Ivory Coast govt announces deal to end standoff with rebel troops
Ivory Coast announced a deal Friday night to end a standoff with soldiers who staged a mutiny last week, though the terms were not confirmed and it was unclear whether security would be fully restored. The deal was reached after tense negotiations in Bouake, the country's second-largest city, between soldiers and a delegation led by the defense minister, said government spokesman Bruno Kone. In the hours before the deal was announced, hundreds of soldiers converged on the hou
Riots erupt in Tunisia on anniversary of revolution
Hundreds of protesters demanding jobs clashed with police in several Tunisian towns on Saturday, blocking the route of visiting President Beji Caid Essebsi in one region, on the sixth anniversary of the country’s revolution. Local residents said protests that erupted in the southern town of Ben Guerdane had spread over the weekend to several other areas such as Sidi Bouzid, Meknassi and Gafsa, where Essebsi visited to mark the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El Abidin
Alleged mastermind of Ivorian resort attack arrested, says RFI
The alleged mastermind of a deadly March 2016 attack on an Ivory Coast resort has been arrested in neighbouring Mali in a joint operation coordinated by French special forces, according to Ivorian sources. Mimi Ould Baba Ould El Mokhtar -- also known as Mimi Ould Baba Ould Cheikh – was arrested near the town of Gossi in northern Mali earlier this month, Ivorian security sources told FRANCE 24’s sister radio station, RFI, on Thursday. The raid was coordinated by Operation Bark
Burundi risks suspension from Great Lakes Peace and Security Committee
Burundi has been warned by The Great Lakes Committee on Peace and Security that it risks suspension from the organisation over its refusal to implement some of the resolutions passed in 2016 during the 7th Plenary Assembly of the Forums of Parliaments of member countries.
Uganda’s KFM Radio Station reported on Thursday that according to the Lakes Committee President, Arinaitwe Rwakajara, member countries had agreed that President Pierre Nkurunziza had to embrace dialogue wi
Kenya to monitor social media during elections
Kenya will not shut down the Internet during the election period unless the situation gets out of hand, government officials said Thursday. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) chairman, Mr Ben Gituku said that the government would only take action if it deemed it as a necessary step to secure the country. “We hope we will not get there, unless it gets out of hand. We do not see Internet shutdown happening,” Mr Gituku said during a press conference in Nairobi to issue g
Gambia: Jammeh files injunction against inauguration
The party of Gambia’s outgoing president, Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, has filed an injunction to stop the inauguration of the incoming President elect Adama Barrow, country’s chief justice Emmanuel Fagbele has confirmed to Anadolu Agency late Thursday. Gambia was plunged into a crisis on Dec. 9 when Yahya Jammeh, who has held power in the small west African state since 1994, rejected the election results a week after conceding defeat to Barrow, a li
