Top News: Government, Houthis Reach Agreement Saturday; New Government to Form

The Yemeni government and the Houthis reached an agreement to end the violence in Sana’a and form a more inclusive government on Saturday. UN Special Advisor on Yemen Jamal Benomar said in a statement, “This agreement shall be a national document that will advance the path of peaceful change, and will lay the foundations for national partnership and for security and stability.” Benomar and Houthi representatives flew from Saada to Sana’a on Sunday to sign the accord, which calls for the formation of an inclusive national unity government within one month and the reversal of an unpopular decision to increase fuel prices. However, Houthi representatives refused to sign an annex to the agreement that called on them to return seized weapons and territory to the government. Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa submitted his resignation prior to the signing ceremony, stating that he hoped the move would help consensus emerge from the accord. The text of the agreement in Arabic is available here.

EGYPT | LIBYA | SYRIA | TUNISIA | YEMEN | RELATED ISSUES

 

EGYPT

State department reportedly invites Sisi to meet Obama
The US Department of State invited Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to meet with President Barack Obama on Thursday, a source with the office of President Sisi said. Sisi embarked on a trip to the United States on Sunday, his first since he was elected president in June, to represent Egypt in the United Nations’ General Assembly’s 69th session. He will also attend the UN Climate Summit, scheduled for September 23. During his visit, Sisi is expected to highlight Egypt’s efforts to attract investment to support the economy and fund major projects such as the Suez Canal expansion and the development of the electricity sector. He is also expected to speak about the new anti-IS coalition, Egypt-US relations and about ties to Russia. In a meeting on Sunday, Sisi and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon looked at means to bolster Egypt-UN cooperation and issues of mutual interest, including on Libya and Gaza. Ban also urged the release of political detainees in Egypt in discussions with Sisi, the UN said in a statement. [Aswat Masriya, 9/22/2014]

Sisi says those who renounce violence can participate in politics
In his first interview with the foreign media since he took office, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s insists all actions taken since Mohamed Morsi’s ouster were to combat militancy and save the country from civil war. He said Egypt is a model for fighting terrorism and that the US-led coalition to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria should take note. President Sisi hinted at the possibility of the participation of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in political life on the condition that it renounce violence. Sisi reportedly justified the Egyptian authorities’ yearlong crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood saying the group had “chosen confrontation.” His entire interview can be found here. [AP, Aswat Masriya, 9/21/2014]

Egypt court says no jurisdiction to rule on NASL, Nour Party dissolution
A Cairo court said on Monday it does not have the authority to rule on a lawsuit demanding the banning of the activities of an Islamist alliance supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi. Lawyer Samir Sabry filed a lawsuit calling for the halt of the activities and closing down of the offices of the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL), an umbrella for mainly Islamist groups led by the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. However, the Cairo court of appeals for urgent matters said it “lacks jurisdiction” to rule on the matter. Naguib Gabriel, lawyer and head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights, had also filed a lawsuit calling for a temporary freeze on the Nour Party’s activities and a ban on it running in upcoming parliamentary elections. The Cairo court for urgent matters on Monday also said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter. [Ahram Online, 9/22/2014]

US to deliver ten Apache helicopters to Egypt, says Pentagon
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Egyptian Defense Minister Colonel General Sedki Sobhy on Saturday to confirm US plans to deliver ten Apache helicopters to Egypt to support Cairo’s counterterrorism efforts, the Pentagon said. The United States originally announced in April that it had decided to lift its hold on the delivery of the attack helicopters to Egypt, imposed last year after the military’s ouster of Mohamed Morsi and a crackdown against protesters. Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said that the helicopters would support Egypt’s counterterrorism operations in the Sinai Peninsula. On Saturday, Kirby said Hagel had confirmed to General Sobhy that Washington planned to deliver the helicopters, but gave no date. [Reuters, DNE, Mada Masr, DoD News, 9/21/2014]

LIBYA

Rival prime ministers address Libyans, highlighting divisions
In recent addresses to the nation, Libya’s rival prime ministers have each claimed legitimacy and denounced the other side. Since Misratan militias seized control of Tripoli last month, the revived General National Congress has appointed prime minister Omar al-Hassi, leaving the country with two competing parliaments and governments. The elected House of Representatives and Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni effectively have no authority over large swathes of the country. Calling on armed groups to leave Tripoli, al-Thinni said he would form an inclusive government. At a rally, al-Hassi, recalling the 2011 uprising against Qaddafi, proclaimed, “We are going to renew the victory.” [Reuters, 9/20/2014]

