One area of concern is the Sahel, a vast semi-arid area south of the Sahara desert.
Developers also broke ground last month on renovations to the Sahara hotel-casino that closed in 2011.
Al-Qaeda-linked fighters attacked the BP plant in the Sahara Desert on Wednesday, taking many workers hostage.
Perhaps the sun over the Sahara could indeed be the future super generator of our electricity.
South of the Sahara, the separate experiences of both economic reform and democracy have been mixed.
The jihadists use the vast expanse of the Sahara to train recruits from across the region.
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Maybe Bardem is unaware of successive Moroccan governments' efforts to promote human rights in the Sahara.
And his organization, born under the stars of the Sahara, continues its work into its second decade.
Huge swathes of the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert have been rendered off-limits to foreigners.
Almost two years ago, I visited Burkina Faso in West Africa, just south of the Sahara desert.
The rate of poverty in the Sahara region has been reduced from 29.4% in 1975 to 6.2%.
Scientists estimate that a billion tons of dust from the Sahara are lifted into the atmosphere each year.
Droukdel and his deputy al-Hammam may be able to wrestle back control of al Qaeda operations in the Sahara.
The Sahara Group has businesses ranging from finance, housing, manufacturing and the media.
What's certain is that the Sahara is one of the hardest places on earth for an outsider to understand.
Nonetheless, South Africa probably has the most potent army south of the Sahara.
The militants have forged closer links with al-Qaeda-linked militants in the Sahara region and have access to increasingly sophisticated weaponry.
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For experienced ultra-runners the challenge of self-sufficient running in the extreme heat of the Sahara is too good to ignore.
Indeed, over much of the Sahara, rainfall is so slight and irregular as to make any average figure almost meaningless.
Subrata Roy Sahara, chairman of the Sahara Group, said the hotel was a part of the group's "major expansion plans".
It is now almost extinct, and another - the scimitar-horned oryx of the Sahara - is on the endangered list.
Al-Qaeda's current sanctuaries whether in Pakistan's tribal frontier, remote corners of Yemen, in Somalia or the Sahara desert are certainly a worry.
Militant groups took advantage of an army coup last year to extend their control over a vast area of the Sahara.
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Al Qaeda is turning the Sahara into the next Afghanistan a dry vastness that Arab governments cannot effectively patrol, let alone control.
Many deserted and began the long difficult journey home across the Sahara and arid mountain ranges, avoiding checkpoints as they went.
As for economic and social development, the Sahara region has recorded higher development rates compared with many other regions in Morocco.
The Arab Spring might find it difficult to cross the Sahara desert.
They say they crossed the Sahara on foot, but many cruise the camp decked in gold chains, designer clothes and mobile phones.
The rebels had called a cease-fire Thursday, saying they had captured key territory in the Sahara region and achieved their military mission.
The Sahel is the area along the southern edge of the Sahara.
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