Syrian state television reported Friday that Israel’s air force carried out a drone strike in the village of Kom in southern Syria’s Quneitera province killing five people. One soldier was killed and seven others wounded in a separate Israeli air raid overnight. Syrian state television confirmed the Israeli air strikes, but said only material damage was done after several missiles targeted a transportation center and a public building. Syrian rebel sources, however, said the strikes hit some of Damascus’s military facilities in the area. Israeli defense officials said the strikes killed at least four Palestinian militants responsible for firing rockets on an Israeli village on Thursday. The strikes came after four rockets exploded on an open field in Israel’s northern Galilee region on Thursday, sparking small fires but causing no injuries. The Israeli military did not comment on the air strikes but said it carried out a raid Friday morning on “part of the terror cell responsible for the rocket fire at northern Israel.” Syrian state television claimed that Israel backs militants in the area and that the air raids aimed to “boost the morale of terrorist organizations.” [AP, Reuters, 8/21/2015]
EGYPT | LIBYA & THE MAGHREB | SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS | YEMEN & THE GULF | ECONOMICS
Egyptian army responds to reports of potential US withdrawal from Sinai
After the Associated Press reported Wednesday that US peacekeeping forces could pull out of Sinai, Egyptian military sources voiced their anger and skepticism. A withdrawal would be “irrational,” and the threat is an attempt to “twist Egypt’s arm,” said Major General Adel al-Omda, a member of the Council for Foreign Affairs. Omda said that US threats “contradict the peace treaty [between Egypt and Israel] and would lead to its cancellation.” Technically, the United States would not be in violation of the treaty by withdrawing—the accord does allow the US to withdraw their forces temporarily in cases of extreme emergency. A senior Israeli defense official also rejected the reports as untrue. “The US is committed to this peace agreement by law and also in a deep way,” Amos Gilad, the head of the Defense Ministry’s political-security branch, said in an interview on Army Radio. He said that nobody has been hurt serving in the Sinai peace force and it has been accepted by Israel, Egypt, and the United States. Gilad added that it was recently agreed to increase the force’s budget. [Mada Masr, 8/21/2015]
HEC approves foreign, local organizations to monitor parliamentary elections
The Solidarity Ministry’s Central Administration of NGOs head Khalid Sultan said that forty-five NGOs received approvals to monitor the parliamentary elections after they fulfilled certain conditions: the founding purpose of the NGO must be to monitor elections or support democracy and human rights; the NGO must exercise this activity without interruption and ensure no administrative or financial irregularities; foreign NGOs must apply at the High Elections Committee (HEC). The HEC reportedly accepted applications from eighty-one local civil society organizations and six foreign organizations to monitor the elections. Five foreign organizations and sixty-three local organizations have been named. Democracy International, Global Network For Rights And Development, International Institute for Peace and Justice and Human Rights, Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, and the Ecumenical Alliance for Human Rights and Development, are among the international organizations listed on the HEC’s official website, granted 790 observers in total. Local organizations include Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights, and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. [Egypt Independent, 8/21/2015]
Thursday meeting to discuss escalation against civil service law
A number of independent trade unions and employees at several government agencies are convening on Thursday at the Doctors Syndicate to discuss escalation against a controversial law regulating government employee benefits. The protesting workers said they will discuss efforts to form “a unified front” against the law after their recent meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab yielded no positive results. However, members of the Tax Authority worker’s union said they will meet with Mahlab in the next two weeks to discuss further improvements on the law. [Egypt Independent, 8/21/2015]
Arrested lawyer absent from police media report amid ‘forced disappearance’ claims
