Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Around 1,500 economic migrants have been taken from Algeria to Niger in recent days by the UN’s migration agency, its Niamey chief said on Thursday. Giuseppe Loprete from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told AFP around “600 Cameroonians, two large groups of Malians …
Read More »Muslim woman who refused handshake denied French citizenship
Paris, France | AFP | France’s highest administrative court has upheld a decision to deny a French passport to an Algerian Muslim who refused to shake hands with officials during her citizenship ceremony, according to a ruling seen by AFP Thursday. The woman argued that her “religious beliefs” prevented her from …
Read More »Algeria in mourning after its most deadly plane crash
2047, Algeria | AFP | Algerians on Thursday mourned 257 people killed in a military plane crash the day before, the country’s worst-ever aviation catastrophe, with no indication yet of the cause. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced three days of national mourning after the plane slammed into a field near the …
Read More »UN disputes Morocco’s claims of incursions in W. Sahara
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations on Monday disputed claims by Morocco that the Polisario Front had carried out incursions in a buffer zone of Western Sahara, where a UN mission is monitoring a ceasefire. Morocco wrote to the Security Council on Sunday to report that …
Read More »Erdogan hails Algeria trade deals on Africa tour
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the signing of trade deals with Algeria on Tuesday as he visited the country on the first leg of a tour of Africa. Erdogan said the agreements would allow Ankara and Algiers to diversify trade pending the signing of “an …
Read More »French forces kill at least 10 jihadists in Mali: military sources
Bamako, Mali | AFP | French air power on Wednesday killed at least 10 jihadists in northeast Mali near the border with Algeria, local and foreign military sources said. “French forces on Wednesday led at least one raid near Tinzaouatene, at the Algerian border, against the terrorists,” a local Malian …
Read More »Crash between bus and taxi kills 14 in Algeria
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | A collision between a passenger bus and a taxi in Algeria killed 14 people and injured 22 others on Thursday, authorities said. The accident occurred at Sfid on a national highway linking the northwestern areas of Saida and El Bayadh, according to the emergency services. …
Read More »Algeria gas plant marks five years since bloody hostage siege
In Amenas, Algeria | AFP | Workers at Algeria’s In Amenas gas plant gathered Tuesday around a black marble memorial to mark five years since a deadly raid by Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists left 40 hostages dead. All trace of the four-day siege — which saw workers from Japan, the Philipines, Britain, …
Read More »6,000 IS jihadists could return to Africa, AU warns
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Up to 6,000 Africans who fought for the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Iraq and Syria could return home, the African Union’s top security official warned Sunday, calling on countries to prepare for the threat. Smail Chergui, the AU’s commissioner for peace and security, said …
Read More »France’s Macron seeks warmer ties in former colony Algeria
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday made his first official visit to Algeria, announcing that he came as a “friend” despite France’s historically prickly relationship with its former colony. Ties between Paris and Algiers have defrosted in recent years, a half-century after French forces brutally …
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