Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja held peace talks with Tuareg rebel leaders for the first time in the northern town of Agadez—as work commences on a giant uranium mine in the Tuareg region.
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika won 90% of the vote to secure his third mandate, in elections marred by terror attacks despite tight security throughout the country.
The government of Libya has released two men convicted in 2007 of planning to overthrow the government and meeting with a foreign official, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced March 10. Jamal al-Haji and Faraj Humaid were arrested as part of… Read moreLibya releases two political prisoners convicted in subversion plot
President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali vowed a harsh crackdown on the Tuareg guerillas, vowing that “all the operational means will be mobilized” against the desert insurgency.
In his unlikely New York Times op-ed of Jan. 22, “The One-State Solution,” plugging his utopian scheme for a single country uniting Israel and Palestine as “Isratine,” Muammar Qaddafi (this appears to be the Colonel’s preferred spelling), the one-time bad… Read moreQaddafi endorses Zionist revisionism!
In one of its first statements since Barack Obama took office, the US State Department called for “the immediate return to constitutional order” in Mauritania, where a military coup cut short a democratic opening.
Tuareg guerillas killed at least at least nine soldiers in an attack on an army post in Mali’s remote north Dec. 22. The government claimed 11 rebel fighters were also killed when when gunmen in more than 20 four-wheel-drive vehicles… Read moreMali: Tuareg rebels attack
A Niger guerilla faction led by dissident Tuareg insurgent leader Rhissa Ag Boula announced Dec. 16 it had abducted Canadian UN special envoy Robert Fowler, who disappeared with an aide while driving some 30 miles northeast of the capital Niamey…. Read moreNiger: Tuareg rebels seize UN envoy?
Oil prices rose above $75 a barrel for the first time since November 2014, as Libya's National Oil Corporation declared force majeure at its principal oil ports, which continue to be battled over by rival armed factions. Prices for West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $75.27 a barrel before dropping back down to $72.73. After years of depressed global oil prices, analysts are again talking of a possible new "oil shock." Growing tensions between the US and Iran, and other factors, were also cited. Libya's Union of Oil and Gas Workers meanwhile issued a statement saying that the country's oil is the collective property of all Libyans, and should be removed from all political, regional and tribal disputes. (Photo: Libya Observer)
A Moroccan criminal court Nov. 13 convicted Moroccan citizen Said Boujandia of crimes related to terrorist acts. The Salé Criminal Court sentenced Boujandia to 10 years in prison. Boujandia admitted his association with with an organization which sought to aid… Read moreMorocco court convicts ex-Gitmo detainee on terror charges
Around 30 MPs opposed to Mauritania’s ruling junta boycotted the opening of the country’s parliament Nov. 10. The boycott followed a statement from the head of the five-party Front for the Defense of Democracy (FNDD), Mohamed Ould Moloud, who called… Read moreMauritania: opposition boycotts parliament; regime claims al-Qaeda threat
A suicide car bombing near the eastern Algerian town of Dellys killed three people Sept. 28, as Ramadan draws to a close amid a heavy deployment of security forces throughout the country. Three armed Islamists were killed by security forces… Read moreRamadan terror in Algeria
