Twenty-three people were killed and ninety-seven injured at protests around the country on the fourth anniversary of the 2011 revolution, the health ministry announced on Monday. Most of the deaths occurred in Cairo and Alexandria during violent clashes, with most civilians killed in Cairo’s Matariya district.
Three others were killed when IEDs they were trying to plant in Beheira and Damietta detonated, while at least three policemen were also among the dead. The April 6 Youth Movement, al-Jama’a al-Islamiya, Students Against the Coup, and the Muslim Brotherhood, had all launched calls for protests ahead of January 25. Security forces also dispersed a protest against “military rule” staged outside the press syndicate in downtown Cairo. Security forces arrested 516 individuals, with the interior ministry statement claiming they were all affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, at least twenty-five journalists were subject to assaults and violations of rights during their coverage of the day, according to Egyptian NGO Journalists Against Torture Observatory. The European Union’s chief Federica Mogherini called on all parties in Egypt to “show restraint” following the violence, while Human Rights Watch released a statement condemning the killings. [Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, Egypt Independent,Mada Masr, DNE, Reuters, 1/26/2015]
EGYPT | LIBYA & THE MAGHREB | SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS | YEMEN & THE GULF | ECONOMICS
Twenty-three dead, ninety-seven injured on January 25 anniversary
Twenty-three people were killed and ninety-seven injured at protests around the country on the fourth anniversary of the 2011 revolution, the health ministry announced on Monday. Most of the deaths occurred in Cairo and Alexandria during violent clashes, with most civilians killed in Cairo’s Matariya district. Three others were killed when IEDs they were trying to plant in Beheira and Damietta detonated, while at least three policemen were also among the dead. The April 6 Youth Movement, al-Jama’a al-Islamiya, Students Against the Coup, and the Muslim Brotherhood, had all launched calls for protests ahead of January 25. Security forces also dispersed a protest against “military rule” staged outside the press syndicate in downtown Cairo. Security forces arrested 516 individuals, with the interior ministry statement claiming they were all affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, at least twenty-five journalists were subject to assaults and violations of rights during their coverage of the day, according to Egyptian NGO Journalists Against Torture Observatory. The European Union’s chief Federica Mogherini called on all parties in Egypt to “show restraint” following the violence, while Human Rights Watch released a statement condemning the killings. [Ahram Online, Aswat Masriya, Egypt Independent, Mada Masr, DNE, Reuters, 1/26/2015]
Socialist Alliance activist shot dead near Tahrir, investigations underway
An activist and member of the leftist Socialist Popular Alliance Party was shot dead in central Cairo on Saturday. The party said that police shot its member Shaimaa al-Sabbagh Saturday evening as the group peacefully marched toward Tahrir Square to lay a commemorative wreath of roses. According to the primary report by the Forensic Medicine Authority, Sabbagh died in a protest near Tahrir Square after being hit by birdshot in the back, while the party accused police of ‘premeditated’ murder. Interior Ministry Spokesman Hany Abdel Latif, however, said security forces did not fire gunshots at this protest. Prosecutors began questioning police over Sabbagh’s death and seized three surveillance cameras from Talaat Harb Square where the incident took place. The Popular Current, the Dostour Party, Strong Egypt, and the Conference Party have condemned Sabbagh’s death. Hundreds of angry mourners flocked on Sunday to her funeral in her hometown of Alexandria. [Ahram Online, AP, Reuters, Aswat Masriya, Mada Masr, 1/26/2015]
Presidential pardon for jailed activists fails to materialize
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised last week to issue a sweeping pardon for young activists and journalists unjustly detained or serving time on minor charges on the fourth anniversary of the January 25 revolution. But no reports had surfaced of their release, amid a security crackdown during Sunday’s protests. “All that came out are statements but nothing happened in reality,” said rights lawyer Tarek al-Awady on Monday. [DNE, Mada Masr, 1/25/2015]
Egypt convicts doctor, father in first ever FGM trial
A father and a doctor have been convicted for the death of a 13-year-old girl who died after being subjected to female genital mutilation. An appeal court on Monday sentenced the doctor to two years in prison with hard labor on charges of involuntary manslaughter. He was also fined 500 Egyptian pounds (around $68) and his clinic where the FGM was performed closed for one year by court order. The doctor also received a three-month prison sentence on charges of carrying out FGM. The girl’s father has received a suspended sentence of three years for the same charge. Monday’s verdict reverses an earlier verdict issued in November 2014 by the same court. [Ahram Online, DNE, AP, The Guardian, 1/26/2015]
