Tunisian police arrested four men, including a fisherman, on suspicion of maritime piracy after the robbery of a boat taking Tunisian migrants to Italy, an official said on Thursday. Police intervened and arrested the four Tunisians on Saturday after one of the migrants posted a video online showing men taking the engine of the migrants’ […]
Niger braced Friday for a weekend of planned anti-French rallies as tensions mount between the country’s new military rulers and its traditional ally. A coalition of civil society groups opposed to the presence of French forces in Niger has called a three-day sit-in, starting Friday. The protest, organised by the M62 grouping, is set to […]
France on Friday confirmed one of its citizens had been killed and another was jailed, a day after media reports said two tourists were shot dead by coastguards when they strayed across Algeria’s maritime border with Morocco. Moroccan media reported Thursday that two French-Moroccans had been killed after straying across the border into Algerian waters […]
A German court gave a Moroccan man a suspended sentence Thursday after finding him guilty of spying on supporters of a Moroccan protest group. The 36-year-old was given a suspended sentence of one year and nine months, a spokeswoman for the higher regional court in Duesseldorf said. He was also ordered to pay a 4,300 […]
People in the central African state of Gabon awaited a steer on their future on Thursday after rebel army officers brought the curtain down on 55 years of rule by the Bongo family. President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose father Omar had ruled for more than four decades, was toppled on Wednesday, moments after being declared […]
Niger’s new military rulers have stripped France’s ambassador of diplomatic immunity and ordered police to expel him, according to a letter seen Thursday by AFP, a move that ratchets up tensions with the country’s traditional ally. The envoy “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as member of the diplomatic personnel […]
Two holidaymakers jet skiing in Morocco were shot dead by the Algerian coastguard when they strayed across the maritime border between two Mediterranean countries, Moroccan media reported on Thursday. Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Merchouer, both French-Moroccan dual nationals, came under fire after taking a wrong turn off the beach resort of Saidia on Morocco’s northeast […]
Algeria seeks six-month transition for coup-hit Niger Algeria‘s foreign minister on Tuesday proposed a six-month transitional plan for neighbouring Niger, whose coup leader seeks a far longer timeline back to democracy. Ahmed Attaf gave his suggested framework after a tour last week to three of Niger’s neighbouring countries in the West African bloc ECOWAS, which […]
Algeria on Thursday blasted Switzerland for indicting its former defence minister on charges of committing crimes against humanity in the 1990s during the North African country’s civil war. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland said Tuesday it had filed an indictment in the Federal Criminal Court against 85-year-old Khaled Nezzar, who faces accusations […]
Libya’s internationally recognised prime minister has sacked his top diplomat after she met her Israeli counterpart, with news of the encounter triggering protests in a country that does not recognise Israel. Oil-rich Libya, which plunged into chaos after dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, has been divided since 2014 […]
Sudan’s army chief on Tuesday visited Egypt on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of war in April, with the latest violence killing dozens of civilians in battle-scarred Darfur. As Abdel Fattah al-Burhan headed for talks with key ally Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, medics and witnesses said 39 civilians were killed, most of […]
The United Nations warned Tuesday that the political crisis in Niger and the sanctions imposed against the coup regime risk triggering “catastrophic” humanitarian effects. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said it had revised contingency planning for Niger since a military coup on July 26 toppled President Mohamed Bazoum. “The ongoing political crisis, with no clear […]
Former Algerian defence minister Khaled Nezzar has been indicted in Switzerland on charges of committing crimes against humanity in the 1990s during the civil war, state prosecutors said Tuesday. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said it had filed an indictment in the Federal Criminal Court against the 85-year-old, who faces accusations […]
An Algerian court on Tuesday sentenced an Algerian-Canadian researcher and Algerian journalist each to two years in prison, one of their lawyers said. Raouf Farrah, 36, and Mustapha Bendjama, 32, were convicted of publishing classified information by the court in the eastern city of Constantine, said attorney Kouceila Zerguine, who represents Farrah. Farrah was also […]
Former rebels in northern Mali on Tuesday accused the armed forces of carrying out new strikes on their positions, reflecting mounting tensions in the flashpoint region. A spokesman for the Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) told an AFP reporter that the armed forces carried out air strikes on the group in Anefis, in the Kidal […]
