Libya’s ousted prime minister has left the country despite a ban on travel, hours after the General National Congress (GNC) removed him from office in a no-confidence vote. In nearby Malta, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told state-owned television that Zidan had made a brief stop-over on the Mediterranean island late on Tuesday, before traveling on. Zidan is reportedly headed for Europe. The GNC voted him out of office on Tuesday after rebels humiliated the government by loading crude on a tanker that fled from naval forces. Questions have been raised in the GNC and elsewhere over the legality of the vote. Speaking on television, National Forces Alliance Congresswoman for Sabratha and Zuara Asmaa Sarbia insisted that the no confidence vote and the political roadmap. The GNC amended the February Committee’s proposal so that the new legislature will decide whether to appoint the new president or hold public elections for the position. In the meantime, Defense Minister Abdullah al-Thinni was sworn in as the country’s new caretaker prime minister. He will serve for two weeks while the opposing blocs in the GNC agree on a more permanent replacement for Ali Zeidan. [AP, Libya Herald, 3/12/2014]
Moussa acknowledges possible political future for Brotherhood
Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday, Amr Moussa expressed his willingness to welcome the Brotherhood back into the political arena under the right circumstances. Mousa told Reuters, “As long as they [Brotherhood] are following the rules, playing by the same rules as we are all playing, why should you exclude them? ….The road is open for them, if they so decide. Field candidates, get into the parliament, the ball is in their court.” Moussa is currently supporting Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi for president. [Reuters 3/12/2014]
Sisi in UAE promoting military cooperation
Egypt is taking its cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to a “new dimension,” said the Egyptian army spokesperson. Sisi, accompanied by a cadre of high-ranking military delegation was in the UAE to oversee the final stages of Zayed 1, a two-week long joint military exercise between the two countries. Egyptian army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in the UAE on Tuesday, where he met his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. Army spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Ali said Wednesday that the Tuesday visit by Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the United Arab Emirates was of “purely military nature.” He said the visit seeks to shift cooperation with the Emirates to military collaboration and the exchange of expertise in that respect. [Ahram Online, DNE, Egypt Independent, Mada Masr, SIS, 3/12/2014]
Egypt’s finance minister expects 2-2.5 percent growth this year
Egypt’s finance minister said today he expects growth for fiscal year 2013-14 to be between 2-2.5 percent. The newly appointed minister Hany Kadry Dimian said earlier the state’s budget deficit for this fiscal year will be around 12 percent and expected it to stand at 10-10.5 percent in the next fiscal year.[Reuters, 3/12/2014]
United States condemns mistreatment of detainees in Egypt
The United States is “deeply concerned” about reports that detained Egyptian political activists have been abused and beaten by Egypt’s security forces, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday. Activists Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel claimed during their trial on Monday that they had been beaten by security forces while being transferred from Tora Prison in southern Cairo to the courthouse a few kilometers away. “If true, there is no justification for such treatment,” Psaki declared during the State Department’s regular Tuesday press briefing. Psaki also welcomed reports that the Egyptian authorities plan to launch an investigation into the incident. The lawyers representing Douma, Maher and Adel withdrew from the court session in protest and filed a complaint over the incident. [Ahram Online , DNE, US State Dept Briefing, 3/12/2014]
Libya’s ousted Prime Minister leaves country despite ban
Libya’s ousted prime minister has left the country despite a ban on travel, hours after the General National Congress (GNC) removed him from office in a no-confidence vote. In nearby Malta, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told state-owned television that Zidan had made a brief stop-over on the Mediterranean island late on Tuesday, before traveling on. Zidan is reportedly headed for Europe. The GNC voted him out of office on Tuesday after rebels humiliated the government by loading crude on a tanker that fled from naval forces. Questions have been raised in the GNC and elsewhere over the legality of the vote. Speaking on television, National Forces Alliance Congresswoman for Sabratha and Zuara Asmaa Sarbia insisted that the no confidence vote and the political roadmap. The GNC amended the February Committee’s proposal so that the new legislature will decide whether to appoint the new president or hold public elections for the position. In the meantime, Defense Minister Abdullah al-Thinni was sworn in as the country’s new caretaker prime minister. He will serve for two weeks while the opposing blocs in the GNC agree on a more permanent replacement for Ali Zeidan. [AP, Libya Herald, 3/12/2014]
