Soldiers in formation near a Niger flag before the arrival of the Prime Minister of Niger Brigi Rafini at the "Cure Salee" festival in Ingal September 17, 2011. Tuareg, Peul and Wodaabe nomads congregate each year at the salt flats around the northern oasis town of Ingal for the "Cure Salee" (salt cure), where their camels, cattle, sheep and goats drink the mineral-rich water after months on the move. Niger's nomads have held the three-day long event for centuries to mark the end of the rains, exchanging news and information amid music and dance as they prepare their animals over several weeks for the dry season. REUTERS/Luc Gnago (NIGER - Tags: MILITARY ANNIVERSARY SOCIETY) - GM1E79I131001
Moscow [Russia], April 4 (ANI/Sputnik): Niger‘s newly-elected President Mohamed Bazoum has appointed Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou as Prime Minister.
According to the president’s official statement broadcast on national television on Saturday, Mahamadou, the former chief of staff, has been instructed to form a new government.
Mahamadou had also served as Niger‘s mines and energy minister and as finance minister.
Bazoum’s victory in the February election was confirmed by the constitutional court in March amid calls for nationwide protests from Niger‘s opposition. The new president’s Friday inauguration ceremony came only a few days after a failed coup attempt and was attended by the leaders of Togo, Chad, Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. (ANI/Sputnik)