A lawyer has reportedly been forcibly disappeared after he was arrested at his house in the city of Belbees in Sharqeya on Tuesday. Lawyer Abdel Aziz Youssef’s family claimed they were not informed of his whereabouts or why he was taken. Youssef’s brother said that security forces police did not use force or search the house when they arrested the lawyer in the middle of the night. When asked why Abdel Aziz was wanted, the police replied, “He knows what he did.” So far, Abdel Aziz Youssef’s location remains unknown. His brother claimed that the family has filed a complaint at the Prosecutor General’s office. Other lawyers following up on the case informed the family that prosecutors will likely question Youssef on Wednesday and that he could face protest charges. [DNE, 8/19/2015]
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New videos show Libyan officials threatening jailed Qaddafi son
New videos show Libyan security officials threatening Muammar Qaddafi’s son, Saadi, in an effort to force him to talk. The videos appeared two weeks after footage emerged showing guards beating him in the same Tripoli jail. Tripoli officials insist that they treat prisoners in their custody well. After the first video emerged, the Tripoli government invited journalists to see Saadi in his cell last week. Saadi said that he was fine but demanded to be released. “I am not guilty… I am asking the officials to release me because I am not guilty.” He also claimed that, “everything is okay in the prison… They treat me well.” [Reuters, 8/20/2015]
Libyan Tebu and Tuareg members walk out of Constitution Drafting Assembly
Tebus and Tuaregs agreed to quit the Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA). Four members, two from each of the communities, suspended their participation in the CDA in protest at “the violation of the constitutional declaration and the democratic principles for a multicultural state.” They complained at what they said was “the assembly’s lack of commitment to the roadmap agreed with the minorities.” In the statement published on August 19, they said they “completely refuse all outlines and proposals of the draft constitution,” and called on the international community to intervene and put pressure on the assembly to respect its previous commitments. Libya’s other ethnic community, the Amazigh, never joined the CDA. They boycotted its elections in protest at all three communities being reserved just two seats apiece. [Libya Herald, 8/20/2015]
Tripoli among the worst “liveable” cities in 2015
Libya’s capital is rated among the bottom five least liveable cities in the annual liveability ranking provided by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). With forty points out 100, Tripoli dropped from 132 in 2014 survey to the fifth least liveable city in 2015, according to the ranking, which scores 140 cities around the world based on lifestyle challenges. Ranked after Tripoli, the worst scoring cities on the list are, respectively Lagos (Nigeria), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Dhaka (Bangladesh), and Damascus (Syria). The EIU said the ranking is based on studying thirty factors spread across five areas such as stability, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and environment. [Libya Herald, 8/20/2015]
Okba Ibn Nafaa claims responsibility for attack on Tunisian police officers
The Tunisian jihadist group Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade claimed on Thursday, in a tweet, responsibility for this week’s attack on police near Sousse that left one officer dead and two wounded. Two armed passengers riding on a motorbike carried out the attack. [ANSAmed, 8/20/2015]
Israeli air raids on Syria kill five people
Syrian state television reported Friday that Israel’s air force carried out a drone strike in the village of Kom in southern Syria’s Quneitera province killing five people. One soldier was killed and seven others wounded in a separate Israeli air raid overnight. Syrian state television confirmed the Israeli air strikes, but said only material damage was done after several missiles targeted a transportation center and a public building. Syrian rebel sources, however, said the strikes hit some of Damascus’s military facilities in the area. Israeli defense officials said the strikes killed at least four Palestinian militants responsible for firing rockets on an Israeli village on Thursday. The strikes came after four rockets exploded on an open field in Israel’s northern Galilee region on Thursday, sparking small fires but causing no injuries. The Israeli military did not comment on the air strikes but said it carried out a raid Friday morning on “part of the terror cell responsible for the rocket fire at northern Israel.” Syrian state television claimed that Israel backs militants in the area and that the air raids aimed to “boost the morale of terrorist organizations.” [AP, Reuters, 8/21/2015]
Pentagon Chief urges Turkey to do more against ISIS
