The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has continued to gain ground in northern Iraq despite weeks of US-led air strikes, and is now moving closer to the Iraqi-Kurdish city of Irbil. ISIS fighters are battling Kurdish volunteer troops in the town of al-Kuwayr, southwest of Irbil.
National security expert Douglas Ollivant, of the New America Foundation, said on Tuesday that that it is likely that the armed group will concentrate on al-Kuwayr, given stronger resistance from Kurdish fighters and US-led air power should they make their way further into Kurdish areas. In the neighboring province of Nineveh, Provincial Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi said that he is coordinating with the Iraqi defense ministry to set up a force to liberate Mosul from ISIS. Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and moderate Syrian rebels bombarded Islamic State positions in Kobani on Monday, but it was unclear if their arrival would turn the tide in the battle for the besieged Syrian border town.
EGYPT | LIBYA & THE MAGHREB | SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS | YEMEN & THE GULF | ECONOMICS
UN reviews Egypt’s human rights record
Egypt’s human rights record came under fire on Wednesday during a United Nations meeting reviewing the country’s record for the first time since the 2011 ouster of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. “We are deeply concerned with steps taken by Egypt that have resulted in violations of freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association, deprived thousands of Egyptians of fair trial guarantees, and undermined civil society’s role in the country,” US Ambassador Keith Harper told the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. Washington’s criticism echoed that of many other countries, including Britain, Sweden, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, the Netherlands and Norway. Nigeria, South Africa, Iraq, and Cuba, were among the nations expressing solidarity with Egypt. Egypt’s minister for transitional justice, Ibrahim al-Heneidy, said Egypt witnessed a “leap” in the status of human rights, adding that the country has issued several laws since 2011, which address human rights. These include a law on violence against women and another on the right to access to information. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, seven Egyptian rights groups said in a statement they would not attend any of their scheduled meetings at the review, fearing persecution back home. [AP, Aswat Masriya, Ahram Online, SIS, 11/5/2014]
New NGO law will be passed by Egypt’s next parliament, says official
Egypt’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Human Rights Hisham Badr said on Wednesday there is no final draft for a new NGOs law and that it will be postponed until a new parliament is elected. The statement made at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva comes amid condemnations from rights groups against a new NGO draft law and an amendment made to the penal code which they say will restrict their work in the country. [Ahram Online, 11/5/2014]
Sinai tribes say government evacuation scheme ‘impossible’
Sinai tribal leader Sheikh Eissa al-Kharafin has said that the government’s plan to create a buffer zone on its borders with Gaza was impossible since it is inhabited by nearly 50,000 people. Some residents say the new measures amount to collective punishment that will do little to rebuild loyalty to a central government that has long neglected them. Meanwhile, more than eighty out of 802 houses across the borders were found to contain tunnels used for smuggling weapons and transporting “terrorists” in and out of Sinai, according to a Tuesday statement by Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. [Egypt Independent, 11/5/2014]
Orascom Construction to build $2.5 billion coal-fired power station
Orascom Construction, part of OCI NV, announced Wednesday its intention to commence studies to construct and develop a coal-fired power plant in cooperation with UAE-based International Petroleum Investment Company. The total value of the project has been placed at approximately $2.5 billion to $3 billion. The company said that project’s timeframe would be four years, adding that it is expected to have a capacity of up to 2,000 MW to 3,000 MW. It will utilize clean-coal technology that complies with EU standards for emission control. [Ahram Online, DNE, Mada Masr, 11/5/2014]
UK, France, and US ask United Nations to blacklist Libya’s Ansar al-Sharia
The United States, United Kingdom, and France have proposed that Islamist extremist group Ansar al-Sharia in Libya be blacklisted under the United Nations al-Qaeda sanctions regime, according to diplomats. If all fifteen members of the relevant UN Security Council committee agree, the group would be subjected to an arms embargo and a global travel ban and asset freeze. Washington blames Ansar al-Sharia for the 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. [Reuters, 11/5/2014]
