Top News: Assad Says UN “Freeze Zone” Proposal is Worth Considering

President Bashar al-Assad said Monday that a UN proposal for a local cease-fire in Aleppo was worth considering. It was Assad’s first response to the idea floated recently by the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura.

The modesty of the Aleppo proposal—halting the fighting in just one corner of a chaotic battlefield—reflects how the United Nations has scaled back its goals and expectations. Throughout the conflict, Assad has publicly embraced, in general terms, every international peace initiative but maneuvered to undermine or ignore them or focus only on the parts with which he agrees.

EGYPT | LIBYA & THE MAGHREB | SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS | YEMEN & THE GULF | ECONOMICS

 

EGYPT

Parliamentary elections to be held before end of March; Cabinet to discuss district law
Egypt’s president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Monday that Egyptian parliamentary elections would take place before the end of March 2015. Meanwhile, in a plenary meeting on Wednesday, Egypt’s cabinet is scheduled to ‎discuss the semi-final draft of a long-awaited law aimed ‎at redrawing the country’s electoral districts. ‎According to Minister of Transitional Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ibrahim al-Heneidy, the bill ‎was prepared by a seven-member technical committee ‎formed three weeks ago by ‎Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, comprising court judges and law university ‎professors. [Ahram Online, Reuters, 11/11/2014]

United States to assess Egyptian militant group’s links to ISIS
The US has said it will “assess” the potential implications of an Egyptian jihadist group’s pledge of allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). US Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday that her country needs to look into what it means for Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis to swear loyalty to ISIS. The Egyptian army, which is carrying out a major operation against an expanding jihadist insurgency in Sinai, has not yet commented on the issue. [Ahram Online, State Dept, 11/11/2014]

Foreign journalists face increasing hostility in Egypt, says NGO report
The Association for Freedom of Thinking and Expression (AFTE), a Cairo-based NGO concerned with media and students freedoms, says thirty-four foreign journalists have been arrested since June 30, 2013. AFTE’s “Report on the situation of foreign correspondents in Egypt,” counted 184 assaults that targeted foreign journalists between 2011 and 2014, in addition to five incidents of sexual assaults against foreign female reporters. A collective attitude of xenophobia explains charges against journalists and activists receiving foreign funds and allegedly aligning with foreign agendas. French journalist and Chief Editor of Le Monde Diplomatique Alain Gresh was held for two hours on Tuesday, along with two Egyptian journalists, in a downtown café after they were overheard discussing politics. A woman who overheard the conversation stepped outside the café to talk with security forces who came and interrogated Gresh on his reasons for being in Egypt. [Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, Mada Masr, 11/12/2014]

IMF to visit Egypt for assessment mission on Wednesday
For the first time in three years, a mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Egypt to begin Article IV consultations to assess the Egyptian economy. Aiming to enhance investor confidence, Egypt’s government had asked the IMF to assess its economy ahead of the Egypt Economic Summit early next year. [Ahram Online, 11/11/2014]

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LIBYA & THE MAGHREB

Car bombs strike strongholds of elected parliament
A Libyan army spokesman says two car bombs have gone off in Tobruk, where the elected parliament is temporarily located, while another struck Beida, the seat of Abdullah al-Thinni’s government, causing casualties. The remotely detonated bombs in Tobruk exploded in front of an oil institute early on Wednesday, killing at least two soldiers. In Beida, a suicide bomber killed at least three soldiers and injured twelve. The army spokesman says the attacks bear the hallmarks of extremists from Derna who last month pledged allegiance to Islamic State. [AP, Libya Herald, 11/12/2014]

Former lawmakers reject reconvening GNC; Operation Dawn celebrates recognition
A bloc of ninety-four members of the General National Congress (GNC), led by their former First Deputy President Ezzeddin al-Awami, reportedly rejects reconvening the old parliament and stands behind the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Operation Libya Dawn supporters celebrated “victory” in Tripoli, interpreting UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon’s talks with former GNC President Nuri Abu Sahmain as a sign that the international community is preparing to switch support to the al-Hassi administration. The UN statement makes no such indication, and Leon continues to refuse to meet al-Hassi. [Libya Herald, 11/11/2014]

Al-Thinni heads to Saudi Arabia as African ambassadors meet Tripoli foreign minister
Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, accompanied by a ministerial delegation, is headed to Saudi Arabia, responding to a formal invitation by the Saudi government to visit the kingdom and meet with government officials. Saudi Arabia has taken a strong pro-House of Representatives stance and has pressured Sudan to do the same. Sudan’s delegation in Libya took part in a meeting between ambassadors from ten African countries and the Tripoli-based administration’s foreign minister. Its presence, as well as those of Niger and Chad, raised eyebrows as the three states say they recognize only the elected government. [Libya Herald, 11/11/2014]

