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.
