Morocco: Islamists lose ground King Muhammad VI announced on 10 October the formation of a new government (new ministers listed at link) in which according to Reuters the Islamists have lost ground.
Security in the Sahara Since the French intervention Operation Serval in Mali in January and the In Amenas raid in the Algerian Sahara in which 39 foreign hostages were killed also in January there have been no security incidents in the Sahara which have caught the world’s headlines.
Algeria: the outlook Note: in our posting yesterday 17 July we referred to a report in Ha’aretz that the European Union has issued a directive banning financial support to the occupied territories; this report has now been confirmed though details have not yet been published – see for example Reuters at http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/16/us-israel-settlements-eu-idUKBRE96F0OM20130716 .
Morocco Istiqlal (independence), the second largest party in the governing coalition led by the moderate Islamist PJD, has announced its withdrawal. It did so previously in May but was apparently persuaded by the King to remain in the government.
Algeria: changing the pilot Reuters reports today 8 July that the Algerian President Abd al-Aziz Bouteflika, who was rushed to hospital in France after a stroke in April, is expected to return to Algeria “in the coming hours”. Bouteflika is 76 and first held high office as Foreign Minister in 1963.