Ten activists and officers killed in Benghazi
In a span of twenty-four hours, targeted killings in Benghazi have left ten rights activists, journalists, and security officers dead, according to local security officials, in what appears to have been an orchestrated campaign by extremists. Among the victims were two activist bloggers—eighteen-year-old Tawfiq Bensaud and his friend Sami Kwafi—which has shocked the violence-ridden eastern city. Officials said three other people who were targeted survived assassination attempts. [AP, Libya Herald, 9/20/2014]

Fighting erupts near oilfield and refinery as ‘rival minister’ appears
Soldiers and police have clashed in recent days near Libya’s El Sharara oilfield in the south, while separate fighting has erupted in the west not far from the Zawiya refinery. Video emerged purportedly showing a rival oil minister, appointed by Misratan militias and their allies controlling Tripoli, giving a speech at the oil ministry. If confirmed, this could mean that the central government, now operating out of Tobruk, has lost control of the ministry and raise questions about ownership of oil exports. The closure of Sharara has reduced crude production to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from the peak of 870,000 bpd recorded in mid-September. [Reuters, 9/21/2014]

Audit bureau chief reveals scale of budget deficit so far this year
Head of Libya’s audit bureau Khaled Shakshak said that oil port closures over the last year could result in Libya facing a “major crisis” as its expenditures far exceed its revenues. State revenues from January to August totaled 11 billion Libyan dinars (LD), while total spending was LD27 billion, producing a deficit of LD16 billion. Shakshak added that corruption and waste in public spending will also worsen the deficit, saying that the bureau had taken “exceptional measures” to tackle the issue, such as restricting the central bank’s spending to salaries and operational expenses below LD200,000. [Libya Monitor (subscription), 9/22/2014]

SYRIA

Kurdish forces halt ISIS advance on Ayn al-Arab; 130,000 flee into Turkey
Syrian Kurdish forces said Monday they had stopped ISIS insurgents pushing to capture a key city near the border with Turkey, as the number of Syrians fleeing across the frontier rose to 130,000—perhaps the largest refugee surge of the war, prompting Turkey to shutter the border. Crossing in the other direction, hundreds of Turkish Kurdish youths crossed the border to assist in the defense. Despite the standoff, the commanders of Syrian Kurdish forces said heavy fighting was still raging in areas around the city of Ayn al-Arab, where ISIS rebels backed by tanks and other heavy armor, have seized control of more than sixty villages and forced the evacuation of one hundred others. US, British, and French militaries have launched an urgent effort to train Kurdish forces to use sophisticated weapons that the West is expected to supply in the coming months for a stepped up counteroffensive against ISIS. [WSJ, NYT, 9/22/2014]

Regime air strikes in Idlib kill forty-two, including sixteen children
Syrian government air strikes killed at least forty-two people, including sixteen children, in Idlib province in the northwest, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday. The air raids on Sunday afternoon and evening killed nineteen people, including six children, outside the city of Saraqeb, and another twenty-three people, among them ten children, in the town of Ehsim. The province is largely under rebel control outside its capital, Idlib city. [AFP, 9/22/2014]

ISIS urges attacks on Western citizens, taunts Obama
ISIS urged its followers on Monday to attack citizens of the United States, France, Canada, and other countries which have joined a coalition to destroy the ultra-radical group. ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani also taunted US President Barack Obama and other Western “crusaders,” saying their forces faced inevitable defeat at the insurgents’ hands. On Monday, France sought to reassure its citizens that it was prepared to head off ISIS attacks on home soil. “France is not afraid,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said repeatedly during a televised statement. [Reuters, 9/22/2014]

TUNISIA

Marzouki announces candidacy for the 2014 presidential election
Caretaker President Moncef Marzouki officially submitted, on Saturday, his candidacy for the 2014 presidential poll. In a statement to the media, Marzouki said he would defend human rights and the values for which he has fought for three decades, while vowing to protect the economic and social rights of the middle class and other marginalized communities. [All Africa, 9/22/2014]

