Full Coverage: North Africa

29.03.2006 Campaigners claim that a leaked legal opinion from the European Parliament reinforces the need to amend a fisheries agreement with Morocoo to prevent the EU from violating international law.

28.03.2006 A UN Security Council resolution on Darfur - where conditions continue to deteriorate - is a small step forward but is insufficient, a leading US African affairs group warned yesterday.

28.03.2006 WASHINGTON, D.C., Mar 27 (OneWorld) - Arab leaders must press Sudan's government to let the United Nations take charge of peacekeeping in Darfur, the oil-rich country's war-wrecked western region, Arab and Western human rights advocates said in advance of regional talks starting Tuesday.

27.03.2006 Getting to an MSF health post in southern Sudan can be a challenge for the sick - there are few roads, many swamps and the constant threat from people in the villages en route.

22.03.2006 The UN's top UN envoy to Sudan has called for a swift peace agreement to end the killings, rapes and other rights abuses in Darfur and a peacekeeping force large enough to cover the region and strong enough to deter any attack.
* Darfur funding crisis threatens children
* Health needs already start to dwarf the new peace accord

21.03.2006 Ex-marine Brian Stiedle spent parts of three years in Sudan as ceasefire monitor and peacekeeper--he explains the causes of the conflict, what can be done, and what is being done.

20.03.2006 Some 4,2 million Moroccans, which constitute 14.2% of the population, were poor in 2004, said the report on “Poverty, Human Development and Social Development in Morocco”, submitted this week by the High Commissioner for Planning, Ahmed Lahlimi.

17.03.2006 Repatriation of some of the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese who have fled the 20-year civil war was suspended after two gunmen attacked a UN refugee agency compound, killing a local guard and critically wounding an international staff member and another guard.
* Darfur crisis and proxy Sudan and Chad war will destabilise a swathe of Africa
* Darfur funding crisis threatens children's health and protection
* Christian Aid condemns closure of humanitarian office in west Darfur

17.03.2006 The Sudan Social Development Organisation has been forced to close its office in west Darfur, under as-yet unsigned legislation covering the activities of NGOs.

17.03.2006

Erma Manoncourt

UNICEF is giving strong focus on hygiene and environmental sanitation especially in rural areas of Egypt. Dr. Erma Manoncourt, UNICEF Representative in Egypt shares her experiences and UNICEF’s priorities in Egypt in an exclusive interview with Manish Kumar of OneWorld South Asia

14.03.2006 A heart-breaking glimpse of the crisis in Darfur: watch Refugee International's 10-minute documentary.
* Darfur's protection needs abandoned by international community

13.03.2006 The African Union has extended the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region by six months, after which it will transfer the operation to the UN.
* Foreign Office grants visa to top Sudan official despite UN sanctions

12.03.2006 The UN refugee agency is halving its spending in Sudan's Darfur region because of continuing violence.
* SUDAN: AU discusses proposed transfer of peacekeepers to UN

09.03.2006 Sudan's intelligence agencies continue to target activists, curtailing fundamental freedoms of expression and association, according to a UN independent human rights expert.

09.03.2006 More than a year after the Sudanese government and southern-based rebels signed the peace agreement that ended their 21-year war, Sudan’s ruling party has failed to undertake promised reforms that would help end human rights abuses, an international rights group charged yesterday.
* Sudan’s intelligence apparatus targets activists – independent UN rights expert

03.03.2006 The Polisario Front, which has been fighting for three decades for an independent state in Western Sahaha, has begun destroying its stockpile of anti-personnel mines.

02.03.2006 Even if the U.N. votes soon to take over peacekeeping operations in Darfur, the transfer from African Union troops might not take place until next January, says Refugees International, calling on the international community--and especially the U.S.--to do more to support the peacekeepers there now.

02.03.2006 An attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia raises a crucial question for Rami G. Khouri: how will Arab oil kingdoms deal with their disgruntled young men?

02.03.2006 The UN is reportedly split on proposals to punish Sudanese officials and rebel leaders allegedly responsible for impeding peace efforts in Darfur, where International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has launched an investigation into war crimes.
* Archbishop of Canterbury in Sudan