Senegal's foreign minister travelled to Niger's capital, Niamey, on Friday with a message for the country's military leader and an appeal to keep trade and travel flowing across the divide between West Africa's two blocs.
Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine received Cheikh Niang, Senegal's minister of African integration and foreign affairs, who brought a message from President Bassirou Diomaye Faye for Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani, the state news agency ANP reported.
Niang said West Africa is now split between the regional bloc ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), formed by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. "We understand and respect the choices made by our brothers in Mali, Burkina and Niger to create this entity," he said. He said the most elementary things, "like the circulation of goods and people", should continue, and that the mixing of peoples "must not be stopped or limited or blocked" by the current situation.
ANP did not publish the text of Faye's message and reported no agreement, border measure or change in either side's position on ECOWAS.