First Independent Mena Newspaper
As the deadline to offer his candidacy is fast approaching, Algeria’s 76 year old president Abdelaziz Bouteflika is yet to announce whether he’ll contest in the next election. There are worries if the president is fit to stand for elections due to his age and unstable health especially after he suffered a mini-stroke last year. […]
After last year’s attack on the ‘’In Amenas’’ gas plant by Islamist militants, which left 39 foreigners and one Algerian dead during a four-day siege, it has been reported that the gas plant will be fully functional within weeks. The plant used to produce about 11,5% of Algeria’s natural gas output before the attack. The […]
The oasis town of Ghardia located 600 kilometers south of the capital and dubbed to be a major drug trafficking point is entangled in sectarian violence between the Chaamba community of Arab origin and the Mozabites, a Berber minority group which adheres to the Ibadi faith, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Recent clashes have left […]
Algeria is to reopen the major gas plant Tiguentourine after foreign investors and firms operating at the plant negotiated a deal with the Algerian government to resume work. British Petroleum and Statoil workers are about to return to their previous workplace, which they left after the terrorist attack on January 13 last year. The attack […]
Former Algerian billionaire tycoon, Rafik Khalifa, has been extradited to his homeland after living in Britain for more than a decade. Once considered the “golden boy” of Algeria, the 47-year-old Khalifa rose from obscurity to build an empire including a bank, an airline and television stations, at one point employing an estimated 20,000 people in […]
Because of the mounting security situation in the region of Sahel, closer cooperation and integration in Maghreb is needed. According to the final concluding remarks of the 11th Morocco-EU Association Council, the EU28 stressed the salience of tight cooperation between the MENA and Sahel-Sahara region. The effort of closer collaboration between Sahel and Maghreb was […]
Algeria and France have intensified their cooperation at the end of French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault’s and nine ministers visit to the country by signing 9 partnership agreements. Much of the agreements were focused on economic and trade activities as France position as the biggest investor in Algeria comes under pressure from Chinese investments. Jean-Marc […]
Algerian authorities have moved to step up security presence along the border with Libya in light of the continuing chaos and instability in the neighboring country while striving for better co-operation against terrorist threats. Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal announced recently, following his meeting with his Tunisian counterpart in Paris, that he would visit Libya […]
Khalid Ould Addah, third in command of the terrorist network operating in North Africa, has been killed by after plans to capture him alive failed. Terrorists use the Sahara desert as their base and hideout due to its favorable nature. Algeria has been engaged in a serious battle against them since the Ain Amenas attack […]
Over the past thirty years, the inhabitants of Moroccan Oriental province have enjoyed unlimited cross-border ‘trade’ in petrol with neighboring Algeria. All-purpose petrol smuggling has been thriving even though the border has been officially closed since 1994 due to the murder of two Spanish tourists, who were allegedly killed by Algerian extremists. The border crossing […]