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soldiers hostage, and authorities were attempting to negotiate their release.
• The attack in Arlit was claimed by Moktar Belmoktar, the extremist who led the attack on a natural gas plant in Ain Amenas in Algeria in January, according to a communique posted on jihadist forums.
• Both attacks were claimed by a spinoff of al-Qaida, the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO, which earlier vowed to avenge the four-month-old French-led military intervention which ousted them from neighboring Mali's north.
• The timing of the attacks, which occurred at the same moment more than 160 kilometers (100 miles) apart, and the fact that the bombers were able to penetrate both a well-guarded military installation and a sensitive, foreign-operated uranium mine, highlight the growing reach and sophistication of the Islamic extremists based in Mali.
• The bomb blasts are the most damaging attacks by the jihadists to date.
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• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service official who led the unit that targeted tea party groups and publicly disclosed the activity has been replaced, making her the third top IRS official moved aside since the episode was revealed two weeks ago.
• Lois Lerner was put on administrative leave on Thursday, said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and two congressional aides.
• Without naming Lerner, new Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel emailed employees that 27-year IRS veteran Ken Corbin would become acting head of the exempt organizations division -- a move the Obama administration was hoping would help ease the controversy.
• Grassley said Lerner rejected a request by Werfel to resign. One congressional aide said Lerner, a career civil servant, will be on paid leave. The congressional aides spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a personnel matter.
• A day earlier, Lerner proclaimed her innocence of any wrongdoing to a House committee, then invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer questions.
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