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Libya talks resume; UN plays down absence of a major player
A second round of the UN-brokered dialogue between rival Libyan factions resumes in Geneva this week. The talks continue with delegates from the Tobruk-based House of Representatives and various other political actors, yet the rival Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC) will not participate again. The GNC has refused to participate in any talks, regardless of location, due to last week’s attack by forces allied with the House on the Libyan Central Bank building in Benghazi. UN Special Representative Bernardino Leon played down the GNC’s absence, saying that if a secure location in Libya is found, the other delegates would agree to relocate. [Reuters, Libya Herald, 1/26/2015]
Casualties reported in Benghazi; Ansar al-Sharia leader dies of wounds
Deadly fighting rages throughout Benghazi as the Libyan National Army seeks to dislocate the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia militia. Local hospitals are reporting of at least a dozen deaths and forty injuries. Meanwhile, Mohamed al-Zahawi, the founder and leader of Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, has died of wounds suffered during fighting with the pro-Tobruk government forces. Ansar al-Sharia is believed by the United States to have attacked its diplomatic compound in Benghazi in 2012, killing four Americans, including the US ambassador. [Libya Herald, Reuters, 1/25/2015]
Deputy foreign minister abducted in Beida
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Abdullah al-Thinni government, Hassan Soghayer, was abducted from his hotel in Beida on Sunday morning. Three men in plainclothes but identifying themselves as police claimed to have orders to arrest Soghayer and forced their way into his hotel room at 2:30 a.m. However, the security directorate in Beida said that it had no arrest order and did not send anyone to the hotel. [Libya Herald, 1/25/2015]
Libya resumes commercial flights to Europe
The Libyan state-run airline, Afriqiyah, resumed flights to Europe this weekend. The airline flew to Dusseldorf and intends to fly to Rome as well. The European Union (EU) currently has a flight ban on planes from Libya, so Libyan carriers contract planes registered in the EU to get around the restriction. Foreign airlines stopped flights to Libya after Operation Libya Dawn attacked the Tripoli airport. Since then its rival, Operation Dignity, has threatened planes entering Libyan airspace. A recent ceasefire was announced that included halting attacks on planes. [Reuters, 1/24/2015]
Tunisia premier faces parliamentary rejection of new government
The new government of prime minister nominee Habib Essid faces rejection by parliament after three parties announced their intention to oppose it. The Islamist Ennahda party, leftist Popular Front party, and Afek Tounes all stated they would vote to reject the proposed government. Nidaa Tounes recently announced their government, which did not include any Islamists or other major parties, and opted to form a coalition with only the secular UPL party. Nidaa Tounes’ coalition reached 102 seats, short of the required 109 seats to form a ruling coalition. [Reuters, AP, 1/26/2015]
Assad calls US rebel-training plans illusory, dismisses talks with opposition
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Foreign Affairs that US plans to train mainstream rebels to fight the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) were “illusory” as they would eventually defect to the jihadists. Assad said the planned US-trained force would be “illegal” and would be treated like any other rebel group. Assad’s statements come two days after the US Department of Defense announced that the first advance detachment of US troops responsible for training mainstream Syrian opposition forces will begin arriving in the Middle East in the next few days. Assad also dismissed negotiations with Western-backed opposition groups, calling them “puppets… paid from the outside.” [Al-Akhbar English, The Daily Star, AP, BBC, 1/26/2015]
Moscow set to host Syria talks amid opposition boycott
Syrian opposition figures are set to begin on Monday for four days of talks with the regime on finding ways to end the civil war. Several prominent opposition figures have refused to join the four-day talks and President Bashar al-Assad has cast doubt on the Moscow initiative bearing any fruit. The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, will head the government team in Moscow but the delegation will not join the talks until Wednesday, after two days of preliminary discussions among opposition participants. Five members of the Syrian National Coalition, including Ahmed Jarba, a former leader seen as close to Saudi Arabia, will attend in a personal capacity. [Al-Arabiya, The Daily Star, Naharnet, 1/26/2015]
Syria rebels overtake strategic base in south
