The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) beheaded twelve people and hung them on crosses during a battle in Sirte. ISIS crushed a revolt by a Salafi Muslim group in the past few days, killing seventy people as armed residents trying to break its grip on the city. In separate violence on Sunday, gunmen fired on the airport of the main eastern city Benghazi, partly destroying a passenger terminal. ISIS also captured territory in Benghazi on Friday, but the Libyan army recaptured it on Saturday. Libya’s internationally recognized government asked fellow Arab states to conduct air strikes against ISIS to respond to these attacks. Both Libyan governments conducted air strikes against ISIS in Sirte in recent days, but given their limited capabilities, they could not stop the ISIS advance. The Arab League said it would hold an emergency meeting on Libya on Tuesday. Egypt joined Libya’s government in calls for international intervention against ISIS. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the attacks by ISIS. It said if rival parties could agree on a unity government, Libya could deal with the jihadist threat. However, there appear to be no signs of cooperation between the two sides. Neighboring Tunisia also condemned the attacks, saying that they the only way to defeat ISIS is through a national government unity. The United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Britain issued a joint statement Sunday condemning the “barbaric” acts. A joint statement released yesterday by the US State Department said, “We are deeply concerned about reports that these fighters have … committed indiscriminate acts of violence to terrorize the Libyan population.” [Asharq Al-Awsat, AP, Libya Herald, 8/17/2015]
EGYPT | LIBYA & THE MAGHREB | SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS | YEMEN & THE GULF | ECONOMICS
Egypt’s Sisi signs counterterrorism law
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi signed into law a controversial anti-terrorism legislation that establishes stiffer prison sentences for terror-related offenses, heavy fines for journalists who publish “false news” and a special judicial circuit for terrorism cases. The newly approved law assigns the death penalty for a dozen crimes, including founding a terrorist organization or taking up a leading position in one. The law imposes a punishment of five to seven years in prison for anyone propagating ideas and beliefs calling for the use of violence, via social media or other mediums. Among the most controversial aspects of the law is how it may affect the media’s ability to cover news on terrorist attacks. The law sets large fines for anyone who strays from government statements in publishing or spreading “false” reports on attacks or security operations against militants. Critics say the steep fines may shut down smaller newspapers and deter larger ones from independently reporting on attacks and operations against militants. The government had initially proposed a jail sentence for offenders, but backed down after a backlash from Egyptian media. [Ahram Online, Reuters, AP, Aswat Masriya, SIS, Mada Masr, The Guardian, 8/17/2015]
Government employees to demand PM’s removal over civil service law
Government employees say they will escalate their requests concerning the Civil Service law to demand the removal of Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab. The employees, mainly from the finance ministry, staged massive protests outside the Journalists’ Syndicate last week aiming to revoke the law enacted in March, which they say encroaches on their financial rights. The workers cancelled a protest slated for Sunday after failing to obtain prior security approval, but vowed a larger demonstration before the end of August to call for Mahlab’s resignation. Tarek Koeib, who heads an independent union of workers at the Egyptian Tax Authority, said in a press conference on Saturday that the union held an urgent meeting Sunday with representatives from several government agencies to discuss plans for the upcoming demonstration. Meanwhile, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Sunday that the law aims to restructure the country’s administrative apparatus, not to cut wages and lay off employees. “We are reorganizing the apparatus, but we do not want to disrupt livelihoods,” he said. Sisi described the size of the administrative apparatus, with almost seven million employees, as “unnatural” before explaining that the aim [of reform] is not to reduce the size. [Egypt Independent, Mada Masr, 8/17/2015]
Morsi’s defense team files appeal against death sentence
The court-appointed legal team representing deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi filed an appeal on Saturday at the country’s highest court challenging sentences of life imprisonment and death handed down in June, Morsi’s lawyer said. The Cairo criminal court sentenced Morsi to death over a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak as well as life imprisonment for giving state secrets to Qatar. Defense lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud said that Morsi’s defense team had provided the appeal court with all necessary legal papers, and that in the espionage case, the defense team cited eleven reasons in the appeal memorandum submitted to the court. “The reasons cited in the memorandum are related to lack of evidence in both cases,” Abdel Maqsoud said. [Ahram Online, DNE, Egypt Independent, Reuters, AFP, 8/15/2015]
