Niger has barred French government-controlled uranium miner Areva's country chief over accusations that Areva may have helped finance a revolt by nomadic Tuareg rebels, the company said on Thursday.
The Interior Ministry declared Dominique Pin persona non grata on Tuesday while Pin was out of the West African country, sources at the Interior and Mines ministries told Reuters in Niger's capital Niamey.
The Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ), led by light-skinned Tuareg nomads, has killed at least 36 soldiers and captured dozens more since it launched a rebellion in February demanding greater autonomy for the Saharan region where the majority of Niger's uranium is mined. "We confirm and condemn the decision to expel Dominique Pin," said an Areva spokesman in Paris.