European Union (EU) foreign ministers met yesterday in Brussels to try and push forward the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Peace Accord. The EU is looking at preparing asset freezes and travel bans against five named Libyans. The men to be sanctioned are Misratan politician and prominent Libya Dawn supporter Abdurrahman Sewehli, Misratan militia leader Salah Badi, anti-House of Representatives (HoR) campaigner (despite being an elected member) Abdul-Raouf al-Manaie, armed forces commander in chief General Khalifa Hafter, and Air Force commander Saqr Geroushi. Swehli and Badi are accused of threatening violence against the peace deal’s proposed government of National Accord, while Hafter and Geroushi are cited because the EU maintains that they both said they will not respect the peace deal. EU sanctions will probably hit Sewehli harder than the others since he is thought to have property and other assets in the United Kingdom. The others are not thought to have investments or cash in Europe or be planning to travel there. [Libya Herald, Libya monitor (subscription), ABC news, WSJ, 7/20/2015]
EGYPT | LIBYA & THE MAGHREB | SYRIA & ITS NEIGHBORS | YEMEN & THE GULF | ECONOMICS
Morsi, Badie back in Egyptian courts as trials of Brotherhood leaders resume
The trials of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood resumed on Tuesday after the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Cairo criminal court resumed proceedings in the ‘Qatar espionage trial’ in which Morsi and ten others face charges of leaking classified documents to the Gulf country. Ismailia court also resumed the trial of Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 104 others, in the case known as the “Ismailia incident.” The defendants are charged with planning illegal protests, threatening public peace, committing acts of violence, and murder. [Ahram Online, 7/21/2015]
Sexual harassers in 340 reports released after girls failed to sign
Perpetrators of sexual harassment in 340 incidents during the first day of Eid al-Fitr, mostly verbal, were reportedly released because the women who were harassed did not sign police reports. The Morality Police issued 340 reports, in which most of the perpetrators were boys and teens. The department also commended the work of I Saw Harassment, a grassroots movement that releases reports on sexual harassment and includes volunteers that intervene in such cases on streets. The grassroots group released a statement Monday saying it had intervened in 223 incidents of sexual violations during the three day holiday, compared to thirty-five incidents in 2014’s Eid al-Fitr. [Cairo Post, 7/21/2015]
Terrorism down 50 percent during first half of July, say NGOs
A coalition of NGOs tracking the rate of violence in Egypt has said that the rate of terrorist incidents halved in the first two weeks of July. A report by the Parliamentary Election Observatory, an alliance of thirty-five local and international human rights groups, said terrorist crimes dropped by 50 percent during the period between July 3-16, compared to the last week of June. “The reports issued by the Mission revealed that terrorist crime rates decreased remarkably during the two weeks following the anniversary of the June 30 revolution, which witnessed a qualitative development in the nature of terrorist crimes. These crimes dropped in the second week of July 2015, which was attributed, in the reports issued by the Mission, to the relative success of the security measures taken by the Egyptian government,” the report said. [Egypt Independent, 7/21/2015]
Egyptian workers in Libya allegedly ‘liberated’ by ISIS
The Libyan Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) affiliated “State of Barqa” released a gallery of pictures online of alleged Egyptian workers after being “liberated from bandits” in the ISIS-controlled Libyan city of Nufaliya. The pictures showed masked militants allegedly returning passports and identification papers to a group of men. Other pictures show the “liberated Egyptians” waving the black ISIS flag. The authenticity of the pictures is yet to be confirmed. Nufaliya was also the scene of the kidnapping of three Christians, including one Egyptian. Meanwhile, authorities arrested 181 people attempting to travel illegally to Libya, among them seventy-nine from five Upper Egyptian governorates, sixty-three from Fayoum, thirty-five from the Delta governorates, two from Giza, and two from Sudan. [DNE, 7/21/2015]
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Prominent Libyans face EU sanctions
European Union (EU) foreign ministers met yesterday in Brussels to try and push forward the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Peace Accord. The EU is looking at preparing asset freezes and travel bans against five named Libyans. The men to be sanctioned are Misratan politician and prominent Libya Dawn supporter Abdurrahman Sewehli, Misratan militia leader Salah Badi, anti-House of Representatives (HoR) campaigner (despite being an elected member) Abdul-Raouf al-Manaie, armed forces commander in chief General Khalifa Hafter, and Air Force commander Saqr Geroushi. Swehli and Badi are accused of threatening violence against the peace deal’s proposed government of National Accord, while Hafter and Geroushi are cited because the EU maintains that they both said they will not respect the peace deal. EU sanctions will probably hit Sewehli harder than the others since he is thought to have property and other assets in the United Kingdom. The others are not thought to have investments or cash in Europe or be planning to travel there. [Libya Herald, Libya monitor (subscription), ABC news, WSJ, 7/20/2015]