Indications of war crimes in Libya, says UN prosecutor
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda says there are indications of war crimes being committed in Libya, a country that is “on the wrong path.” She described the ongoing spate of assassinations in Benghazi as “worrisome” and reiterated a demand for the Libyan government to hand over Qaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, for prosecution in The Hague. Her office has been forced to scale down investigations in Libya due to lack of resources. Also at the United Nations, Libya’s ambassador delivered scathing remarks, criticizing Operation Libya Dawn for luring young people with money and fueling war. [AFP, 11/11/2014]

Tunisia’s interior minister sounds alarm on security situation on the Algerian border
Tunisia’s Interior Minister Lotfi Ben Jeddou on Wednesday expressed concerns with rising security threats in the Kef, Jendouba and Kasserine governorates ahead of presidential elections scheduled for November 23. Speaking on the sidelines of an international seminar on international justice and the fight against torture, the minister noted that security forces had taken additional measures to secure the border with Algeria after last week’s attack on security forces that killed five officers in Kef governorate. [TAP, 11/12/2014]

UN special envoy raises concerns with the Polisario Front slipping into terrorism
The United Nations Secretary General’s Personal Envoy to the Western Sahara, Christopher Ross on Wednesday said that deteriorating conditions in the Western Sahara and frustrations with the negotiation process could slowly push the Polisario Front into adopting terrorism. The special envoy noted that the decline in international aid, worsening conditions in the camps in Tindouf, and resurgent hostilities between the Western Sahara and Morocco, were eroding confidence in the peace process and could reignite violent conflict unless steps are taken to prevent a turn towards militancy. [Maroc Press, 11/12/2014]

SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS

Assad says UN “freeze zone” proposal is worth considering
President Bashar al-Assad said Monday that a UN proposal for a local cease-fire in Aleppo was worth considering. It was Assad’s first response to the idea floated recently by the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura. The modesty of the Aleppo proposal—halting the fighting in just one corner of a chaotic battlefield—reflects how the United Nations has scaled back its goals and expectations. Throughout the conflict, Assad has publicly embraced, in general terms, every international peace initiative but maneuvered to undermine or ignore them or focus only on the parts with which he agrees. [NYT, LA Times, The National, Washington Post, 11/12/2014]

Kurdish fighters sever major ISIS supply routes
Syrian Kurds backed by fighters from northern Iraq have gained ground towards breaking the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobani but are drawing heavy fire from Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or Islamic State) insurgents and have yet to win back control. Reports on Wednesday indicated that fighters from the Syrian People’s Protection Units (YPG) has successfully destroyed a major ISIS supply route to the south of the city in heavy fighting that killed at least sixteen ISIS militants. Kurdish fighters retook several southern villages but observers noted that the front lines so far remained unchanged. [Reuters, Naharnet, 11/12/2014]

United Nations says 13.6 million displaced by wars in Iraq and Syria
About 13.6 million people, equivalent to the population of London, have been displaced by conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and many are without food or shelter as winter starts, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. UNHCR’s director for the Middle East and North Africa said the world was becoming numb to the refugees’ needs. “Now when we talk about a million people displaced over two months, or 500,000 overnight, the world is just not responding.” The 13.6 million include 7.2 million displaced within Syria—an increase from a long-held UN estimate of 6.5 million—as well as 3.3 million Syrian refugees abroad. In Iraq, 1.9 million have been displaced this year by tribal fighting and the advance of ISIS, adding to one million previously displaced, and 190,000 have left the country to seek safety. Despite the need, UNHCR is slashing winter aid due to funding shortfalls. [Reuters, 11/12/2014]

Iraqi troops retake Baiji, pivot towards Tikrit as US airstrikes destroy ISIS defenses
Iraqi soldiers battling Islamic State militants recaptured the heart of the town of Baiji, home to the country’s largest oil refinery. A senior military official confirmed the recapture of the city center, but added that intense clashes continued elsewhere in the town. The battle for Baiji came at a great cost for Iraqi forces who lost a top commanding general after a suicide bomber detonated a truck laced with explosives, killing eight police officers. Recapturing Baiji would also be a major boost for Iraq’s government and could pave the way for a fresh offensive to drive Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or Islamic State) militants from the nearby city of Tikrit, the capital of Salah al-Din province. [Asharq al-Awsat, 11/12/2014]

