Tripoli, Libya (PANA) – Libya will not accept the presence of foreign forces on its soil, the Libyan foreign affairs minister, Mohammed Abdel Aziz, has reiterated as international experts arrived in the country to support it to secure its borders. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday in Abuja urged the Chiefs of Defence Staff Committee of ECOWAS member nations to ensure the sustenance of peace and security in the sub region. Full text...

Lusaka, Angola (PANA) - Angola's Defence Minister Cândido Pereira Van-Dúnem, left Lusaka, the Zambian capital, on Friday at the end the 27th meeting of the Angola/Zambia Defence and Security Permanent Joint Commission, PANA reported, quoting the Angolan News Agency (ANGOP). Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - The Hague-based the International Criminal Court (ICC) will begin confirmation of charges hearing against Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, on 18 June, 2012. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - The Nigerian National Defence College (NDC) will next week graduate a total of 13 foreign military officers who went through its Course 19. Full text...

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (PANA) – The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) is to establish eight new military camps in Western Côte d'Ivoire , the special representative of the United Nations Secretary General to Côte d’Ivoire, Young- Jin Choi, announced on Thursday. Full text...

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - African defence ministers meeting here Tuesday to discuss the establishment of an African Standby Force (ASF) said lack of funds was a major setback to efforts by African Union (AU) to effectively run future peacekeeping operations in the continent. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The 4th meeting of Defence ministers from member countri es of the Community of Sahelo-Saharan countries (CEN-SAD) ended on Wednesday in T ripoli, the Libyan capital, with the adoption of several measures aimed at estab l ishing common military manoeuvres and joint actions on defence and security for the prevention, management and set tlement of conflicts within the regional organization. Full text...

for African Union countries- and the beginning of -the application of the binding clauses for the implementation of that treaty announced on 1 January 2010 by AU Commission, are seen as concrete steps towards a single Afric an army. ) Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- One hundred and five senior military officers, among the m 11 from other African countries, will graduate from the Nigerian Defence Colle g e, Abuja, next week, after an intensive 44 weeks of training, the Commandant of t he college, Rear Admiral John Jonah, told journalists in the Nigerian capital ci t y. Full text...

Brussels- Belgium (PANA) -- The Congolese Defence minister, Charles Mwando Nsimba, on Tuesday signed a military technical cooperation agreement signed with his Belgian counterpart, Pieter De Crem, which will allow Belgian officers to t r ain 460 Congolese soldiers. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Togo and France Friday signed in Lome, a new defence agreeme nt partnership within the framework of their military cooperation, a statement r e ceived Saturday by PANA disclosed. Full text...

Lome- Togo (PANA) -- Togo and France Friday signed in Lome, a new defence agreeme nt partnership within the framework of their military cooperation, a statement r e ceived Saturday by PANA disclosed. Full text...

Monrovia- Liberia (PANA) -- Training has been completed for more than half of the 2,000 soldiers required for the new Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) as planned under a US-funding programme, the American Embassy said in a press release here. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria and seven other countries have set up a special force to monitor their common interests in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, the Defence Minister Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, has said. Full text...

Rabat- Morocco (PANA) -- Portuguese defence minister Nuno Seberiano Texeira, whose country will take the revolving European Union (EU) presidency in July, said he had invited Morocco to attend the next informal meeting of European defence ministers in Lisbon. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- ECOWAS defence chiefs Tuesday began a three-day meeting in Nigeria's capital city Abuja to review the security situation in the region and make recommendations for improving regional peace and stability. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- Representatives of the inter-state Defense and Security Committee of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have held talks here on the creation of an African Rapid Reaction Force, local media reports said Tuesday. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- Libyan and Beninese authorities in charge of defence are reviewing in Tripoli a procedure for the ratification of the African defence treaty and the proposed continental army, official sources told PANA Tuesday here. Full text...

Abuja- Nigeria (PANA) -- Serving and retired top brass of the Nigerian military are meeting in the capital city of Abuja to brainstorm on the restructuring of the Nigerian military for effective and efficient performance within the context of the constitution. Full text...

Libreville- Gabon (PANA) - – Gabonese defence minister Ali Bongo and his South African counterpart Gerard Patrick Mosiuoa Lekota signed a defence agreement Thursday in Libreville allowing the armed forces of both countries to share information on specific issues, an official source said Friday in the Gabonese capital. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- A United States Navy aircraft is patrolling Cape Verde's maritime waters to crackdown on criminality and illegal migration in the archipelago's Exclusive Economic Zone (EE), an official source has revealed. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Affirming that Ethiopia had not sent troops to Somalia, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said that the Transitional Federal Government of President Abdullahi Yusuf, temporarily seated in Baidoa town, has the right to seek external assistance to defend itself. Full text...

