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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - Niger's interior minister says France and the United States should intervene in southern Libya "to eradicate the terrorist threat" in the region.
In an interview with Radio France Internationale broadcast Wednesday, Massoudou Hassoumi said southern Libya had become "an incubator for terrorist groups" and that countries involved in the 2011 overthrow of Libya dictator Moammar Gadhafi "need to provide an after-sales service."
He was responding to a question about remarks by top U.S. intelligence official James Clapper last month concerning the terrorist threat facing countries in Africa's Sahel region including Niger.
Admiral Edouard Guillaud, France's top military officer, said last month he favored an international operation to battle a security "black hole" in southern Libya, saying the region should not become "the new center of gravity of terrorism."
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