Strengths of the Algerian Initiative to Resolve the Niger Crisis
Algeria is qualified to play a role in resolving the crisis in Niger, which no other country or regional grouping may be able to do. It has a strong presence throughout the entire African continent, the former Foreign Minister of Libya, Abdel Rahman Shalgham, said.
Shalgham, who was the Foreign Minister of Libya during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, and then his country’s representative to the United Nations, stopped at the Algerian initiative regarding the crisis in Niger, and wrote in the opinion section of the Saudi “Asharq Al-Awsat” newspaper, on Saturday, under the title “Will Algeria succeed in extinguishing the fires of Niger?” He said: “Last week, Algeria presented three principles for the political initiative to resolve the crisis in Niger which political and even military dust has spread to West African countries.”
He presented the strengths of the Algerian initiative to resolve the crisis in the southern neighbour, and stated that “the Algerian initiative has a great and important peculiarity, amid the political clash, military escalation, and expansion of sanctions launched by the ECOWAS group against Niger.”
“Algeria has borders with the state of Niger that extend for a thousand kilometres, and it has social, cultural and historical ties with Niger. All of this raises a breath of hope in what is included in the Algerian initiative, and other considerations make Algeria qualified to play a role that a state or regional grouping may not be able to do,” Shalgham explained.
Shalgham recalled Algeria’s strong relations with the African continent, and its success in achieving settlements in crises between its countries, and in this regard; “Algeria has its strong presence throughout the African continent, as it was the greatest supporter of the struggle of Africans against colonialism and racial discrimination. It also has an active role in the West Africa region and the Sahel and Sahara countries. It played the largest mediation role in reaching peace and stability agreements between the Azawad revolutionaries and the government of Mali.”
He pointed to the considerations that made Algeria rush to find a solution to the Niger crisis, including “the considerations that make Algeria qualified to play a role that a state or regional bloc may not be able to play. Niger’s stability means a lot to the national security of Algeria, whose eastern border with Libya is witnessing a state of instability, extremist organizations moving on Algeria’s southern borders, and waves of irregular migrants. Algeria will be one of the first and most affected by any military action launched in the region. The military council controlling the situation in Niamey promised to study the Algerian initiative and respond to it soon.”
Last week, the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, presented an initiative for a political solution to the crisis in Niger within six months, within the framework of a vision that ensures respect for the principle of illegitimacy of unconstitutional changes and achieves everyone’s consensus around the peaceful option away from any military intervention.
The Algerian initiative includes three principles, the first is reinforcing the principle of the illegality of unconstitutional changes, the second principle is setting six months to formulate and achieve a political solution that guarantees a return to the constitutional and democratic system in Niger by resuming political action within the framework of the state of right and law. The third is the political arrangements to get out of the crisis.