Freetown- Sierra Leone (PANA) -- The Dutch Government Monday presented 57 brand new vehicles to Sierra Leone for use by the army which has been facing problems, especially in the interior of the post-war country. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Angola and neighbouring Namibia have signed a bilateral co-operation accord on defence, official sources said here. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Defence ministers from the three-member East Africa Community (EAC) on Friday convened in Arusha, Tanzania, for a two- day meeting to discuss military cooperation among member states of the regional bloc, defence ministry sources said here. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff will meet in Niamey, Niger, next week to consider the status of implementation of the roadmap for the creation of regional standby force (ESF), an ECOWAS statement said Friday. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- Libya does not require a huge defence budget or jet fighters, tanks and missiles to defend itself, Libyan leader Colonel Mouammar Kadhafi declared here Thursday. Full text...

Freetown Sierra Leone (PANA) --The Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces has sacked 77 officers between the ranks of Brigadier General and second Lieutenant, it was officially revealed here. Full text...

Cape Town- South Africa (PANA) -- The South Africa-Zimbabwe Joint Commission on Defence and Security will hold its inaugural meeting in Cape Town on Thursday, a government statement said Wednesday. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- ECOWAS Defence and Security Commission, composed of the Chiefs of Defence Staff of member States, will convene 9-11 November in Lomé, Togo, to review the status of implementation of the 6,500-member regional standby force. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- Cape Verde's minister of defence and parliamentary affairs, Armindo Mauricio, arrived in Portugal Wednesday to begin a two-day official visit at the invitation of his counterpart, Luis Amado. Full text...

Johannesburg- South Africa (PANA) -- The Ministerial meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation, also being attended by chiefs of defence forces, chief immigration officers and chief customs officials, began Wednesday in Johannesburg. Full text...

Kinshasa- DR Congo (PANA) -- Belgian defence minister André Flahaut on Tuesday visited the Kamina military base in Katanga where Belgian and South African trainers have been drilling merged units of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- The US Ambassador in Algiers, Richard Erdman, declared Monday that US military drills in the Algerian Sahara are scheduled to take place shortly after General James L. Full text...

Ouagadougou- Burkina Faso (PANA) -- Foreign Ministers of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), Sunday in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, called on member countries to implement the organisation's defence and security cooperation and mutual assistance protocol. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- Mozambican Defence Minister Tobias Dai will participate in the extraordinary meeting of the Inter- State Defence and Security Committee of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, on 9 April, officials told PANA in Maputo. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- The two-day visit to Libya by the French minister of defence Michele Alliot-Marie from 4-5 February constitutes a turning point in the development or co-operation between the two countries, according to observers in Tripoli, the capital. Full text...

Nouakchott- Mauritania (PANA) -- Mauritania and Turkey have completed a meeting during which they examined ways and means to revive their bilateral military co-operation. Full text...

Paris- France (PANA) -- Six African countries will be represented at the international Euro-Mediterranean meeting of the Institute for Higher National Defence Studies (IHEDN) scheduled 26 January through 2 February 2005 in Paris, official sources said here. Full text...

Praia- Cape Verde (PANA) -- A US military delegation is in Cape Verde to assess the status of the country's army in preparation for the setting up of the first rapid intervention military unit in the archipelago, official sources revealed here Monday. Full text...

Accra- Ghana (PANA) -- West African military chiefs opened a two- day meeting here Wednesday with a call on them to come up with "a crucial and firm pledge of forces" to back the concept of a stand-by force for the sub-region. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- The East African Community (EAC) cooperation on defence between member countries Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will be upgraded to Full Protocol, a senior official has said. Full text...

Luanda- Angola (PANA) -- Angolan and Peoples Republic of China military delegations Monday began a meeting in Luanda towards strengthening their defence co-operation, official sources said. Full text...

Tripoli- Libya (PANA) -- Observers here have criticised moves towards a defence and military pact between France, Spain, Italy and Portugal on the northern shores of the Mediterranean and Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia on the southern end within the '4+3' entente of the four European and three Maghreb countries. Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- Visiting French Defence minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said here Saturday that France and Algeria were close to signing a technical cooperation agreement that would open the way for an "exceptional partnership". Full text...

Algiers- Algeria (PANA) -- Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and French president Jacques Chirac expressed willingness have helped to eradicate "several taboos" that hampered the building of mutual trust and a new era of relations between Algiers and Paris, Algerian Interior minister, Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni observed here Friday. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Zimbabwe on Wednesday ratified a mutual defence pact of the regional Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) group, becoming one of the first countries to do so. Full text...

Maputo- Mozambique (PANA) -- The first group of female soldiers, who were trained after the general peace agreement 12 years ago between the Mozambican government and the then rebel movement Renamo, will return to civilian life this week during a public ceremony in Maputo. Full text...

Bissau- Guinea-Bissau (PANA) -- Defence ministers of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) have decided to do a joint military manoeuvre code-named "Felino 2004" sometime this year drawing 20 soldiers from each of the eight countries involved. Full text...