First Independent Mena Newspaper
Pope Francis will pay a visit to Morocco on March 30-31 during which he will meet King Mohammed VI who also has the religious title of Commander of the Faithful. The visit puts the Kingdom on the forefront of international efforts to promote inter-religious dialogue. Under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, Morocco stood out […]
Russia has surprisingly shied away from supporting the authoritarian status quo in Algeria as it seeks to secure its long term interest in the North African country, notably in terms of armament contracts. It was not a coincidence that Deputy Prime Minister Ramtane Lamamra paid his first international visit to white wash the regime to […]
The UN Secretary-General has announced in a recent report that the budget of the UN mission in the Sahara, MINURSO, will be increased by 7.6 percent to improve ground and air surveillance operations conducted by the mission. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres who also called on MINURSO observers to be more vigilant, has closed the […]
As the boat of the Algerian regime sinks against the backdrop of unrelenting protests demanding a step down of infirm Bouteflika and a departure of the opaque regime, the ruling elites seek diversion by sending their foreign facade figure Ramtane Lamamra to the UN talks on the Sahara in Geneva, a move that shows that […]
As consultations are still ongoing to form a new government in Algeria in a bid to address the wrath of the people standing against the extension of President Bouteflika’s term that the protesters call a “fourth term bis”, the Bouteflika clan must face another front of “resistance” from within. Actually, 72 high dignitaries of the […]
Both Algeria and Egypt are run by a military-dominated elite that gave protesters, thirsty for freedom and democracy, the illusion of change. The military regimes in both countries proved adept at adapting to social change by offering time-buying measures and superficial reforms to keep the ruling circles intact while containing unrest. In a recent article […]
It is clear that the ailing and embattled president Abdelaziz Bouteflika has not been able to deflate mass demonstrations or convince angry protesters demanding his departure, change, inclusive growth and democracy. After weeks of popular protests, Mr. Bouteflika, 82, announced on Monday that he would not run for a fifth term and postponed elections scheduled […]
After two decades of autocratic rule, infirm President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he is not running for a fifth term as protests continued for three consecutive weeks asking for genuine reform to the opaque regime running the oil-rich country. Bouteflika, 82, said elections that were set for April 18 will be postponed, but he did not […]
As was expected, ailing president Bouteflika announced in a letter that he will succeed himself for a fifth term, but promised early elections within a year in a bid to stoke off public anger against his re-election while preparing to leave power on his own terms. In view of his frail health, Bouteflika hasn’t spoken […]
Protests are growing against a fifth term for ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. So far, one protester was killed and dozens were injured in clashes with policemen in the capital. Anger is building up across the country threatening the fragile social peace and the country’s stability as time and money run out. Officials are toughening their […]