Africa News

Counter-piracy operations in the Horn of Africa equate to policing the whole of Europe with just 25 police cars, according to the commander of the military alliance tasked with the job.

PARIS (Reuters)- After months of reassuring secularist critics, Islamist politicians in Tunisia and Egypt have begun to lay down markers about how Muslim their states should be -- and first signs show they want more religion than previously admitted. Islamist parties swept the first free elections in both countries in recent …

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously agreed to significantly increase the number of African Union (AU) troops in Somalia.

Explosions and gunfire rocked a suburb in northern Nigeria's largest city of Kano early Wednesday where Islamists staged deadly attacks in January, an AFP reporter and residents said.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Three people were killed and 25 injured Tuesday in clashes between rival tribes in the far southeast of Libya, a tribal source said, highlighting the challenge of policing the country's sparsely populated desert. Clashes broke out about 10 days ago in the city of Al Kufra and have continued since. Dozens …

PALOUGE OIL FIELD, South Sudan (Reuters) - South Sudan has expelled the head of Chinese-Malaysian oil consortium Petrodar, the main oil firm operating in the new African nation, top southern officials said on Tuesday, escalating a row between Juba and Chinese oil firms. South Sudan has attacked Chinese oil firms and launched …

Fierce clashes between two tribes in Libya's remote southeastern desert have killed more than 100 people over the past 10 days, tribal sources said on Tuesday.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader, declared himself as "fit as a fiddle" and pushed for new elections later this year as he celebrated his 88th birthday on Tuesday.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe turned 88 on Tuesday, joking about reports circulating for years of his imminent demise and vowing to stay in power despite international condemnation of his economic and human rights record. Mugabe said he was in tip-top shape in an interview with state radio, and made …

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan soccer fans of all ages came out to cheer the first international matches played in the North African country since the conflict that ousted Muammar Gaddafi amid hope Monday's games would be the start of many more to come. CSKA Sofia, the 31-times Bulgarian champions, were the first foreign …

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region said they released 49 international peacekeepers on Monday, hours after detaining them, but kept hold of three civilian staff they accused of working for the country's security service. The joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force has been repeatedly caught …

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Muslim Brotherhood on Monday voiced its strongest criticism yet of Egypt's army-appointed government, saying it was failing to deal with crises in security and the economy, and reiterating a call for a new national unity cabinet. The Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political wing and the …

CAIRO (Reuters) - A lawyer acting for the families of those killed in Egypt's uprising against Hosni Mubarak on Monday told the court trying him that there had been a "conspiracy of silence" by those seeking to shield the former president. The prosecution and lawyers for the plaintiffs were speaking ahead the final hearing …

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese security agents confiscated an entire edition of the independent al-Tayar newspaper Monday, its editor said, in the latest crackdown on media in the African country. Sudan's constitution guarantees press freedom but journalists have complained of increasing pressure, particularly since the …

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A major rebel group in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region said on Monday it had captured 52 international peacekeepers, most of them from Senegal, and accused them of cooperating with the country's security service. The joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force has been repeatedly caught in …

MOGADISHU/NAIROBI (Reuters) - Life got easier for trader Siad Hussein when Somali Islamist militants pulled out the capital. He no longer pays a Jihad tax nor does he have to watch mortars kill his customers. Small mercies, Hussein said in Mogadishu's frenetic Bakara market, under government control since al Shabaab withdrew …

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt recalled its ambassador to Damascus on Sunday, state media reported, the latest move by an Arab state to isolate President Bashar al-Assad and pressure him to halt a violent crackdown on protesters. The Foreign Ministry also said the Syrian government had decided to recall its ambassador to Cairo. …

CAIRO (Reuters) - The judicial committee supervising Egypt's first presidential election since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year said on Sunday it had yet to finalise a date for the vote, although an election official said it would be in the first week of June. The committee had been expected to announce a date on …

SANAA (Reuters) - After a year of protests, diplomatic wrangling and an assassination attempt, Yemenis will draw a line under Ali Abdullah Saleh's three-decade rule on Tuesday by voting in an uncontested election to install his deputy as president. In the capital Sanaa, new posters of the sole candidate, Vice President …

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's first presidential election since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year will be held in the first week of June, an official at the judicial committee supervising the vote said. Army leaders who took over from Mubarak in February last year have faced street protests and widespread demands …

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algerian security forces have found a large cache of weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, which they believe were smuggled in from neighbouring Libya, a security source briefed on the discovery told Reuters on Saturday. The find follows warnings from governments in the region that instability …

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's government will give each family more than $1,500 and pay unemployed former rebels who fought in the war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi last year, the prime minister said, in an attempt to win over those who want faster progress. In a televised address a day after Libya marked the first anniversary …

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya has sent military forces to stem clashes between rival tribes over control of territory in the far southeast of Libya, the armed forces chief said Saturday, as more people were reported killed in the violence. Clashes broke out late last week in the remote city of Al Kufra and have continued since, …

DAKAR (Reuters) - Senegalese police fired tear gas and chased protesters from the centre of the West African nation's capital Saturday in a fourth day of protest against the candidacy of incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade in the February 26 presidential poll. As about 23,000 security personnel including the police and army …

TOKYO (Reuters) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Saturday a nuclear-armed Iran would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and nations should impose "crippling" sanctions on Tehran to force it to give up its atomic program. "A nuclear Iran is a threat to the whole world, not just to Israel ... Other major powers …

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court will start the trial on February 26 of activists from mostly American civil society groups accused of working illegally in Egypt, in a case which has strained U.S.-Egyptian ties. A judicial source told Reuters that the 43 accused, including around 20 Americans, would go on trial next …

TUNIS (Reuters) - Arab countries will encourage the Syrian opposition to unite before they formally recognise them as a government-in-waiting, the foreign minister of Tunisia, which is hosting a meeting on Syria next week, said on Friday. A year into the revolt against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National …

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Flags flew on Martyrs Square in Tripoli and crowds across Libya gave voice on Friday to joy at being free of Muammar Gaddafi, as the anniversary of their revolt offered brief respite from fears that it has brought them only chaotic paralysis. In Benghazi, cradle of last year's "February 17 Revolution," …