North Africa

Demonstration in Tunisia to ask Italy to take back its waste. An environmental scandal against a background of corruption shakes the country. A total of 282 containers of Italian household waste were imported illegally last year. Senior customs officials were fired, as was the Minister of the Environment, imprisoned since the end of 2020. And despite legal proceedings, the 7,800 tonnes of rubbish bins…

After terrorizing Libya's Tarhuna for several years during their rule over the city, the Kaniyat militia has still not been held accountable for its war crimes as authorities continue to locate mass graves. "They spared no child, no woman, no old man," said Mohamed Amer, mourning the murdered under the reign of terror by six brothers who ruled the Libyan city with bloodshed. "I am the father of the martyr Moaid, cold-blooded killed by the criminal gang Kaniyat," said Amer, a silver-haired father in his…

In Libya, the release, on Wednesday 31 March, was welcomed by more than a hundred prisoners held since the beginning of Marshal Khalifa Haftar's abortive offensive to take the capital in 2019, locally and by the UN. It was on the initiative of a local dialogue group that these prisoners of war were released on Wednesday, March 31. All dressed in white in traditional Libyan clothes. They were greeted by the "family" ululations. The ceremony, which took place in the town of Zawiya, 70 km from Tripoli, in western Libya, was…

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a report released on Wednesday called on the UN Security Council to set up a "monitoring component" to operate in and around Libya's Sirte province and compliment the Libyan-led mechanisms to monitor the ceasefire. In the report presented to the Security Council, Guterres did not say how many UN observers would be needed for the UN mission, known as the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). "I call on the Security Council to give UNSMIL a clear but flexible…

Forces in western Libya on Wednesday released more than 100 detainees who had been captured during fighting under Putin general Khalifa Haftar, in a conciliatory gesture following the latest agreements, officials said. The fighters were liberated in the coastal city of Zawiya during a televised ceremony attended by senior officials of the newly appointed transitional government. The men fought for the 107th Brigade under the leadership of Haftar. Mohammad Younes Menfi, head of the presidential…

The UN expert group on mercenaries is sounding the alarm about serious "human rights violations" that can be attributed to Russian paramilitaries in the Central African Republic, and experts condemn the authorities' increased use of private security companies in Bangui, which has been the target of a new uprising since December. They also deplore the "close contacts" that the Central African Army and in…

According to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), almost 1,100 migrants have been intercepted off the Libyan coast by the Coast Guard since Saturday 27 March. They are being sent back to internment camps in Tripoli where conditions are deplorable. Five people died during rescue operations on Tuesday and 77 were rescued, according to the IOM, which condemns the return of these migrants to a country in chaos. "This is a consequence of an irresponsible migration policy," tweeted Safa Msehli, an…

We know of 23 of the 24 teams that will play the next African Cup of Nations football (CAN 2021) in January / February 2022 in Cameroon. However, there is still a place that can be attributed to CAN 2021, the Sierra Leone-Benin meeting in Group L in the qualifiers has been postponed until June 2021 after a controversy over positive Covid tests. The Africa Cup of Nations is almost full. Twenty-three of the twenty-four teams that will play in the final in January / February 2022 are now known. Before the last two days…

A Libyan lawmaker revealed on Tuesday that an agreement has been reached to unite the two rival groups in the country's parliament following a meeting in the capital Tripoli. Fawzi al-Nuwairi, deputy speaker of the Tobruk-based parliament, told the Libyan television network Alahrar that "the presidency of the Libyan parliament met on Tuesday in Tripoli and agreed to unite the parliament." However, Al-Nuwairi did not provide further details about the agreement or who had attended the meeting. Libyan…

Mauritania's football team will play its second CAN final in a row after validating its qualifier on the lawn of the Central African Republic, 1-0. The Mourabitounes goal was scored by Aboubakar Kamara. They needed a draw to qualify. The Mauritanians did better by winning without trembling on the lawn of Fauves de…