The past six weeks have seen an escalation of hostilities between Mauritanian troops and the forces of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The first signs of this escalation occurred on June 24, when Mauritanian forces raided, with Malian help, an al-Qaeda camp in the... MORE

Since the mid-1980s, Abd al-Aziz al-Hilu has been one of the leading rebel commanders in Sudan. Well known for his organizational skills and dedication to replacing the Arab-dominated central government of Sudan, al-Hilu has advocated for a more broad-based federalist system that would recognize the... MORE

The Jamestown Foundation recently posed a series of questions in an online interview with Abdurahman M. Abdullahi (Baadiyow), an Islamic scholar and prominent leader of the Islah (Reform) Movement in Somalia.  The interview was designed to shed light on the views of Somalia’s Muslim Brotherhood... MORE

Libyan stability is critical for Niger’s security as well as for its economy. The on-going crisis complicates the already demanding task that the new democratic government of the country faces in strengthening the Nigerien economy and securing its domestic stability (see Terrorism Monitor April 14;... MORE

After 18 months in captivity, the Taliban released Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier on June 29. The two journalists from the French public television channel France Télévision were taken hostage on December 30, 2009 as they were working on a documentary on reconstruction in Afghanistan.... MORE

Executive Summary: Now raging into its fifth month, the Libyan revolution is spreading to more and more parts of the country, with smaller, more regionally autonomous battles with the Qaddafi regime coming to the fore as the rebels seek to develop a unified command. The... MORE

After months of bombardment by NATO warplanes, Qaddafi’s military is no longer the force it was when it was on the verge of defeating the rebels by taking their “capital” of Benghazi prior to the March 27 commencement of the NATO intervention. Since then, NATO... MORE

The people of South Kordofan have become caught up in the unresolved contradiction of the post-John Garang Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), which is now leading South Sudan into independence; what happens when a national federalist political movement becomes an ethnic separatist political movement? This... MORE

A series of recent meetings in Algiers have been devoted to creating a “special partnership” between France and its former colony of Algeria, based on ties unifying the countries in terms of history, proximity and density of human relations (Jeune Afrique, Jun 14). French Foreign... MORE