Africa News

Libya’s internationally recognised government on Monday appealed for weapons to combat militias which have seized parts of the oil-rich nation, at an emergency meeting of the Arab League. “We call on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and to arm, without further delay, the Libyan army,” …

The Arab League held an emergency meeting in Cairo on Monday to discuss recent developments in Libya, according to an Arab League statement. The meeting came following an urgent request made by Ashour Bourashed, Libya’s permanent delegate to the League. The meeting was attended by Secretary General Nabil El-Araby and …

The Arab League will hold Monday an urgent meeting on the security situation in Libya, said the Arab League’s Deputy Secretary General Ahmed Ben Helli. The meeting, which will bring together the permanent representatives, will be devoted to the examination of the serious developments in the situation in Libya and …

The United Nations postponed peace talks between Libya’s warring factions which had been scheduled for Monday without announcing a new date. The talks had originally been slated for 9 December but have been repeatedly delayed as fighting has intensified between the beleaguered internationally recognised government and Islamist-backed militias.

A Libyan army spokesperson says armed militants have shot and killed 17 soldiers and one civilian at a checkpoint. Mohammed Hegazi said that the attack occurred early on Friday in the central district of Jufra. He blamed the attacks on “terrorists roaming the desert areas freely”.

French President Francois Hollande said today that France would not intervene unilaterally in Libya and urged the international community to take action to stem the deepening crisis in the country. “We are acting to contain terrorism in the south, but France will not intervene in Libya because it’s for the international community to …

A “crisis cell” to “secure the lives of Egyptians kidnapped in Libya” and work on their release was formed Monday, upon the orders of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Over the past week, 20 Egyptians, all of them Christian, were kidnapped in two separate incidents. The crisis cell convened and discussed …

The Algerian-Egyptian relations witness “substantial” and “very positive progress,” said Wednesday in Algiers, Egypt’s Ambassador Omar Ali Mohammad Ibrahim Abu Eich. In a statement to the press following the meeting he had with the President of the Republic, to whom he presented his credentials as an Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary …

The Tunisian army plans to deploy 36,000 troops to secure a presidential runoff vote slated for Sunday, a Defense Ministry spokesman has said. “Around 28,000 soldiers will be used to secure polling stations, while 8,000 others will be deployed in rapid reaction units,” Belhasan al-Waslati said.

Algerian Minister of Interior and Local Governments Tayeb Belaiz met his French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve here on Thursday to discuss security cooperation. The discussions covered “all issues relating to security and training as well as the movement of people,” Algeria Press Service (APS) quoted Belaiz as saying after the meeting. …