First Independent Mena Newspaper
More Abrams tanks are on their way to Morocco, which has launched a program to bolster its land forces. The Donald Trump administration has approved the shipping of 162 Abrams tanks to Morocco last year to help the kingdom respond to regional challenges. The deal was approved last September in a move to equip Morocco […]
The US conducted an airstrike that killed a senior leader of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in war-ravaged Libya, the Pentagon said. The Al Qaeda leader was identified in the Pentagon statement as Musa Abu Dawud who had trained recruits in Libya to carry out attacks in the region. “He provided critical logistics […]
Despite the joint might of the US, Canada and Mexico to host the 2026 World Cup, there are numerous factors that undermine the undertaking of the North American bid. In addition to the Trump factor, distance between cities and inconvenient time zone, the lack of gun safety in the US surfaced as an issue of […]
The US Congress has approved the 2018 Appropriations Bill which- like its 2017 predecessor- allows Morocco to use US aid everywhere in the country, including in the Sahara. In doing so, US lawmakers renew their strong bipartisan support for a negotiated solution to the Sahara dispute, based on autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty, and encourage […]
The Washington Post and the New York Times revealed in recent stories that US troops are present in Algeria, a country that has for long rejected the presence of foreign troops while claiming a doctrine prohibiting the deployment of foreign troops on its territory. According to the Washington Post, Algeria was included in the list […]
The US Treasury has imposed new sanctions, including asset freeze, on several entities and individuals from Libya, Egypt and Malta believed involved in the smuggling of Libyan oil. The new sanctions from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have targeted six people, twenty-four companies and seven vessels. Assets belonging to targeted individuals and […]
US intelligence agencies have established a blacklist of individuals from around the world, including from Morocco, suspected of funding terrorist operations. The blacklisted are banned from accessing the US financial system. The CIA, the FBI, the US Treasury Department and the State Department coordinate their actions to hunt down a number of people from around […]
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Monday called on Egypt to hold free and transparent presidential elections next month in a vote that is smeared by crackdown on President Sisi’s rivals and marked by wave of oppression. Tillerson, who began a five-nation visit to the Middle East with a stop in Egypt Monday, touched […]
The US has designated Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, on a terrorist blacklist. The US State Department labelled Haniyeh a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” a title used to describe leaders of international terror organizations or perpetrators of mass-scale terror attacks. “Ismail Haniyeh is the leader and President of the Political […]
US Deputy President, Mike Pence, is paying a visit to Israel described by his aids as “personal” and by Palestinians as a continuation of the US blind support for Netanyahu government. Wearing a Jewish skullcap on his head, Pence prayed in the Western Wall amid tensions with the Palestinians over President Donald Trump’s recent decision […]