North Africa

Photographs depicting the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops prompted a wave of outrage across the Islamic world Tuesday as Muslims condemned the United States for what they perceived as cruelty and hypocrisy.

Citing evidence that North Africa is increasingly becoming a refuge for Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, a top Pentagon official said Friday that the U.S. was stepping up efforts to win military access to small bases from Morocco to Mali and ramping up aerial and maritime surveillance of the region. Morocco recently offered the U.S. access to its bases for exercises, and troops already are training in Tunisia, said Marine Corps Gen. James L. Jones, commander of U.S.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell chastised Russia on Tuesday for failing to honor a pledge to withdraw troops from the struggling states of Georgia and Moldova. Beginning a four-day trip through Europe and North Africa, Powell told officials of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that he was disappointed that Russia would probably not keep a promise to withdraw troops from Moldova by Dec. 31 -- an extension of a previous deadline.

Spanish police said they had detained more than 150 people who had crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in three flimsy boats in a bid to enter Spain illegally. The first boat was halted after being spotted by the coast guard near Tarifa, on Spain's southern tip, carrying 77 men of North African origin. A second boat was intercepted off Spain's southern coast carrying 65 people, some from North Africa and others from sub-Saharan Africa, and a third carried 14.

"Our ceilings are not very tight," says Abdel Haidara of the houses in his native Mali. He was talking recently at the Library of Congress in one of the library's more ceremonial rooms. Curiously, there's what looks like a little water damage above an arch window behind him. In a big library with small problems, he's talking about small libraries with big problems.

The military turning point of World War II came in November 1942, 60 years ago, at three different places on the globe. At El Alamein in Egypt, the British 8th Army won a battle against the German-Italian African army and began its march westward. A week later, American and British forces landed in Morocco and Algeria, establishing a second front, eventually clearing all of Africa of German and Italian troops.

As the chance of war with Iraq grows, we should pause today to recall the 60th anniversary of Operation Torch, the American-British invasion of North Africa during World War II. Thanks to Torch, the momentum began to swing against Nazi Germany, an evil regime that used what we now call "weapons of mass destruction" to kill millions. Three lessons from Torch have special resonance today: * We need clear war aims, which Washington and London lacked in November 1942.

Gnawa trance music from North Africa is not precisely what one expects to hear in the salsa surroundings of the Conga Room. But Marrakech-born Hassan Hakmoun, who sings and plays the traditional three-stringed, lute-like sintir, is not your typical gnawa musician, nor is the Conga Room solely a Latin music destination.

When my wife, Gwen, and I left this mystical island after our first visit nine years ago, we brought home vivid memories: the fragrance of wildflowers and sea air, the scenery suffused with a thousand hues, the peace that had settled over our souls. We returned three years later to make the memories come alive again. Pantelleria is 70 miles southwest of Sicily, and just 44 miles off the Tunisian coast--actually closer to Africa than Europe.

Several months ago, Mehrdad Golshani received an urgent request from old friends in north Africa: Would he help them track down their 37-year-old son before his mother died of cancer? Amin and Badri Bakhshandegi had not seen their son in nearly 20 years and the last they heard, he was living in Los Angeles. Golshani met the Bakhshandegis years ago in South Africa during the apartheid era. Like him, they are Iranian exiles and followers of the Bahai faith.