Nigeria

By Barnaby Phillips in Africa on January 22nd, 2012
File 58061
A series of bomb blasts hit the northern city of Kano on Friday, killing at least 178 people [Reuters]

I bumped into an old friend at a book launch in London recently. She used to be a senior British diplomat, and is still involved in African affairs. The conversation quickly turned to Nigeria, a country that we are both passionate about, and that we visit regularly.
"I get the feeling that people in Lagos have been reacting to the violence in Northern Nigeria like we Londoners used to react to news from Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1970s and 1980s", she said. 
"They recognise that it's terribly sad, but it all feels so far away for many of them, not something that touches their day to day lives," she said. 
By Barnaby Phillips in Africa on April 22nd, 2011
Photo by Reuters

I was having dinner with two Nigerian friends in Lagos, just days before the recent presidential elections. One friend comes from the north of the country, the other from the south.

"There’s an ugly truth to this election campaign, which no-one is talking about," said the northerner.

“In the south, they won’t vote for Muhammadu Buhari simply because they don’t want to give power back to the north.  That’s all there is to it. We will vote along regional lines”, she explained.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on February 17th, 2011
Saif Gaddafi, the son of Libya's leader, warned of 'civil war' in a speech on Sunday night.

As protests in Libya enter their eighth day, following a "day of rage" on Thursday, we keep you updated on the developing situation from our headquarters in Doha, Qatar.

(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)

Blog: Feb17 - Feb18 - Feb19 - Feb20

By Paul Rhys in Africa on January 27th, 2010
Photo from EPA

There will be no football played in Benguela tonight.

After Ghana and Nigeria finish kicking a ball around a pitch in Luanda, attentions will turn away from the Angolan capital to more weighty affairs in the south.

Because Algeria are not taking on Egypt for a place in the Africa Cup of Nations final.

The two are meeting in the theatre of combat.

By John Terrett in Americas on January 6th, 2010
Photo from AFP
President Obama knows his administration got lucky on Christmas Day when a passenger allegedly came close to destroying a US airliner over Detroit.
 
Eleven days on he made it abundantly clear the system to stop potential bombers didn't work.
 
"The US government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack. Now I will accept that intelligence by its nature is imperfect ... but it is increasingly clear that intelligence was not analysed or fully leveraged.  That's not acceptable and I will not tolerate it."
 
The comments came after Obama met with twenty Cabinet members and senior advisers including the heads of the CIA and the FBI.
 
By John Terrett in Americas on January 4th, 2010
Photo by Reuters

At Reagan National airport just outside Washington this morning the runways were still lined with ploughed snow from the biggest storm to hit the city in 80 years.
 
It was freezing cold and a bright but powerless sun was glinting off the US Capitol building in central DC, which could be seen about six miles away across the Potomac River.
 
I was at Reagan National because Federal authorities had just introduced increased random screening for all flights destined for the US from around the world.
 
For passengers from 14 countries in particular, however, the searches will be compulsory.
 
The 14 are the four countries cited by the US state department as sponsors of terrorism - Sudan, Syria, Iran and Cuba - plus a further 10 "countries of interest" which officials say are "terrorism-prone": Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on December 7th, 2009
Photo by AFP

In the midst of the swirling smoke and explosions of the Athens street battle, I saw a woman, her eyes bulging with hatred. She was probably in her mid-forties, dressed in black, with a ring through her nose. She was screaming abuse at the riot police, who had made some arrests, and were leading the suspects away.

"This is what you call democracy, you *******!"

I asked her if she wanted to tell Al Jazeera how she felt. She looked at me with disgust.

"You are a journalist!"

This was true, so I nodded.

"****ing media, full of lies, **** off!"

I backed away.

Just round the corner, a menacing group of youths approached us. Their faces were covered in masks, and they carried rocks and sticks.

"Stop filming", they ordered, "Or you and your equipment will be damaged. Get away from here."

By Mohamed Vall in Africa on October 31st, 2009
Photo by Getty Images

The 15-member African Union Peace and Security Council's endorsement of the idea of a special hybrid court for Darfur crime suspects could be a solution for the ICC-Khartoum quarrel.

The summit that has been held in the Nigerian capital Abuja stressed the need for both a solution to the conflict in Darfur and justice for the victims of the crimes committed during the war. The idea of a hybrid court has been proposed by a special AU panel on Darfur headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

After all, the hybrid idea seems to have worked in Darfur with regard to peacekeeping. Not that peace in Darfur has been successfully maintained. But at least, after serious and protracted discords between Sudan and western nations over how to deal with the situation, a combined force of UN and African Union troops has been deployed and an end has been put to the row.

Al Jazeera Live

What's Hot


Recent Comments

This work is licensed under Creative Commons. Please read our attribution policy.