File photo: Motorists drive past the National Assembly in Niamey on August 7, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Algiers: Niger's coup leaders have accepted Algerian mediation and "a six-month transition plan" to restore "the constitutional order" in the neighbouring African country, Algeria's foreign ministry announced Monday.
Military leaders in late July ousted Niger's democratically elected, pro-Western president Mohamed Bazoum, and have proposed a three-year transition back to democracy.
"The Algerian government has received via the Nigerien ministry of foreign affairs a (statement of) acceptance of Algerian mediation aimed at promoting a political solution to the crisis in Niger," Algiers said in a statement.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has tasked Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf with "visiting Niamey as soon as possible with the aim of launching discussions... with all stakeholders," the statement said.
The North African country which borders Niger had proposed in late August a transition period of up to six months, which would aim to "formulate political arrangements with the acceptance of all parties in Niger without excluding any party", Attaf said at the time.
In its Monday statement, the Algerian foreign ministry said that "the acceptance of the Algerian initiative strengthens the prospect of a political solution to this crisis".
The mediation would "pave the way" toward a "peaceful" resolution of the crisis, it added, saying such an outcome is in the interest "of the entire region".
Tebboune on August 6 said he "categorically" rejected any foreign military intervention in Niger, which borders Algeria to the south.
A military solution would be "a direct threat" to Algeria, he said, stressing "there will be no solution without us. We are the first people affected".
The West African bloc ECOWAS has threatened to use force as a last resort to reinstate Bazoum, who was detained by his guards on July 26.
The coup in Niger was the third such putsch in the region in as many years, following similar actions in fellow former French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Algeria shares a 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) southern land border with Niger, which has been targeted for several years by jihadist attacks.
Niger is battling two jihadist insurgencies -- a spillover in its southeast from a long-running conflict in neighbouring Nigeria, and an offensive in the west by militants crossing from Mali and Burkina Faso.
France keeps about 1,500 soldiers in its former West African colony as part of an anti-jihadist deployment in the Sahel, and coup leaders have demanded a "negotiated framework" for their withdrawal.