Tunisia, EU agree on the deployment of election observers
Tunisian officials and the European Union completed an agreement to allow EU election monitors to observe the upcoming legislative and presidential elections. The foreign ministry announced that a similar agreement was signed with the Independent Higher Authority for the Elections (ISIE) and is part of the EU’s continuous support for Tunisia’s democratic transition. [All Africa, 9/22/2014]

Marzouki and Hollande vow to stay out of Libya
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and French President François Hollande on Friday confirmed plans to abstain from military action in Libya, and instead coordinate efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to restoring stability within the region, but vowed to monitor and not interfere militarily in the ongoing crisis. [TAP, All Africa, 9/2/2014]

YEMEN

Government, Houthis reach agreement Saturday; new government to form
The Yemeni government and the Houthis reached an agreement to end the violence in Sana’a and form a more inclusive government on Saturday. UN Special Advisor on Yemen Jamal Benomar said in a statement, “This agreement shall be a national document that will advance the path of peaceful change, and will lay the foundations for national partnership and for security and stability.” Benomar and Houthi representatives flew from Saada to Sana’a on Sunday to sign the accord, which calls for the formation of an inclusive national unity government within one month and the reversal of an unpopular decision to increase fuel prices. However, Houthi representatives refused to sign an annex to the agreement that called on them to return seized weapons and territory to the government. Prime Minister Mohammed Basindwa submitted his resignation prior to the signing ceremony, stating that he hoped the move would help consensus emerge from the accord. The text of the agreement in Arabic is available here. [Reuters, 9/21/2014]

Fighting slows in Sana’a, but confusion remains
Even though Houthi representatives refused to sign the annex to the agreement calling on them to return captured weapons and territory, President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi declared a ceasefire on Sunday. While the heaviest fighting came to an end, reports from Sana’a on Monday indicated that Houthi militants, armed with light weapons and banners bearing the group’s slogan, organized checkpoints on some streets. Houthi militants also allegedly raided the houses of a member of the Sunni Ahmar clan, with whom they had fought in the city’s northwest district, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman. Sana’a’s provincial secretary, Abdulqader Halaal, submitted his resignation to President Hadi on Sunday in protest of the security situation in the capital and his inability to protect its citizens. Defense Secretary Major General Mohammed Nasser Ahmed oversaw the transfer of some buildings from Houthi control back to the government on Monday, but the security climate in Sana’a remains uncertain. [Al Masdar (Arabic), 9/22/2014]

GCC praises agreement
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issued a statement on Monday praising the agreement reached between the Yemeni government and Houthi forces. The GCC Council of Ministers, currently in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week, expressed its hope that an agreement between the two sides would lead to the cessation of violence and the enhancement of security and stability in Yemen. The council called on all sides to prioritize the national interest and reiterated its support for President Hadi in implementing the outcomes of the National Dialogue Conference. Some Gulf ministers have criticized the Houthis’ use of violence in the past week while calling for a peaceful solution. [Al Masdar (Arabic), 9/22/2014]

RELATED ISSUES

Turkish hostages released after three months in captivity
Dozens of Turkish hostages abducted by Islamist State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants in northern Iraq were freed Saturday after three months in captivity. Security sources announced that the hostages had been transported from the town of Tel Abyad on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey after being released from the ISIS stronghold in Raqqa. The hostages, who included Turkey’s consul-general, diplomats’ children and special forces soldiers, were seized from the Turkish consulate in Mosul on June 11 during a lightning advance by ISIS militants. [CNN, The World Post, 9/22/2014]

No guarantee for Lebanese military and security captives’ safety
Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Monday assured family members of soldiers and police officers captured by Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and Nusra Front militants that the government was working towards securing their release but that it could not fully guarantee their safe return. The prime minister explained that negotiations with ISIS and Nusra Front militants were still ongoing, but had been disrupted by the slaying of two soldiers earlier in the month. [The Daily Star, 9/22/2014]

Algerian security forces kill high profile terrorist leader
The Algerian defense ministry announced Monday that its soldiers had killed a terrorist chief during an operation in the Kabylie region some 110 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital. The ministry failed to reveal the identity of the suspected terrorist but confirmed his connections with militant islamist groups in the region. At least seventy militants with connections to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have been killed this year as the government attempts curb the group’s expansion in the Kabylie region. [Naharnet, 9/22/2014]