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a Pentagon news conference Thursday that NATO-partner Turkey needs to “do more” to assist the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). He urged Turkey to take steps to participate in air strikes and better control its borders with both Syria and Iraq. He said militant fighters and supplies make their way across the border and that Turkey must do more to police it. He noted US appreciation for Turkey’s decision to allow US warplanes to fly combat missions out of Incirlik air base, but said that alone is not enough. Turkey’s Anatolia state news agency said Friday that Turkish forces have killed 771 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey over the last four weeks. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Friday that he is considering a formal request from the United States for Australia to join air strikes in Syria against ISIS. [AP, 8/20/2015]
ISIS destroys Syrian monastery, moves Christian captives
A monitoring group reported Thursday that ISIS militants have demolished a monastery in the central Syrian province of Homs in the town of Qaryatain captured by the group in early August. The militants reportedly used bulldozers to raze the monastery as Syrian government warplanes continued to pound the area with air strikes in a counteroffensive to recapture the city. ISIS has also transferred several dozen Christians captured during the offensive to a location near its de facto capital of Raqqa in northeastern Syria. Upon arrival in Raqqa, the Christians will reportedly be given the choice of conversion to Islam or paying the “jizya” tax on non-Muslims. [Reuters, 8/20/2015]
Sources say second group of US-trained Syrian rebels could be deployed within weeks
Diplomatic sources told reporters Friday that a second group of rebel fighters trained in Turkey by the US-led coalition could be deployed to Syria within weeks as part of a campaign to push ISIS militants away from the border. One of the sources said, “Although there has been some scepticism about it, it is far too early to write off this program. Massive resources have been invested in this to make it work and we think it will work in the end.” The second group of rebels has reportedly been trained by US and British military instructors and will be deployed somewhere in Syria depending on “the latest battlefield dynamics.” Turkish officials declined to comment on the record, but a Turkish diplomatic source confirmed that training was underway. [Reuters, 8/21/2015]
Iran welcomes UN peace plan for Syria; Douma declares itself a disaster zone
Iran on Thursday welcomed a UN peace plan aimed at ending the four-year war in Syria, saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime needs to be directly involved in the process. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham told Iranian news agencies, “This new plan is seen as a step by regional and international players toward a better understanding of the reality on the ground and on the political level.” The rebel-held suburb of Douma outside of Damascus that was hit by Syrian government air raids last Sunday has declared itself a disaster zone. Douma’s governing council said in a statement that circulated online, “As a result of the humanitarian catastrophe, we in the local council for the city of Douma declare it a disaster area according to international, humanitarian, and UN standards.” The statement called on the international community to enforce UN Security Council resolutions and press Assad’s regime to end attacks against civilians. [Daily Star, 8/21/2015]
US drone strike kills three al-Qaeda members in Yemen
Three suspected al-Qaeda militants were killed Friday in an apparent US drone strike in Marib province, east of the capital Sana’a, tribal sources said. The three were riding in a vehicle that was struck at dawn by a missile in the desert region of Harib, the sources said. The United States is the only country known to operate armed drones over Yemen, and strikes have continued on suspected militants even as the country has been battered by months of fighting between pro- and anti-government forces. [AFP, 8/21/2015]
United Nations, European Union, and United States condemn Hodeidah bombing
On Wednesday, a top UN aid official strongly criticized Saudi-led airstrikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, a lifeline for imports of food, medicine, and fuel. “These attacks are in clear contravention of international humanitarian law and are unacceptable,” Stephen O’Brien told the United Nations Security Council. EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Christos Stylianides released a joint statement condemning the bombing of the Hudaidah port, calling on “all parties to the conflict to refrain from deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure.” The United States further condemned the Saudi operation, warning that the Hodeidah attacks could worsen the humanitarian situation. White House spokesman Alistair Baskey says the port was a crucial lifeline for food, medicine, and fuel for Yemen. He called for all parties to allow relief supplies to flow into Yemen unimpeded. [AFP, The Daily Star, AP, 8/21/2015]
