Niger lawyers strike in referendum row

* Protest over dissolution of constitutional court

* EU delays 6.1 million euros of aid

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi

NIAMEY, July 13 (Reuters) - Opposition in Niger to President Mamadou Tandja's plan to hold a referendum on extending his time in power escalated on Monday when the country's 114 lawyers went on strike in support of the dissolved constitutional court.

Domestic and international denunciations of Tandja's bid to rule the uranium-mining country beyond a second term due to end this year have intensified since he dissolved the constitutional court after it ruled the planned plebiscite unlawful.

"The dissolution of the Court is unconstitutional. These judges cannot be removed, and we say that President Tandja has violated his oath," said Coulibaly Moussa, president of the bar in Niger. "His project must not succeed."

Since late June, former colonial power France, the European Union, the United Nations and the United States have criticised the actions taken by Tandja with a view to extending his tenure.

The EU has suspended a tranche of 6.1 million euros ($8.49 million) of budgetary aid to Niger, aid and development spokesman John Clancy said on Monday, after an official told Reuters at the weekend that the body was delaying an aid payment as a result of the row. [ID:nLC45908]