Niger: Algeria plays its mediation card to end the crisis

Favoring a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Niger, Algeria is attempting to mediate with countries such as Nigeria, Benin and Ghana, all of which are in favor of armed intervention in Niger.

 Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf has been mandated to lead this mission by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. According to the head of state, Algeria’s move is motivated by its refusal to open up a third combat front on its borders.

 Indeed, Algeria, which borders Niger, is already facing crises on two of its other borders, Libya and Mali. Algeria’s border with Niger is around a thousand kilometers long.

Proposing a solution that would spare Niger and the whole region from an escalation of the situation is a priority for the Algerian government. “There will be no solution without us”, he said earlier.

 It is to be hoped that the consultations initiated by Algeria will meet with a favorable response from its counterparts in the West African sub-region. All eyes are now on ECOWAS, which, since its last mission to Niger last Saturday and the announcement of the Niger transition plan by the Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP), has made no further pronouncements on the subject, but is still brandishing its military threat.

olivia ADAMA