Misrata forces push Jadhran’s guards out of Sirte, plan to head to Sidra
Petroleum Facility Guard (PFG) supporters of Ibrahim Jadhran were forced from Sirte’s Ghardabiya airbase and out of the town’s Bu Hadi district by Misratan troops. Military officials said that the Libya Shield Central Brigade captured the base from Jadhran forces. Neither side reported injuries in the fighting. The brigade had been dispatched from Misrata by the Chief of Staff, in line with orders from the General National Congress to end Jadhran’s oil terminals blockade. Meanwhile, Tripoli is to make a renewed attempt to rid the capital of armed groups, according to the head of the local council Sadat Elbadri who admitted that this was not the first time the council had tried to remove militias from Tripoli. Armed groups had been given time to leave the capital, he said, but they had not responded. [Libya Herald, 3/11/2014]
UNSMIL head says country at risk of slipping into “unprecedented violence”
Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Tarek Mitri told the UN Security Council that “Libya faces the risk of embarking on a new trajectory of unprecedented violence.” In his latest and most pessimistic report to the UN so far, Mitri said Libya was in need of support as increasing political polarization caused violence across the country. He reported that a solution to the problem faced by the nation would require a clear strategy and a number of assurances to revolutionaries who, he said, were only nominally under state authority. He said this would include recognition of their contributions to the revolution and safeguards for their legitimate rights and interests. [Libya Herald, 3/11/2014]
Libyans continue to be optimistic and for democracy
The third and final public opinion survey conducted in Libya last year, financed by the Danish Foreign Ministry and conducted by the National Democratic Institute and JMW Consulting, has been released. The latest poll confirms that security issues are the top priority for Libyan citizens. Asked to describe their feelings towards Libya’s current situation, 64 percent responded optimistically, with 36 percent being pessimistic. Yet 41 percent believe that Libya is worse off than before the 2011 revolution. On topics of regionalism, 65 percent of those in the east disagree with the Cyrenaica Political Bureau’s declaration of regional autonomy. The majority of Libyans feel that the seizure of oil production facilities by armed groups is not justifiable. [Libya Herald, 3/12/2014]
Islamist militants, local men said to kill twenty-two in northern village
Islamist militants and their local supporters have killed at least twenty-two people in a village in northern Syria near the Turkish border, according to opposition activists on Wednesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group quoted residents in Shuyukh, 65 miles northeast of Aleppo, as saying that militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), had killed twelve fighters from rival rebel groups and at least ten local tribesmen, including a sixteen year-old. At least nine other villagers were missing and suspected to have been killed. Media activists circulated online a list of people they said were victims. They named twenty people killed and nine missing, and said four bodies had been thrown into the Euphrates River. According to an opposition activist, ISIS participated in the attack, but local men led it. Reuters was unable to verify the reports independently due to media restrictions in Syria. [Reuters, 3/12/2014]
Regime forces advance to edge of Yabroud
On Tuesday, Syrian soldiers backed by Hezbollah fighters took full control of farmland on the northern edge of Yabroud, according to military sources and anti-regime activists. The sources, who were in contact with fighters on the ground, said the Syrian army killed dozens of rebel fighters as they took over the Rima Farms district outside the town. Capturing Yabroud, the last major rebel stronghold near the Lebanese border north of Damascus, would help President Bashar Assad secure the land route linking his Mediterranean coastal stronghold with the capital, and choke off a rebel supply line from Lebanon. Thousands fled Yabroud and the surrounding areas after it was bombed and shelled last month ahead of the assault. The government has been making incremental gains along the highway as well as around Damascus and Aleppo in recent months, regaining the initiative in Syria’s conflict, which enters its fourth year next week. [The Daily Star, 3/12/2014]
Assad visits displaced Syrians in rare visit to the frontlines
President Bashar al-Assad visited displaced Syrians in the town of Adra on Wednesday in a rare public appearance outside the heart of Damascus. State television said Assad inspected a shelter for people displaced by fighting in Adra, which lies about twelve miles northeast of central Damascus and was partly captured by rebels three months ago. The visit coincides with advances by his troops battling rebels who captured parts of the suburb in December, displacing thousands from the area. Assad has made few public appearances since Syria’s conflict began three years ago. Wednesday’s trip underlined his increasing confidence just eighteen months after rebels appeared to be challenging his control over the capital. Adra is located by the main highway running north from Damascus to Homs which the army has fought to secure from rebel fighters over the last year. [Reuters, The Daily Star, 3/12/2014]
