First Independent Mena Newspaper
A prominent anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid has been taken into custody in Mauritania, a month before legislative elections in the country. Rights groups fear a politically-motivated move to silence opposition in the West African nation. According to the UK-based newspaper, The Guardian, Biram Dah Abeid, the leader of Mauritania’s Initiative for the Resurgence of […]
Shell will set up an office in Nouakchott to begin exploring hydrocarbons off shore the West African country. Under an agreement reached between the two parties, the oil and gas giant Shell shall begin exploration activities, starting with reprocessing and analysis of existing seismic data. “This move represents Shell’s entry into the West African Atlantic […]
The UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara, Horst Köhler, will begin a ten-day visit to the region on Saturday (June 23), it was officially announced in New York Thursday. “I can confirm that Horst Köhler, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for the Sahara will conduct a new tour of the region from June 23 to […]
Morocco and Mauritania are showing willingness to start a new page after undergoing a silent storm on the backdrop of Nouakchott’s ambiguous stands on the Sahara issue. A sign of the new rapprochement was expressed at the reception by Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz of Morocco’s new ambassador to Nouakchott Hamid Chabar who presented his […]
After years of fighting for their rights despite crackdown and imprisonment, members of Mauritania’s leading anti-slavery NGO, the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) are preparing their participation in local elections to make their voice heard. Led by recipient of UN human rights prize in 2013, Biram Ould Dah Ould Abied, IRA is not recognized […]
After Morocco, which severed ties with Iran over its support for separatists, Mauritanian authorities are complaining of the meddling of Iranian embassy which they accuse of spreading Shiism among the Sunni population. Mauritanian media reported that the foreign ministry summoned the Iranian Ambassador in Nouakchott Mohamed Amrani against the backdrop of rising concerns on Iranian […]
The Mauritanian government was rebuked at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for its failure to abolish entirely slavery practices, which remain widespread in the West African country. A heated exchange took place between the Mauritanian government and independent national and international NGO’s calling for abolishing the abhorrent slavery practice in Mauritania as part […]
As Mauritania heads towards presidential elections next year, the regime of Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has warned the opposition to refrain from wooing the army to intervene in the country’s politics. The warning was made by Defense Minister Jallow Mamadou Bhatia Sunday at a press conference in capital Nouakchott. The opposition, Middle East Monitor reports, […]
Moroccan security and customs services have foiled in a couple of days smuggling attempts at Guerguarate crossing point, in the southernmost tip of the country on the borders with Mauritania. In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, they blocked a drug smuggling attempt and seized 653 kg of cannabis on board a truck transporting goods. […]
The UN announced that it has revamped its Sahel strategy to better tackle the root causes of the crisis in a region beset by insecurity, climate change, poverty and extremism. “The Sahel is a priority for the Secretary-General and the entire United Nations system,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told a conference being held in Nouakchott, […]