by SHAMUS COOKE The Fate of the Middle East in the Balance The tempo of events in Syria has accelerated in recent weeks. The government forces have scored significant battlefield victories over the rebels, and this has provoked a mixture of war… Read More ›
Libya
Pro-government protest attacked in Libya
Pro-democracy advocates come under attack in the latest sign of turmoil that threatens the first elected government. Hundreds of Libyan pro-democracy advocates have come under attack by supporters of a law to exclude Gaddafi-era officials from top government jobs, in… Read More ›
Editorial: Why North Korea Needs Nuclear Weapons
By Stephen Gowans Is North Korea’s recent nuclear test, its third, to be welcomed, lamented or condemned? It depends on your perspective. If you believe that a people should be able to organize their affairs free from foreign domination and… Read More ›
Libyan Women Face Islamist Rise Since Gaddafi Fall
By MAGGIE MICHAEL On her way back from her job as a lecturer at a university near Tripoli, Libyan poet Aicha Almagrabi was stopped by a group of bearded militiamen. They kicked her car, beat up her driver and threatened… Read More ›
‘New race for colonies begins in Africa’
Earlier this week, France sent its special forces to Cameroon in search of seven French tourists who were kidnapped in the north of the country on Tuesday. Paris accused the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram of being behind the abduction…. Read More ›
Former Drone Operator turned Whistleblower: “I saw men, women and children die”
by Ezra Van Auken American drones have been a problem around the world since their inception in the early 2000s; in the past year or so, the advocacy against drones has increased immensely. This could be partly due to the… Read More ›
Mali forces accused of myriad abuses in Western-backed fight
Malian soldiers patrol in a street of Diabaly on January 23, 2013 (AFP Photo / Eric Feferberg) Mali’s army has been carrying out summary executions in its war with Islamist rebels, an international human rights group claims. Meanwhile Russia’s FM… Read More ›
Al Qaeda’s enemy in Mali, friend in Syria, and air force in Libya
By Stephen Gowans New York Times reporters Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt, writing on January 16 about the “hazy threat from Mali militants,” note that, “The group most worrisome to American officials is Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which… Read More ›
Time to Invade, the U.S. Military Seeking Deployment in as many as 35 African Countries in 2013
by Ezra Van Auken With United States officials itching to occupy another region of the world, they’ve set their sights on Africa. Since the installment of AFRICOM or the United States African Command in 2007 there has been an increased… Read More ›
Secretary Clinton won’t testify before Senate on Benghazi attack
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not have to testify before a Senate hearing concerning the deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi after she fainted and sustained a concussion last week. Clinton, 65, is currently recovering at… Read More ›
Tunisia’s ‘unfinished revolution’ — interview with Workers’ Party militant
By Peter Boyle November 16, 2012 — Green Left Weekly — Abdel Jabbar Madouri (pictured above) has been a militant in Tunisia since his early secondary school days. He was jailed three times (in 1987,1993 and 2002) because of his political activism. After every arrest,… Read More ›
How US Ambassador Chris Stevens May Have Been Linked To Jihadist Rebels In Syria
by Michael Kelley The official position is that the US has refused to allow heavy weapons into Syria. But there’s growing evidence that U.S. agents—particularly murdered ambassador Chris Stevens—were at least aware of heavy weapons moving from Libya to jihadist Syrian rebels…. Read More ›
‘War crime’: Gaddafi, his son and over 60 loyalists executed by rebel fighters – HRW
Libyan rebels abused and mass murdered Colonel Gaddafi, his son Mutassim, and 66 loyalists, after their capture a year ago, Human Rights Watch says. It calls for an investigation and prosecution of those responsible for what they slam as a… Read More ›
Libyan forces take control of Bani Walid after fighting pro-Gaddafi fighters
LIBYAN pro-government forces seized control of Bani Walid, one of the last bastions of Muammar Gaddafi’s ousted regime, an AFP correspondent in the town said. Hundreds of fighters, mostly former rebels from the rival town of Misrata, converged on the… Read More ›
Eleven killed as Libyan militia shell Gaddafi stronghold
Clashes between Libyan authorities and Gaddafi loyalists have left 11 dead during the siege of anti-regime bastion Bani Walid. Libyan authorities continue to struggle against multiple militia groups in the midst of growing political disarray. Libya’s President of the General… Read More ›