Renewed Tuareg-Tebu clashes in Sebha
Despite a truce agreement this past weekend, there have been fresh clashes in Sebha’s al-Tiouri district yesterday between local Tuareg and Tebu fighters. Leaders from both communities agreed on a seven-day truce in the district on Saturday following earlier bloody clashes between the two last week. On Thursday alone at least six fighters were reported killed. The aim of the truce, mediated by other elders in the town, was to enable streets in the district, where both communities live side by side, to reopen and residents who fled the fighting to return home. The Ministry of Social Affairs has meanwhile called on the international community to provide humanitarian aid to the hundreds of displaced families. There have also been calls to human rights organisations to investigate the fighting, in particular claims of ethnic cleansing in the town, and on the government to send in a neutral force to pacify the district. [Libya Herald, Reuters, 7/20/2015]
Egyptian border opens after five-day closure
A spokesman for the Tobruk council said Libya’s border with Egypt reopened after a five-day closure. Marwan Bakkar told al-Wasat on July 20 that the Salloum/Mssad border was closed “due to the recent events in Sinai.” Egyptian authorities have in recent months placed restrictions on entering the country from Libya, including a daily cap of 100 people. Hassan al-Quwairi, an official in the Tobruk government, recently called for the restrictions to be loosened. He said Libyans should be able to enter without a visa, claiming it would benefit the Egyptian economy. He said the Tobruk government was working with Egypt on tackling terrorism, reiterating a previous call for Arab states to help lift an arms embargo imposed on Libya. [Libya Monitor, 7/21/2015]
Syrian Kurds say in near complete control of Hasaka city
Spokesman for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) Redur Xelil said Monday that the Kurdish militia is in near full control of the Syrian city of Hasaka. He claimed that the Kurdish militia has been able to expand at the expense of regime forces in the wake of an Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) attack on the area last month. He said, “The regime has collapsed. It could not protect the city and its continuation has become symbolic in limited positions only.” Xelil also claimed that the YPG has deployed in the southern outskirts of Hasaka, indicating that it controls all routes in and out of the city and that it has encircled ISIS fighters inside. [Reuters, 7/20/2015]
Turkey steps up security after deadly border attack, identifies suspect
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday that “security on [Turkey’s] borders will continue to be increased,” and added that preliminary information indicates that ISIS was behind yesterday’s bombing in Suruc that killed thirty-one people. He also said that Turkish authorities have identified a suspect tied to ISIS, but did not elaborate on his or her identity. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Police in Istanbul used teargas and water cannons in Taksim Square when a demonstration Monday became violent, blaming the government for not doing more to prevent the ISIS attack in Suruc. Some Kurdish groups in Turkey including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) hold the Turkish government responsible for Monday’s attack, saying Ankara has “supported and cultivated” ISIS against the Kurds in Syria. [AFP, 7/21/2015]
Air strikes on ISIS-held town in Aleppo kill twenty
More than twenty people were killed and dozens other were injured by air strikes Monday on the ISIS-held town of Manbej in Syria’s Aleppo province. Syrian army airplanes most likely carried out the airstrikes and the death toll is likely to rise as many of the wounded have critical injuries. ISIS militants in Iraq blew up a sports stadium that had been used as a military base in the western Anbar province on Monday. [AP, Daily Star, 7/21/2015]
Syrian rebels rain rockets on Shia villages
An activist group reported Tuesday that the Army of Conquest rebel coalition, which includes the Nusra Front, has fired hundreds of rockets and mortar shells on two besieged Shia-majority villages in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province. The shellings on the Fuaa and Kafraya villages have killed at least seven and wounded hundreds, but it is unclear whether the victims were civilians or government troops. The escalating clashes prompted concern in Damascus, where pro-regime militiamen and families from the two villages held demonstrations asking to be sent to Idlib to defend their relatives. [AFP, 7/21/2015]
Ten civilians killed in Hudaid; kidnaps and arrests follow deadly bombing in Iraq
At least ten civilians were killed by mortar and rocket fire Monday in the central Iraqi village of Hudaid, north of Khan Bani Saad where a suicide bomb killed 117 people on Friday. While the origin of the attack is not clear, there are known pockets of insurgent groups in the government-controlled province of Diyala. The village’s police sergeant said that many of Hudaid’s mainly Sunni residents have fled fearing increased sectarian violence. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the site of last week’s attack in Khan Bani Saad on Monday. Thirteen men have reportedly been kidnapped from the area in the days since the attack, and the town’s municipal council building was torched overnight. [Reuters, 7/20/2015]
UN food shipment arrives in Yemen
