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Diplomacy

Algeria and Mali ban flights amid diplomatic crisis

On April 1, Algeria's defence ministry said the army had shot down an armed surveillance drone for violating the North African country's airspace near the rural Saharan commune of Tinzaouaten. Mali disagreed, noting that its drone wreckage was found 9.5 kilometres (5.9 miles) south of their shared border.
Reuters
By Reuters
8 Apr
Air Algerie creates the first direct air link between the Algerian and the Hungarian capitalsThe first scheduled flight of Air Algerie is seen after it landed at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, 15 September 2016. EPA/TIBOR ILLYES HUNGARY OUT

Algeria's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that data related to the incident, including radar images, showed a violation of Algerian airspace of 1.6 km. It said it was banning flights to and from Mali due to recurrent violations of Algerian airspace.

Mali's transport and infrastructure ministry responded by announcing that it had closed its airspace to all Algerian aircraft due to Algeria's "persistence in sponsoring international terrorism" - without providing examples or evidence of such activity.

Mali and its allies Burkina Faso and Niger recalled their ambassadors from Algeria for consultations over the incident, they said on Sunday. Algeria responded on Monday by recalling its ambassador to Niger and Mali and postponing the start date of its new ambassador in Burkina Faso.

In a joint statement, the three Sahel countries condemned the "irresponsible act by the Algerian regime".

(Reporting by Hatem Maher, Menna Alaa and Tarek Amara; Editing by Richard Chang and Lisa Shumaker)

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