He was far from being the most high-profile officer in the Forces Armées Nigériennes (FAN), but on 31 July Lieutenant Colonel Souleymane Balla-Arabé was appointed by decree by President Abdourahamane Tchiani as head of the much-feared external intelligence agency, the Direction Générale de la Documentation et de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGDSE). He replaced