Niger sacks striking election workers

NIAMEY Aug 25 (Reuters) - Niger's electoral commission has sacked all 120 of its workers responsible for collating voter lists and data for voting cards after they began what it says was an illegal strike.

Niger, where an army junta deposed President Mamadou Tandja in February, aims to hold elections early next year to complete a transition from military to civilian rule in the uranium-exporting West African country.

"We have made redundant 120 agents who launched an illegal strike last Friday," said commission spokesman Moussa Abdou.

"We are in the process of recruiting other agents to continue the work," he added, saying the move would not delay the election.

Last month, a source in the commission said Niger would delay the process of handing power back to civilians by one month, meaning an elected president would be in place by April 8, rather than March 11 as previously planned [ID:nLDE66P20H].

If the transition is successful, it could be the second country in the region to shift from military to elected government in less than a year.

Guinea, on the West African coast, will hold a decisive second round of voting in its presidential election on Sept. 19. After that, soldiers who seized control of the country in a coup d'etat will cede power to a democratically chosen leader.

Diplomats and many Nigeriens welcomed the overthrow of Tandja, who became deeply unpopular after attempting to force through measures to preserve his grip on power.

Niger, one of the world's poorest countries and one which aid agencies say faces severe food shortages, is rich in uranium and oil, and is drawing billions of dollars of investment from French power firm Areva CEPFi.PA and China National Petroleum Corp [CNPET.UL], among others.

(Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi; Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by Noah Barkin)