SINGAPORE, June 02, 2013 (AFP) France is willing help Libya secure its borders from militant Islamist groups fleeing Mali, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday. Security officials say the vast deserts of southern Libya are becoming the latest safe havens for al-Qaida linked fighters who fled neighboring Mali after France sent troops there in January to prevent a Islamist coup. "France is a ...

AGADEZ, Niger, May 27, 2013 (AFP) Niger's president said Monday that attackers who bombed an army base and French-run uranium mine, leaving 38 people dead, entered his country from southern Libya, where he warned further attacks were being planned on Chad. "For Niger in particular, the main threat has moved from the Malian border to the Libyan border. I confirm in effect that the enemy who attacked us... co ...

 TUNIS, May 15, 2013 (AFP) The Tunisian government has decided to ban the congress of hardline Salafist group Ansar al-Sharia due to take place at the end of this week, the ruling Islamist party's leader said on Wednesday. "The government has decided to prohibit this congress whose organisers have not obtained prior permission from the authorities as required by law," Ennahda party chief Rached Ghannouchi t ...

TUNIS, May 11, 2013 (AFP) Tunisian Foreign Minister Othmane Jarandi told AFP on Saturday that some 800 Tunisians are fighting in Islamist rebel ranks in Syria and said the country would work to repatriate its citizens taken prisoner there. "We don't have exact numbers, since several people left the country illegally, but the most accurate estimate is a maximum of 800," fighting in Syria, he said. Tunis has ...

 ALGIERS, May 05, 2013 (AFP) Two Islamists accused of killing 500 people during Algeria's civil war, including the rape and murder of 60 women, were sentenced to death on Sunday, an AFP correspondent said. The judge sentenced Djilali Kouri, 32, and Antar Ali, 35, to death for "founding and running a terrorist group that killed and spread terror among the population and that murdered hundreds of civilians an ...

CAIRO, April 19, 2013 (AFP) Several thousand Egyptian Islamists rallied for an overhaul of the judiciary on Friday, after a court challenged a decision by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to sack the veteran state prosecutor. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement had called the demonstration outsidethe Supreme Court in central Cairo to demand reform of the judiciary, which has repeatedly challenged Morsi sinc ...

 CAIRO, March 25, 2013 (AFP) A warning from President Mohamed Morsi that political figures could be sanctioned if found to have stirred up unrest in Egypt drew the ire of the opposition and newspapers on Monday. "If investigations prove that certain political figures are implicated, the necessary measures will be taken against them, whatever their status," Morsi said on his Twitter account on Sunday, also c ...

by Haitham El-Tabei CAIRO, March 22, 2013 (AFP) Opposition protesters clashed with Islamists near the headquarters of Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the capital on Friday, injuring more than 120 people, state news agency MENA reported. The violence erupted after activists marched to the building guarded by police and Brotherhood members. More than 120 people were hurt as the two sides pelted each othe ...

By Benjamin Villanti Morocco World News New York, February 25, 2013 A strong international consensus has taken shape, a month removed from France’s military intervention, to turn over Mali to a UN peacekeeping operation. Yet, what doesn’t seem so clear is where the Islamist extremist fighters, who managed to take over the northern half of the country, have gone and if they’ve been really defeated. Could a U ...

CAIRO, Feb 11, 2013 (AFP) Egypt's state prosecutor on Monday ordered an Islamic cleric to be brought in for questioning on suspicion that he called for the murder of opposition leaders, a judicial source said. The cleric, Mahmud Shaaban, sparked a backlash from opposition leaders and the Islamist government itself after he said the opposition activists deserved to be executed in line with Islamic law. His c ...

CAIRO, Feb 11, 2013 (AFP) Shawqi Ibrahim Abdel Karim was elected on Monday to take over as Egypt's next mufti, the government's top interpreter of  Islamic law, the highest Sunni Muslim institute in Islam announced. President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood is to formally ratify the vote by senior Muslim clerics to replace outgoing Mufti Ali Gomaa. "One candidate has been nominated, Dr Shawqi Abdel ...

TUNIS, Feb 11, 2013 (AFP) Islamists who rose to power following the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled veteran leaders in Tunisia and Egypt are facing an uncertain future because they lack the political savvy to rule, analysts say. The murder last week of leftist Tunisian politician and outspoken government critic Chokri Belaid sparked unrest across the country, where despite the optimism of the revolutions ...