Stories from and

Question Time: How Many Jihadists Have Military Backgrounds?

  25 April 2015

Taking the cue from a Der Spiegel report on the mastermind behind the structure of ISIS, Palestinian blogger Iyad El-Baghdadi tweets: After that Spiegel story about the "mastermind" behind ISIS's takeover of Syria – noticed just how many Jihadists have military backgrounds? — Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) April 21, 2015 Der...

Libya Vs Iraq: Who Wins in the Explosives Finale?

  24 March 2014

This bumper sticker (more of a windshield sticker) from Libya says it all. Egyptian Bassem Sabry explains: Humour as coping mechanism RT @ILPADRINO0 "Two more explosions & Libya will qualify for semi-final with Iraq" pic.twitter.com/uCzkihMi4u” — Bassem Sabry باسم (@Bassem_Sabry) March 24, 2014

Five Arab Countries Among Top 10 Corrupt Worldwide

  3 December 2013

Five Arab countries have been named among the top 10 most corrupt countries, according to Transparency International's newly released annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Egyptian Amro Ali reacts: Congrats Syria, Iraq, Libya, Somalia & Sudan – 5 Arab states top most corrupt list http://t.co/7rsD6xErlA Egypt needed a break from rankings —...

British Security Firm Profits from Mali War

  11 March 2013

Ramzy Baroud writes [fr] about the conflict in Mali on Pambazuka: British security firm G4S will rake in enormous profits due to the crisis taking place in Mali, Libya and Algeria. Recognized as the biggest security firm in the world, the group was downgraded at the time of the Olympic Games in London last...

MENA: Acclaimed Authors’ Favorites of 2012

  29 December 2012

M. Lynx Qualey, blogger, who is interested in Arab and Arabic literature, wrote a series of posts introducing acclaimed Arab poets, novelists, and short-story writers’ favorite Arab reads of 2012. She started with a list of nonfiction books, then followed by a list for poetry [En] and fiction [En].

Libya: Bani Walid under violent siege

  19 October 2012

Almost one year after Muammar Gaddafi's death, his former stronghold and heart of the Warfalla tribe, the town of Bani Walid, seems about to fall under the attacks of the Lybian army. Some sources [it] define its two week bloody siege as a ‘small genocide’. The operation is lead by...

Libya: Blackberry Services Back

  9 October 2012

Journalist Jenan Moussa tweets from Libya: @jenanmoussa: Wut a great surprise! Blackberry services have been resumed in #Libya. I am tweeting for first time since rvltn from my phone.

Libya: A Project to Support Blogging

  11 September 2012

Libyablog is a website that shares what Libyan bloggers write. The group blog is run by a team, from France24, along with l’Atelier des Médias. Some Libyan bloggers are also involved in editing. The first phase of the co-operation extends for six month, from July 2012 to January 2013. During...

Mauritania: A Diplomat's Take on the Azawad

  5 September 2012

Mauritanian writer and diplomat Mohamed Mahmoud Weddady writes a series of posts in his blog entitled: “Papers about Azawad” [ar], about history and people of Azawad region. This post, for instance, focuses on the relationship between the Azawad and Libya.

Chinese Weapons Flooding Africa

  30 August 2012

Deborah Brautigam from China in Africa provided more background information about the importation of Chinese Weapons in African countries and explained the incentive of arms sale is from private sector: As we saw in the notorious Libya case, it appears that Chinese companies with their own balance sheets are “going...

Libya: Libyan Memes

  21 March 2012

What are Libyans laughing about on social networking sites? Check out this Facebook page to keep abreast with Libyan memes.

MENA: Amnesty International's Forecast for 2012

  19 January 2012

“Repression and state violence is likely to continue to plague the Middle East and North Africa in 2012,” forecasts Amnesty International in an 80-page report. It documents the extreme violence deployed by MENA regimes when resisting the unprecedented calls for fundamental reform heard in the region in 2011, as well as...

New Qatar Envoy Appointed in Libya

  4 January 2012

Qatar has appointed a new envoy to Libya. Sultan Al Qassemi, a commentator from the UAE, sheds more light on Qatari-Libyan relations since the beginning of the Libyan uprising in February under the subtitles: The Marriage, The Honeymoon and The Divorce.

Catalonia: From Arab Spring To Islamic Autumn

  4 November 2011

Pepe Nieto from SODEPAU, a Catalan international aid organization, published a post entitled: “From the Arab Spring to the Islamic Autumn” [cat]. Nieco forecasts that political Islam will be the great benefactor of the recent events unfolding in the Arab world, after the elections in Tunisia and the statements from the...

Libya: A Convenient Execution

  24 October 2011

Alain Gresh outlines in his post on Libya, “An Ambiguous Liberation” [fr], that Gaddafi's execution “puts an end to the possibility of a trial that would have shone light on the support given to Gaddafi by different countries, including France and Great Britain, since 2003.”