In a recent interview with Emine Taskiran, a journalist with Zaman, a Turkish newspaper, I responded to queries about the coup in Mali and the destruction of ancient shrines in Timbuktu . The situation is very fluid and receives little attention in the British press. It is best covered by Le Monde and All Africa. Emine Taskiran’s interview is reposted here with the kind permission of Zaman. Emine Taskiran: What is the structure of government in Mali? And what is the relation between the government and militant groups? David Anderson: The coup in Mali earlier this year removed an elected government, one of the longest standing democratic governments in Africa if you measure it simply by their length of time in office. …

As the Arab Spring continues to reverberate through the countries of the Islamic Middle East, attention has now turned to the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state of Yemen.  There the popular rising against President Ali Abdallah Saleh’s regime that began last February, inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, is now rapidly descending into a bloody civil war.   In a country where every second person owns a gun, the escalation of violence has been gradual but deadly.  Hundreds have been killed during September in heavy fighting on the streets of the capital Sana’a, as forces loyal to the government have sought to violently suppress street protests.  In response, army units that have defected are protecting the protestors.  As these well-armed military formations …

While the remaining forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi still hold out against the rebel militia and its NATO allies in the coastal town of Sirte, the fight for Libya’s oil has already begun.  Europe’s oil companies are hovering like a flock of carrion birds over the carcass of Gaddafi’s regime. The pickings to be had are significant.  Libya accounts for 2% of global oil production, but the development of new fields could see that figure double in the next decade.  Proven reserves of 46.4 billion barrels are confirmed, but vast tracts of the Libyan deserts remain unexplored. Europe’s oil giants Eni, Total, BP and Repsol YPF are perfectly positioned to take advantage of these commercial opportunities.  Gas production, too, has …

The television screens did not lie.  There he was.  An old man in a cage.  The cage was in a Cairo courtroom, and the baying crowd in the gallery were screaming for his conviction, sentence and execution.   Those watching the television broadcasts across the Arab world on 3 August could hardly believe their eyes.  Here was Hosni Mubarak, once the proud, aloof and resolute leader of Egypt, now shackled like a common criminal and placed on trial for charges that might result in a death sentence.  Had the world gone crazy?    The indictment of Hosni Mubarak is an iconic moment in the history of the Arab Spring, indeed in the history of the Arab world.  The revolutions that have swept …