The family of Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi is the centre of political attention. Doyenne of the Gadaffi Al-Dam branch is the Guide's wife, Safia el-Brassai, who emerged in...

Racist hysteria against blacks in Libya has dented Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi's ambition to create a 'United States of Africa' (USA) next year. He proclaimed his plan to...

Egyptians are being offered the most democratic parliamentary elections since President Anwar Sadat toyed with multiparty politics in the mid-1970s.

Investment in Africa has become a feature of Saudi Arabian Prince Al Walid bin Talal's business, suggesting that the Arab world's preeminent multi-billionaire sees the continent as a...

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has taken a lead in wooing new partnerships in the Middle East and Africa and his senior officials are following up to secure lucrative deals.

Abdelaziz Bouteflika has consolidated his power, exploiting the public's longing for peace to give substance to his presidency (AC Vol 41 No 4). However, an upsurge in Islamist...

Cairo is allowing a shipping company reportedly owned by the Chinese military to use ports on the Suez Canal. The 7 May agreement was reached after years of...

As if the Western Sahara did not have enough tangles, an old debate about fishing rights has reemerged to weave fresh knots. Most of the fish that swarm...

President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali was never entirely happy running the country in the shadow of its founding father, Habib Bourguiba. He died on 6 April and...

A new drive for peace in Western Sahara is signalled by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's choice of a new Special Envoy. Former United States Secretary of...