Rapprochement entre le Niger et l’Algérie : La presse malienne commente et accuse
For his first working visit to Algeria, Nigerien President Abdourahmane Tiani traded his military fatigues for a white boubou and a traditional headdress. This dress code, which contrasts sharply with the martial character of military fatigues, may be a subliminal message sent to Algeria.
Indeed, the army general with the prosperous paunch is in Algiers to renew and strengthen the relations of cooperation and fraternity between Niger and Algeria. It's worth recalling that Niamey recalled its ambassador to Algiers after the downing of a Malian military drone in Tinzaouaten in April 2025.
"A clumsy attempt to divide the AES"
On Monday, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received the coup leader at the Presidential Palace. The two presidents reviewed detachments of the Republican Guard who rendered them honors before posing for a commemorative photo in front of representatives of national and international media, reports Algeria Press Service (APS).
This visit by the Nigerien president to Algiers is being closely followed in Mali, which, let us remember, is not on good terms with its northern neighbor.
Overall, the Malian press sees the warming of relations between Algiers and Niamey as a "clumsy attempt to divide the AES".
“The hasty return of the Algerian ambassador to Niamey, formalized on February 12, 2026, cannot be reduced to a simple diplomatic normalization. Beneath the veneer of official statements extolling ‘fraternity’ and ‘strategic projects,’ lies a renewed strategy of infiltration, an attempt to re-establish control of the Sahel region from the periphery. For analysts of the region, this posturing by the Algerian authorities toward Niger appears as a clumsy attempt to divide the Sahel,” reads an article published on the news sites Maliweb and Malijet.
“This underhanded maneuver by President Tebboune is based on an outdated interpretation of the balance of power, where the ‘godfather…’”
According to the author, by isolating Mali, the central pillar of the Sahel-Southern African Union (SAAU), and courting Niamey, Algeria is attempting to create a rift within the Sahel-Southern African Union. "This underhanded maneuver by President Tebboune is based on an outdated interpretation of the balance of power, where the 'godfather' of terrorism is supposedly trying at all costs to dictate our geopolitical approach," the author asserts. He fears that this bilateralism promoted by Algeria in its relationship with Niger will "undermine the principle of common defense and diplomacy that forms the basis of the Liptako-Gourma Charter."
Another piece published on Maliweb finds that Algiers "is looking for the link it believes to be the most flexible in the AES Confederation".
By promising Niger the "revival of strategic projects and political dialogue at the highest level," Tebboune "wants to create a rift in Sahelian solidarity," the paper warns. It calls on Niamey to be "vigilant" in order to thwart "this perfidious attempt."
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