Overnight bombing attacks target security forces, killing fifteen in Baghdad
Police and hospital officials announced Wednesday that three attacks in and around Baghdad killed at least fifteen people, including ten soldiers and injured nearly forty others. Sources indicated that a car bomb near a main Baghdad square followed by a suicide bombing at a nearby police headquarters was responsible for the deaths of the eleven security officers but also wounded twenty-three others. South of the capital, a bomb targeting a military convoy in Yusufiya killed at least two people and wounded at least eight. The violence comes as Iraqi security forces and pro-government fighters battle to push back ISIS throughout the country. [Naharnet, The Daily Star, 11/12/2014

YEMEN & THE GULF

Over thirty-three dead in Bayda clashes in the past two days; US drone strike kills seven
Clashes between Houthi militants and tribesmen claimed a further thirty-three lives over the past two days as al-Qaeda and tribal fighters pushed to recapture strategic hilltop positions. The fighting marked the continuation of violence in Bayda province as the northern Houthis struggle for control with local fighters. Residents said tribesmen allied with al-Qaeda in the Qifa area, home to powerful Sunni tribes, captured several hilltops, including the al-Thaaleb mountain that overlooks an al-Qaeda stronghold seized by the Houthis. A suicide bombing targeting Houthis Wednesday morning in the hotly disputed town of Rida reportedly left dozens dead, though the exact number of casualties has yet to be confirmed. Meanwhile, military sources said a US drone strike killed seven suspected al-Qaeda militants in a vehicle in Shabwa. [Reuters, 11/12/2014]

In echo of UN Security Council, United States imposes individual sanctions
The US Treasury Department announced Monday that it would be imposing sanctions against former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Abdulkhaliq al-Houthi, and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim. The US sanctions prohibit Americans and US firms from dealing with the three men and freeze any assets they may have in the United States. The Treasury Department’s decision comes on the heels of the UN Security Council’s decision Friday to impose individual sanctions against the three men. [Reuters, WSJ, 11/10/2014]

Disagreement between Houthis, security guards leaves two dead at Sana’a airport
A disagreement between Houthi militants manning checkpoints and security guards at Sana’a International Airport resulted in a gunfire exchange that left two guards dead late Monday. The dispute at the entrance to the airport terminal wounded three guards, two of whom later died from their wounds. Airport sources said the Houthis have increasingly been interfering in passenger searches, confiscating alcohol from foreign travelers and enforcing a travel ban imposed by the group’s leadership on former Yemeni government officials. [Reuters, 11/11/2014]

Changes expected at three Yemeni cabinet positions
Sources close to President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi reported that three appointed cabinet ministers in the government of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah had declined their postings and would be replaced. Ahmed al-Misri will replace Ahmed al-Kahlani as minister of parliamentary affairs and the Shura council, Talal Aqlan will replace Gabul al-Mutawakil as minister of social affairs and labor, and Husein al-Shami will replace Ahmed Luqman as minister of civil service and insurance. Bahah and the thirty-three other members of the thirty-six member cabinet were sworn in Sunday. The reasons behind the switches are unclear, though both the Houthis and the General People’s Congress party of Ali Abdullah Saleh said they did not support the newly formed cabinet earlier this week. [Al Masdar (Arabic), 11/12/2014]

GCC summit talks postponed as result of tensions between member states
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers postponed a meeting in Doha scheduled for Monday without setting any date for a rescheduled meeting. Ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were set to discuss preparations for the December 9 GCC summit in Doha, but a source told Saudi paper Al-Hayat that mediation has “not yielded any results”, and that talks were now under way to move the summit to either Kuwait or Riyadh instead. Tensions have simmered between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the UAE over the former’s support for Islamist groups in the region, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. [AFP, 11/10/2014]

ECONOMICS

Yemen and the World Bank discuss cooperation aspects
Yemeni Prime Minister discussed means by which to cooperate with the World Bank. Reportedly, the meeting touched on the implementation of development projects and their role in supporting government efforts to jumpstart the economy. The World Bank is interested continuing its support to Yemen in order to enhance the country’s absorptive capacity for donor pledges. [SABA, 11/11/2014]

Morocco-EU Economic Dialogue session held in Rabat
The 12th session of the Morocco-EU economic dialogue was held Rabat. The conference follows the signing of the Morocco-EU draft agreement on the 2014-2017 unique support framework. The reinforcement of dialogue between the two parties on economic issues works towards achieving the goal set by the advanced status, namely setting up a common economic zone between the EU and Morocco and implementing the advanced status. [Maroc Press, 11/11/2014]

IMF to visit Egypt for assessment mission on Wednesday
For the first time in three years, a mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will visit Egypt to begin Article IV consultations to assess the Egyptian economy. Aiming to enhance investor confidence, Egypt’s government had asked the IMF to assess its economy ahead of the Egypt Economic Summit early next year. [Ahram Online, 11/11/2014]