Maghreb News
A top figure of Malian Islamist group Ansar al-Din was arrested near the Algerian border, AFP quoted a Malian security source as saying on Monday (February 4th).
Mohamed Moussa Ag Mouhamed “was called Ansar al-Din’s number three, but in reality he was the brain of the organisation”, Kidal official Abdoulaye Toure said.
It was unclear whether the secular Touareg National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) or Ansar al-Din splinter group Islamic Movement of Azawad (MIA) had captured the Islamist in Hillal.
A suspect sought in connection with the November kidnapping of French retiree Gilberto Rodriguez Leal was also arrested in the area, Toure said.
In related news Sunday, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said that the Algerian diplomats held in Mali by al-Qaeda splinter group Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) were “in a safe place”.
Tunisian salafists destroy more Sufi shrines
2013-02-04 Tunisian salafists desecrated two Sufi shrines in Monastir and Mahdia, Tunisie Numerique reported on Sunday (February 3rd). Late Saturday night, the mausoleums of Sidi Abdeljabbar in Jammal and Sidi Amor Bouzid in Awlad Chamakh were set ablaze.
“There is a systematic plan by some religious extremist groups to completely destroy these historical symbols; something that indicates an intention to target our national memory,” Culture Minister Mehdi Mabrouk said earlier in January.
Libyan official kidnapped in Tripoli
2013-02-04 Libyan gunmen on Sunday (February 3rd) kidnapped the head of the national identity card programme, Libya Herald reported. Naji Bazena was taken from his office in Ras Hassan district of Tripoli.
In other news, some 40 armed men on Saturday attacked the illegal immigrant detention centre in Benghazi, freeing an unknown number of inmates.
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (FADES) loaned Mauritania some 21 million euros to upgrade the country’s central power plants, PANA reported on Sunday (February 3rd).
المصدر:مغاربية
The Kuwaiti funds aim to support the growing demand for electricity in some 30 cities.
