Human rights advocates are putting the spotlight on Mauritania, where political opposition leader Mohamed Ould Ghadda was detained without trial in the aftermath of an August referendum to dissolve the country’s senate to which he belonged. Ghadda has been in custody since an August 10 arrest, the Human Rights Watch…
Mauritania has denied access to a group of American anti-slavery activists on a mission to West African nations, on grounds that their plans conflicted with Mauritanian law and had not been approved through proper channels. That group has nonetheless continued on their mission in Dakar, Senegal. “We are engaged in this…
Authorities in Spain say that Younes Abouyaaqoub, the suspect in Thursday’s attack in Barcelona, was shot and killed by police Monday in the city’s western suburb of Subirats. Abouyaaquob was wearing what appears to be a bomb belt and shouted Islamic slogans as police closed in. Spain’s Mossos agency said…
Authorities in Spain say the victims of Thursday’s attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, which claimed the lives of 14 people and left more than 100 injured, come from 34 countries. Among them are citizens of Morocco, Egypt and Mauritania, according to the Emergències Catalunya civil protection agency. Spanish officials continue…
The Group of Five Sahel (G5 Sahel) Joint Force is expected to bolster existing efforts to combat terrorism in the region but requires international funding to succeed, said the United Nations head of peacekeeping operations during a UN Security Council briefing on Tuesday. Assistant-Secretary-General El-Ghassim Wane told the council that…
The growing unrest in Mauritania ahead of Saturday’s vote on a contentious referendum to change the country’s constitution is getting attention from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesman for the UN agency, urged the Mauritanian government to ensure that the rights of peaceful protesters…
Mauritania’s borders with Algeria and Mali are now restricted military zones, following a defense ministry announcement that calls on all civilians to avoid the border areas. The government says the decision last week to seal off the border zones is part of an effort to combat illegal migration and criminals…
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday promised €8 million this year, along with equipment and technical support, as he joined the presidents of the G5 Sahel countries in Bamako Sunday to formally launch the Sahel joint force (FC-G5S). It is expected to be operational in the fall, and based in the…
The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution that gives the go-ahead for the Group of Five Sahel joint force (FC-G5S), a counterterrorism effort of up to 5,000 military and law enforcement personnel drawn from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. Issa Konfourou, Mali’s ambassador to the United…
The nation of Chad has recalled its ambassador from Qatar, the latest African nation to distance itself from the small Arabian Gulf state following Bahrain’s severing of ties with Qatar over terrorism. Chad’s foreign ministry confirmed its decision in a statement Thursday, according to Reuters. Bahrain, immediately followed by Saudi…
A final ruling in the case of a Mauritanian blogger who faces execution on apostasy charges has been postponed yet again, as the Supreme Court of Mauritania — expected to deliver a ruling Tuesday — sent the case back to an appeals court. Thousands of people crowded into the capital city of Nouakchott…
Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh finally left Banjul with his wife on Saturday, flying aboard the plane of President Alpha Conde of Guinea. Jammeh had announced on state television that he would step down, saying that he believes it is “not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed”…
The Supreme Court of Mauritania is expected to convene Tuesday to render a final verdict in the death penalty case of blogger Mohammed Shaikh Ould, also known as Mohammed Ould Mkhaitir. The case has drawn international attention to the Islamic Republic, where Mkhaitir was arrested in 2014 on blasphemy charges…
As the date for Mauritania to review the death penalty case of blogger Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed draws near, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and other free-press advocates have again appealed to the nation’s leaders to reconsider his case. In a letter Friday to President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz,…