Vol 50 No 8 | ALGERIA Victory in a vacuum 17th April 2009 This time, rigging the election turnout was more important than rigging the vote Since there was no heavyweight candidate to stand against him, it was little surprise that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected with 90.24% of the vote in the 9...
Vol 50 No 8 | ALGERIA The contenders 17th April 2009 According to the official result, confirmed by the Constitutional Council on 14 April, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was re-elected with 90.24% of the vote, from a 74.6% turnout. The...
Vol 50 No 8 | EGYPT Hamas and Hezbollah 17th April 2009 Last week, President Hosni Mubarak’s government arrested 49 Egyptians, Sudanese and others whom it accuses of forming Hezbollah cells in Egypt, planning attacks on Israeli tourists in Sinai...
Vol 50 No 7 | LIBYAWEST AFRICAMIGRATION Aller-retour 3rd April 2009 Huge numbers of West Africans hope to make a living abroad but find barriers in neighbouring countries and the rich West The loss of more than 200 lives on 30 March, when a ship carrying African migrants to Europe sank off the coast of Libya, prompted calls for rich...
Vol 50 No 7 | LIBYAAFRICAMIGRATION Libya and its African brothers 3rd April 2009 The row in Africa over migration weakens progress towards the African Union's aims of the free movement of people, goods and services across the continent, says Albert Ouédraogo,...
Vol 2 (AAC) No 3 | EGYPT Ibrahim Ali Hassan 29th January 2009 Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs, Egypt The Assistant Foreign Minister for African Affairs is a fixture at the major Asian development events, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. The long-serving...
Vol 50 No 1 | MOROCCO Reform-minded monarch 9th January 2009 King Mohammed is an absolute monarch but paradoxically, he is the region’s most reform-minded head of state. Mohammed VI will celebrate his first decade as Al Amir al Mouminin (‘Commander of the Faithful’) on 23 July. At 47, ‘M6’ is more than 20 years younger...
Vol 50 No 1 | LIBYA The Gadaffi business 9th January 2009 The Gadaffis expect to enjoy another generation in power; this is not universally popular Libya’s Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi who, in 40 years of power, has traded his status as scourge of the United States and self-appointed leader of the Arab resistance...
Vol 50 No 1 | TUNISIA Rumblings of dissent 9th January 2009 Ben Ali's fifth and final term approaches Like its western neighbour, Tunisia is a prime target for Islamist fighters. President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali (born September 1936) has used the AQIM threat to rationalise...
Vol 50 No 1 | MAURITANIA Junta asks for time 9th January 2009 Nouakchott is more dependent than ever on Arab donors The ousting of civilian President Sidi Mohammed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in a dawn putsch last August has prompted African, European and American sanctions against the new junta. The...