Guess what Nigerâs main export is?
From Hindrocket at powerlineblog:
So What Was Iraq Buying From Niger?
No doubt everyone is tired of the Niger uranium story. But this article by Terence Jeffrey in Human Events, linked to this morning by Real Clear Politics, caused me to think again about the practical reality of trade between Iraq and Niger.
Jeffreyâs article notes that in 1999, according to the U.N.âs International Atomic Energy Agency, an Iraqi named Wissam al Zawahie was sent on a "trade mission" to Niger. The articleâs main theme is that al Zawahie was one of the chief Iraqi advocates for the development of nuclear weapons by that country. Jeffrey also recounts that he tried to get more information on Zawahieâs contacts with Niger from the U.N., which interviewed him in Baghdad, but the U.N. refused to disclose any information that had not already been made public.
One of the unanswered questions that Jeffrey posed to the U.N. was: What did Zahawie say Iraq hoped to import from Niger? This caused me to wonder about Nigerâs export economy. Niger is one of the worldâs poorest countries; what, exactly, might it have to sell that Iraq would want to buy? Bearing in mind, of course, that there is no question that Iraq bought large quantities of uranium from Niger in the 1980âs.
(Read the rest of the article at the powerlineblog link above).
Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-08-02 |