Algeria to return its ambassador to Niger after Sahel rift

ALGIERS: Algeria said on Thursday it would return its ambassador to Niger, in a sign of thawing relations after a nearly year-long rift triggered by Algiers shooting down a Malian drone.
The announcement came after a diplomatic crisis between Algeria and its neighbors in the Sahel.
The Algerian foreign ministry said in a statement its envoy was set to immediately return to Niamey, announcing that his Nigerien counterpart had already resumed his duties in Algiers.
Niger — along with Mali and Burkina Faso — withdrew their ambassadors to Algeria after Algiers downed a Malian army drone in April last year, and Algeria responded in kind by withdrawing its own ambassadors.
Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have developed close ties in recent years, forming a confederation, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), in 2023.
Mali said the drone was brought down while in its own territory near the Algerian border, but Algiers said the aircraft had violated its airspace, citing radar data.
The return of both ambassadors would “promote resuming political dialogue,” Algiers said, as well as bolstering “fraternal relations, cooperation and good neighborliness.”
But tensions between Algeria and Mali remain high, with their airspace closed to one another and Bamako accusing Algiers of helping to foment regional “terrorism.”