First Independent Mena Newspaper
French new foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné said he will invest in improving ties with Morocco and reaffirmed Paris support for the Sahara autonomy plan. “The Republic’s President has personally asked me to invest in French-Moroccan relations to open a new chapter in our toes. I will be committed to that,” Sejourne told Ouest-France daily paper. […]
The European Union has announced its plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea by mid-February aiming to protect commercial vessels against Iran-backed Houthi rebel attacks which are hampering international trade and driving prices up. It’s a purely defensive operation to protect ships from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the bloc’s top diplomat […]
The United Kingdom should support Morocco’s Autonomy Plan offering a workable solution to the Sahara issue, says a leading UK defense and security think-tank. The Moroccan Autonomy Plan “remains the only credible, lasting, realistic and constructive solution” to the Sahara conflict, says a report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Following a paralyzing impasse […]
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have announced their withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), dealing a hard blow to France and the Algerian regime which is serving the agenda of the former French colonial power in the region. In a joint statement released Sunday, the three Sahel countries said they took […]
Three military-led West African nations have all announced their immediate withdrawal from The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), accusing the regional group of falling “under the influence of foreign powers” and becoming a threat to its members. The decision by the coup-born governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to withdraw from ECOWAS […]
General Marc Olivier, a top commander of the French army announced Thursday January 25 France’s willingness to strengthen ties with Chad as he met Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the central African country’s top diplomat, in N’Djamena. The two sides addressed ways to bolster cooperation that they believe will solidify the historical ties between the two nations […]
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will hold this January 24 talks with his Chadian counterpart Mahamat Idriss Deby who embarked Tuesday on an official visit to Moscow. Vladimir Putin’s office said on X that talks will focus on the prospects for the development of Russia-Chad relations in various areas, as well as issues on the regional […]
Filling the void left by French troops who withdrew from Niger just a couple of weeks ago, the Sahel country and Russia have announced an agreement to develop military cooperation as part of the efforts to stabilize the situation in the region. Russian Deputy Defense Ministers Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Alexander Fomin met Niger’s junta-appointed Defense […]
Salem Bazoum, the son of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been imprisoned with his parents at the presidential residence since the coup in July 2023, was provisionally released on Monday (8 January), the country’s military tribunal said in a statement. The military tribunal in Niamey granted the 23-year old son of the former president […]
France announced Tuesday January 2 the closure of its Embassy in Niger’s capital of Niamey “until further notice”, citing major concerns. “For the past five months, our Embassy has been subjected to major obstacles that have made it impossible to do its job: a blockade around the Embassy, restrictions on employees’ movements, and the turning […]