Russia presents Egypt with advanced missile ship
Russia has gifted Egypt a Molniya missile ship that was previously used in the inauguration of the “New Suez Canal” earlier this month, the Egyptian armed forces announced on Saturday. The offensive missile boat Molnyia P-32 arrived in Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Alexandria at the end of July. According to state news agency, MENA, the move comes “as part of Russia’s ongoing support of Egypt, and the alignment in views of the political leaderships of the two countries regarding the war on terrorism in Egypt and the region.” The warship is one of the most developed Russian naval weapons and boasts the country’s latest missile technology. The fifty-seven-meter-long boat is equipped with four Moskit missiles, and is designed to destroy surface ships with its weapons of surface-to-surface and surface-to-air capabilities. The ship also includes “warning and electronic war systems,” which are a new addition to Egypt’s navy, Armed Forces Spokesman Mohamed Samir said. [Ahram Online, DNE, Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya, Mada Masr, Cairo Post, 8/17/2015]
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ISIS attacks Libya’s Sirte; Government urges air strikes as UNSMIL urges cooperation
The Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) beheaded twelve people and hung them on crosses during a battle in Sirte. ISIS crushed a revolt by a Salafi Muslim group in the past few days, killing seventy people as armed residents trying to break its grip on the city. In separate violence on Sunday, gunmen fired on the airport of the main eastern city Benghazi, partly destroying a passenger terminal. ISIS also captured territory in Benghazi on Friday, but the Libyan army recaptured it on Saturday. Libya’s internationally recognized government asked fellow Arab states to conduct air strikes against ISIS to respond to these attacks. Both Libyan governments conducted air strikes against ISIS in Sirte in recent days, but given their limited capabilities, they could not stop the ISIS advance. The Arab League said it would hold an emergency meeting on Libya on Tuesday. Egypt joined Libya’s government in calls for international intervention against ISIS. The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) condemned the attacks by ISIS. It said if rival parties could agree on a unity government, Libya could deal with the jihadist threat. However, there appear to be no signs of cooperation between the two sides. Neighboring Tunisia also condemned the attacks, saying that they the only way to defeat ISIS is through a national government unity. The United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Britain issued a joint statement Sunday condemning the “barbaric” acts. A joint statement released yesterday by the US State Department said, “We are deeply concerned about reports that these fighters have … committed indiscriminate acts of violence to terrorize the Libyan population.” [Asharq Al-Awsat, AP, Libya Herald, 8/17/2015]
Draft of new Libyan constitution to be ready in a month
The body responsible for writing the new Libyan constitution said that it finished seventy percent of its work. Ibrahim al-Abdali, a member of the body said yesterday that the final draft of the document was being prepared and should be complete within thirty days. The members of the committee were all elected in specific polls held last year and represent all regions of the country. It is unclear how the constitution will relate to the UN talks on a unity government, which are currently ongoing. [Libya Monitor (Subscription), 8/17/2015]
Belmokhtar’s jihadist group says it is al-Qaeda’s branch in North Africa
The militant group al-Mourabitoun, which claimed a string of deadly attacks in North Africa, declared itself a branch of al-Qaeda in a statement posted on their websites. Al-Mourabitoun said that the Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar remained its leader, despite reports that he was killed in a US airstrike in Libya in June. The group claimed a series of attacks over the years, including a deadly hostage at a Mali hotel earlier this month, which killed thirteen people including five UN workers. [Al Arabiya/ AFP, 8/15/2015]
Tunisian woman killed by soldiers looking for armed group
A woman was killed and a man wounded in western Tunisia late on Saturday after soldiers opened fire on their car fearing they were armed. The army had earlier received information about a car carrying an “armed group” in the Kasserine region and had dispatched soldiers to find it. The incident happened in a “zone closed for military operations.” [Al Arabiya, 8/16/2015]
Government air strikes on Syrian market kill almost 100
