Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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In this Sunday, August 11, 2013, file photo, Malian president-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta casts his vote at a polling station in Bamako, Mali. (AP Photo/Thomas Martinez, File)

Amid cautious optimism, Mali picks Keïta for president

by Al-Sheikh Mohamed | Aug 16, 2013 | Features, Profiles

Nouakchott, Mauritania, Asharq Al-Awsat—For the last 18 months, Mali has witnessed the most dangerous crisis since its independence in 1960. The crisis had many dimensions. It started as a security issue when a Tuareg rebellion erupted in the north of the country, and...

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Iyad Ag Ghali, leader of the armed Islamist group Ansar Dine, August 7, 2012 in Kidal (AFP)

Iyad Ag Ghali: Mali’s Desert Fox

by Al-Sheikh Mohamed | Feb 15, 2013 | Profiles

Nouakchott, Asharq Al-Awsat—In early January at the Battle of Konna in northern Mali, Iyad Ag Ghali, the leader of Ansar Dine, laid waste to scores of Malian soldiers trained by French and European military officials. In a matter of days, French Special Forces had...

AQIM Occupy Gaddafi Palace in Timbuktu

by Al-Sheikh Mohamed | Jan 26, 2013 | Features

Noukchott, Asharq Al-Awsat-Last week, residents of the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali awoke to the sound of a huge explosion, followed by a massive fire, in the building known as the “Gaddafi Palace”, which in recent times has served as an operations command center...

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A general view of damage caused by a siege by Islamist militants earlier this month at the Tiguentourine Gas Plant in In Amenas. (REUTERS/Louafi Larbi)

Westerners Among Algerian Plant Attack Terrorists

by Al-Sheikh Mohamed | Jan 21, 2013 | Middle East

Nouakchott/ Algiers, Asharq Al-Awsat – A Canadian citizen was the coordinator of the terrorist attack on a gas plant in In Amenas (southeast of Algiers), Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal revealed on Monday. “A Canadian was among the militants. He was...