Maghreb Edition
Subscriber access: Despite Morocco’s pressure to convince Germany to support its claims on the disputed Western Sahara territory, Germany says no such influence could shift its views on the conflict.
Morocco is facing its largest wave of unrest in years, with mass protests erupting across major cities demanding better hospitals, schools, and an end to corruption.
Three soldiers loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar were killed and several others captured in coordinated attacks on border posts near Niger, underscoring how southern Libya has become a key fault line in the country’s fractured security landscape. Fighters claiming to represent “revolutionaries of the South” say they are targeting Haftar’s forces over dire living conditions and alleged resource plunder, as cross-border armed groups test the limits of state control from Al-Tum to the Salvador Pass.
Rached Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda party, has had his prison sentence increased to 20 years in a case known as “Conspiracy 2,” pushing his cumulative jail time from multiple convictions to more than four decades. His defense team says he will not seek a final appeal, denouncing the charges as politically driven and warning that the ruling deepens Tunisia’s crackdown on organized opposition.
Saif al‑Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libya’s longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi and a former presidential candidate, has been killed in the western town of Zintan by armed attackers. His death, confirmed by family and advisers, raises fresh questions about Libya’s fragile political balance.
