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.