Africa

Nigeria and France on Thursday signed an agreement on closer military co-operation, including intelligence sharing, to strengthen the fight against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region. Nigerian Defence Minister Mansur Dan Ali said the agreement was evidence of a “growing partnership” between Abuja and Paris, as he met his …

South Sudan President Salva Kiir has named his transitional unity government, sharing power with ex-rebels in a key step in a long-delayed peace process, a decree read out on Friday said. Under terms of an August 2015 peace deal, the 30 ministerial posts are split between Kiir, former rebel chief …

The UN Security Council is calling for the urgent return of the UN peacekeeping mission in the disputed Western Sahara to its full operation in a rebuke to Morocco, which expelled most of its civilian staff to protest a comment by the UN secretary general.

Algerian troops on Friday killed three armed Islamist fighters in the Skidda region west of the capital during an operation in the area, the defence ministry said. A statement said the suspects were killed in the afternoon during a search which is still under way, and described the gunmen as …

Four years after Muammar Gaddafi was killed in an uprising, the dictator’s legacy continues to haunt oil-rich Libya as it struggles to find its national identity. “Gaddafi chose to build the idea of a state around his personality,” said Michael Nayebi-Oskoui, senior Middle East analyst at the US-based global intelligence …

ZAMBIA has sent 530 peacekeepers to the Central African Republic (CAR) on a United Nations (UN) stabilisation mission. Defence Minister, Richwell Siamunene said Zambia had once again continued providing troops to the UN towards the attainment of peace and security in war torn countries. Mr Siamunene said at the send …

South Sudan peace deal monitors have called on South Sudanese parties to urgently demonstrate flexibility and spirit of compromise to implement the August 2015 peace deal by forming the unity government. The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Chairman Festus Mogae warned in a statement received in Juba on Wednesday …

The United Nations Security Council will receive the Special Envoy of the African Union Commission’s Chairperson for Western Sahara, Joakim Alberto Chissano, to discuss the recent developments in the occupied Sahrawi territories. The meeting, which will be held at the request of the AU Peace and Security Council, will be …

An Egyptian court postponed on Saturday its verdict and sentence in the trial of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who is charged with spying for Qatar. The head judge of the criminal court said the verdict was postponed to “May 7 to continue consultations,” in brief remarks aired on television.

South Sudan’s top rebel military commander Simon Gatwech Dual returned to Juba on Monday in a key step forward in a floundering peace process, calling for an end to war. “We are one South Sudan,” rebel chief of staff Dual shouted, waving a walking stick in the air as he …