ALGIERS: Algeria is proposing an initiative to resolve the political crisis in neighboring Niger with a six-month transition period led by a civilian, Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said on Tuesday.
Attaf, who recently toured West African states, said “most of the countries we have talked to are against military intervention to end the crisis.”
West African army chiefs from the regional ECOWAS bloc met in Ghana last week to discuss a possible military intervention in Niger after members of its presidential guard seized power last month and established a junta.
Algeria has repeatedly said it was against military intervention, pointing to the chaos that followed NATO action in Libya in 2011 during its uprising against longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Algerian officials have spoken three times since the coup to the Niger military leader, who wants a transitional period of up to three years, Attaf said.
As part of its initiative, Algeria would seek a United Nations conference to restore constitutional order, propose guarantees for all sides in the crisis and host a conference on development in the Sahel region, it said without elaborating.
Last week Algerian state television said President Abdelmadjid Tebboune had denied permission to France for a possible military operation in Niger, but France denied it had sought any such permission. (Reporting by Lamine Chikhi, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Alex Richardson)
Algeria proposes transition to resolve Niger crisis
https://arab.news/m28mk
Algeria proposes transition to resolve Niger crisis
- Algerian officials have spoken three times since the coup to the Niger military leader, who wants a transitional period of up to three years
Cuba president says willing to talk to US, but ‘without pressure’
- People in the country’s east were left without electricity for hours after an electricity grid failure
- Officials blame tight US sanctions for the crisis, which includes food and medicine shortages
HAVANA: Cuba is prepared to hold dialogue with the United States but not under pressure, President Miguel Diaz-Canel insisted Thursday after months of threats from US President Donald Trump.
“Cuba is willing to engage in dialogue with the United States, a dialogue on any topic... but without pressure or preconditions,” Diaz-Canel said in an address to the nation on state TV and radio.
He added that any talks must take place “from a position of equals, with respect for our sovereignty, our independence, and our self-determination” and without “interference in our internal affairs.”
Trump has made repeated threats against communist-run Cuba in recent months, vowing to cut off its access to oil and stating the island was “ready to fall.”
Cuba, in the grips of an economic crisis, has long relied on oil supplies from Venezuela, whose leader was ousted in a deadly US military operation last month.
Trump subsequently claimed to have control of Venezuelan oil, vowed to starve Cuba of the commodity, and threatened tariffs on any other nation stepping in to help US-sanctioned Havana.
The pressure tactics threaten to plunge Cuba into complete darkness, with its power plants already struggling to keep the lights on due to fuel shortages.
Earlier Thursday, hundreds of thousands of people in the country’s east were left without electricity for hours after an electricity grid failure.
An AFP analysis of official statistics recently found that the island generated only half the electricity it needed last year.
Officials blame tight US sanctions for the crisis, which includes food and medicine shortages. But poor economic management and a tourism collapse following the Covid-19 pandemic have contributed to the island’s woes.
Trump has repeatedly said Washington was in talks for “a deal” with Havana, which has denied any formal negotiations were underway. Trump has not specified the nature of the agreement he has floated.
