France Denies Plans to Attack Niger, Refutes Algerian Claims of Overflight Request

On Monday, Algerian public radio claimed that the Algerian authorities had given "a negative response to the French request for overflight of the national territory to attack Niger. According to confirmed sources, the military intervention would be imminent, the entire military device is in place." Information denied by the French army. "There is absolutely no intention to attack Niger," assures a senior officer to Le Figaro, adding that no request for "clearance" for a military flight has been filed in recent days by France. In a statement to the Reuters agency, the French army general staff denied the existence of a request to overfly Algerian territory and therefore Algeria’s refusal to grant authorization. After this refusal, Paris would have "solicited Morocco", which would have "decided to respond favorably to the French request", "proving once again that it remains a colonizing state," the same media claimed. False information according to France.

On Tuesday, the African Union suspended Niger from its institutions after the July 26 coup and expressed a reserved position on a possible West African military intervention, the Peace and Security Council said in a statement. For its part, ECOWAS is not giving up on military intervention to restore constitutional order in Niger. Supported by France, the West African organization indicated on Thursday that it had set a date to carry out its threat, without however specifying it. Algeria, which shares a 1,000 km border with Niger, opposes any military intervention.

In an interview with Algerian television, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune himself rejected this option. On Saturday, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its "deep regret" that "the use of violence has taken precedence over the path of a negotiated political solution peacefully restoring constitutional and democratic order." And to emphasize: "The history of our region abundantly teaches that military interventions have been the bearers of additional problems, and that they have been additional factors of confrontation and division rather than sources of stability and security."