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00:01:29,214 --> 00:01:31,091
[interviewee] They collect
it from us and sell it

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00:01:31,174 --> 00:01:33,134
on the black market
to the Syrians.

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00:05:30,997 --> 00:05:32,206
[Mariana van Zeller]
How are you?

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00:05:33,416 --> 00:05:34,667
Hello, how are you?

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00:05:34,751 --> 00:05:35,960
[Issifou] Yes, we're fine.

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00:05:36,502 --> 00:05:37,337
Welcome.

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00:05:37,420 --> 00:05:38,254
[Mariana van Zeller]
I'm Mariana.

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00:05:38,338 --> 00:05:39,547
[Issifou] Yes, Mariana. Welcome.

9
00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:41,007
Welcome.

10
00:05:41,090 --> 00:05:42,258
[Mariana van Zeller]
What's your name?

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00:05:42,342 --> 00:05:43,968
[Issifou] My name is Issifou.

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00:06:03,529 --> 00:06:04,739
[Issifou] I'll show you.

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00:06:04,822 --> 00:06:06,115
Down in the hole over there.

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[Mariana van Zeller]
In the big one here?

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[Issifou] Yeah, here.

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00:06:16,167 --> 00:06:17,835
We're going into the hole.

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00:06:36,479 --> 00:06:38,272
[Mariana van Zeller]
How many meters is it?

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00:06:38,356 --> 00:06:40,691
[Issifou] It can be more
than 100 meters (330 feet).

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00:06:41,651 --> 00:06:42,860
[Mariana van Zeller]
And we can go?

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00:06:42,944 --> 00:06:44,153
[Issifou] Yeah, we can go look.

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[Issifou] You can go
down slowly here,

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00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,040
as there are holes
on the other side.

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00:07:00,294 --> 00:07:02,296
Here we are.

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00:08:07,153 --> 00:08:08,237
[Mariana van Zeller]
Is it this way?

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00:08:08,321 --> 00:08:09,489
[Issifou] Yes, it's this way.

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00:08:35,515 --> 00:08:36,349
[Mariana van Zeller] Is it here?

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00:08:36,432 --> 00:08:37,266
[Issifou] Here it is.

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[Issifou] Come this way.

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[Issifou] That's it.

30
00:09:04,085 --> 00:09:05,753
There's gold in it, see?

31
00:09:06,254 --> 00:09:07,630
There's gold in it.

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00:09:09,715 --> 00:09:12,260
[Issifou] Where it gives
colors like that,

33
00:09:12,927 --> 00:09:15,429
we're going to find gold.

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00:09:15,513 --> 00:09:16,889
Here it is.

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00:10:21,495 --> 00:10:23,039
[Issifou] If it's lit up here,
it'll go too fast,

36
00:10:23,122 --> 00:10:24,749
and this will explode.

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[Mariana van Zeller]
We've heard that other mines

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00:10:49,690 --> 00:10:51,359
are being attacked

39
00:10:51,442 --> 00:10:53,402
by terrorists.

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00:10:53,486 --> 00:10:54,528
[Issifou] Yes, yes.

41
00:10:54,612 --> 00:10:56,572
They want to kill everyone.

42
00:10:56,947 --> 00:10:58,908
Kill, murder people.

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They came to a village

44
00:11:02,161 --> 00:11:06,082
and they said everyone
had to give them money.

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[Mariana van Zeller] Extortion.

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[Issifou] If you don't
bring the money,

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00:11:09,126 --> 00:11:11,045
they'll come and kill you all.

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[Kiari Liman-Tinguiri]
Last year, 2023,

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00:11:13,756 --> 00:11:15,716
more than half of all

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00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:18,886
terrorist related deaths
happened in the Sahel.

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00:11:25,643 --> 00:11:28,521
[Kiari Liman-Tinguiri] You have
ISIS, you have Al-Qaeda.

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00:11:28,604 --> 00:11:30,481
To the south we have Boko Haram.

