NIAMEY, July 23 (Reuters) - A senior judge in Niger has thrown out the case against a journalist working for French radio, detained for 10 months on suspicion of collaborating with Tuareg rebels, his lawyer said on Wednesday. It is the second time a judge has ordered the release of Moussa Kaka, who works for French state broadcaster Radio France International (RFI). He was arrested in September last year. Kaka, who is also the director of a private radio station, is accused of complicity in a plot against the state -- charges based on recordings of his conversations with the northern Tuareg-led rebels who took up arms in February last year. "The judge notified my client that the case should be thrown out," Kaka's lawyer, Moussa Coulibaly, told Reuters on Wednesday. "The chief prosecutor has 48 hours to appeal," he added, saying a failure to appeal would also cancel a previous appeal against a June 23 court order for Kaka's release and he could be freed. Tuaregs are demanding a greater share of the country's natural resources, in particular uranium which is mined in the north and attracting foreign investors. But the government says the Tuaregs are bandits and smugglers and has refused talks. A state of emergency has been declared in much of the north of the country, where uranium is found. Fighting is taking place in the region and foreign journalists are barred from visiting. Several European reporters have been arrested and deported for breaking the ban and travelling to the north to report about the rebel group -- Niger Justice Movement. But none have been held as long as Kaka, whose only contact with the rebels was through his work as a journalist, RFI said. At least 200 rebels and 70 government soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the rebellion. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com) (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi, Writing by David Lewis, Editing by Alistair Thomson and Bate Felix)
