First Independent Mena Newspaper
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 […]
Terrorist organizations in North Africa have found in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps breeding grounds for the recruitment of new members. Head of Morocco’s FBI, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) Abdelhak Khiame puts the number of Polisario members within IS ranks at 100 individuals. In an interview with France 24, Khiame reiterated concern regarding […]
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 frail health of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is reflected in the Algerian diplomacy that has lost track as it continues to accumulate failures on multiple fronts. Algiers’s Arab diplomacy after its participation in the Arab league’s 28th Summit in Amman shows an inaudible voice and most of all an incapacity to forge new alliances in […]
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 […]
Arab leaders opened Wednesday in Jordan their annual summit with focus on resolving conflicts and war against terrorism in the region. The Agenda also includes debates on latest developments of the situation in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many Arab countries especially of the rich-oil Gulf monarchies blame Iran for its intervention […]