Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf will visit three countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) — Nigeria, Benin and Ghana — to discuss the crisis in neighboring Niger, the Algerian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Mandated by the president of the Republic, Minister Ahmed Attaf begins today working visits to Nigeria, Benin and Ghana to hold consultations with his counterparts from these ECOWAS countries. The consultations will focus on the crisis in Niger," the ministry said in a statement.
On August 18, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs Abdel-Fatau Musah said that ECOWAS general staff chiefs had agreed on the date of Niger invasion but would not make it public.
A coup took place in Niger on July 26. President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted and detained by his own guard, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. Following the mutiny, ECOWAS suspended all financial aid to Niger, froze rebels' assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country. In early August, during a summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, ECOWAS leaders agreed to activate a standby force to potentially compel the Nigerien military to reinstate Bazoum.