Four arrested in England for Syria-related offences
Police have arrested four people, three men and one woman, in Manchester and Oxford suspected of being involved in terrorism-related offences linked to the conflict in Syria. The four arrested are in custody in Manchester and being questioned on suspicion of being involved in travelling to or supporting fighting in war zones. It is estimated that 250 Britons may have gone to Syria to fight, and police say they are arresting increasing numbers of people either on their way to fight or suspected of links to the conflict. Britain’s most senior terrorism prosecutor, Sue Hemming, has said that Britons who travel to fight in Syria could face life sentences under terrorism offences on their return to the UK. [The Guardian, 3/11/2014]
Security officers injured in protests in Libyan border town
Two security officers were injured on Tuesday in clashes with residents in Ben Guerdan, a town on the Libyan border. Security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters who blocked streets with burning tires. Protesters were mainly comprised of vendors demanding the reopening of the Ras Ajdir border crossing, which was closed February 25 by Libyan authorities. The vendors also condemned a pledge by Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa to stop informal trade during a visit to Ben Guerdan on March 9. Ben Guerdan is a major hub for smuggling, with traffickers bringing goods in from Libya through the legal border crossing in vans. The merchandise is then sold across Tunisia for much lower prices than stores offer. [Tunisia Live, 3/12/2014]
Government Appoints Head of Communications Surveillance Agency
Tunisia’s government has appointed the head of a new controversial telecommunications surveillance agency. On Monday, the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research, Information, and Communication Technology announced the nomination of Jamel Zenkri as the director-general of the Technical Telecommunications Agency (ATT). The new agency has raised concerns among online activists and freedom of expression advocates. According to Reports Without Borders, the decree issued last November establishing the ATT “violates the principles that should govern Internet surveillance mechanisms, above all control by an independent judicial authority and the principles of need, relevance, and proportionality of surveillance measures, as well as transparency and monitoring by the public.” [Tunisia Live, 3/11/2014]
Three arrested for providing supplies to a terrorist group
The interior ministry announced on Tuesday that three individuals belonging to a banned movement were arrested by the anti-terrorism brigade. The three arrested persons are charged with supplying and supporting a terrorist group hidden in the mountains of Jendouba, involved in the assassination of two National Guard officers and a citizen. [TAP, 3/12/2014]
Jomaa and Marzouki call for action to improve the economy
On Tuesday, Interim Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa highlighted the need to ensure a regular supply of agricultural products at affordable prices and improve the control of distribution channels. This announcement comes as the prices of basic commodities rise across the country. Caretaker President Moncef Marzouki stressed the need to establish a new economic model that will boost investment, promote integrated development and reduce consumption, with the goal of overcoming the current economic situation. [TAP, 3/11/2014]
Army intervenes in conflict between Houthis and tribesmen in Hamedan
The military has acted to put an end to fighting between tribal forces in Hamedan and Houthi militants by deploying throughout the directorate, just east of the capital in Sana’a. The army has ordered Houthis to evacuate all of the sites that they occupied in their most recent campaign. The mediation committee dispatched by the President failed to reach a ceasefire agreement as most tribes refused to agree to certain terms, such as allowing Houthis freedom of movement and the right to teach “Houthi thought” in the area, in addition to the fact that the tribes do not want to coexist with Houthis who have advanced from Sa’ada province and whose presence they view as an occupation. The tribes have welcomed the army’s intervention in the conflict, while the Houthis called the deployment of the army a provocation. [Al-Masdar (Arabic), World Bulletin; 3/12/2014]
Military in al-Dali’ withdrawals to headquarters in first agreement made with Herak
