Abdelmalek Droukdel (a.k.a. Abu Musab al-Wadoud), the current amir of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), should be considered the real power behind the shift in focus of the Algerian jihad. Droukdel was an early volunteer in the struggle launched by the Armed Islamic Group... MORE

In the first nine months of 2009, Chinese companies launched 14 projects in Ghana and topped the list of foreign firms registered in terms of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the country [1]. This trend follows in line with China’s growing footprint in the rest... MORE

Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Muhammad Achar Foudeil Taha is the chairman of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (Harakat al-Adl wa’l-Muswaa – JEM), the most powerful and determined of the many armed movements in Darfur challenging the authority of the military/Islamist regime in Khartoum. Given the effectiveness... MORE

Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Muhammad Achar Foudeil Taha is the chairman of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM – Harakat al-Adl wa’l-Muswaa), the most powerful and determined of the many-armed movements in Darfur challenging the authority of the military/Islamist regime in Khartoum. As a former Darfur... MORE

Three Spanish aid workers of the Catalan NGO Barcelona Acció Solidària, Albert Vilalta, Alicia Gámez and Roque Pascual, were kidnapped somewhere between Nouadibou and Nouakchott in Mauritania on November 29 (El Paìs, November 30, 2009). Four days earlier, a French citizen, Pierre Camatte, was kidnapped... MORE

In a scene right out of the cinema, a young Somali man armed with an axe and a knife came crashing through the door of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard’s Aarhus house late on January 1. Hitting a panic button specially installed in the house, Mr... MORE

Tensions continue to rise in the volatile Horn of Africa as Eritrean insurgent groups promise a new wave of political violence following the imposition of UN sanctions against Eritrea for its alleged support of terrorism in the region. Eritrea is strategically located on the Red... MORE

As al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) terrorists grow more active in the Saharan region, Algeria has introduced a new military strategy designed to restrict movement through the volatile border regions that Algeria shares with Niger, Mali and Mauritania. Algeria has deployed an additional 3,000... MORE