Forces loyal to ousted President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi, known as the Popular Resistance, recaptured the airport in Aden on Tuesday. Aden airport had been in the hands of the rebels since soldiers of the 39th Armored Brigade defected on March 25. The retreat by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels came as the Shia power struck a historic nuclear deal with world powers. Saudi Arabia has been deeply concerned about Iranian influence in Yemen and has led a devastating air campaign since March against the rebels and their allies in the armed forces. President Hadi was “personally supervising the operation” dubbed “Operation Golden Arrow for the Liberation of Aden,” his chief of staff Mohammad Marem said. Retaking the airport of Aden is the first significant achievement for pro-Hadi fighters since the embattled president fled. Also on Tuesday Aden’s oil refinery—the largest in Yemen—was set ablaze after being hit by rockets during the ongoing battle. Hadi loyalists blamed the Houthis for the blaze; the Houthis blamed a Saudi-led airstrike. Officials at the refinery expect the damage to be extensive, further crippling Yemen’s oil trade. [AFP, 7/14/2015]
EGYPT | LIBYA & THE MAGHREB | SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS | YEMEN & THE GULF | ECONOMICS
US House, Senate clash over aid to Egypt
The US Senate wants to keep in place restrictions on military aid to Egypt, setting up a clash with Cairo’s backers in the House. The Senate foreign aid bill would require Secretary of State John Kerry to certify Egypt’s progress on several human rights and democracy metrics before releasing $1.3 billion in annual military aid, a provision missing from the House bill. The Senate bill also withholds part of the yearly $150,000 in economic assistance to Egypt to pay for the legal bills of NGO workers sentenced in connection with US-backed efforts to promote democracy in the country. Both chambers agreed in December’s spending compromise to give Kerry the power to waive certification of Egypt’s progress on human rights if those standards cannot be met and keeping the aid flowing is deemed to be in the US national security interest. The new House bill would do away with that certification, while the Senate keeps it in place along with a requirement that the State Department, as a condition for using its waiver authority, explain in detail how Egypt is failing to meet congressional standards. [Al-Monitor, 7/14/2015]
Director of government’s foreign media monitor speaks out
The new government bureau, the State Information Service’s recently-launched FactCheckEgypt, tasked with following foreign media reports will work on countering misinformation regarding the situation in Egypt, rather than imposing oversight on foreign reporters, its head, Ayman Wallash, said Monday. He noted that the office’s staff are currently on a free training organized by iMediaEthics, a US non-government organization focused on media ethics. Wallash stressed that the creation of the new body has nothing to do with the controversial anti-terrorism law, which is still pending presidential approval. “We will track all misinformation in world media reports about Egypt and post it on the website bearing the bureau’s name. We will also list those who abide by the corrections and those who do not,” Wallash said. “That will have an impact on various foreign media outlets, which adopt ethical codes and care for their reputation and credibility,” he added. According to Wallash, the office staff is currently working on a report about the misinformation by foreign media regarding the deadly attacks on the army in North Sinai earlier this month. He said the report would prove that foreign media relied on unidentified sources. [Egypt Independent, 7/14/2015]
Police officer who shot lawyer detained four days
The police officer who shot a lawyer in a court is being held in detention for four days, pending investigation, after appearing before the prosecution late Saturday. The officer is being charged with assaulting a lawyer and conspiring to kill him, spokesman for the Lawyers Syndicate Sherif Anany said. Anany said that the officer told the prosecution that he heard a loud noise and saw someone running, and so began to fire in the direction of the running. Anany also added that the injured lawyer, Mohamed al-Gamal, is in stable condition. He is expected to appear before the prosecution for his testimony on Monday or Tuesday. Meanwhile, in the second reported assault by police officers against lawyers in less than two days, a police officer on Monday allegedly smacked a lawyer in an Alexandria court with handcuffs during a verbal dispute over the officer’s conduct towards colleagues. [DNE, 7/13/2015]