Witnesses and local residents of the embattled al-Dali’ province are reporting that the military is withdrawing its tanks and vehicles to military headquarters. The news comes as part of an agreement inked on Tuesday to impose a ceasefire between the Southern Herak separatist movement and the military, particularly the locally infamous Brigade Thirty-Three. The Brigade, responsible for an errant shelling in December that killed fifteen people attending a funeral, will be vacated from the area in two months time, a key demand of the local population. Another Brigade will be assigned to al-Dali’. Prisoner transfer was also part of the agreement. This is the first agreement of its kind made between the government and Herak. [Yemen Press (Arabic), Aden al-Ghad (Arabic), 3/12/2014]
World Bank takes up wind power initiative
A credit of $20 million for Yemen to finance a wind park project on Yemen’s Red Sea coast has been approved by the World Bank. The project consists of the development and construction of a sixty megawatt wind power farm, which will increase the supply of cost-effective electricity from renewable sources for Yemen. The implementation of Mocha Wind Park Project will help Yemen meet its increasing electricity needs. Compared to the liquid fuel generation that currently dominates the Yemeni power system, the generation of this lower-cost, wind-powered electricity will contribute toward improving the sector’s financial position and reducing the need for energy subsidies. [Saba, 3/11/2014]
Yemen’s budget set to strengthen social safety net
The Yemeni government is working to strengthen its social safety net this year through programs designed to create new jobs and alleviate poverty. In this year’s budget, 479 billion riyals ($2.2 billion) have been allocated to various projects amounting to seventeen percent of public expenditure, he said. Seventy billion riyals will go to a fund to assist people with disabilities to cultivate skills necessary to either join the labor force or start enterprises of their own. Other projects include a poverty reduction program that will undertake over 6,000 projects throughout the country. [Al-Shorfa, 3/11/2014]
Iraq hosts counter-terrorism conference, warns of Syria conflict spreading west
International diplomats gathered in Iraq on Wednesday for the country’s first-ever international counter-terrorism conference, held in Baghdad. The two-day meeting is set to tackle topics such as international cooperation in fighting terrorism, media censorship on the subject, and how to deal with the ideology that fuels terrorism. Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded that the international community take quick, deterrent, measures to protect Iraq. He called for intelligence cooperation among the region’s countries to pursue terrorist organizations and said that countries should work together to target the finances of terrorist groups. Violence in Iraq has killed more than 1,800 people since January 1, 2014, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources. Al-Maliki also warned that Syria has become the world’s main arena for terrorism, which could spread to the West if its civil war continues. [Al-Arabiya, 3/12/2014]
Lebanon prime minister could quit over policy statement
Prime Minister Tammam Salam could step down in the next few days if the committee drafting the government’s ministerial statement fails to complete its mission on time, according to a source close to Salam. The ministerial committee tasked with drafting the new Cabinet’s policy statement, thus far, has failed to break a deadlock over the resistance clause. It appears increasingly unlikely that the ministerial statement will be completed ahead of the March 17 deadline. With respect to the resistance clause, March 14 coalition ministers demand that resistance should be under state authority, arguing that other formulas would legitimize Hezbollah’s arms. Hezbollah and its allies in the March 8 group reject such a proposal. [The Daily Star, 3/12/2014, The Daily Star, 3/11/2014]
Bomb wounds two policemen in Bahrain Shia village
A homemade bomb exploded in a Shia Muslim village in Bahrain on Tuesday, wounding two policemen, the interior ministry said, nine days after another blast in the Gulf Arab kingdom killed three police officers. Bahrain has been grappling with unrest by majority Shia over the past three years demanding political reform and an end to perceived discrimination in the Sunni Muslim-ruled country. Bomb attacks have increased since last year, raising concern about further instability in the Western-allied kingdom where the US Fifth Fleet is based. Mainstream opposition groups, including the main Shia al-Wefaq movement, have condemned the bombing and called on their followers to ensure that protest activities remain peaceful. [Reuters, 3/11/2014]
Saudi Crown Prince Salman visits China
On Wednesday, Saudi Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud began a state visit to China. This visit is the latest leg of an Asian tour that has included visits to Pakistan, Japan and India. The visit is expected to include high-level talks on economic, cultural, and military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China. In recent years, high-level visits between Saudi Arabia and China have become common and have served to strengthen bilateral ties between the countries. Economic exchange between the two countries amounts to seventy-three billion dollars. Saudi Arabia is the largest supplier of oil to China but the relationship between the two countries extends beyond economic relations and includes political consultations. [Asharq Al-Awsat, 3/12/2014]