Algeria said on Tuesday that it had denied a request from France asking for permission to enter Algerian airspace to carry out an expected military intervention in the Niger, stressing that a peaceful solution to the situation was prioritized to avoid regional tension.
According to Radio Algeria, France has been threatening to use military force against Niger’s military council if the latter did not release ousted President Mohammad Bazoum.
Algeria is against the use of military force in Niger, expressing at the same time sorrow over the use of violence in Niger instead of resolving the situation in the country through political means.
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced during a meeting last Friday in Accra, Ghana, and an expected military intervention in Niger. The Nigerien military council expressed that it was ready to repel any attack against the country with the help of allies from Mali and Burkina Faso.
On July 26th, members of the Presidential guard detained President Bazoum and his family in a coup act.
Bazoum was elected as President in 2021 as the first ethnic-Arab to rule Niger.
Since independence from France in 1960, Niger witnessed four successful coups and many failed ones.
Source: Kuwait News Agency