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Condemnation of border fence not from Libyan officials says Tunisia
According to Tunisian Deputy Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Touhami Abdouli, officials in Tripoli denied links to Libyan websites that recently posted threats to Tunisia over the construction of a fence along the two countries’ border. The Supreme Council of Revolutionaries in Tripoli denounced the work as a “blatant attack on Libyan sovereignty” and an act of aggression. Abdouli said that his Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted its Libyan counterpart in Tripoli to investigate the veracity of such threats and was told that such views were not the official position of the ministry. He added that Tunisia had not received any formal protest about the ditch project from either the powers in Tripoli or the internationally recognized government in Beida. Meanwhile, Tunisia’s three main unions – agriculture, industry, and commerce – met on Sunday in the border town of Ben Guerdane to discuss the barrier. They reiterated their support in fighting terrorism but rejected the building of a ditch and fence along the Libyan border. [Libya Herald, 7/13/2015]
Bangladesh closes it embassy in Tripoli
Bangladesh suspended diplomatic operations in Libya, moving its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia. In a July 14 statement, the Bangladeshi foreign ministry also issued a travel warning for its citizens against travelling to Libya. Most other countries closed their embassies last year following the closure of Tripoli airport. In May, the Tobruk government issued a decision barring the entry of Bangladeshi workers into the country, claiming many were planning to cross illegally to Europe. [Libya Monitor, 7/14/2015]
Ten Libyan soldiers killed fighting Islamists in Benghazi
Ten Libyan soldiers were killed fighting Islamist groups in Benghazi on Monday. Five soldiers were killed and six wounded when they came under attack by Islamist fighters in a district of the eastern city, said Milad Zwai, Spokesman for Army Special Forces in the port city. The five other soldiers were killed by a bomb planted by Islamists in a flat they were clearing. [Reuters, 7/13/2015]
Four killed in Tebu-Tuareg clashes in Sebha
Four people were killed in fighting yesterday morning between members of the Tebu and Tuareg communities in Sebha. According to reports from the town, three Tebus and a Tuareg man were killed in the incident. It happened when a Tebu group allegedly attacked Tuaregs at a camp on the airport road. The gunfight lasted for two hours. Later on in the afternoon, a security source in Sebha said that the situation was calm and under control following the mediation of elders from the two communities. The fight resulted in an exchange of prisoners by both sides. [Libya Herald, 7/13/2015]
Bilateral relations between Algeria and India
Indian Minister of State for Agriculture, Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, the Special Envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stressed on Monday the importance of bilateral relations between his country and Algeria. The Indian special envoy said he handed over a letter from the Indian prime minister to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to take part in the third India-Africa summit, taking place on October 29 in New Delhi. The Indian official raised “the importance” of relations between India and Algeria. Following discussions with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramtane Lamamra, Balyan said presence of Algeria in the next India-Africa summit was “essential” considering the country’s “importance” in the African continent. [All Africa/APS, 7/13/2015]
Syria’s Assad sees more Iranian support after nuclear deal
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Tuesday he is confident his top regional ally Iran will step up its efforts to back “just causes,” suggesting he expects more backing from Tehran in his fight against insurgents after a nuclear deal. The Syrian state news agency SANA published a message from Assad to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in which Assad stated, “We are confident that the Islamic Republic of Iran will support, with greater drive, just causes of nations and work for peace and stability in the region and the world.” [Reuters, 7/14/2015]
Two ISIS leaders killed in air strike in Syria
Two senior Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) leaders were killed in an air strike in northeastern Syria’s Hasaka province on Monday. Activists identified the leaders as Abu Osama al-Iraqi, the “governor” of ISIS’s territory in northeastern Syria, and Amer al-Rafdan, a Syrian whom served ISIS’s governor in Deir Ezzor. It is still undetermined whether the air strike was carried out by the US-led coalition or by separate Syrian regime air strikes carried out in the same area around the same time. ISIS has reportedly made gains against the Syrian army in Hasaka over the past ten days, and clashes between the two groups raged Tuesday on the city’s southern edge. [Reuters, Daily Star, 7/14/2015]