53
00:11:30,564 --> 00:11:34,318
In the north you have JNIM,
which is Al-Qaeda affiliate.

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00:11:34,944 --> 00:11:37,113
Their goal is to try to set up

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00:11:37,196 --> 00:11:39,949
Islamic State that
can be a sanctuary,

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00:11:40,032 --> 00:11:43,452
a safe haven for
their activity against

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00:11:43,536 --> 00:11:45,121
the rest of the world.

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00:11:45,204 --> 00:11:47,581
So, they will use gold,

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00:11:47,665 --> 00:11:50,710
but not just as an end, no.

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They will use it as a means.

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[Mariana van Zeller] What
do you do to maintain security?

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00:12:34,128 --> 00:12:37,047
[Issifou] My security
is praying to God.

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00:12:37,131 --> 00:12:39,467
God has to protect us, yeah.

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Because we have no weapons.

65
00:12:42,636 --> 00:12:46,098
We're here to work.

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00:12:46,682 --> 00:12:49,643
Because we don't want to
go out and commit banditry.

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00:12:49,727 --> 00:12:54,106
My dream is to
secure enough money

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00:12:54,190 --> 00:12:57,902
to provide a good
education for my children

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00:12:58,235 --> 00:13:00,780
so they can grow
up to be good people.

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00:13:00,863 --> 00:13:02,531
Look how dirty we are.

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It's all to save our
children and our parents.

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[Issifou] This is
where we do the work

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00:13:28,557 --> 00:13:30,309
to remove the gold.

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00:13:35,314 --> 00:13:37,149
If we've been
working in the bush,

75
00:13:37,233 --> 00:13:38,943
we'll bring the
rocks here to be crushed,

76
00:13:39,026 --> 00:13:40,319
to get the gold out.

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Yeah, it's the
machines that work here.

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[Issifou] It's not much.

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That's it, but it's not much.

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00:14:08,305 --> 00:14:09,431
[Mariana van Zeller]
How much is this?

81
00:14:09,515 --> 00:14:10,641
[Issifou] One gram.

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00:14:25,030 --> 00:14:27,449
[Issifou] Little by little,
one day it becomes a lot.

83
00:14:29,493 --> 00:14:31,078
[Issifou] Yes, Agadez.

84
00:15:57,331 --> 00:16:00,292
[Mariana van Zeller] So how
much gold did you make today?

85
00:16:00,709 --> 00:16:03,003
[Clickely] Just over
200 million (francs).

86
00:16:11,387 --> 00:16:13,305
[Mariana van Zeller] So how
much profit do you make

87
00:16:13,389 --> 00:16:15,349
from seven kilos?

88
00:16:15,432 --> 00:16:18,560
-Seven kilos. The profit is
twenty million (francs).

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00:16:43,210 --> 00:16:45,045
[Mariana van Zeller] Is it
dangerous to do things here?

90
00:16:45,337 --> 00:16:46,171
[Clickely] Yes.

91
00:16:47,256 --> 00:16:49,800
But we have weapons,
we have guns.

92
00:16:50,134 --> 00:16:52,052
[Mariana van Zeller]
Have you ever used the weapon?

93
00:16:53,178 --> 00:16:54,096
[Clickely] Yes.

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00:17:28,338 --> 00:17:30,299
[Mariana van Zeller]
Have you ever used the weapon?

95
00:17:32,593 --> 00:17:33,635
[Clickely] Yes.

96
00:17:34,636 --> 00:17:36,972
[Mariana van Zeller]
For a bandit? Or what?

97
00:17:37,056 --> 00:17:38,307
[Clickely] For a bandit.

98
00:17:38,390 --> 00:17:39,725
It's normal if
you work with gold.

99
00:17:39,808 --> 00:17:41,143
[Mariana van Zeller] So
a lot of people here are armed?

100
00:17:41,518 --> 00:17:43,937
[Clickely] There are a lot of
guns in this line of work.

