Authorities in Niger have decided to detain the editor of a weekly magazine arrested for allegedly defaming a government minister until next week when his trial opens, his colleague said on Tuesday.

Zakari Alzouma, editor of Opinion magazine, was arrested on Thursday after he questioned the role of Interior Minister Albade Abouba in transport arrangements for Muslim pilgrims to Mecca.

Alzouma had accused the minister in an article of having `taken advantage of the absence` of Prime Minister Seini Oumarou, to re-assign a transportation contract to a US firm when it had already been awarded to a local operator.

Meantime the editor of another private weekly, L`Evenement, Moussa Aksar and another journalist Sani Aboubacar, were briefly held on Monday by police after the head of Niger`s electricity supply company filed a defamation case against the paper, Aksar said.

Aksar said NIGELEC chief Foukori Ibrahim complained about an article last week on mismanagement of the power agency and its `fraudulent hiring` of President Mamadou Tandja`s sister.

The article also referred to the death of Smith Degener, a Dutch diplomat posted to Niamey, in Foukori`s office, from a heart attack during a discussion on damage to the embassy electrical equipment caused by repeated power cuts.