Algeria on a quest to avoid an intervention in Niger

 

Algeria sends envoy on West African tour to avoid military intervention in Niger

An Algerian top diplomat began a tour of West African countries on Wednesday in a bid to find a solution following the coup in neighbouring Niger, where Algiers opposes any military intervention.

Algeria's Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf was "mandated by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune" to go on a diplomatic tour to Nigeria, Benin and Ghana, the Algerian foreign ministry said on Twitter.

He started his tour in Nigeria, where he was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar.

(Tweet)

Attaf is set to hold "consultations on the crisis in Niger and ways of dealing with it" with his counterparts in the West African countries, which form part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The West African bloc has threatened to use force to reinstate Niger's elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, who was detained by guards on July 26.

Last week it announced it had agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible military intervention if diplomatic efforts fail.  

At odds with France

Late on Monday, the Algerian state radio, which usually reflects official thinking, had reported that France had asked Algeria to use its airspace for a military operation in Niger and that such permission had been refused.

France's army immediately denied it had asked Algeria to use its airspace. 

"France's joint defence staff denies making a request to fly over Algerian territory" said a source in the French army. 

France has about 1,500 troops in Niger that were stationed there before last month's coup.

The European country has not said it would intervene militarily to overturn the military takeover. 

The whole region at risk

Algeria shares a 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) long land border with Niger.

It is Africa's largest country, and also shares borders with Libya and Mali, both in the throes of years-long conflicts.

Algiers has previously cautioned against a military solution, which Tebboune said would be "a direct threat" to his North African country.

The Algerian President stressed "there will be no solution without us (Algeria). We are the first people affected".

The African Union suspended Niger on Tuesday until civilian rule is restored and said it would assess the implications of any armed intervention.

Niger is the fourth nation in West Africa since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

The juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali have said that any military intervention in their neighbour would be considered a "declaration of war" against their countries.

 

With the girls of Star Feminine Band

 

Teenage performers from Benin use girl power to take on the world • RFI English

On the back of Glastonbury, a team of young performers from northern Bénin, in West Africa, took their message of female empowerment to another prestigious festival in England – the Womad World of Music, Arts and Dance. 

Read more here: https://rb.gy/y5lpn

New Substask post

 

Music and Social Change, Summer 2023 Edition

Or... how I try to survive a summer of social tragedies... Thanks to music!

MELISSA CHEMAM

20 AUG 2023

Dear friends and readers, 

After a few saddening summer posts, I’m trying to regain my strength and redeem 

my energy by doing what I love most: reading, writing, travelling and listening to music. 

So, what’s better than reading and writing about music?

Read from here: Music and Social Change,

Summer 2023 Edition

 

Watch and hear more from the Star Feminine
Band here!

Read about them here.

-

Music and Social Change, 

Summer 2023 Edition

North African affairs: Analysis on the state of Libya

 

No summer holiday for me this year, working, working, working, including this weekend.

Here is my latest piece:

Spike in violence shows Libya remains crippled by rival armed groups 

>> Analysis with the help of experts from Libya and beyond, for RFI English: 

Following a year of relative calm in Libya, fighting erupted again this week in the capital Tripoli. The UN-backed government remains powerless in more than a third of the country, whose people have not seen an election in almost a decade.

Read from site here:

https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20230819-spike-in-violence-shows-libya-remains-crippled-by-rival-armed-groups

While rival militias have vied for power since the overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, the current escalation indicates Libya's armed groups have consolidated their power.

The fresh spike in violence shows the government in Tripoli is still not in charge says Rhiannon Smith, an expert from the Libya Analysis thinktank.

"For the past few months, Libya has known a sort of stable instability. The political situation is still very uncertain. There are a lot of divisions and the armed groups are getting more and more powerful, but there haven't been major clashes."

Merging groups 

The rivalry has become bigger and more significant with the merger of several key groups that now have increasing power and influence, Smith adds.

These are the 444 brigade and RADA, also known as the Special Deterrence Force. 

Competition between the 444 and RADA is on the rise as RADA loses some of its influence, says Libya expert Tahani Elmogrbi.

"The 444 is more structured, military speaking, more organised, and it includes former soldiers from the Kadhafi regime. Also their head, Colonel Mahmoud Hamza, is more influential."

• Fighting between rival militias in Libya kills dozens

Gaining control of Tripoli's airport, which remains closed but is due to reopen, has been a flashpoint for the fighting.

Hamza was detained this month as he sought to travel from Tripoli’s Mitiga airport, which the RADA Special Deterrence Force claims to control, causing more clashes. He was freed on Thursday.

"It shows the issues around who controls security are still there, especially as the political situation is still up in the air," says Smith, adding that similar escalations in fighting could become more frequent.

Armed factions are progressively taking over Libya, influencing senior political appointments and the distribution of state resources, says Wolfram Lacher, a Libya specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs who co-edited a book on the past year in Libya.

Delayed political process

Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has led Libya's unity government since February 2021.

His challenge is to get long-delayed elections back on track – but for this to happen a series of laws need to be passed and a transitional government put into place.

This is incredibly hard to do and only creates more divisions, says Smith.

