<div><p>Niger President Mamadou Tandja, who won a controversial extension of his mandate, Tuesday called on his compatriots, to brace for "sacrifices" to counter possible international sanctions.</p><p>"...The struggle has only just commenced and this forcibly imposes on us a lot of sacrifice, courage, and determination to overcome numerous challenges that may face us," Tandja said during a public ceremony with heads of institutions.</p><p>Despite ongoing talks with the opposition, Tandja expressed his determination "to put finishing touches" to the creation of all the institutions in his new Constitution, including the Senate, the youth council and the traditional body.</p><p>Niger's crisis began when Tandja, who has ruled for a decade, extended his mandate by three years in a controversial referendum, which was boycotted by the opposition and criticised by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).</p><p>His second five-year term expired last month.</p><p>To achieve his goal, he dissolved parliament but the Constitutional Court opposed to his plan.</p><p>Following a controversial legislative poll on October 20, ECOWAS suspended Niger from its fold while the European Union and the US government also suspended millions of dollars in aid to Niger.</p><p>Washington also banned Niger officials from visiting the United States.</p><p>The government and opposition began negotiations on December 21 to try to end the turmoil sparked by Tandja's refusal to stand down at the end of his second term.</p><p>Talks broke off on December 24 for Christmas and were due to resume on December 29.</p><p>But the meeting was later postponed till January 7 to enable a mediator appointed by ECOWAS, Abdulsalami Abubakar, to attend the burial of a Nigerian former first lady.</p><p>It was also postponed again last week.</p><p>An opposition source told AFP that the ECOWAS mediator, a former Nigerian military head of state, held separate meetings with the two sides on Monday to notify them he was getting set for a resumption of the crisis talks.</p><p>Abubakar also met Tandja on Monday, state television reported.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=66786456&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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