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Mother of Jailed French Journalist Asks Algerian President for Pardon

This undated handout photograph, courtesy of the Gleizes family, released on June 30, 2025, shows Christophe Gleizes, a prominent French sports journalist, at an unknown location. © So Press/RSF via AFP
This undated handout photograph, courtesy of the Gleizes family, released on June 30, 2025, shows Christophe Gleizes, a prominent French sports journalist, at an unknown location. © So Press/RSF via AFP
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Mother of Jailed French Journalist Asks Algerian President for Pardon

This undated handout photograph, courtesy of the Gleizes family, released on June 30, 2025, shows Christophe Gleizes, a prominent French sports journalist, at an unknown location. © So Press/RSF via AFP
This undated handout photograph, courtesy of the Gleizes family, released on June 30, 2025, shows Christophe Gleizes, a prominent French sports journalist, at an unknown location. © So Press/RSF via AFP

The mother of jailed French journalist Christophe Gleizes wrote a letter to Algeria's president requesting he pardon her son from his seven-year sentence on terror-related charges.

Gleizes, a sportswriter, was convicted of "glorifying terrorism" in June.

"I respectfully ask you to consider granting Christophe a pardon, so that he may regain his freedom and his family," Sylvie Godard wrote in the letter, which was dated December 10 and seen by AFP on Monday.

Gleizes's lawyers are also seeking a new trial with the country's highest court.

Gleizes was arrested in May 2024 while travelling to northeastern Algeria's Kabylia region to write about the country's most decorated football club, Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie.

In 2021, he met the head of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), a foreign-based group designated a terrorist organization by Algiers.

At this month's appeal hearing, Gleizes said he did not know the MAK had been listed as a terrorist organization, and asked the court's forgiveness for his "journalistic mistakes".

An Algerian appeals court upheld his sentence this month, a decision his mother called "incomprehensible".

"Nowhere in any of his writings will you find any trace of statements hostile to Algeria and its people," she wrote in her letter to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Gleizes is currently France's only journalist imprisoned abroad, according to rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to work towards his release.

Gleizes's jailing comes at a time of diplomatic friction between Paris and Algiers after France last year officially backed Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region, where Algeria backs the pro-independence Polisario Front.

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Arab World

Torrential Rains and Flash Floods Kill 37 in Moroccan City of Safi

The minaret of a mosque stands behind damaged or destroyed houses following an earthquake in Moulay Brahim, Al-Haouz province, on September 9, 2023. (AFP)
The minaret of a mosque stands behind damaged or destroyed houses following an earthquake in Moulay Brahim, Al-Haouz province, on September 9, 2023. (AFP)
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Torrential Rains and Flash Floods Kill 37 in Moroccan City of Safi

The minaret of a mosque stands behind damaged or destroyed houses following an earthquake in Moulay Brahim, Al-Haouz province, on September 9, 2023. (AFP)
The minaret of a mosque stands behind damaged or destroyed houses following an earthquake in Moulay Brahim, Al-Haouz province, on September 9, 2023. (AFP)

Floods triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 37 people in the Moroccan coastal city of Safi, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

Authorities said heavy rain and flash floods overnight inundated about 70 homes and businesses and swept away 10 vehicles. The Interior Ministry reported 14 people hospitalized, AFP reported.

Local outlets reported that schools announced three days of closures. Rains also caused flooding and damage elsewhere throughout Morocco, including the northern city of Tetouan and the mountain town of Tinghir.

Safi, a city on Morocco’s Atlantic shore more than 320 kilometers (200 miles) from the capital Rabat, is a major hub for the country’s critical fishing and mining industries. Both employ thousands to catch, mine and process the commodities for export. The city, with a population of more than 300,000 people, is home to a major phosphate processing plant.

Videos shared on social media showed cars stranded and partially submerged as floodwaters surged through Safi’s streets.

Climate change has made weather patterns more unpredictable in Morocco. North Africa has been plagued by several years of drought, hardening soils and making mountains, deserts and plains more susceptible to flooding. Last year, floods in normally arid mountains and desert areas killed nearly two dozen people in Morocco and Algeria.

