Politics

EU begs Algeria to reverse decision to suspend ‘friendship treaty’ with Spain

Published

2 years ago

June 10, 2022

The European Union (EU), on Thursday, pleaded with the Algerian government to consider reversing its decision to suspend a two-decade-old “friendship treaty” with Spain.

Algeria had, on Wednesday, ordered the suspension of the treaty after the Spanish government changed its long-standing policy regarding the contested territory of Western Sahara which Morocco is laying an autonomy claim to.

Algeria had also recalled its ambassador to Spain in March after Madrid came out to openly support Morocco’s claims to keep Western Sahara under its rule while Algeria supports the territory’s independence movement from Morocco.

While making the appeal on Thursday, European Commission spokeswoman, Nabila Massrali, said the North African country’s decision is “deeply worrying, and we therefore call on the Algerian authorities to review their decision.”

“Algeria is an important European Union partner in the Mediterranean region, and a key actor for regional stability. We are evaluating the impact of the decision, and solutions must be found through dialogue and diplomatic means.

“We hope that Algeria will reverse its decision and work with Spain to overcome the current disagreement,” Massrali said.

Spain was the former colonial power in Western Sahara until it was annexed by Morocco in 1975 and since then, the two African neighbors have been at odds over the fate of the colony, and at one point, fought what was termed as a desert war.

Spain, Morocco and Algeria have been caught in a three-way diplomatic tug-of-war over Western Sahara for the past year and the current trouble started when Spain allowed the leader of Western Sahara’s separatist movement to enter Spain to receive treatment for COVID-19 in May 2020.

Morocco responded by dropping its border controls around Spain’s North Africa enclave of Ceuta, which was quickly overwhelmed by thousands of migrants.

Relations only normalized between Madrid and Rabat after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took the decision to back Morocco’s plan to keep Western Sahara under its control as an autonomous area.

But as it turned out, that decision pushed Algiers away and brought Sánchez’s government intense criticism at home while Spain struggles with high energy prices driven by global inflation.

Algeria’s now openly hostile turn against a member of the European Union comes while Spain and the rest of the 27-nation bloc are hustling to find alternatives to Russian energy imports to protest Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Algeria a major source of energy for most European countries.

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Politics

Mali: 7 Russian mercenaries killed

Published

5 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

An al Qaeda offshoot in North Africa has claimed responsibility for the attack in central Mali, killing at least seven mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private military contractor company.

Wagner earlier lost a battle in July with mostly Tuareg rebels and Islamists close to Mali’s Algerian border, exposing the perils faced by mercenaries used by military juntas in the Sahel area of West Africa.

The separatists and strong branches of Al Qaeda and Islamic State, which have taken over large areas of the Sahel over the past 12 years, are difficult for Mali and its neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger to control.

The al Qaeda offshoot JNIM claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack, according to a statement from SITE Intelligence Group, which keeps an eye on extremist activity in the area. According to SITE, JNIM captured several weapons and killed seven Russian Wagner mercenaries.

Following an attack, the bodies of at least five white males wearing army fatigues were seen laying near a military truck in a video obtained by Reuters. The validity of the footage could not be confirmed by Reuters.

SITE Intelligence posted images allegedly from JNIM that showed many crates of weapons and ammo together with the dead and bloodied bodies of troops.

Although two local officials acknowledged the incident, a Malian army source claimed to have seen seven dead bodies, including Russian fighters. Five Wagner warriors were slain, according to one of them.

At least six Russians have been murdered in the attack, which was carried out by Katiba Macina, a division of JNIM, according to a consultant working on security in the area.

The expert referred to the Russians as Africa Corps warriors, a paramilitary group under Kremlin leadership that has taken Wagner’s position in Africa throughout the previous 12 months.

Mali has previously said that Russian servicemen trainers are assisting local troops with Russian-purchased weaponry rather than mercenaries.

Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

2 days ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.