• Tunisia, Libya to share responsibility for migrants stranded on border

"The government of national unity controls Tripoli and some of the western regions. In theory it is the legitimate government, but it hardly controls its own areas of influence," she told RFI.

"All of the current incumbent actors have proven that all they care about is holding on to power." 

Many observers say the international community has given up on Libya's transition. 

Regional repercussions

Insecurity in the country has had a huge impact on the region from the North African coast to the Sahel.

A lack of border controls has opened new paths for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa towards the Mediterranean, and for armed groups.

Apart from the recent deal between the European Union and Tunisia, the EU seems to have reduced its involvement in trying to solve the crisis.

Elmogrbi blames division among European leaders for inaction on Libya, especially between French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Libya has also slipped down the UN's list of priorities with the war in Ukraine taking precedence, and there has been little international reaction to this week's spike in violence.

The exception was African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, who published a statement to say he was following the security situation in Tripoli with "great concern". 

Little Bristol visit - in pictures

 

More music writing

 

The American singer-songwriter Sixto Rodriguez went from oblivion to a career renaissance after his music developed a cult following in South Africa. He passed away on Tuesday at the age of 81.

Read on from here.

And my US to France hip-hip mini-history for RFI English:

Hip-hop turns 50: How French rap became the 'second nation' under a groove

Feeling blue... wondering about the meaning of "what we can and cannot control"...

 

 Hello there,

Feeling blue tonight, after a few nice productive days.

Since the killing of Nahel in Nanterre, so near to us, I've been feeling really poorly, and so anxious, and I've realised that most French people are still not ready to speak about it, engage, empathise or care.

Luckily, I know a lot of concerned people, people who have experienced racism, and people who have experienced it here in France.

But with the others... Silence. 

If not this advice: "Don't focus on what you can't control..."

Like we choose to "focus" on it. Again that narrative.

Do I reply to these friends, when they reached out crying that their garden has been messed up by the bad weather, or their property doesn't sell quickly enough, that they should focus on "what they can control"?

I don't, but maybe I should...

Meanwhile, no one is listening.

When the Colston statue was toppled in Bristol in 2020, during a Black Lives Matter protests, we all got to talk about the issue constantly for weeks. And not only about "blackness" or slavery, but about colonialism, history and their consequence on our daily lives. About systemic inequalities.

Here, now, in Paris, in France, what do I get? 

Denial, silence, disinterest, distance, blame... 

So I turned to my "other" best friend, YouTube.

Here is a useful short video, and advice for privileged people: Do get interested in history, and ask your friend 'how are you doing?'

Is it better to stay silent? The American white journalist ask.

No, the counselor says...

Wouldn't you have guessed? Seriously... 

Anyway, if you need guidance, here is a suggestion where to start.

Thanks for reading,
m

Counselor advises white people on talking with black friends about racism

Latest news from Niger and West Africa

 

Monday 7 August2023, 13:51 paris time

A source close to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said this Monday that an immediate military intervention to restore President Mohamed Bazoum is not being envisaged at this stage.

But a summit of its member nations' leaders is possible in coming days to decide on next steps, the source added.

Nations like Italy and Germany spoke in favour of a diplomatic solution in the trouble west African nation.

Italy urged ECOWAS to extend the deadline and seek a diplomatic solution, with a similar call from Germany.

"We support ECOWAS in its mediation efforts, which are still ongoing," a foreign ministry spokesman told a press briefing.

Neighbouring Mali said it and Burkina Faso, both suspended from West African bloc ECOWAS over their own military coups, are sending a joint official delegation to Niamey to show "solidarity (with) the people of Niger".

They have said military intervention would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

Niger's military leaders have closed the nation's airspace and on Monday its skies were clear of traffic, according to the flight tracking website Flightradar24.

Newsletter: Summer of Fires, Warmongers, and Angers

 

Latest post on my newsletter:

Summer of Fires, Warmongers, and Angers

News from a global world, and questions over the Euro-centric treatment of news

Read from here: 

https://melissa.substack.com/p/summer-of-fires-warmongers-and-angers

Dear readers, friends and passers-by,

If you’re here, you must be interested in world news beyond the western-centric agenda, and in people more than just army movements.

One of the reasons I came back to hard, daily news a year ago, and stopped writing only features and cultural analysis, was the treatment of the war in Ukraine in most global media, and its ‘black-n-white, power-obsessed, war-mongering, neo-Cold-War tone.

Since then, the words “war” and “massive attacks” seem to have become more than “back in style”, they are “trending”, they sell, and they contribute to make your stories count.

If this should be deplored, peace journalism revived, and solution studied, wars are also never treated fairly or equally around the globe.

Once more, the wars in Ethiopia, in Sudan, and in the Sahel are less important for western readers than the one involving their natural ally, the USA, and its stark enemies, Russia and China.

In my work, I try to correct these prejudices by focusing on humanitarian angles, the “rest of the world”, meaning the Global South, and in doing so not to headline on the consequences of the events in the places for France’s agenda only, or the US’s…

Here are a few recent articles to start with, and if you have questions, do write.

Thanks for reading as usual,

melissa

-

Read on from here and subscribe: 

https://melissa.substack.com/p/summer-of-fires-warmongers-and-angers