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Niger's Tandja wins term-extension referendum


    NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger's President Mamadou Tandja has won a referendum that will allow him to rule the uranium-producing Saharan country for three more years without going to the polls, despite criticism from international organisations that the move was a backward step for democracy and stability.

    Provisional results showed 92 percent of those who voted in Tuesday's plebiscite on changing the constitution in favour of Tandja staying on, the electoral commission said on Friday. Turnout was 68 percent.

    Tandja, whose second and final elected term ends in December, has said the people of Niger want him to stay to oversee multibillion-dollar oil, mining and infrastructure deals.

    The United Nations, African Union, European Union, United States and former colonial power France have all criticised Tandja's plan to retain his grip on the presidency, which Niger's constitutional court said was unlawful.

    The constitutional change approved in the plebiscite also allows the removal of presidential term limits altogether.

    French state-owned energy firm Areva is building a 1.2 billion euro (1 billion pound) uranium mine in the north of the country, while China National Petroleum Corp last year signed a $5 billion oil deal with Niger.

    (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Michael Roddy)