[Verginius Rufus]

Mehmet Ali, the de facto independent governor of Egypt in the early 19th century, might have overthrown the Ottomans if the western powers had not intervened on the sultan's behalf. Who knows how later Middle Eastern history would have played out if that had been allowed to happen.

Before WWI, Egypt was no longer under Turkish control (rather under British), Libya was under Italy, Tunisia and Algeria were under France, and Morocco was divided between France and Spain. Much of the Arabian peninsula was not under effective Ottoman control.

Mehmet Ali, whose family ruled Egypt until 1952, was of Albanian descent.

[muawiyah]

North Africa achieved independence later than Mesopotamia and the Arabian peninsula due to the involvement of the French and British.