Whether Rabat cooperates with the United Nations' planned referendum on Western Sahara next July will be a key test of King Mohammed VI's political muscle. His father,...

It was a spectacular relaunch for Algeria's foreign policy. Over 2,000 African diplomats and 44 heads of state and government arrived in a freshly painted Algiers for the...

Brother Leader Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi's return to the African diplomatic circuit was a high point of the July Organisation of African Unity summit in Algiers. His entourage...

After some tense weeks following the controversial elections, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is promising a peace deal facilitated by an improbable alliance between radical Islamists and senior security officers....

As it struggles to keep its role as Middle East peace broker, Cairo is also juggling its emerging ambition to become the region's largest and most advanced free-market...

Although the establishment candidate Abdelaziz Bouteflika won, the manner of his victory in the 15 April presidential election - with the authorities failing to bludgeon any of his...

Like Nigerians last month and Indonesians in June, Algerians will get their chance on 15 April to vote for a civilian president after decades of despotic and corrupt...

Algerian troops raided into north-west Niger in late November, with approval and support from the government in Niamey, Africa Confidential has learned.

Many of the country's elite were among those sentenced on 23 December after Tunisia’s largest ever drugs trial. This was held amid deep secrecy and intense security and...

Overseas non-governmental organisations have been complaining that the government is trying to undermine them. Amnesty International and Médecins sans Frontières both say that local front-organisations are blurring their...