mosque in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 18.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Sadiya Oumarou, 15, originally from Hawkantaki, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Tabouka, Niger, July 19. Sadiya was the first of the girls to be married, leaving Hawkantaki for the village of Tabouka last year. One by one, her girlfriends were all married off except one. Like the others, she did not have her period when she became a new bride.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Children walk in a courtyard in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Aicha, 14, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Kaihi, Niger, July 20. Originally from Hawkantaki, Aicha has been married for seven months.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Young girls stare at a visitor in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 19.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Marliya, 14, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 20. Marliya's family was paid just 50,000 francs ($100) for her dowry. Her father used up the money long before her wedding, and she was sent to her husband's home with only a tarp to sleep on.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Young women walk past a group of men recharging their cell phones under a tree in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger, July 20.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Zali Idy, 12, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger. Zali was married in 2011. In January 2012, soon after she turned 12, she was carried on a bullock cart to her 23-year-old husband's home.

     

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  • Sale of Niger nomad's last camel is sign of hunger

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Helpers prepare just-purchased camels for their new owners to take with them at the livestock market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger. Eighty percent of Niger's people and 100 percent of the landlocked nation's rural population depend on livestock, including camel, cows, sheep and goats, for some part of their income. For generations, nomads have lived in a precarious equilibrium with the sky above them. When the first rains come, they head north toward the Sahara desert, where the grass is said to be saltier, packed with minerals. They time their movements according to the clouds, waiting for the second major downpour, before making a U-turn to head back to the greener south. If they miscalculate, they can end up stranded. As the grass turns yellow, their animals become too weak to walk.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg man smiles as his camel rises from lying down at the livestock market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    In a part of the world where the worth of a man is measured by his animals, Tuareg nomad Soumaila Wantala has come to this market to do the unthinkable: Sell his last camel.

    He crouches in the shade of a thorn tree as traders haggle over the 4-year-old male animal, Yedi. When the sale is complete, Yedi rears his enormous neck and lets out a cry, like the deep, subterranean call of a whale. It takes three men to drag the camel out of the arena, as if he understands the fate that has just befallen his master.

    -- Reported by the Associated Press

    Read the full story.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Herdsmen gather at the livestock market.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Tuareg nomads arrive at the market to trade livestock in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg nomad carrying his traditional sword has a hook fit to his camel at the market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Peul merchant relaxes on his stick by the door of a house while attending the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Men walk through the grain market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Tuareg nomads carrying their traditional swords and good luck amulets around their neck, shop for fabric and other goods while attending the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Nigerian taxman records the sale of a camel at the market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A rare vehicle carries villagers back to Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg nomad, carrying his traditional sword, walks past a handler pulling just-purchased sheep to their new owner at the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Sold goats are loaded on the rooftop of a truck in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A herdsman's family heats up water for dinner in the fields near Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A young herdsman walks through his cattle outside Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Birds fly over grazing cows in the green sandy plains near Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Young herdsmen show their henna stained hands, sign of a recent wedding celebration, as they gather at the livestock market in the desert village of Sakabal, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    A Tuareg nomad, carrying his traditional sword, rides his camel as he leaves the livestock market in Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    Livestock merchants leave Bermo, Niger.

    Jerome Delay / AP

    In this picture taken Monday, July 16, 2012, nomads stop for the night between Dakoro and Bermo, Niger.

     

  • European Union mission to train Niger forces to fight al-Qaida

    By NBC News staff and news services

    BRUSSELS -- The European Union agreed Monday to a two-year, $10.7 million mission in Niger to train the African country's security forces to fight al-Qaida.

    The mission will comprise 50 international staff members and 30 to be hired locally, the EU said.

    The commitment signals the depth of EU concern over the growing threat Islamist militancy poses to the Sahel region in central and west Africa. Exemplifying the threat was the recent rebel takeover of northern Mali, which borders Niger.

    The region has seen an influx of weapons and fighters flowing into the region after last year's revolt in Libya that ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

    "Increased terrorist activity and the consequences of the conflict in Libya have dramatically heightened insecurity in the Sahel," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

    "European experts will train (Niger's) security forces to improve their control of the territory and regional co-operation," she said in a statement.

    Full international coverage from NBCNews.com

    The mission will be based in Niamey, with liaison officers in Bamako, the capital of neighboring Mali, and Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania.

    The international staff will mostly be civilian security trainers from EU member states. The team will also have military expertise, EU officials said, but gave no further details.

    Mali's March 22 coup precipitated the fall of the country's north to a mix of secular and Islamist rebels, who now control a desert region the size of France.

    Related: Al-Qaida linked fighters destroy 'end of the world' gate in Timbuktu

    The rebel takeover has emboldened al-Qaida's north Africa wing as well as other foreign militants, including Nigerian fighters from Islamist group Boko Haram.

    Officials in Niger, a major uranium exporter, said last month that plans for the EU mission had been brought forward because of the threat of militant attacks from Mali.

    This article includes reporting by Reuters.

    Bing maps

    Niamey, Niger, will be home of the European Union mission. Liaison officers will be in Bamako, the capital of neighboring Mali, and Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania.

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  • 1.5 million children in imminent danger of starvation in West Africa

    A million and a half children are in imminent danger of starvation in West Africa. NBC's Rohit Kachroo reports on the crisis in the heart of the region, Niger. Warning: Some of the images in this report are distressing.

    By Rohit Kachroo, NBC News in Niger, west Africa

    One-and-a-half-million children are in imminent danger of starvation in West Africa, according to The United Nations Children's Fund, despite recent pledges of international aid.

    As world leaders gathered for the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development, aid workers warned there were only four weeks left to treat the effects of acute hunger before the rainy season makes huge swathes of the Sahel region inaccessible.

    Across western Africa, communities are caught between climate change, conflict and poverty -- yet the global economic crisis means international priorities lie elsewhere.

    For example, during its financial crisis Greece has received a hundred times more from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) than Niger during the last few years.

    Analysis: Mali coup shakes cocktail of instability in Sahel

    In hospitals here in southern Niger, a crisis is developing. Many children are at serious risk of dying and for each bed there is a skeletal frame as yet another hunger crisis strikes.

    Hair turned red by hunger
    Patients include a girl, Amina, whose hair has turned red by a lifetime without enough food, and Ibrahim, an eight-month-old whose tiny body is consumed by the effects of severe malnutrition.


    From many miles around, more young patients arrive all the time -- more work for the doctors who've rarely seen anything like this.

    Women complain about a lack of rain, but also about a lack of food. Their families may not survive the coming months, they say.

    Twenty years later, will world make good on Rio Earth Summit's 'broken promises'?

    “What you’re looking at are communities across wide areas that need assistance because, despite best efforts, they have been pushed off their ability to cope,” said Martin Dawes, regional spokesman for UNICEF.

    UNICEF Niger overview

    Some help is here: The international response has been swifter than it has been in the past. Earlier this month, the United States pledged over $81 million in additional assistance.

    But this is a crisis across many counties, affecting many millions, leaving many lives on a knife-edge – and the U.N. has already said it needs another $1.5 billion to tackle the problem.

    The months ahead are crucial here, amid grim warnings about more dry weather, even an influx of locusts. The world has been warned.

    Editor's note: Yahaman, the eight-month-old boy featured in our video report on the hunger crisis in Niger died late Tuesday night.

    Rohit Kachroo is NBC News' Africa Correspondent. Additional editing by Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com.

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