First Independent Mena Newspaper
The African Union called on Morocco to bring logistical support for the Sahel G5 anti-terrorism force in the wake of the terrorist attack on a restaurant in Burkina Faso leaving 20 dead. The African Union Chairman, President of Guinea Alpha Condé called on Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and South Africa to offer logistical support to […]
Algeria, Africa’s largest country, shares borders with 6 countries, all of them are closed with the exception of its land frontiers with Tunisia. This closed-border attitude is reflective of a lack of a neighborhood policy in an increasingly integrated continent where collective efforts are the best means to countering trans-border challenges. With Morocco, the borders […]
The UN Security Council Presidency issued a statement voicing concern over the surge of terrorist attacks in the Sahel and stressing the need for a “holistic approach” to curb terrorism. The Security Council “expresses its concerns over the threats of terrorism, including widespread terrorist ideology in the region and their linkages to transnational organized crime, […]
The decision by Mauritanian authorities to seal off borders with Algeria as a military zone forbidden to civilians is the tree that hides the forest. The closing of the borders signals cracks in the Algerian-Mauritanian short-lived alliance. As Mauritania tilts towards its Sahel neighbors in their efforts to counter the terrorism scourge, it takes steps […]
Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido underscored Morocco’s key role in promoting the European Union’s counterterrorism efforts, saying that the Kingdom is Spain’s “best partner” in addressing the global scourge of jihadism. The Spanish minister, who made the statement at an address to a conference in Madrid themed: “European Union Challenges: Jihadist Terrorism”, stressed that […]
Rising global temperatures could trigger an abrupt transition in weather patterns in Africa’s driest region, the Sahel, through an increase in rainfall that would turn the area green within decades, said scientists in a report published in Earth System Dynamics. The Sahel, home to 100 million people, has seen worsening extreme weather, including more frequent […]
The absence of Algeria from a meeting on Sahel security held on July 3 in Seville between the Interior Ministers of Spain, France and Morocco shows the low expectations of the international community of the Algerian regime when it comes to countering terrorism in the Sahel. During the Seville meeting, the participating ministers agreed on […]
The UN Security Council unanimously welcomed in a resolution the deployment of a military force by West African states to combat terrorism and arms, drug and human trafficking in the Sahel region after France and the US reached a consensus on the issue. To secure the support of the US, France softened the resolution language […]
The US has expressed reservations over the French move to garner support at the UN Security council for the adoption of a resolution mandating a force by West African states to combat terrorism and trafficking in the Sahel. The US voiced its concerns regarding the UN financial backing for the Sahel force after France has […]
Morocco is illustrative of a rising power that has cannily deployed its soft power toolbox, including investments, human development projects, media, culture and religion to boost stability in the Sahel and Africa. In an article on the World Politics Review on the contribution of four main players in the security arena in the region, Morocco […]