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Western Sahara: Veteran diplomat De Mistura takes on the impossible task of reconciling Algeria and Morocco on Western Sahara
Algeria urges Morocco to quit W. Sahara buffer zone Algeria, the main backer of Western Sahara's Polisario Front independence movement, called on Morocco Thursday to withdraw from a key buffer zone, after the United Nations named a new envoy. The UN on Wednesday named...
European court rejects Morocco-EU trade deals involving Western Sahara territory
Reactions The Polisario, which seeks independence in the Western Sahara, welcomed a ruling Wednesday by the U's top court cancelling trade deals that allow Morocco to export goods from the territory. "The European court has decided to annul the partnership and fishing...
Spyware scandal: Phones of five French ministers infected by Pegasus malware
The mobile phones of at least five French ministers and a diplomatic advisor to President Emmanuel Macron were infected by the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, sources told AFP on Friday, confirming a report by the Mediapart investigative website. French security...
Algeria closes airspace to all Moroccan planes
By Abdellah Cheballa: Algeria said Wednesday it has closed its airspace to all Moroccan planes due to "provocations and hostile practices" by its neighbour, in the latest dispute between the countries at odds mainly over Western Sahara. The move comes after Algeria...
Morocco: Premiership swings to pro-monarchy party
Does it really matter? By Arezki Daoud: The press often spends too much ink on such ministerial appointments, and although selecting a PM in the UK or Spain, for example, is a big deal, in places like Morocco, Egypt and Algeria, it really means nothing. In Morocco,...
Morocco: Political parties embroiled in allegations of illegal campaign spending
One of Morocco's leading political parties was on Friday fending off a chorus of accusations of illegal campaign spending, days ahead of September 8 parliamentary elections. The National Rally of Independents (RNI), led by billionaire businessman and agriculture...
Algeria says it will end natural gas transiting deal with Morocco
Algeria said Thursday it was ready to divert all its Spain-bound natural gas exports via an undersea pipeline that bypasses Morocco, state media said, two days after Algiers cut ties with its North African rival. In a meeting with Spanish Ambassador Fernando Moran,...
Morocco: Big test for monarchy and Islamist party as Moroccans are set to pick new assembly
Campaigning began in Morocco Thursday for September 8 elections that will seal the fate of the Moroccan Islamist party which heads the current government coalition. Nearly 18 million citizens, 46 percent of them women, will be eligible to vote to choose 395 deputies...
Morocco to close its Algiers embassy after ties cut
Morocco is to close its embassy in Algiers on Friday, an official source said, after Algeria severed ties with the kingdom over what it said were "hostile actions". From Friday, the embassy "will close, and the ambassador and all staff will be repatriated to Rabat",...
Algeria cuts ties with Morocco after months of diplomatic turmoil
Morocco says Algeria's cutting of diplomatic ties 'unjustified' Morocco's foreign ministry said Tuesday that Algeria's decision to cut diplomatic ties with its neighbour as "completely unjustified", adding that the decision was based on "false, even absurd pretexts"....
Morocco: Woman to walk free after more than 3 years in prison over religious views
A dual Moroccan-Italian citizen jailed for three and a half years for "insulting Islam" will walk free Monday after a court gave her a suspended two-month jail term, a rights group said. "She will be leaving prison Monday evening," a member of Morocco's Association of...
Algeria and Morocco squabble again, relations set to deteriorate further
A long history of distrust and wasted time Algeria is to review its relations with Morocco, accusing it of involvement in deadly fires that this month killed at least 90 people. The two Maghreb heavyweights have for decades been locked in tensions, notably over the...
Morocco: Wildfires in the Chefchaouen region
Firefighters in northern Morocco are battling to put out two forest blazes, a forestries official said Sunday as the North African kingdom swelters in a heatwave. "Non-stop efforts are underway to control the fires which broke out on Saturday afternoon," said Rachid...
Morocco: Rights group criticizes Spain for sending minors back to Morocco
Save the Children on Saturday urged Spain to halt the repatriation to Morocco of hundreds of unaccompanied minors who were among thousands of migrants who crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta three months ago. The international NGO accused Madrid of failing to...
Morocco piles more charges on jailed journalist Omar Radi
A Moroccan court on Thursday sentenced journalist and rights activist Omar Radi -- already imprisoned on charges of espionage and rape -- to a three-month suspended sentence for "public drunkenness", his lawyer said. Fellow journalist Imad Stitou, 32, received the...
Covid-19 in the Maghreb: More restrictions in Morocco, peak infection in Tunisia and panic in Algeria
Coronavirus: Latest global developments Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: - China outbreak – Millions of people are confined to their homes in China as the country tries to contain its largest outbreak in months with mass testing and travel...
Western Sahara: Spanish court closes case against Polisario leader Brahim Ghali
Spain's top criminal court said Thursday it had archived a case involving genocide allegations against the leader of Western Sahara's independence movement. Brahim Ghali, who heads the Polisario Front, had testified before the National Court on June 1 in connection...
Reporters Without Borders retracts accusation that Algeria used Pegasus spyware
Algeria said Friday it filed a defamation claim against media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) after it back-pedalled accusations that the North African country had possessed Israeli-made Pegasus spyware. Algeria's embassy in France said the complaint related...
Morocco grapples with the Pegasus spyware problem
Morocco files French libel suit over Pegasus spyware claim Morocco has filed defamation claims against Amnesty International and a French NGO who claim its intelligence services used the Pegasus mobile phone spyware against dozens of French journalists, lawyers for...
Morocco punishes journalist Omar Radi, sentences him to six years in prison
By Kaouthar Oudrhiri: A Moroccan court on Monday sentenced journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi to six years in jail on charges of espionage and rape, stirring condemnation from rights groups. Radi's trial opened in June last year, just days after rights...
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