Switch to Desktop Site  On the way to freedom, Niger's slaves
stuck in limbo  7,000 slaves in Niger were set to be freed last
Saturday - until the government denied slavery even existed
there.  About these ads  More than 7,000 slaves owned by Arissal
Ag Amdague, a Tuareg tribal chief, were due to be released at a
desert ceremony last Saturday in the village of In Atès, 175
miles northwest of Niger's capital, Niamey.  A new law that came
into effect last year was supposed to finally punish masters,
who had long held slaves with little hassle from the government.
Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights
group, billed the event as unlike anything seen since the
abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.  Instead, no one was
freed.  Despite the government's positive move to announce the
new law and its willingness to apply it, it sent out mixed
messages later by saying slavery no longer exists in Niger. This
contradicts eyewitness reports from international and local
rights groups, and a signe