Syrian insurgents, including fighters from the Nusra Front and the Western-backed Southern Front, seized an important government army base in the southwestern Deraa province on Sunday. According to Nusra’s Twitter account, insurgents had taken over the Brigade 82 base near the town of Sheikh Maskeen, close to the main north-south highway between Damascus and Jordan. Rebel leaders say the advance will help the rebel forces to cut supply routes of the regime forces. [Reuters, 1/26/2015]
ISIS nearly forced out of Kobani
Kurdish fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) backed by intense US-led airstrikes pushed ISIS almost entirely out of the Syrian town of Kobani on Monday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, YPG fighters also recaptured the town of Mamid, located south of Kobani on Sunday, one day after taking the nearby town of Termik. [Al-Jazeera America, Naharnet, The Daily Star, AP, 1/26/2015]
Houthis storm Sana’a University
Houthi rebels stormed Sana’a University on Monday and detained dozens of people protesting against the militia. Earlier, the group blocked access to the capital’s university as opponents of their takeover of Sana’a called for more demonstrations. The militiamen set up barriers along roads leading to Change Square just outside the university. [Al Arabiya, 1/26/2015]
Thousands stage anti-Houthi protests across Yemen
Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets on Saturday in the biggest demonstrations yet against the Houthi group that dominates the country, two days after President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi’s resignation left the country in political limbo. At least four were wounded in Hodeida and two in Sana’a as Houthis violently tried to disperse the protesters. In Sana’a, a number of journalists have been taken into custody by Houthi forces. Witnesses said a crowd estimated at up to 10,000 people marched from Sana’a University towards Hadi’s home, repeating chants denouncing both the Houthis and al-Qaeda. [Al Jazeera, AFP, Reuters, Al Masdar, AP, 1/25/2015]
Parliament fails to meet
Yemen’s parliament failed to convene for the second time on Sunday to discuss the president’s resignation, extending a dangerous power vacuum in the country. Parliament decided to postpone the emergency meeting to an undetermined date so that more members could attend the meeting. [NYT, SABA, AFP, Sahafa, Reuters, 1/25/2015]
Secessionists seize checkpoints in south
Fighters from the Southern Movement took over six checkpoints in Ataq, the capital of Shabwa province, without facing any resistance. Policemen were told to give up their weapons and return to their bases, before the militiamen raised flags of the formerly independent South Yemen at the checkpoints. This comes days after several southern provinces declared they would no longer accept orders from security forces. [AFP, 1/25/2015]
Jobless Arab youth to hit 50 million by 2020
The number of unemployed youth in the Arab world is expected to reach 50 million by 2020, heightening concern about further unrest in the region, with disgruntled youth seen as increasingly vulnerable to recruitment by militant groups. According to a recent report, subdued economic growth of only 2.6 percent in the region pushed the number of unemployed youth to 22 million by the end of 2013. Projected economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa, forecast to be around 3.8 percent in 2015, will not be sufficient to reduce high unemployment rates due to difficult political transitions, intensifying regional conflicts, and weaker crude oil prices. [Zawya, 1/26/2015]
Libya producing 363,000 bpd of oil
Libya, still struggling to reopen ports and oilfields hit by fighting, is producing 363,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and exporting around 200,000, the oil minister appointed by forces in control of the capital Tripoli said. The NOC has declined to give production updates in recent months, but previous comments from al-Zwai suggest output has been at the 350,000 bpd level for most of January—around half of what the country was producing in November—and is well below the maximum capacity of about 1.6 million bpd. [Libya Monitor, Reuters, 1/26/2015]
Egypt cancels Iraq’s debts in exchange for oil shares
Reports revealed that the Egyptian and Iraqi governments have reached an agreement on the Iraqi debt to be canceled in exchange for shares of oil. The Iraqi prime minister, ending the ongoing dispute between Cairo and Baghdad and expanding areas of cooperation, had reached a number of political, military, and economic agreements during his visit. Iraq’s debt had caused great tension between the Egyptian and Iraqi governments after the Central Bank of Iraq refused to pay $1.7 billion to Egypt. [Zawya, 1/26/2015]
Authorities seek to ‘Jordanize’ labour sector
According to government officials, the Jordanian labor ministry is preparing an action plan to “Jordanize” some sectors by replacing guest workers with Jordanians. Healthcare, industrial, and wholesale sectors are among the targeted areas in the ministry’s plan to raise the percentage of the Jordanian workforce. Agreements with several associations in key private sectors setting the ratio of Jordanians to guest workers have been signed and preparations are under way to launch recruitment campaigns across Jordan prioritizing women and youth in remote areas. [The Jordan Times, 1/24/2015]