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00:17:44,021 --> 00:17:45,147
That's normal.

102
00:17:46,023 --> 00:17:47,608
[Mariana van Zeller]
Have you ever been robbed?

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00:17:47,691 --> 00:17:48,859
[Clickely] Yes.

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00:17:49,902 --> 00:17:51,153
[Mariana van Zeller]
And how much money?

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00:17:51,528 --> 00:17:53,072
[Clickely] In total...

106
00:18:02,623 --> 00:18:04,166
[Clickely]
1,220,000,000 (francs)

107
00:18:04,833 --> 00:18:05,959
[Mariana van Zeller]
Two million dollars!

108
00:18:08,837 --> 00:18:10,089
[Clickely] That's for sure.

109
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Now I have hired security.

110
00:18:11,548 --> 00:18:12,382
[Mariana van Zeller] Yes?

111
00:18:12,466 --> 00:18:13,467
How many people?

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[Clickely] A lot.

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Even arriving last night

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00:18:17,096 --> 00:18:18,222
with this gold,

115
00:18:18,305 --> 00:18:20,557
twenty security cars.

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[Mariana van Zeller]
Twenty cars?

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Really?

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00:18:23,060 --> 00:18:24,186
[Clickely] Really.

119
00:23:52,139 --> 00:23:53,223
[Kamil Abdoulaye Algoumaret]
The situation is very

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00:23:53,306 --> 00:23:54,433
tense and confused.

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00:24:03,650 --> 00:24:05,819
[Kamil Abdoulaye Algoumaret]
We went to the presidency,

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00:24:05,902 --> 00:24:07,612
they do some shoots-

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00:24:32,554 --> 00:24:34,139
[Kiari Liman-Tinguiri]
I was here in D.C.

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00:24:38,685 --> 00:24:40,979
[Kiari Liman-Tinguiri]
people telling me something

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00:24:41,062 --> 00:24:43,231
is happening
around the presidency.

126
00:24:43,315 --> 00:24:44,566
So I called the president,

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00:24:44,649 --> 00:24:48,236
he told me, "Yes, that's
the situation we are in."

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[Kiari Liman-Tinguiri]
Everything can happen in

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00:25:11,635 --> 00:25:13,553
the immediate after-coup.

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00:25:13,637 --> 00:25:15,680
I was scared for the president,

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00:25:15,764 --> 00:25:17,766
for his life, for his family.

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00:25:18,225 --> 00:25:21,353
And I was scared
also for the people.

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[Kiari Liman-Tinguiri]
It was historical.

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00:26:53,361 --> 00:26:56,448
It's a political message
to say to the world that

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00:26:56,531 --> 00:27:00,160
for the U.S., friendship
with Niger matters.

136
00:27:00,243 --> 00:27:05,457
That they respect and admire
what President Bazoum was doing.

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00:27:05,540 --> 00:27:08,877
That the U.S. is
open to assist Niger

138
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,713
in economic
growth and development,

139
00:27:11,796 --> 00:27:14,883
but also in
security, state-building,

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00:27:14,966 --> 00:27:17,135
reinforcing democracy.

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00:27:21,723 --> 00:27:23,975
[Antony Blinken] Niger is
really an extraordinary model at

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00:27:24,059 --> 00:27:26,394
a time of great challenge -

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00:27:26,478 --> 00:27:29,230
a model of resilience,
a model of democracy.

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00:29:55,043 --> 00:29:58,213
[Anita] Oh yeah, we understand
your concerns and they're valid.

145
00:29:58,546 --> 00:30:01,382
Our current
recommendation as I understand

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00:30:01,466 --> 00:30:03,593
is to stay where
you are at the moment.

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00:30:04,928 --> 00:30:08,890
Violence is a lot more likely to
break out in places like Niamey

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00:30:08,973 --> 00:30:12,018
where the pro-Russian protests
are currently happening.

