Who is Rhissa Ag Boula, the former rebel leader opposing the junta in Niger?

Former Tuareg rebel leader and Nigerien minister Rhissa Ag Boula announced on Wednesday the creation of a Council of Resistance for the Republic with the aim of restoring constitutional order in Niger and freeing President Bazoum.

This is a new piece that is being added to the Nigerien chessboard. Two weeks after the coup led by a group of military officers in Niamey, Minister Rhissa Ag Boula announced on Wednesday, August 9, the launch of a Council of Resistance for the Republic (CRR), calling for the arrest of the leader of the putschists, General Tiani, and the release of the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, whom he was one of the closest advisors to.

The Tuareg politician denounces the “extremism” of some members of the junta, “the infamous practice of mass manipulation” as well as “the temptation to call on mercenaries and war criminals known as Wagner”.

With the CRR, this well-known figure in Niger intends to restore “order, constitutional legality, and President Mohamed Bazoum to his full functions”.

Born in 1957 in Tchirozerine, a mining town lost in the desert, 1,000 km northeast of Niamey, Rhissa Ag Boula was first a tour guide. In 1983, he founded Temet Voyages, the first tourist agency in the Agadez region, with Mano Dayak, his traveling companion and iconic Tuareg leader who died in a plane crash in 199