Africa

The United Nations has appointed a new deputy head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) to succeed Jordan Ali H. Al-Za’tari. Maria do Valle Ribeiro is to take over from Al-Za’tari. Ribeiro has around 30 years’ experience in the UN and working in international NGOs and has served …

Malta is hosting a Libyan political dialogue meeting which is being held under the auspices of the United Nations, together with the head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Martin Kobler. Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella, who addressed the meeting this morning, was quoted in a ministry press …

The Algerian government has decided to employ more sophisticated means to monitor its borders with Morocco by creating a system of technical surveillance and electronic borders, an official from the Ministry of Justice announced yesterday, Algeria’s state-run APS reported. “Both mobile and fixed means will be in place for securing …

A community leader says Nigerian security forces are trying to disarm explosives planted on a state-owned oil pipeline that has been attacked by militants twice recently. Dickson Ogugu, chairman of the Batan community, said the militants fled the pipeline after a shootout with armed guards. The militants then dynamited a …

The first of around 1 000 Kenyan soldiers returned from South Sudan on Wednesday as the government followed through on a threat to withdraw from the UN peacekeeping mission. The first batch of 100 troops landed in Nairobi a week after Kenya said it would pull out in protest at …

The International Criminal Court is committed to making Libya a priority next year and expanding investigations, potentially including alleged serious crimes by the extremist Islamic State group and its affiliates, the prosecutor said on Wednesday. Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council that her commitment is the result of a …

Over 30 UN peacekeepers were hurt in a blast which hit the eastern Congolese city of Goma, Tuesday morning. The 32 peacekeepers from India were part of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). According to a senior eastern DRC police officer, Robert Leku, …

Libyan forces in the final stages of a six-month campaign to recapture Sirte from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) said they freed 14 civilians on Nov. 6 from a small residential area where some militants are holding out. The forces, composed of fighters mainly from Misrata, …

Egypt’s foreign affairs minister Sameh Shoukry headed on Monday to Addis Ababa to attend an African Union (AU) meeting on behalf of the president on the current situation in Libya, a ministry statement read. The meeting will include officials from Libya, Congo, Uganda, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Algeria, Niger and Tunisia, …

The US has expressed readiness to resume its air attacks on IS in Libya if requested by the UN-brokered Government of National Accord. “We can resume airstrikes on IS in Libya upon the government’s call, although the militants are now in poor control of Libyan territories” The Pentagon said on …