Algeria At The Center Of A Diplomatic Movement Over Niger

Algeria has stepped up its diplomatic moves to save Niger from an imminent security crisis and from external interference that would plunge the Sahel region into chaos with unpredictable consequences, as the Western powers and others around Algeria’s southern neighbor are preparing to do.
Intense moves are being made by Algeria, which expressed its position on the army’s move in Niger to overthrow the elected president, Mohamed Bazoum. Algeria’s position was firm on the issue of coups, which is the refusal to take power by force, in addition to the rejection of foreign military intervention.
Algeria has been discussing the dangerous and sudden crisis in Niger with several regional and international actors, the latest being the Algerian diplomacy chief, Ahmed Ataf, with the European Union foreign policy official, Joseph Borrell.
According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, Josep Borrell informed Ahmed Ataf of the measures adopted by the European Union against the perpetrators of the military coup in Niger, where the contact between the two men focused on the worrying developments in Niger and the two parties exchanged views and analyses on the evolution of the situation in this brotherly and neighboring country as it represents dangers for it and the entire Saharan coastal region.
The two parties stressed, according to the source, “the need to unite political and diplomatic pressure to ensure a return to constitutional order in the Republic of Niger, through the return of Mohamed Bazoum to his position as the legitimate president of the country”.
For his part, Foreign Minister Ahmed Ataf reiterated Algeria’s conviction of the need to give priority to the political and diplomatic track, given the repercussions of the option of resorting to force, which would only aggravate the situation locally and regionally. A few hours earlier, Minister Ataf had informed the envoy of the President of Nigeria, who heads the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of Algeria’s rejection of the option of force to deal with the crisis in Niger, given its danger for the entire region.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that “on behalf of the President of the Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the National Community Abroad, Mr. Ahmed Ataf, today received the Special Envoy of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr. Babagana Kingibe, who arrived in Algeria on Friday afternoon”.
According to the statement, “this visit comes within the framework of exchanges of views and consultations on the evolution of the situation in the Republic of Niger, where Minister Ahmed Ataf renewed the expression of Algeria’s position rejecting the military coup against the legitimate president in this brotherly and neighboring country, and calling for his return to his constitutional position as president of the Republic of Niger.” “.
These contacts that regional powers are conducting with Algeria to discuss the crisis in Niger reflect the centrality of the Algerian role in the region, and the inability to move towards any step or solution without reviewing and returning to it, especially since any external action in Niger would cause major disturbances that would have negative repercussions on Algerian national security.
Algeria is afraid that Niger, after the current coup d’état against the arrested president, Mohamed Bazoum, will fall into violence, which could be another source of tension in the African Sahel, which already complains of instability due to repeated coups d’état, the threat of transnational crime and armed extremism, which was explicitly expressed, either in the positions issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or what the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, said in his meeting with the national press on Saturday evening, in which he affirmed that “there must be a return to constitutional legitimacy in Niger, and we call for a peaceful solution to the crisis in this country. ” He added: “We are ready to help if they ask us, “ said Attaf.
Observers say that Algeria’s diplomatic efforts between the parties involved in the complex crisis, especially Europe, led by France, and “ECOWAS”, which is calling for Bazoum’s return to power, aim to ensure the stability of the region and the non-eruption of confrontations between France and Niger, by finding an agreement between the two parties capable of not dragging the region as a whole into a protracted war and a new tragedy.