Fighting continues on multiple fronts in Yemen
Houthi fighters said on Friday air strikes led by Saudi Arabia killed forty-three people in the central city of Taiz. Unconfirmed reports from medical sources said that Houthi attacks on the city killed thirteen people, including seven children. There was no comment from officials from the Saudi-led coalition. In the Empty Quarter desert, a local official said unknown gunmen attacked a government military post in the Thamud district near Saudi Arabia, killing four soldiers. In a statement posted online, the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) said it carried out the assault on the “apostate army.” On Thursday, Arab air strikes hit targets throughout northern Yemen, local officials said, as the front lines approach Houthi strongholds there. The attacks hit five provinces controlled by the Houthis and the military airport in Sana’a amid rapid advances by Arab-backed Yemeni troops. [Reuters, 8/20/2015]
First commercial ship arrives in Aden
A commercial ship docked Friday in Yemen’s Aden, a port official said, the first vessel of its kind to reach the city since it was overrun by anti-government rebels in March. The Venus, operated by United Arab Shipping Company, had a cargo of 350 containers of products ordered by businesses in Aden, which was retaken by pro-government forces last month, said Port Deputy Director Aref al-Shaabi. He said other ships were expected in Aden, Yemen’s main port, in the coming days. Since the recapture of Aden from Houthi forces, several transport planes carrying humanitarian aid have landed at the city’s repaired airport. [AFP, 8/21/2015]
Tunisia to adopt investment code in early October
Tunisia’s House of People’s Representatives (HPR) will adopt a set of economic bills at the beginning of October, Minister of Communication Technology and Digital Economy Noomen Fehri said, including an investment code. Speaking at an economic forum of Tunisian expatriates held on Thursday, Fehri said the government also hopes that the HPR will adopt laws on public-private partnership and a tax reform bill. The government is seeking to boost relations with Tunisians abroad and encourage investment in the country. The government’s five-year development strategy relies heavily on investment from Tunisians abroad. Fehri added that he supports the liberalization of the Tunisian dinar starting in 2017, as it will help Tunisian expatriates increase their investment in Tunisia. [TAP, 8/20/2015]
Egypt seeks LNG cargoes via Jordan
Egypt is seeking liquefied natural gas (LNG) via Jordan as the two countries boost LNG imports following the recent installation of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs). Egyptian state-owned gas company EGAS is seeking four LNG cargoes for delivery to Jordan’s Aqaba gas terminal, which will then be piped to Egypt. EGAS has reportedly approached existing suppliers for two cargoes to be delivered in September and two in October. Egypt and Jordan are linked by the Arab Gas Pipeline, which was built originally for exports flows from Egypt. However, numerous attacks on the pipeline have disrupted operations and a lack of investment in Egypt’s energy industry have transformed the country into a net importer of energy. [Reuters, 8/21/2015]
Algeria writes to OPEC over falling oil prices
Algeria has written to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), warning that a new drop in oil prices may warrant fresh discussions over the group’s strategy. In the letter, Oil Minister Salah Khebri noted that oil prices have sharply declined since the group decided to keep its ceiling unchanged at a meeting in June. One source said Khebri asked OPEC to consider taking some sort of action, although he failed to suggest specific measures. The international oil benchmark, Brent, now trades around $47 a barrel. According to the International Monetary Fund, Algeria needs a price of $121 a barrel to cover its overall expenditure. [WSJ, 8/20/2015]
Turkey’s bonds trading like junk, ratings downgrade possible
A number of factors, including record lira weakness, a political stalemate, and a looming repeat of June’s general elections, are combining to undermine Turkey’s hard-won investment grade. Turkey has had investment-grade ratings from Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings Ltd. for more than two years. The two ratings show that Turkey fulfills the criteria that many international investment funds require to buy its government bonds. Losing one of the ratings would worsen bond outflows, which already total over $4 billion this year. “The market is moving ahead of rating agencies in trading Turkey credit as sub-investment grade,” said Abbas Ameli-Renani, global emerging-market strategist at asset manager Amundi in London. [Bloomberg, 8/20/2015]