Libya: Thousands of people detained in prisons with little government control
United Nations, United States, Jan 10, 2019 – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging the Libyan government to bring all prisons under its control and fre from the grip of militias, some of whom run migrant-smuggling networks. Guterres said in a report...
Libya: Bulgaria investigates alleged illegal sale of Libyan tanker, as Libya orders seizure of Bulgarian ships
Sofia, Jan 11, 2019 – Prosecutors in Bulgaria on Friday opened an investigation into the alleged illegal sale of a Libyan oil tanker, after Libya ordered the seizure of Bulgarian ships entering its ports in retaliation. “The regional prosecution in Burgas...
Egypt arrests two Germans suspected to be joining Islamic State
Cairo, Jan 11, 2019 – Egypt has arrested two German nationals on suspicion they tried to join an Islamic State group affiliate and deported one of them, Egyptian security sources said Friday. German media reported earlier this month that two Germans had gone...
Burkina army chief sacked as jihadist attacks continue
Ouagadougou, Jan 10, 2019 (AFP) -Burkina Faso’s army chief was sacked on Thursday as the armed forces struggle to put a stop to jihadist attacks in the west African nation. Major General Oumarou Sadou was replaced by General Moise Minoungou, according to a...
International: Building boom turning to bust as Turkey’s economy slows
By Raziye Akkoc – Mudurnu, Turkey, Jan 9, 2019 – Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage — hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle. Meant...
Egypt: Activist Ahmed Douma gets 15 years in prison
Cairo, Jan 9, 2019 – A leading figure in Egypt’s 2011 revolution [see profile here] was handed 15 years in prison on Wednesday after a retrial, a judicial source told AFP. Ahmed Douma was arrested in 2013 on charges of clashing with security forces in...
Profile: Ahmed Douma, Egyptian Political Activist and Blogger
A leading figure in Egypt’s 2011 revolution was handed 15 years in prison on Wednesday after a retrial, a judicial source told AFP. Ahmed Douma was arrested in 2013 on charges of clashing with security forces in Cairo two years earlier, and received a 25-year...
Morocco: The closing of the deadly mines of Jerada
Rabat, Jan 9, 2019 – Moroccan authorities closed 2,000 illegal mineshafts last year in Jerada, an impoverished former coal town that has been the site of a string of deadly mining accidents. The closure of the “abandoned and illicitly exploited...
Tunisia: Four Jihadists sentenced to death for beheading of shepherd
Tunis, Jan 9, 2019 – A Tunisian court has convicted dozens of jihadists over the 2015 murder of a teenage shepherd, but the vast majority remain on the run, a prosecution spokesman said Wednesday. Mabrouk Soltani, 17, was beheaded as his sheep grazed on Mount...
Algeria’s former and current military chiefs dragged into political infighting
The North Africa Journal – January 9, 2019: The uncertainty over the presidential election in Algeria has created new divisions within the military ranks, with current leaders, siding with the president, who is being politically attacked by retired officers. The...
Egypt: Qatar’s beIN stops broadcasting on Egypt’s CNE cable network
Doha, Jan 8, 2019 – Qatar broadcasting giant beIN said on Tuesday it will stop broadcasting programmes on its only cable network in Egypt, CNE, a move that could affect hundreds of thousands of viewers. The move comes amid a 19-month diplomatic regional crisis...
Tunisian boat and Cypriot container ship collide off Corsica
Tunis, Jan 7, 2019 (AFP) – A collision between a Tunisian boat and a Cypriot container ship that sent hundreds of tonnes of fuel spilling into the Mediterranean in October was due to an extraordinary series of human errors, investigators said Monday. The watch...
Egypt police officer killed defusing church bomb
Cairo, Jan 6, 2019 (AFP) – A policeman was killed while trying to dismantle an explosive device outside a Coptic church in Egypt on Saturday, a security source said. Two other officers were also wounded in the explosion as security personnel attempted to defuse...
Egypt’s Sisi to inaugurate Coptic cathedral after bomb blast
Cairo, Jan 6, 2019 (AFP) – Egypt’s president will inaugurate the country’s biggest cathedral on Coptic Christmas Eve Sunday, a day after a deadly bomb blast near a church in a country where jihadists have repeatedly targeted Christians. There was no...
Two minutes’ silence in Norway for hikers slain in Morocco
Oslo, Jan 7, 2019 (AFP) – Hundreds of people observed two minutes of silence on Monday in Norway in honour of two Scandinavian women hikers murdered in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains in December. Standing in the cold with flags flying at half-mast at the...Algeria: 150 more Middle Eastern refugees arrested
Algeria: Ovine rinderpest deathtoll reaches 2,000
Nigeria: Boko Haram intensifies its attacks on Nigeria
Kano, Nigeria, Jan 5, 2019 (AFP) – Nigeria’s Islamic State West Africa Province, a faction of Boko Haram affiliated to the Islamic State militant group, has intensified attacks against the army in the northeast of the country at an alarming rate, and the...
Boko Haram kills two Nigerian soldiers in ambush
Kano, Nigeria, Jan 4, 2019 (AFP) – At least two Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush by Boko Haram jihadists targeting a civilian convoy close to the border with Cameroon, miliary and militia sources told AFP Friday. The jihadists opened fire on a convoy...Algeria: More than 1,000 cattle die of ovine rinderpest nationwide
Morocco: Possible return of IS fighters from war zones raises concerns
Niger: 200 insurgents killed, 87 others arrested in Lake Chad
Mali: Two soldiers killed in Bamba
Mali: 37 Fulani civilians killed by Islamic insurgents
Niger: US embassy scales down diplomatic mission due to insecurity
Tillaberi-Niger: Gendarme killed, another one wounded in Boni attack
Tibesti-Chad: 30 killed, 200 wounded in inter-communal clashes
Batna-Algeria: Bomb found in the street of Batna
Sabha-Libya: 20 hostages freed from IS, eight insurgents killed
Libya in 2019: Podcast
In mid-December 2018, Arezki Daoud and Alessandro Bruno discussed the latest about Libya and what could happen in 2019. This is the audio version of the broadcast hosted on YouTube.Algeria: Arab migrants ‘missing’ after seeking shelter in Algeria, says UN
Geneva, Jan 3, 2019 (AFP) – The UN refugee agency Thursday voiced “concern” for the safety of 100 Arab citizens who went missing after seeking shelter in Algeria and others stranded at the border with Niger. “Some 120 Syrian, Palestinian and...
Egypt wants CBS to drop Sisi interview on Israel cooperation: network
Washington, Jan 4, 2019 (AFP) – Egypt has asked CBS not to air an interview with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in which he discussed cooperation with Israel in the fight against Sinai jihadists, the US network said. The network said on its website Thursday that...
Algeria’s illegal migration problem and “national security.”
Algiers, Jan 4, 2019 (AFP) – Algeria’s interior ministry on Friday defended moves to expel dozens of migrants as a matter of “national security”, after the UN voiced concern over a group who went missing in the desert. The global body’s...