First Independent Mena Newspaper
International Anti-Corruption Day was celebrated all across North African earlier this week with dismal news on the fight against bribery. Overall, the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) from Transparency International showed little to no improvement in graft around the region. For example, in Libya, the situation got even worse when the country was ranked as […]
Khalid Ould Addah, third in command of the terrorist network operating in North Africa, has been killed by after plans to capture him alive failed. Terrorists use the Sahara desert as their base and hideout due to its favorable nature. Algeria has been engaged in a serious battle against them since the Ain Amenas attack […]
Maghreb, African, and European leaders met in Tangier during an event whose aim was to discuss the joint endeavor towards protection of the Sahel region. The meeting concluded that security in general, and specifically dealing with challenges coming from increasing instability across the region, is the most important issue. Therefore, all sides have agreed to […]
Over the past thirty years, the inhabitants of Moroccan Oriental province have enjoyed unlimited cross-border ‘trade’ in petrol with neighboring Algeria. All-purpose petrol smuggling has been thriving even though the border has been officially closed since 1994 due to the murder of two Spanish tourists, who were allegedly killed by Algerian extremists. The border crossing […]
In the days preceding the meeting to be held next Friday in the White House between President Barack Obama and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, several influential legislators, diplomats, analysts and commentators have called on the U.S. president to seize the opportunity of this encounter to build on the USA’s historic alliance with Morocco. The Congressional […]
Algeria’s 76-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been nominated by his ruling National Liberation Party (FLN) to run for a fourth term in April 2014. The ailing leader, who was hospitalized in France last April after suffering what official reports described as a stroke, has been in power since 1999. He presided over a cabinet meeting […]
Algeria has set its eyes on the Adcom Systems Yabhon United 40 Block 5 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) at the ongoing Dubai Air Show 2013. Algiers wants to boost its medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capacity. The Yabhon United 40 Block 5 is considered to be likely included in its fleet very […]
The diplomatic tussle between Algiers and Rabat is showing no signs of dying down after the Algerian foreign minister urged Moroccan authorities to be up to the task. Minister Ramtane Lamamra called on Morocco to act accordingly after a trespasser scaled the Algerian consulate walls in Casablanca and tore its flag. Morocco and Algeria are […]
When in January 2013 the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, attended the 5th international conference of finance ministers and central banks governors of the Maghreb countries, she talked about the necessity of boosting growth and employment within the region, while also reminding the distinguished audience that political issues still constitute a […]
Morocco does not need to take lessons on human rights from anybody, and especially not from those who “systematically” violate these rights, said Morocco’s king Mohammed VI on Wednesday. “Morocco refuses to receive lessons on the subject (of human rights), especially from those who systematically violate human rights. Anyone wishing to outbid Morocco has to […]