Composed of distinct operational entities, the militant Islamist group coalition Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimeen serves the role of obscuring the operations of its component parts in the Sahel, thereby inhibiting a more robust response.
Mali’s foreign minister defended the military government’s cooperation with Russia on Friday and rejected three options proposed by the U.N. chief to reconfigure the U.N. peacekeeping force in the west African country where Al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist groups are driving insecurity.
The trip could lead to greater cooperation between India and Egypt on trade, the Suez Canal, green hydrogen and more.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi concluded a three-day visit to India on Friday. Egypt and India upgraded their political, economic and military relations during the trip.
Le ministère de la Défense a annoncé la mort de quatre terroristes lors d’une opération menée au nord du Mali par les forces spéciales françaises. Parmi eux, Abderkrim el-Targui, le chef de la katiba Al-Ansar d’Al-Qaeda au Maghreb islamique (Aqmi) avait revendiqué les assassinats de deux journalistes de RFI.
Mohamed Akotey, négociateur-clé de la libération des otages d’Arlit, était encore “à la manoeuvre” pour obtenir celle de Serge Lazarevic, d’après de nombreux médias. Ex-chef rebelle, ex-ministre, ce Touareg nigérien francophile dispose au Sahel de solides réseaux qui lui permettent de jouer ce rôle.
The vote was a striking one. 356 members of the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution against the Kingdom of Morocco, condemning various human rights concerns and “expressing profound concern about the accusations that Moroccan authorities have corrupted deputies in the European Parliament.” Morocco is alleged to be a player in the scandal known as “Qatargate” which is, as the name suggests, mostly about, but not limited to, oil-rich Qatar buying influence in the European Parliament.[1]
North Africa is a dynamic migration region that acts as the origin, transit and destination region for the various migratory flows that pass through it. These flows were traditionally dominated by sub-Saharan Africans who either remained in the region or transited through on their way to Europe. There has also been a movement of North Africans to Libya in search of employment, and in more limited cases, to board boats to Europe. From 2012 onwards, there has also been a movement of Syrian refugees to Libya, initially to wait for an end to the conflict at home and later to board boats to Europe. The individuals that travel along these routes form a complex group of people, including migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, minors, and involuntary migrants who possess differing motivations. Yet, they all follow the same journeys and are often in the hands of the same smugglers.For this reason, and for the purposes of this article, the word ‘migrant’ will be used broadly to refer to all people on the move through the region, unless a distinction is otherwise made.
Major developments
The crisis that erupted in Côte d’Ivoire in September 2002 continued to have implications for operations in neighbouring countries in 2003. While the anticipated mass exodus did not materialize, there was considerable upheaval in border zones of adjacent countries as sizeable numbers of refugees fled alongside economic migrants from West African States. Early in the year thousands of Ivorian and third country nationals fled to eastern Liberia together with Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees.
Many were subsequently uprooted by fresh conflict and forced into further displacement inside Liberia, into Guinea or back to war-affected areas in western Côte d’Ivoire. The Linas-Marcoussis peace agreement signed in January 2003 did not yield all of the results expected, and Côte d’Ivoire remains divided, with the north under the control of the Forces nouvelles.
Mali’s population consists of diverse sub-Saharan ethnic groups, sharing similar historic, cultural, and religious traditions. Exceptions are the Tuaregs and Maurs, desert nomads, related to the North African Berbers. The Tuareg, a semi-nomadic people who live in northern Mali, but also in Niger, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Libya, represent no more than 10 percent of Mali’s population. The Tuaregs have had a history of struggle since Mali’s independence in 1960. A series of rebellions, which were the result of a struggle for greater autonomy, to preserve traditional Tuareg ways of life, and to share in the benefits of a modernizing Malian state, led to clashes with the military from 1963 to 1964, 1990 to 1996, 2006, and 2012.
Malgré une tradition d’accueil des étrangers, l’afflux de migrants dans le pays s’accompagne d’une montée des discriminations, mauvais traitements et attaques verbales.
La pétition lancée l’été dernier sur Facebook par le très confidentiel « Parti nationaliste » pour réclamer « l’expulsion de la colonie de migrants subsahariens qui s’installe en Tunisie » était passée inaperçue jusqu’à ce que ses promoteurs se lancent dans des opérations de démarchage dans les rues de Tunis, le week-end des 14 et 15 janvier.