UK ends Libya army course after sexual assaults
Britain’s defense ministry is cutting short a training program in the United Kingdom for Libyan troops after several cases of sexual assaults allegedly involving five of the servicemen were reported. Three of them were due in court in Cambridge on Tuesday, and two other servicemen have been charged with raping a man. The government will now review whether to continue training Libyan recruits in Britain, while the local member of parliament warned he would oppose any more Libyan troops being hosted at the base. Separately, a “handful” of the Libyan soldiers have applied for asylum. [Al Jazeera, BBC, Libya Herald, 11/4/2014]
Tripoli government may ‘carry forward’ 2014 budget
In a meeting with heads of local authorities, the Tripoli-based Omar al-Hassi administration challenging the internationally-recognized government says it may implement this year’s budget in 2015. The 2014 budget, despite having technically been approved by the former and current parliament, has not yet been implemented, with expenses merely covering salaries. The meeting also touched upon the transfer of funds to local councils, which media sources close to the Tobruk government say Tripoli uses to buy support. [Libya Monitor (subscription), 11/5/2014]
Participants in Tunisia National Dialogue call for majority led government
Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) Hassine Abassi confirmed that the National dialogue process would end on November 10 ahead of presidential elections scheduled for November 23. Participants in the dialogue process affirmed their unanimous support for a majority led government with the president tasked with nominating a prime minister from the winning party in last week’s legislative elections. With Nidaa Tounes poised to lead Tunisia’s next government, the upcoming elections are expected to feature several coalitions between the country’s top political parties. [All Africa, Middle East Monitor, 11/1/2014]
ISIS militants capitalize on gains in Northern Iraq, approach KRG capital
The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has continued to gain ground in northern Iraq despite weeks of US-led air strikes, and is now moving closer to the Iraqi-Kurdish city of Irbil. ISIS fighters are battling Kurdish volunteer troops in the town of al-Kuwayr, southwest of Irbil. National security expert Douglas Ollivant, of the New America Foundation, said on Tuesday that that it is likely that the armed group will concentrate on al-Kuwayr, given stronger resistance from Kurdish fighters and US-led air power should they make their way further into Kurdish areas. In the neighboring province of Nineveh, Provincial Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi said that he is coordinating with the Iraqi defense ministry to set up a force to liberate Mosul from ISIS. Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and moderate Syrian rebels bombarded Islamic State positions in Kobani on Monday, but it was unclear if their arrival would turn the tide in the battle for the besieged Syrian border town. [Al Jazeera, Reuters, 11/4/2014]
Shelling kills thirteen children in Damascus
Shelling of a rebel-held area in the northeast of the Syrian capital killed thirteen children Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, revising an earlier toll. Activists confirmed that a school had been hit by mortar fire on the Qabun district. Activists blamed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad for the killings, which they described as a “massacre of children.” The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists across the war-torn country, also said the shelling hit a school and an activist group in the neighborhood shared a grisly video of the aftermath. [Naharnet, 11/5/2014]
Iraqi forces prepare for a spring anti-ISIS offensive as Iranian influence expands
Sources within the US government unveiled an aggressive plan to retake territories taken by the Islamic State militant group in a new offensive slated to start in the spring of 2015. This major spring offensive is an integral element of the US-led coalition’s effort to roll back the radical Islamist group’s territorial gains in northern Iraq. The plan, however, requires a force of about 8,000-12,000 troops trained and equipped by the US and her allies at a time when Iraqi forces have displayed limited capability in fighting ISIS militants. The active participation of Iranian backed Shia militias, led by the powerful Iranian general Ghasem Soleimani, has provided much needed expertise and personnel but failed to reverse conditions against the Islamic State. [Asharq al-Awsat, AP, 11/5/2014]
Nusra Front chief vows to escalate armed campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon
