First Independent Mena Newspaper
The advent of the coronavirus did not prevent Algerian authorities from continuing their clampdown on the free press and human rights activists. After banning Hirak movement marches, the newly recycled civilian leadership whose strings are pulled by the same old military junta arrested well-known Algerian journalist Khaled Drareni who has widely reported on Algeria’s protest […]
Winds of change are blowing on the Tindouf camps with the emergence of a new opposition movement calling for a political and mutually acceptable solution to the Sahara issue. The movement which calls itself Sahraouis for Peace breaks away with the ideological rhetoric of the Polisario and its mentor Algeria, reluctant to engage in negotiations […]
Latin American NGOs, forming the Global Africa Latina Foundation, have denounced the Polisario’s military stranglehold on the Tindouf camps where the populations are held in permanent captivity. “The military stranglehold on these camps and the manipulation of international humanitarian aid are keeping the populations in permanent captivity,” the Latin American foundation deplored in a statement […]
Veteran Algerian diplomat Ramtane Lamamra, whom the U.S block to become UN Special Envoy in Libya, has been appointed board member of Swedish state-founded Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) think-tank. SIPRI in statement on Thursday, announced the appointment of the former foreign minister who will join seven other board members. “We are extremely honoured […]
Time for reform has run out for Algeria with the plunge in oil prices further worsening combustible factors of financial hardships, corrupt leadership and social dissent. Myopic to the demands of the Algerian people for reforms and better living conditions, the same old ruling military elite renewed itself with a civilian facade amid pro-democracy protests. […]
Gas and oil giant Sonatrach has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with US Exxon to identify exploration opportunity in the North African country and to boost partnership between the two companies. Sonatrach made the announcement Monday on its website arguing that the agreement confirms the renewed dynamism of the Algerian mining sector, as part […]
Qatar Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, has pledged the Gulf country’s help to Algeria in the fight against novel covid-19 that has infected 2,629 people and killed 375. Qatar’s ruler called the Algerian President to inquire about developments in the North African country over the pandemic which has deeply affected the gas and oil-rich […]
Anger and frustration of the Sahrawis sequestered in the Polisario-controlled Lahmada camps, southern Algeria, have reached their apex as the separatists’ leaders continue to ignore their daily sufferings, lack of food, water, freedoms and necessary medical protection against coronavirus pandemic. Confined in their desert tents in very harsh conditions and banned from movement, these Sahrawis, […]
Former Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamaamra acknowledged officially that he had to backtrack on his bid to become a UN special envoy for Libya after he was vetoed by the US. In an official response, he said he was asked to take the position by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and that he accepted […]
The total blockade imposed by the polisario leaders on the Sahrawis sequestered in the Tindouf camps under the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic has boosted the million-dollar smuggling business of the corrupt Polisario chiefs. Six trucks loaded with 25 tons of flour, semolina or pasta, four tank trucks filled with 100 tons of diesel and […]