Syrian government air strikes on the rebel-held Douma suburb of Damascus on Sunday killed almost 100 people and wounded over 200, amounting to one of the deadliest air attacks in the Syrian war. The attacks came one day after the area’s largest rebel group Jaish al-Islam announced a new offensive against government forces in a neighboring suburb. It is unclear whether the two attacks were linked. UN Humanitarian Chief Stephen O’Brien said Monday during his first visit to Syria that he is “horrified” by the attacks on civilians that are taking place in the country. He told reporters, “I am particularly appalled by reports of air strikes [Sunday], causing scores of civilian deaths and hundreds injured, right in the center of Douma.” O’Brien further noted that the United Nations and other partners are assisting millions of Syrians in need but that he is “extremely concerned for the welfares of the 4.6 million people stuck in hard-to-reach and besieged areas.” UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura condemned the attacks, saying on Monday, “Hitting crowded civilian markets killing almost one hundred of its own citizens by a government is unacceptable in any circumstances.” [NYT, AFP, 8/17/2015]
Syria ceasefire ends, fighting resumes
A temporary ceasefire between warring parties in Syria collapsed on Saturday as negotiations failed to reach a more permanent agreement to end fighting in the town of Zabadani on the Lebanese border and the villages of Fuaa and Kafraya in northwest Syria. Syrian opposition group Ahrar al-Sham said in a written statement, “The reason for the failure of negotiations was the focus of [Hezbollah] on demographic changes and its lack of concern for the humanitarian conditions of the civilians.” Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV did not explain the failure of the talks but reported clashes between the Syrian Army and Hezbollah against armed groups east of Zabadani. Syrian state television also reported that insurgent shelling of Fuaa and Kafraya early on Saturday killed a child and wounded twelve more people. [Reuters, 8/15/2015]
United States to withdraw Patriot missile system from Turkey
The United States and Turkey released a joint announcement on Sunday that the United States will withdraw its Patriot missile system deployed near Turkey’s border with Syria when its mandate expires in October. The statement did say that the air-defense units could be returned to Turkey within a week if the need arises. It also said that US navy ships would be present in the Mediterranean to support Turkey’s defense. The move signals the Pentagon’s belief that the risk of Syrian Army missile attacks has eased since the Patriot missiles were deployed in 2013. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said Kurdish rebels on Saturday detonated a roadside bomb on a highway in eastern Turkey as a military vehicle was passing by, killing three soldiers and wounding six others. [AP, NYT, 8/16/2015]
Iranian and Russian ministers present united front on Syria
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said after last week’s talks in Moscow that they have a united position on Syria, with both diplomats warning against any outside attempt to dictate a resolution to the Syrian civil war. Zarif said at a joint news conference with Lavrov, “The Syrians must themselves decide their fate and future, and foreign states should only make this easier.” Commander of Jordan’s Border Guard Brig. Gen. Saber al-Mahayreh said in an interview Sunday that militants have tried to sneak into Jordan from Syria by blending in with Syrian refugees, while smugglers have stepped up efforts to bring weapons and drugs into the kingdom. Lebanese soldiers killed two gunmen reportedly affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) after they tried to infiltrate the Syrian border into Lebanon Sunday night. [AP, 8/17/2015]
Iraq PM reduces cabinet by one-third in reform push
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday ordered his cabinet reduced from thirty-three members to just twenty-two, consolidating the body as part of a major reform push in response to mass protests against corruption and poor governance. The decision would eliminate four ministries including the human rights and women’s affairs ministries and would consolidate others. Iraqi lawmakers voted Monday to refer to the judiciary a report holding top officials, including ex-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, responsible for the fall of Mosul to ISIS last summer. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said in a statement Monday that it is seriously concerned over reports that ISIS has used chemical weapons in Iraq. A car bomb at a popular auto dealership in eastern Baghdad’s Sadr City on Saturday killed thirteen people and injured fifty-two. ISIS quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the vehicle targeted a large gathering of the Iraqi army and its affiliates. [AP, 8/16/2015]
Anti-Houthi forces make gains in Taiz
Pro-government forces supported by Gulf airstrikes have made key gains against Houthi rebels in Yemen’s third city Taiz, which is seen as a gateway to the capital of Sana’a. The Popular Resistance Committees, loyal to exiled President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi, have seized several strategic locations in central Taiz, military officials said. The Houthis still control entrances to Taiz, however, including the eastern gate to Sana’a. Heavy fighting between government loyalists and rebels in Taiz has left more than eighty people dead in the past twenty-four hours, military sources said Monday. In the loyalist-held Aden a powerful explosion hit a hospital on Sunday, resulting in three deaths and setting of a fire that forced patients to evacuate. Anti-Houthi forces also claim to have taken control of the Shabwa province. “The province was handed over” to the Southern Movement, a secessionist group whose militants have been fighting in loyalist ranks, said Salem al-Awlaqi, a political activist in Shabwa. [The Daily Star, AFP, 8/17/2015]
