First Independent Mena Newspaper
The International Institute for Strategic Studies issued its annual Armed Conflict Survey showing that the region of the Middle East and North Africa continues to top the global list of conflict fatalities with 83,000 people dead in 2016. The global think tank with offices in the UK, USA, Asia, and the Middle East, noted that […]
The Algerian-backed Polisario has imposed a curfew in the Tindouf camps on May 2 to quell a protest that was supposed to be staged on May 3 by the disenchanted population held in inhumane living conditions in south-western Algeria, Morocco’s le 360.ma news website reported. Battered by a series of diplomatic setbacks at the African […]
Less than a week before he hands over the keys of the Elysée Palace, French President François Hollande hosted Tuesday a luncheon in honor of King Mohammed VI of Morocco. The luncheon at this particular juncture is deemed a powerful token of the long-standing friendship and the multifaceted ties binding the two countries. The luncheon […]
Faced with widespread voter apathy and growing calls to boycott the legislative polls of May 4, the Algerian regime stumbles desperately to keep the political status quo using religion and conspiracy theories to urge a “massive” vote of disenchanted worshipers. Imams were asked by the religious affairs ministry to tell worshipers in mosques to cast […]
The rug has been pulled from under the Polisario’s feet in the battle over Guerguarat wherefrom the Algerian-backed separatists had to withdraw in extremis to avoid an outspoken condemnation by the UN Security Council. The adoption of the UN Security Council resolution 2351 last Friday was delayed to allow for the Polisario pullback from the […]
As Algeria braces for Parliamentary elections on May 4, 2017, the FLN-led government sees the upcoming polls as a means to keep the political status quo feeding the disenchantment of a population battered by worsening economic conditions. The 2017 parliamentary elections are taking place in a context marked by an acute crisis reminiscent of the […]
To counter extremism, King Mohammed VI has set up a training center for Imams, Murshideen and Murshidat (male and female preachers) to spread the true values of Islam, said Monday the Irish Times. The center, opened in 2015, is housing 1,200 live-in students from Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa and France. Dubbed Mohammed VI Institute for the […]
The Algeria-based separatist militia, the Polisario, has threatened to fire at the UN peacekeeping mission in the Sahara, MINURSO, if it patrols the demilitarized buffer strip as part of monitoring the 1991 cease-fire agreement. UN Spokesperson told the press in New York that the MINURSO should carry out its mission fully and enjoy unhindered freedom […]
The landmark speech given by King Mohammed VI at the 28th African Union Summit set the tone of a pivot in Morocco’s foreign policy in favor of Africa and echoed a frustration with the paralysis plaguing the Maghreb Union. The momentum characterizing Morocco’s African action stands in a stark contrast to its stands regarding the […]
The adherence of six parties to the new governmental coalition gave the head of the Government Saad Eddine El Othmani a comfortable majority of 240 seats out of 395, leaving the opposition to liberal PAM with 102 seats. Numerically weak, PAM will be facing a government coalition with a sweeping majority composed of the PJD […]