Top Qadhafi official gets Niger government role

Niger has given Muammar Qadhafi's former chief of staff a diplomatic passport and an advisory role in government, sources said on Thursday, a move likely to worsen Niger's fraying relationship with Libya's new leaders. Bashir Saleh Bashir was one of Qadhafi's top aides who also ran Libya's investment fund for the ousted leader. He was given the passport in late December after being named a Niger presidential adviser, two top police officials told Reuters.
"A diplomatic passport was issued to Bashir Saleh Bashir, who was named adviser to the presidency," one of the police officials said, asking not to be named. Niger's bi-weekly L'Evenement said the passport stated Saleh was born in Niger's northern town of Agadez in 1946.