This week's floods came after 22 people were killed in a two-building collapse in the Moroccan city of Fez. Morocco has invested in disaster risk initiatives although local governments often do not enforce building codes and drainage systems can be lacking in some cities. Infrastructural inequities were a focus of youth-led protests that swept the country earlier this year.

__ Associated Press writer Sam Metz in Rabat, Morocco, contributed to this report.

Arab World

Witkoff, Kushner Brief EU Foreign Ministers on Gaza via Video Conference, EU Official Says 

Seen from a building heavily damaged during the Israeli air and ground operations, tents fill a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP)
Seen from a building heavily damaged during the Israeli air and ground operations, tents fill a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP)
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Witkoff, Kushner Brief EU Foreign Ministers on Gaza via Video Conference, EU Official Says 

Seen from a building heavily damaged during the Israeli air and ground operations, tents fill a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP)
Seen from a building heavily damaged during the Israeli air and ground operations, tents fill a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (AP)

US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on Monday briefed EU foreign ministers on Trump's Gaza peace plan via video conference, an EU official said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier on Monday that he had suggested to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas that Kushner and Witkoff provide an update on the implementation of the plan to the foreign ministers during their meeting in Brussels.

Arab World

Egypt Pushes for Deeper Economic Ties with Qatar

Photo from  the Egyptian–Qatari Business Forum in Cairo on Sunday (Egyptian Ministry of Investment) 
Photo from  the Egyptian–Qatari Business Forum in Cairo on Sunday (Egyptian Ministry of Investment) 
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Egypt Pushes for Deeper Economic Ties with Qatar

Photo from  the Egyptian–Qatari Business Forum in Cairo on Sunday (Egyptian Ministry of Investment) 
Photo from  the Egyptian–Qatari Business Forum in Cairo on Sunday (Egyptian Ministry of Investment) 

Egypt has signaled a new push to deepen economic cooperation with Qatar, announcing a set of investment facilitation measures aimed at boosting bilateral trade and attracting Qatari capital. The announcement came during the Egyptian–Qatari Business Forum held in Cairo on Sunday.

Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Hassan ElKhatib, said that a specialized committee would be established to streamline investment and trade procedures between the two countries. Experts view the move as a clear indication of the evolving economic partnership between Cairo and Doha.

ElKhatib inaugurated the forum alongside Ahmad bin Mohammed Al-Sayed, Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade, with wide participation from business leaders and private-sector representatives from both countries.

Bilateral relations have gained renewed strength following President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s visit to Doha in April, during which Qatar announced a $7.5 billion package of direct investments to support its economic partnership with Egypt.

According to ElKhatib, Qatari investments in Egypt currently stand at around $3.2 billion, distributed across more than 266 companies operating in sectors including finance, industry, and tourism. He added that bilateral trade reached $143 million during the first ten months of the current year, up from $80 million in 2023 — an increase of nearly 80 percent.

The minister said relations with Qatar received a significant boost following Al-Sisi’s visit, which paved the way for new investment projects, led by developments on Egypt’s northwestern Mediterranean coast.

To further support Qatari investors, El-Khatib announced the creation of the specialized facilitation committee to help remove obstacles facing companies and enhance overall economic cooperation, underscoring Egypt’s intent to elevate ties with Qatar to a more strategic level.

Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade emphasized the importance of strengthening economic partnerships with Cairo, highlighting the private sector’s role in driving growth and creating new investment opportunities. He noted that sustained cooperation between companies in both countries enhances knowledge exchange and enables high-quality investments that support sustainable development.

Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister Ambassador Youssef El-Sharkawy said Egyptian–Qatari relations have entered a new phase of political and economic cooperation. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that economic collaboration has become the main engine of strategic partnership, particularly through investments in the North Coast, the Suez Canal Economic Zone, and key sectors such as tourism, industry, and real estate.

Economist Walid Gaballah, a member of the Egyptian Association for Economy and Legislation, said the forum serves as a practical mechanism for activating Qatar’s investment commitments in Egypt, especially in tourism, agriculture, technology, and industry. He added that improved investment conditions have already contributed to rising trade volumes.

According to Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, bilateral trade between Egypt and Qatar totaled $128.4 million last year. Observers noted that the deepening economic relationship coincides with closer regional coordination between Cairo and Doha, including joint efforts to promote de-escalation and stability in the region.