Islamist factions pushed secular Tuareg rebels out of their last foothold in breakaway northern Mali. With a sharia state now in place, the UN Security Council is weighing a request for military action by West African nations.
With elections underway in Libya, “federalists” demanding a greater share of power in the east of the country are blocking roads and oil terminals to enforce their call for a boycottâbringing oil exports nearly to a halt.
A lawyer for the International Criminal Court who was recently released from detention in Libya stated that she did not believe Libya could hold a fair trial for Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of former leader Moammar Qaddafi.
The Libyan government released four International Criminal Court staff members who had been detained for nearly four weeks, accused of spying and attempting to smuggle documents to the imprisoned Saif al-Islam Qaddafi.
Islamist fighters have pushed Tuareg rebels of the MNLA out of Timbuktu and Gao. A convoy of Islamist forces is now headed for Kidal, the remaining town in Mali’s breakaway north where the MNLA maintains a foothold.
US Africa Command chief Gen. Carter F. Ham said the Pentagon is entering a “new military-to-military relationship” with Libyaâwhile hundreds remain detained without charge since the fall of Qaddafi last year.
New French president François Hollande warns that Mali’s breakaway north is harboring “terrorists.” He spoke in a meeting with Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufouâwho says he will seek UN approval for military action.
With the International Criminal Court and new Libyan regime at odds over the fate of Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, four ICC staff members were arrested on suspicion of espionage while attempting to visit the late dictator’s son.
The deal between Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and the jihadi faction Ansar Dine for creation of an “Islamic state” in Mali’s northern breakaway region has reportedly collapsed.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, in a renewed push for democratic reforms. The march, organized by trade unions, was the largest since a new government took office in January.
The Tuareg rebels of the MNLA announced that they are merging with the most significant of the jihadist factions operating in northern Mali, Ansar Dine, to form the Transitional Council of the Islamic State of Azawad.
With reprisals continuing against Tuaregs in Libya, similar reports are now emerging from regime-controlled Mali after the Tuareg uprising in the country’s north. But supposedly liberated “Azawad” provides no refuge, as Islamist factions vie for power.
