Mutinous army major leads Niger's coup d'eta.

RABAT, February 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Mutinous troops led by an army major
staged a coup d'eta in Niger and captured President Mamadou Tandja and
government members on Thursday.

Major Adamou Harouna led the troops that stormed the presidential
palace in a four-hour gun battle that killed at least three soldiers,
according to local military sources.
The president and the ministers were being held not far from the
presidential palace in the capital Niamey.
The state radio interrupted normal broadcasts.
Reuters reported from Niamey quoting an eye witness that tanks have
taken up positions close to the barracks, where Tandja and members of his
government are reportedly held.
Tandja drew criticism and sanctions after dissolving parliament and
orchestrating a constitutional reform in 2009 that gave him additional
powers and extended his term beyond his second five-year mandate, which
expired in December.

.Three Azeri soldiers killed in Karabakh conflict zone.

BAKU, February 19 (Itar-Tass) -- Three Azerbaijani soldiers were
killed and one wounded in a shootout with Armenians in the zone of
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on Thursday, Azeri Defense ministry spokesman
Eldar Sabirogly said, adding Armenian forces also sustained losses.
The spokesman blamed Armenian troops for violating the ceasefire
regime and attacking Azeri forces. "After encountering resistance the
adversary retreated sustaining loses that were not less than ours," he
said.
Azerbaijani's Chief-of-Staff of the armed forces Nadjmeddin Sadykhov
told the local ANS TV channel that Armenian actions followed the military
exercise of Azerbaijani troops in the area. "The Azerbaijani side took
adequate measures in response," he said.

.Russia strictly complies with NKorea sanctions.

MOSCOW, February 19 (Itar-Tass) -- The Russian Foreign ministry said
on Thursday Moscow strictly complies with the U.N. sanctions imposed on
North Korea for its nuclear program.
"Strict adherence of the Russian side (to sanctions stipulated by
Resolution 1874) was confirmed," the ministry said commenting on a meeting
of Deputy Minister Alexei Borodavkin with a group of U.N. experts.
"It has been stressed that the main aim of sanctions against the DPRK
was to create conditions for the settlement of the nuclear problem on the
Korean Peninsula in the framework of six-party talks that should be
summed," the ministry said.
However, it added "the sanctions should not isolate the DPRK on the
international arena and aggravate the humanitarian situation in the
country."
"They do not infringe on DPRK sovereignty and its status of a
full-fledged member of the six-party talks," it said.
U.N. Security Council resolution 1874 denounced North Korean nuclear
test in May 2009 and urged Pyongyang to recall its decision to withdraw
from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, reject nuclear arms and programs in
a verifiable way. It also banned military exports from North Korea and
allowed the imports only of small arms.
In Pyongyang North Korean parliament chairman Choe Thae-bok called on
Thursday to continue developing "traditional friendly relations between
the DPRK and Russia".
Speaking in the Russian embassy at a reception in connection witn Kim
Jong Il's birthday, which is the national holiday in North Korea, Choe
said an example of such relations was the recent staging of Petr
Tchaikovski's Eugene Onegin opera timed to the 10th anniversary of the
signing of the friendship treaty between the two countries. Kim attended
the first night performance.
Russian Ambassador in Pyongyang Valery Sukhinin said the treaty
"promoted contacts between parliamentarians, ministries and departments,
public organizations of our countries, in the sphere of culture, education
and sport."
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-Chun attended the reception.
-0-nec


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