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Sahel: Mauritania accuses Mali army of crimes against its citizens
The foreign ministry in Nouakchott on Tuesday accused Mali's army of crimes against Mauritanians after protesters in the capital charged they had been killed "in cold blood". Mali's ambassador Mohamed Dibassy had been called in to hear a "strong protest against the...
Covid-19: Mauritania reinstates new measures to contain coronavirus
Mauritania, concerned over rising Covid-19 infections, has banned mosque prayers over the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha set for Wednesday in the West African country. Prayers will be confined to the home, the government in the conservative Muslim country said in a...
Mauritania arrests former president Ould Abdel Aziz for alleged corruption
Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on Tuesday jailed after a judge in charge of a corruption probe ordered his incarceration, his party and prosecutors said. A prosecutor speaking on condition of anonymity and the spokesman of the former...
NGO highlights harmful exports of fish from west Africa / Sahel
Rising exports of fish meal and fish oil from West Africa to Europe and Asia are depriving millions of Africans of food, Greenpeace said Tuesday. In a report, the environmental group said that over half a million tonnes of fish used to produce fish meal and fish oil...
Mauritania: Former President Ould Abdelaziz in trouble, current regime wants him locked up
Mauritania's former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on Tuesday put under "house surveillance" by a judge after he was questioned in an inquiry which has seen him charged with corruption. It was the second time Aziz had gone before a magistrate investigating...
Africa: With terror groups intensely fixated on Africa, security outlook feels gloomy
By Didier Lauras - From the arid expanses of the Sahel into the Sinai Peninsula and now Mozambique, Africa is proving fertile ground for jihadist groups looking to bolster their notoriety by exploiting conflicts that have often festered for years. The fighters who...
Mauritania: Intruder tries to seize plane at Nouakchott airport
An intruder tried to seize a plane at the airport in Mauritania's capital Nouakchott Thursday before being arrested, a security source said, with the man's family saying he dreamed of studying in the US. The security source said that the man "sneaked aboard a...
Mauritania: Ex-President Ould Abdel Aziz facing tough corruption charges
By Hademine Ould Sadi - A Mauritanian state prosecutor on Thursday requested corruption charges against former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, and about ten other senior figures, after an investigation into his decade-long rule in the country. The prosecutor,...
Sahel: Why the G5 Sahel force remains completely ineffective
Three years ago West African nations launched a joint force touted as a giant's stride in the fight against Islamist militants sweeping across the Sahel. But lack of equipment, funds and training, together with problems in deployment and coordination on the ground,...
Divided Maghreb countries celebrate one common thing: the Couscous
Couscous, the Berber dish beloved across northern Africa's Maghreb region and beyond, Wednesday joined the UN list of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The countries that submitted the listing to UNESCO -- Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania -- may have...
Sahel: 42 human rights demonstrators arrests in Nouakchott
Police have arrested 42 people in Mauritania, rights groups and police said Sunday, after a protest demanding justice for victims of civil unrest between 1989 and 1991. Tensions between the West African state's black population and lighter-skinned Berber-Arab Moors...
Sahel: UN chief signals potential for dialogue with insurgents in the Sahel, but Paris won’t allow it
Editor's commentary by Arezki Daoud: France won’t let it happen Perhaps this is another opportunity for the world and regional powers, as well as to the Malians themselves to recognize a number of key facts. That starts with the idea that a central government in...
Infighting inside the Sahel’s Jihadi movement
To the uninitiated, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group may be pursuing the same long-term goal of spreading Islamic law through territorial expansion and deadly violence. But actually, their ideology and methods differ so fundamentally that they are...
Sahel: French and US forces assess their cooperation on the Sahel as Trump remains uncommitted
The senior US commander for Africa met France's top general on Thursday to discuss the fight against militant groups in the region, as uncertainty persists over whether President Donald Trump will maintain American troop levels on the continent. General Stephen...
Former Mauritanian president under investigation for alleged embezzlement
Nouakchott, Aug 18, 2020 - Former Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, under suspicion over embezzlement dating from his time in power, was being questioned by police on Tuesday for a second day, one of his lawyers said. The meeting came on the heels of a...
Sahel: Government reshuffle in Mauritania
Nouakchott, Aug 6, 2020 - Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani on Thursday carried out a government reshuffle and replaced his prime minister, a day after prosecutors received a key report on the dealings of former head of state Mohamed Ould Abdel...
Sahel: Some 40 migrants perish off the coast of Mauritania
Nouakchott, Aug 6, 2020 - About 40 people are feared dead after a migrant vessel sank off the coast of Mauritania, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday. In a tweet, the agency's special envoy for the central Mediterranean, Vincent Cochetel, said one person from the...
Sahel to get $285 million of Covid-19 aid from AfDB
The African Development Bank said Thursday it would provide $285 million in aid to Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad to help them fight the coronavirus pandemic. The aid was being provided within the framework of a $10-billion COVID-19 response facility...
Mauritania: Former President snubs parliament hearing on oil revenues
Nouakchott, July 9, 2020 - Mauritania's former president on Thursday skipped a parliamentary hearing examining his management of oil revenues while in office, a spokesman said, adding that he is "not above the law". Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, the West African state's...
France’s massive challenges in the Sahel
France is increasingly optimistic about the effectiveness of its anti-jihadist campaign in the Sahel, but experts caution that short-term successes will not by themselves bring lasting victory. President Emmanuel Macron will travel to the Mauritanian capital...
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