From the International Federation of Journalists, Nov. 23, via AllAfrica:

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today urged President Mamadou Tandja of Niger to take strong action for the release of two journalists accused of criminal offences following their coverage of the Tuareg rebellion in Niger.

The entire population of northern Niger's remote desert town of Iferouane has fled, a local official told BBC last week. Deputy mayor Mohammed Oumma said 5,000 residents were displaced following army reprisals in operations against Tuareg guerillas. The government in Niamey denies that Iferouane, home to several uranium mines, has become a ghost town. (BBC, Nov. 19) President Mamadou Tandja Nov. 23 prolonged an emergency zone in Niger's desert north region of Agadez, extending for a further three months the "state of alert" declared in August. (Reuters, Nov. 23)

The government of Niger reports three soldiers were wounded and four are missing after Tuareg rebels attacked a civilian convoy escorted by the military Nov. 9. The rebel Movement of the People of Niger for Justice (MNJ) claimed it had killed 15 soldiers and captured four. They also said they had destroyed three military vehicles and seized another, but denied having attacked civilians. The ambush took place on the road between Agadez, the regional capital of the desert region of that name, and Arlit to the north.

Tuareg guerillas opened fire with AK-47s on a US Hercules military aircraft flying in supplies for Malian troops pinned down at Tin-Zawatine near the border with Algeria Sept. 12. There were no casualties and the plane managed to return to base at Mali's capital, Bamako. But this represents the first time that the US military force in Mali, ostensibly introduced to counter Islamist militants, has become embroiled in the Tuareg conflict. "It was not a normal event. We do not do this day to day," said Major John Dorrian, spokesman for the US European Command that also covers Africa. But he would not rule out the prospect of providing similar support in future. "Any such request would be handled on a case-by-case basis," he said.

Trade unions in Algeria are calling on members to rally Sept. 9 to denounce suicide attacks that have claims dozens of lives in recent days. (BBC, Sept. 8) Workers at Algeria's ports have also threatened with a series of rolling strikes in protest of the government's privatization plans. Algiers is negotiating with Dubai Ports World over the company taking a 50% stake in the container terminal at the port of Djen Djen. The Coordination Nationale des Syndicats des Ports d'Algerie (CNSPA), which represents many of the Algerian unions working on the docks and in the maritime sector, has vocally opposed the change. (Echorouk Online, Aug. 18)

Voters in Morocco deprived the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) of an expected parliamentary victory, handing it instead to the secular conservative Istiqlal party that is a member of the ruling coalition. In a surprisingly strong showing, Istiqlal won 52 of the 325 seats in the lower house of parliament. PJD, whose growing strength in recent years had worried its secular rivals, won 47 seats—far short of the 80 seats the party had hoped for. The PJD accused the ruling secular parties of buying votes and appealing to voters with hasty public works projects. "It is sickening," the PJD's Lahcen Daoudi told reporters. "The PJD has won, but Morocco has lost." Final authority rests with King Mohamed VI, who will name a prime minister based on the election results. The prime minister will then name a government, likely to be an awkward coalition that would include the PJD for the first time. (AP, Sept. 8)

A Sept. 6 suidice bombing in Batna, southeastern Algeria, left 22 dead and over 100 injured. The attack came just 40 minutes before a visit to the town by President Bouteflika. (North Africa Journal, Sept. 7) The attack came a day after security forces bombed a suspected militant hideout in a cave near Lagla el-Malha, a village in the conflicted eastern Tebessa region. The seven killed were suspected of carrying out an ambush Sept. 3 that killed five security officials and one civilian in the town of Henchir El-Hoshas. In July and August at least 80—mostly said to be armed militants—were killed in clashes in the region. (AP, Sept. 6)

In the wake of the third deadly suicide bombing to hit the country in four months, Algeria's government has vowed to eradicate armed Islamist groups—but also warned of new attacks. Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni called for "greater vigilance" from the population, and said the latest blast claimed by al-Qaeda would only bolster the government's "determination" to continue its crackdown. The July 11 truck bomb attack on the army barracks at Lakhdaria, which killed 10 soldiers and wounded 35, was designed to coincide with the opening in Algiers of the All Africa Games and the end of a lightning visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.