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Niger threatens illegal smokers 

Niamey - Smokers in the desert state of Niger who break newly enforced anti-smoking laws by lighting up in public or at work, face punishments of up to three months in prison, the government said on Friday.

Smugglers, bandits and rebels in Niger profit from the illegal trans-Saharan cigarette trade - estimated by analysts to be worth $1-billion a year - criss-crossing the impoverished West African state's lawless north.

The government's council of ministers in the faraway southwestern capital decided late on Thursday to adopt ways of applying a May 2006 anti-smoking law, it said in a statement.

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