UN says at least 15,000 civilians killed in Iraq war
The United Nations issued the “Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq,” in which it indicated that at least 15,000 civilians have been killed and at least 44,000 wounded in Iraq’s armed conflict since the start of 2014. The report says the figure, which runs up to the end of April 2015, only accounts for casualties it was able to verify and acknowledges the real toll may be much higher. The US-led coalition carried out twenty-nine air strikes against ISIS near Ramadi on Monday hitting sixty-seven ISIS staging areas and destroying two ISIS excavators, an ISIS armored personnel carrier, and an ISIS vehicle. Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Iraq Jan Kubi met Monday to discuss the latest developments in Iraq, stressing the importance of collaborative efforts to achieve security and stability in Iraq and discussing the possibility of returning displaced people to their homes. [AFP, 7/13/2015]
Hezbollah, Syrian army seize ‘main crossing’ in Zabadani
Hezbollah’s al-Manar media station reported that Hezbollah and the Syrian army captured the main entrance to the Syrian-Lebanese border city of Zabadani on Monday. The report said the allied forces captured the Hay al-Sultani neighborhood in Zabadani’s southeastern region, leaving scores of militants dead or wounded, and that the latest advance has led to the closure of the “main entrance to the city,” isolating Zabadani from the neighboring mountain town of Madaya. The battle for Zabadani has reportedly killed twelve Hezbollah fighters, sixteen Syrian army soldiers, and 200 rebel fighters. [Daily Star, 7/13/2015]
Pro-government forces retake Aden airport in Yemen
Forces loyal to ousted President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi, known as the Popular Resistance, recaptured the airport in Aden on Tuesday. Aden airport had been in the hands of the rebels since soldiers of the 39th Armored Brigade defected on March 25. The retreat by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels came as the Shia power struck a historic nuclear deal with world powers. Saudi Arabia has been deeply concerned about Iranian influence in Yemen and has led a devastating air campaign since March against the rebels and their allies in the armed forces. President Hadi was “personally supervising the operation” dubbed “Operation Golden Arrow for the Liberation of Aden,” his chief of staff Mohammad Marem said. Retaking the airport of Aden is the first significant achievement for pro-Hadi fighters since the embattled president fled. Also on Tuesday Aden’s oil refinery—the largest in Yemen—was set ablaze after being hit by rockets during the ongoing battle. Hadi loyalists blamed the Houthis for the blaze; the Houthis blamed a Saudi-led airstrike. Officials at the refinery expect the damage to be extensive, further crippling Yemen’s oil trade. [AFP, 7/14/2015]
World Health Organization delivers critical aid to Yemen
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday it had delivered life-saving medical supplies to the southern city of Aden in Yemen, where most health facilities are “non-functional” due to fighting and critical shortages of supplies. In a statement, the WHO said it had brought 46.4 tonnes of assistance including trauma kits, medicines for treating malaria and diarrheal diseases, and water and sanitation supplies for more than 84,000 people in six trucks as part of a UN convoy. Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said that the UN convoy arrived in Aden at the weekend, but that rations supplied by the World Food Programme (WFP) aboard several dozen trucks had been delayed. “It took days and days to organize safe passage. It did arrive in Aden last Saturday. It was the first time we got a convoy into Aden for weeks,” Van Der Klaauw told reporters in Geneva. “We had wanted to use ports, vessels which try to dock in Aden. But since the pause didn’t take place, we still have a big problem that Aden is not reachable by sea,” Van Der Klaauw said, adding that vessels were diverted to Hodeida port. [Reuters, 7/14/2015]
UN Secretary General expresses disappointment at continued violence in Yemen
