Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki

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Ibrahim Hassane Mayaki (born 1951) was Prime Minister of Niger from November 27, 1997, to January 3, 2000. He was appointed by President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara. He had previously been foreign minister of Niger from December 1996 to November 1997.

When President Maïnassara was overthrown and assassinated in April 1999, Mayaki was appointed by Daouda Malam Wanké, the leader of the coup, to lead the country to democratic elections. He was retained as prime minister by the new transitional government and resigned after the next presidential elections.

It has been suggested that during his time in office, Mayaki was contacted by representatives of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government who wanted to purchase uranium, a natural resource of Niger. This claim was in turn used by US President George W. Bush in a State of the Union address to build a case for overthrowing Saddam's regime. Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson's investigation of the matter on behalf of the CIA support that Mayaki was approached, though no sales occurred.^[1]

The allegation has since become the subject of a complex scandal known as the Plame affair involving the American intelligence-gathering community.