Algeria offered the military who took power in Niger “a six-month transition plan” before a return to constitutional and democratic order, instead of the three years they suggested, its chief of staff said. diplomacy on Tuesday. Niger’s new strongman, General Abdourahamane Tiani, called for “a transition period that would last a maximum of three years”, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf recalled at a press conference in Algiers. “But in our view, the process can be completed in six months, so that the (ongoing) coup does not become a ‘done deal’,” he added.
After the July 26 overthrow of Nigerien President Bazoum, elected in 2021, ECOWAS announced on August 10 its intention to deploy a West African force “to restore constitutional order in Niger”. Ahmed Attaf warned of the “catastrophic effects” of a military solution which could “push thousands of Nigeriens down the path of migration”, saying that a new conflict in the region could be “an additional incubator for terrorism and organized crime”.