The leader of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, has threatened Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah with “hidden surprises,” saying the real battle is yet to begin. Abu Mohammad al-Joulani, the Nusra Front emir, delivered the threat over Twitter hours after Nasrallah vowed to press on with the battle against Islamist militants, saying they would be defeated across the region. Al-Joulani said that al-Nusra Front fighters sent many signals to Hezbollah to indicate the risks of its intervention in the ongoing war in Syria and its support to Bashar Assad’s regime. [Daily Star, Naharnet, 11/5/2014]
Yemeni al-Qaeda leader killed in Bayda drone strike
A senior al-Qaeda official wanted by the United States, and a local leader of the armed group’s affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, were killed in a drone strike in central Yemen overnight. Shawki al-Badani, leader of al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP), was one of four armed group members killed, along with Nabil al-Dahab, leader of Ansar al-Sharia in al-Bayda province, tribal sources said on Wednesday. Mamoun Hatem, another AQAP leader, confirmed on his Twitter account that al-Dahab had been killed by “American planes defending the Houthis against the charging mujahideen.” The Yemeni defense ministry said Badani had been killed, and added without elaborating that an al-Qaeda leader it identified as Abu Maysara al-Hanaki had been killed by air strikes. US drone strikes killed at least ten suspected al-Qaeda fighters on Tuesday in central Yemen, where clashing between members of Ansar al-Sharia and rebel Shia Muslim Houthi fighters killed ten people, tribesmen said. [Al Jazeera, Reuters, 11/5/2014]
UN Security Council one step closer to sanctions on Yemeni individuals
The UN Security Council is poised to impose sanctions on Yemen’s former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and two Houthi rebel leaders for obstructing peace in the country, diplomats said Tuesday. A US-drafted proposal to the council would slap a visa ban and an assets freeze on Saleh and two of his allies, Shiite Houthi rebel commanders Abd al-Khaliq al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim. Approval by all fifteen council members is required to impose sanctions, and the council has set a deadline of Friday evening for objections, diplomats said. [Naharnet, AP, 11/5/2014]
Southerners welcome back leader to Yemen, continue to preach wariness of Houthis
Protesters in Aden gathered at the city’s international airport Wednesday to welcome Free South Arab League party leader Abdulrahman al-Jafari back to the city. Al-Jafari had been in exile in Saudi Arabia, but returned to Aden amidst escalating calls for southern independence. Elsewhere in the city, dissatisfied citizens called for unity amongst the leadership of the various southern independence movements. Southern leaders also continued to preach wariness of the Houthis, with Herak official Ahmed Omar bin Farid warning that Houthi designs on the south would be echoes of the Saleh regime. [Aden al-Ghad (Arabic), 11/5/2014]
Saudi Arabia jails Eastern Province protesters for up to ten years
A court in Riyadh sentenced five Saudis to up to ten years in prison for “anti-regime activities” in the kingdom’s restive Eastern Province and allegedly supporting militants in Iraq and Syria. The court gave one Saudi ten years in jail and another seven for giving protest footage from the Shia center of Qatif to a television network. A third man received eight years for protesting the regime in Awamiyeh near Qatif, and a fourth was given eight years for allegedly pledging allegiance to ISIS. The fifth individual was sentenced to seven years in jail for going to Iraq to fight alongside militants after receiving training in Yemen. [Gulf News, 11/4/2014]
Moroccan exports to increase by MAD 8.4 billion in 2015
According to officials from the global credit insurance company Euler Hermes, Moroccan exports will increase by 8.4 billion dirhams to reach 240 billion dirhams in late 2015. Overall, the Moroccan economy is expected to do well in 2015 with forecasts of a 4.2 percent growth due to household consumption and business investment. [MAP, 11/4/2014]
Tunisia’s annual inflation rate falls in October to 5.4 percent
Official data revealed that Tunisia’s annual inflation rate fell for the third consecutive month in October. Inflation dipped to 5.4 percent from previous 5.6 percent in September. The prolonged fall is attributed to a slight decline in food and drink prices. [Reuters, 11/5/2014]
Egypt’s Beltone Financial plans to raise money for growth
Regulatory approval was granted to Egypt’s Beltone Financial for a two-stage plan to raise up to 242 million Egyptian pounds to fund growth in the financial services businesses. Earlier this year, Beltone implemented a five-to-one share split in order to boost trading in its shares and widen its investor base. [Reuters, 11/5/2014]