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00:30:20,318 --> 00:30:23,071
[Nathan] We can't identify
where the hot spots will be,

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00:30:23,154 --> 00:30:25,281
and where the safe
locations would also be.

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00:30:26,032 --> 00:30:28,660
It's touch and go
at this moment, very much.

152
00:30:34,499 --> 00:30:37,043
[Nathan] If the situation
does get worse in Agadez,

153
00:30:37,126 --> 00:30:39,546
we can move you to
a different location.

154
00:30:56,312 --> 00:30:59,107
[Anita] So depending on
what happens we can move you

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00:30:59,607 --> 00:31:02,360
to a safe location
inside the country...

156
00:31:12,537 --> 00:31:13,830
[Nathan] Currently, no.

157
00:33:22,208 --> 00:33:24,877
[Mariana van Zeller] Moustapha
is the name you want me to use?

158
00:33:24,961 --> 00:33:26,254
[Moustapha] Yes.

159
00:33:26,671 --> 00:33:28,840
[Mariana van Zeller]
Is that your real name?

160
00:33:28,923 --> 00:33:30,049
[Moustapha] No, no, no.

161
00:33:31,384 --> 00:33:35,972
-What can you tell me about
your links with extremists?

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00:33:37,056 --> 00:33:41,436
[Moustapha] I was
converted to terrorism

163
00:33:41,519 --> 00:33:45,064
through brothers I know.

164
00:33:47,442 --> 00:33:49,027
[Moustapha] 18 years old...

165
00:33:50,069 --> 00:33:51,988
The group was Al-Qaeda.

166
00:33:52,071 --> 00:33:54,073
[Mariana van Zeller] Al-Qaeda.

167
00:33:54,991 --> 00:33:57,827
And how did they convert you?

168
00:33:58,411 --> 00:34:01,039
[Moustapha] Well, it wasn't too
difficult for me to convert.

169
00:34:01,122 --> 00:34:04,625
Basically here, at
home, we're Muslims.

170
00:34:05,293 --> 00:34:07,837
So that's what got me
going in the first place.

171
00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,466
And then there were other
things. The lack of work...

172
00:34:11,549 --> 00:34:12,508
[Mariana van Zeller]
For the whole country.

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00:34:12,592 --> 00:34:15,970
[Moustapha] Specifically in the
area I'm from. There's no work.

174
00:34:17,388 --> 00:34:19,182
[Mariana van Zeller] What did
you do there (with Al-Qaeda)?

175
00:34:19,974 --> 00:34:23,061
[Moustapha] When you join you
go through military training.

176
00:34:23,144 --> 00:34:24,270
And then...

177
00:34:24,812 --> 00:34:26,272
you're given a weapon.

178
00:34:27,106 --> 00:34:29,609
Then you're put in a camp,

179
00:34:29,692 --> 00:34:31,986
but you don't understand
what's going on.

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00:34:32,487 --> 00:34:35,740
[Mariana van Zeller] And what
kind of violence did you see?

181
00:34:36,282 --> 00:34:37,950
[Moustapha]
Every type of violence.

182
00:34:38,701 --> 00:34:40,453
People decapitated.

183
00:34:42,830 --> 00:34:45,833
They cut off your
hands for nothing.

184
00:34:46,584 --> 00:34:48,586
If you're caught with a woman...

185
00:34:48,669 --> 00:34:50,254
They hit you 100 times.

186
00:34:51,547 --> 00:34:53,299
It's very dangerous
because it's a system.

187
00:34:53,382 --> 00:34:55,718
Maybe not many
people understand it.

188
00:34:55,802 --> 00:34:57,136
I understand it very well

189
00:34:57,220 --> 00:34:58,930
because I'm part of the system.

190
00:34:59,472 --> 00:35:00,807
[Mariana van Zeller]
Were you violent?

191
00:35:02,141 --> 00:35:03,476
[Moustapha] No.

192
00:35:03,559 --> 00:35:07,939
It was good luck.
It was my good luck.

