First Independent Mena Newspaper
The detention of Saâd Bouakba, one of Algeria’s most respected journalists, marks a new chapter in the country’s escalating campaign against independent voices. Bouakba, 79, was placed in pre-trial detention on Nov 27, after being accused of defamation and “insulting historical symbols of the state,” which he denied. The charges have been described as bogus […]
The belated publication of the UN Security Council Resolution 2797 was a diplomatic earthquake that exposed Algeria’s role as a party to the conflict. In a desperate bid to dilute its own responsibility, Algiers tried to alter the Arabic version of the text, pushing for “two parties” instead of “all parties,” with the goal of […]
A recent so-called “academic” meeting in Tindouf between senior Iranian officials and Polisario separatists has lifted the veil on the troubling reality of ties in the open between the Polisario, Iran, and Hezbollah forged in full connivance with Algeria. But can a drowning man save another from sinking? This question looms large as the Maghreb […]
A delegation from Hezbollah, Iran’s backed Lebanese Shia group, posing as Syrian religious leaders, visited lately the Polisario-controlled Tindouf Camps, southern Algeria. The visit has triggered security alarms among American and European counter-terrorism agencies as the move confirms the links between the Algeria-backed Polisario militia and the Iranian proxies seeking to expand to North Africa […]
The Algerian and South African regimes have suffered a major diplomatic setback at the G20 summit, held lately in Johannesburg, after failing to add the Sahara conflict in the final Declaration issued by the summiteers. All their persistent maneuvers to include wordings making reference to the Sahara issue have failed as the whole world has […]
A new feature on Elon Musk’s X is exposing the truth behind social media accounts across the political spectrum, with Algerian account owners apparently misleading Moroccan followers about where they are posting from. The new feature allows all X users to see where a given account is based, usually listing a country or region. Many […]
Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal spoke publicly for the first time since his release from prison in Algeria, saying his words remain “carefully controlled” and acknowledging that he fears being arrested again if he returns to Algiers. Sansal, 81, was freed on November 12 after spending a year behind bars in Algeria. He had been sentenced […]
Algeria has fostered its grip on impoverished Tunisia, worsening the dependence of its fragile neighbor on gas rent in a bilateral relationship that constrained Tunisia’s diplomacy, a recent Chatham House op-ed showed. Tunisia’s recent trajectory marks a profound shift in Maghreb geopolitics, Safae El Yaacoubi wrote in the Op-ed, adding that “power in the region […]
Once hailed as a leader of Spain’s radical left, Pablo Iglesias Turrión has now become a fallen politician clinging to relevance through incendiary anti-Moroccan populist rhetoric on Sahara. The former leader of Podemos, who rose to prominence in 2014 promising to sweep away Spain’s “corrupt caste,” has long been a vocal advocate for the Polisario […]
For decades, Algeria’s foreign policy was built on an unshakable creed: “With Palestine, guilty or innocent.” That slogan has become a tenet of the regime’s quest to gain legitimacy while implementing anti‑Semitism policies that erased Algeria’s own Jewish heritage. The country that still bars Israeli passport holders from entry and which closed and converted synagogues […]