The Niger Minister of Mines in the year 2000, Yahaya Baaré, declared that during the transition government in 1999, a country « that was not Iraq » tried unsuccessfully to buy uranium yellowcake from Niger. Also, two Nigerien businessmen who resided abroad contacted the Ministry as intermediaries with the proposal to buy uranium for a nation that presumably had not signed all of the conventions against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The identity of this third-party nation has not been revealed.
I do not know if this testimony syncs with Mayaki's. The timeline is the same.
A testimony only about his own speculation. Which should have not been taken as proof of anything.
a country « that was not Iraq » tried unsuccessfully to buy uranium yellowcake from Niger.
Apparently, that country was Iran. At least I read an article somewhere (I quoted the info to wchurchill) about what Wiklson reported, and it references another Nigerien official, one Mai Manga, saying so. (Had the intel process not been corrupted, an analyst would conclude that Manga's willingness to talk about Iran's attempt at purchase reinforces the truthfulness of his denial that Iraq has attempted such.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Keep in mind that it is most likely not the same country the two Nigerien expats purportedly represented. To the best of my knowledge, Iran had signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaties, perhaps not all, but that would need some fact checking.