193
00:35:08,022 --> 00:35:13,986
The good Lord protected me in a
way that I didn't kill anybody.

194
00:35:14,403 --> 00:35:17,156
[Mariana van Zeller] How do they
manage to pay for their activity

195
00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:19,450
and for these weapons,
for all that?

196
00:35:19,909 --> 00:35:23,538
-There's a lot of stuff.
Trafficking. Drug trafficking.

197
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:25,373
[Mariana van Zeller] Gold too?

198
00:35:25,456 --> 00:35:26,707
[Moustapha]
Yes, there's gold too.

199
00:35:26,791 --> 00:35:28,501
When they enter a mining site

200
00:35:28,584 --> 00:35:30,586
where the terrorists
are in control,

201
00:35:30,670 --> 00:35:33,506
you have to pay the Zakat.

202
00:35:45,601 --> 00:35:49,438
[Mariana van Zeller] And they
use gold to pay for things?

203
00:35:49,522 --> 00:35:52,066
[Moustapha] Gold is used to pay
for medicines, for example.

204
00:35:52,150 --> 00:35:53,651
It's used to pay for food.

205
00:35:54,068 --> 00:35:55,778
It's used for fuel.

206
00:35:56,070 --> 00:35:56,904
[Mariana van Zeller] Weapons?

207
00:35:56,988 --> 00:35:58,072
[Moustapha] Everything.

208
00:35:58,447 --> 00:35:59,282
Everything.

209
00:36:10,334 --> 00:36:11,878
[Mariana van Zeller] Do
you know anyone who's done this?

210
00:36:12,879 --> 00:36:16,090
-Today, even if I know
someone who can do these things,

211
00:36:16,174 --> 00:36:17,884
I can't introduce
you to them because

212
00:36:17,967 --> 00:36:19,385
I don't know what's
going to happen next.

213
00:36:21,804 --> 00:36:23,848
I can be taken away.

214
00:36:24,473 --> 00:36:26,058
I can disappear.

215
00:36:27,935 --> 00:36:30,605
You betray us, we kill you.

216
00:36:30,688 --> 00:36:33,274
[Mariana van Zeller] And what
do you think about the coup?

217
00:36:33,816 --> 00:36:36,068
[Moustapha]
It's a surprise for me.

218
00:36:36,152 --> 00:36:38,571
I didn't think that
today in Niger,

219
00:36:38,654 --> 00:36:41,282
we could stage a coup like that.

220
00:36:41,365 --> 00:36:44,160
It's not good for the country,
for its development,

221
00:36:44,493 --> 00:36:47,163
because now everything
will come to a halt.

222
00:37:40,549 --> 00:37:42,385
[reporter] International
pressure intensifies four days

223
00:37:42,468 --> 00:37:43,386
after the coup d'état in Niger.

224
00:37:43,469 --> 00:37:46,347
France and the European
Union suspending budgetary aid.

225
00:37:46,430 --> 00:37:49,767
They do not recognize
General Tchiani's power.

226
00:40:43,190 --> 00:40:45,151
-So I'll call you Ismael,
is that all right?

227
00:40:45,234 --> 00:40:46,277
[Ismael] That's good.

228
00:40:49,905 --> 00:40:51,407
[Ismael] I'm a transporter.

229
00:40:51,490 --> 00:40:52,741
[Mariana van Zeller] Of what?

230
00:40:52,825 --> 00:40:54,160
[Ismael] Everything.

231
00:40:54,243 --> 00:40:59,165
People, luggage,
miners, everything.

232
00:41:25,274 --> 00:41:28,068
[Mariana van Zeller] So how
long, how many days,

233
00:41:28,152 --> 00:41:30,446
how many roads
does it take to get to Algeria?

234
00:41:31,113 --> 00:41:33,949
[Ismael] You can make
the round trip in a single day.

235
00:41:42,291 --> 00:41:44,293
[Ismael] No.
I can't take you.