On Monday, Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson revealed that the UN Secretary General is “very much disappointed” that a humanitarian pause in fighting in Yemen didn’t take hold after Saudi Arabia did not recognize the truce and continued air strikes. Although Ban had been assured by both the Houthi delegation and ousted President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi of their cooperation, fighting resumed within hours of the United Nations’ truce announcement. “Different people are saying different things. We very much stand by the commitments we have received for this pause,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. [Reuters, 7/13/2015]
Kuwait establishes new anti-terror group
The Gulf state of Kuwait, hit by the worst suicide attack in its history last month, decided on Monday to set up a permanent committee to fight terrorism and extremism. At its weekly meeting, the cabinet “decided to form a permanent committee to coordinate between various bodies to ensure security and fight against all forms of terrorism … and extremism,” a statement said. The interior ministry has arrested more than forty people in connection with the June attack and referred them to the public prosecution for legal action. The cabinet statement said the new committee would also work to drain sources of terror funding and intensify awareness programs. [AFP, 7/13/2015]
Algeria’s foreign reserves fall by $19 billion
Algeria’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $19.02 billion to $159.9 billion in the first quarter of 2015 due to the collapse in global crude oil prices, the country’s central bank said. The sharp drop in reserves underscores the challenge that low oil prices pose to Algeria, which relies on energy revenues for 60 percent of its state budget and oil and gas exports for 95 percent of sales abroad. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika last week urged his government to rationalize spending, but the central bank said the level of reserves remained adequate for Algeria to manage external shocks. Algeria also recorded a trade deficit of $6.3 billion in the first five months of 2015, compared to a $3.44 billion surplus a year earlier, according to recent figures. [Reuters, 7/14/2015]
Houthi attack sets refinery ablaze in Yemeni city Aden
Houthi forces fired mortar rounds at an oil refinery in the southern Yemeni city of Aden on Monday, witnesses and local officials said. The mortar barrage hit three full storage tanks and started a huge fire. After months of conflict, most of Yemen’s oil and gas industry has slowly stopped. “We are trying to put out the fire. The shelling targeted the tanks where we were storing diesel and fuel for local consumption in Aden. The damage is going to be very big,” one official at the facility said. Industry sources said in April the 150,000 barrels-per-day Aden refinery had shut its operations and declared force majeure on its imports and exports. Meanwhile, Oxfam said on Tuesday that fuel shortages in Yemen could cause more deaths than the continuing conflict. The lack of fuel, caused by fighting and restrictions on imports, has affected food deliveries, water supplies, and health services for most of Yemen’s population. [Reuters, New York Times, 7/13/2015]
Egypt allocates EGP 5 billion for new administrative capital
The Egyptian government has allocated EGP 5 billion EGP ($638.8 million) for the Administrative Capital project in its new budget, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly said on Monday. Madbouly added that a “new step” in the project would be announced soon. He also said that more than five Arab and Egyptian companies have submitted requests to contribute to the project and that negotiations with an Emirati company regarding the first stage of the project are ongoing. On June 9, Madbouly acknowledged “complications” in contract negotiations with the investment fund that is expected to lead development of the new capital. [Cairo Post, 7/14/2015]
Egypt issues new law liberalizing electricity market
A new legislation liberalizing Egypt’s electricity market and encouraging private sector investment in the market was published in the official gazette on Monday. The electricity law, issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday, allows the state to give up management of the electricity sector’s public utilities. The state would only be responsible for organizing and observing the electricity sector. The bylaws of the new legislation will be issued within six months, the Electricity Ministry said in a statement on Monday. Electricity utilities would then be given six months to legalize their status as per the new legislation. The new law resolves the issue of subsidizing electricity and provides a new mechanism that allows private investors to profit even when abiding by subsidized prices. The law also separates the Egyptian Electric Utility and Consumer Protection Regulatory Agency from the Electricity Ministry, making it an independent body tasked with regulating the market. [Aswat Masriya, 7/13/2015]