Yemeni women hold rare protest in Houthi-controlled capital
Hundreds of Yemeni women protested Friday in the country’s rebel-held capital over a shortage of gasoline, a rare sign of dissent against the Houthis who overran Sana’a in September. The demonstration started at a women-only gas station when a station official told some 500 waiting customers there was no fuel. After four women were detained, the remaining women staged an impromptu sit-in, burning tires and demanding the detained women be released. They accused the Houthi station management and government of hoarding subsidized fuel to sell at a profit on the black market. [AP, 8/14/2015]
Saudi Arabia executes four foreign nationals
Saudi Arabia Monday executed three Sri Lankans found guilty of robbing and killing a citizen and an Egyptian convicted of murder in a separate case, the interior ministry said. The four deaths bring to 120 the number of executions this year in the kingdom, compared with eighty-seven for 2014, according to international media tallies. On Sunday, the Kingdom announced that it had arrested over 400 people whom they believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). The suspects have been accused of communicating with ISIS via twitter. [AFP, 8/17/2015]
Turkish lira hits another record low on political uncertainty
Turkey’s lira has hit a record low and lost 3 percent since talks between the ruling AK Party and the main opposition CHP failed, setting the stage for a snap election and more investor uncertainty. Turkey’s central bank will meet tomorrow to decide on interest rates. Markets are waiting to see if Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci will start a gradual shift to a single interest rate policy or continue with the current unorthodox mix of multiple rates. While analysts say the central bank needs to increase interest rates to shore up the currency, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Monday that rates need to fall, reviving government attempts to influence the central bank. “Looking at Turkey’s total debt structure, I don’t think current exchange rates are a cause for concern. We shouldn’t intervene in the market, it will find its own balance,” he said. [Reuters, Bloomberg, 8/17/2015]
Eastern Libyan government appoints new chairman for its state oil firm
Libya’s internationally recognized government in Tobruk has appointed Naji al-Maghrabi as Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) in the east. The move is largely symbolic as oil production is controlled by the NOC in Tripoli in the west. While the Tobruk government has appointed a head for the NOC in a separate headquarters in the east, oil customers prefer to pay through existing channels via the NOC in Tripoli. Maghrabi, who is currently in Egypt, confirmed that customers are still dealing with the Tripoli but said an conference would be held to urge the international community to go through the NOC in the east. He added that Libya’s oil production is between 350,000 and 380,000 barrels per day (bpd). [Reuters, 8/16/2015]
Saudi money market turmoil shows bank jitters over bond issues
Turmoil in the Saudi Arabian money markets suggests that financing the government’s budget deficit may not be a smooth process as banks worry about the risk of a liquidity squeeze. The government sold 20 billion riyals ($5.3 billion) of bonds to banks last week to help to cover a deficit caused by low oil prices. Saudi banks easily absorbed last week’s issue, but money market moves show concern about their ability to absorb the multi-year series of issues that may become necessary if oil prices remain low. Authorities have not released a bond issuance calendar or detailed figures for the government’s borrowing requirement, which has left banks in the dark about how many more bonds they might be asked to buy in coming months and years. [Reuters, 8/16/2015]
Egyptian unemployment eases to 12.7 percent in second quarter of 2015
Egypt’s unemployment rate edged down to 12.7 percent in the second quarter of 2015, from 12.8 percent in the first quarter and 13.3 percent from the same period last year. Egypt’s labor force added 66,000 new jobs during the second quarter of the year, the statistics agency CAPMAS said in a statement, citing an “improvement in some economic activities.” However, unemployment for those between the ages of 15 and 29 was 26 percent in the second quarter and 44.6 percent for those holding a university or higher degree. [Reuters, 8/17/2015]
Bahrain to remove meat subsidies as cheap oil hits budget
Bahrain will remove government subsidies on meat starting on September 1, state news agency BNA reported as the government seeks to save money due to pressure from low oil prices. Subsidies in Gulf oil exporting states have become increasingly difficult for governments to afford as oil prices have plunged, slashing export revenues. Bahrain, with much smaller oil and financial reserves than its Gulf neighbors, has been hit particularly hard. The removal of meat subsidies could eventually be followed by similar moves on other goods and services. However, Bahraini citizens will be compensated for the higher meat prices, BNA quoted Industry and Commerce Minister Zayed bin Rashed al-Zayani as saying. [Reuters, 8/16/2015]