236
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:45,836
[Mariana van Zeller] Why?

237
00:41:46,754 --> 00:41:50,508
-If there's security with us,
we'll go, there's no problem.

238
00:41:51,008 --> 00:41:53,093
[Ismael] But for me to take you
like this to go over there,

239
00:41:53,177 --> 00:41:54,595
that's a problem.

240
00:42:09,944 --> 00:42:10,986
[Ismael] They're all dead.

241
00:42:11,070 --> 00:42:15,241
There was one who was
still alive when we arrived.

242
00:42:15,991 --> 00:42:19,036
But it's far away and
he died on the road.

243
00:43:56,050 --> 00:43:58,802
[reporter] "French nationals
in Niger will be evacuated.

244
00:43:58,886 --> 00:44:00,596
This will start today."

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00:44:01,263 --> 00:44:02,931
"Burkina Faso and
Mali claim that

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00:44:03,015 --> 00:44:03,974
military intervention
in Niger..."

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00:44:04,058 --> 00:44:05,893
"...is tantamount to a
declaration of war on

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00:44:05,976 --> 00:44:07,102
their two countries."

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00:45:02,491 --> 00:45:04,034
[Paul] Darren just sent it.

250
00:46:23,238 --> 00:46:24,823
[Frank Harrison] A little over
ten minutes ago we got

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00:46:24,907 --> 00:46:27,743
the landing
approval for Agadez issued.

252
00:46:28,410 --> 00:46:31,455
And what we're waiting
on right now is for

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00:46:31,538 --> 00:46:33,415
the crew to get in,
get the aircraft up in the air.

254
00:46:33,999 --> 00:46:36,168
Correct, and it'll be going
Dubai picking you up,

255
00:46:36,251 --> 00:46:38,378
and returning you to Dubai.

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00:46:55,103 --> 00:46:57,815
[Frank Harrison]
I'm actually watching

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00:46:57,898 --> 00:46:59,775
the crew getting mobilized.

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00:47:06,782 --> 00:47:08,575
[Frank Harrison]
Now, the concern is

259
00:47:08,659 --> 00:47:12,329
we now need to safeguard and
protect your team because

260
00:47:12,412 --> 00:47:16,124
now the military
in the capital of Niamey

261
00:47:16,208 --> 00:47:20,254
is aware of an evacuation
that's occurring out of Agadez.

262
00:47:20,671 --> 00:47:22,381
They may start getting curious.

263
00:47:22,464 --> 00:47:24,758
Try not to share it
with too many people.

264
00:47:25,300 --> 00:47:29,096
And the air crew does want you
to arrive at the aircraft

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00:47:29,179 --> 00:47:32,516
with security to
safeguard the aircraft.

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00:49:35,263 --> 00:49:36,974
[Kiari Liman-Tinguiri] We
have a very young population.

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00:49:37,057 --> 00:49:38,266
The youngest in the world.

268
00:49:38,350 --> 00:49:41,144
Sixty-five percent
below twenty-five.

269
00:49:41,770 --> 00:49:45,273
President Bazoum was trying to
give hope through education.

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00:49:45,357 --> 00:49:47,484
We are about to lose it.

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00:49:47,567 --> 00:49:49,403
Not only do we
have the jihadists,

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00:49:49,486 --> 00:49:52,489
but we have all of
these traditional leaders

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00:49:52,572 --> 00:49:56,868
totally opposed to
any form of modernity.

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00:49:56,952 --> 00:50:00,080
Religious leaders who are also

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00:50:00,163 --> 00:50:03,458
totally anti anything that
looks like democracy.

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00:50:03,875 --> 00:50:06,253
They don't believe that
human beings are equal.

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00:50:06,336 --> 00:50:07,671
They don't believe in that.

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00:50:07,754 --> 00:50:10,632
They believe that some
are better than others.

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00:50:10,716 --> 00:50:14,845
And these people are
surging and gaining influence.