A ship carrying enough UN food aid to feed 180,000 people for a month docked at the Yemeni port of Aden on Tuesday, having waited for almost four weeks. Aden and the other southern provinces of Yemen have been largely inaccessible to UN food aid, and over half the population of Yemen is thought to be in a situation of “critical” or “emergency” food insecurity. “It’s the first WFP [World Food Programme] chartered ship to berth in the port since the conflict erupted in late March,” spokesman Peter Smerdon said. “We have additional ships chartered which are on standby heading towards Aden carrying more food and fuel.” Smerdon called on the warring sides to allow distribution of food aid from the ship and to allow resumption of commercial trade, which he said was the only way to meet Yemen’s food needs. “That gap can only be filled by the commercial sector being allowed to import food and deliver throughout the country.” [Reuters, 7/21/2015]
ISIS claims bombing outside mosque in Yemen
The Islamic State’s (ISIS or ISIL) Yemen branch claimed responsibility for a car blast on Monday that medics say killed five and wounded seven others. The attack hit the Moeed mosque in Sana’a, which is used by the Houthis. ISIS has repeatedly stated its mission to destroy Houthi militants as they belong to the Zaydi Shia Muslim sect, regarded as heretical by the Islamic State. [Reuters, 7/20/2015]
Kerry reaffirms pledge for Gulf security in light of Khameni’s speech
In an interview on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said recent anti-US remarks from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were “disturbing,” adding that the United States was “not kidding about the importance of pushing back against extremism.” Kerry is due travel to the Gulf in early August to discuss the Iran deal with the region’s leaders, who have been skeptical that the agreement would prevent Iran gaining a nuclear weapon. Kerry said the meeting with his Gulf counterparts indicates the United States as being “very attentive to guaranteeing the security of the region.” GCC Secretary General Abdel Latif al-Zayani on Tuesday expressed his surprise at the contradictory position of Iran’s Supreme Leader and President regarding the country’s relationship with Arab states, the Saudi Press Agency reported Monday. [Al-Arabiya, 7/21/2015]
New UAE law bans religious and racial discrimination
The United Arab Emirates has outlawed religious or racial discrimination, the state news agency WAM said Monday. The law is aimed in part at countering Islamist militancy, particularly the practice known as takfir. In a statement given to WAM, President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan said “The new law No. 02 of 2015 criminalizes any acts that stoke religious hatred and/or which insult religion through any form of expression, be it speech or the written word, books, pamphlets or via online media.” The Emirates has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization and worries about Sunni extremists after a bombing of a Shia mosque in Kuwait last month. Although militant violence is rare in the Emirates, the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) has urged Muslims in Gulf countries to target Western expatriates in retaliation for attacks against it. Human rights groups criticize the country for clamping down on free speech and accuse it of using laws against terrorism to jail peaceful critics of the government. [Reuters, 7/20/2015]
EU decides to increase Tunisia annual olive oil export quota
The European Union (EU) on Monday agreed to help Tunisia boost its economy by raising quotas on how much olive oil it can sell in EU markets. The EU will raise Tunisia’s annual olive oil export quota to 25,000 tonnes. In a joint press conference in Brussels with Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid, EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said it was in Europe’s interest to assist Tunisia and its democratically elected government. “We support reforms and we want to form a real partnership so that Tunisia remains a model for the future in the region,” Mogherini said. [AP, TAP, 7/20/2015]
Egypt’s trade deficit grows 52.7 percent in April
Egypt’s trade balance deficit reached EGP 24.6 billion in April, marking a 52.7 percent increase compared to EGP 16.11 billion in the same period last year, the state-run body CAPMAS reported on Tuesday. State exports were valued at EGP 14 billion in April, declining from EGP 17.26 billion in April 2014, due to a drop in the price of certain goods, including crude oil and petroleum products. Meanwhile, the value of imports rose by 15.67 percent. [Ahram Online, 7/21/2015]
Gulf states lend Sudan $2 billion to boost foreign reserves
Sudan received about $2 billion of concessional loans from Gulf Arab nations in the past three months, a Finance Ministry official said. “We have agreed with the Gulf states on more foreign capital inflows into the country, which will help in lifting foreign reserves” and assist in funding imports including fuel, State Minister for Finance Abdel-Rahman Dirar said. He did not identify which countries provided the funds, saying that they would be repaid in “coming years.” Sudan’s foreign exchange reserves currently stand at $1.4 billion. In March, Sudan joined Gulf nations in Saudi Arabia’s campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, contributing aircraft and signaling its willingness to send ground troops. Analysts said Sudan’s involvement showed a shift of allegiances toward Gulf Arab countries that could bring economic rewards. [Bloomberg, 7/20/2015]
Iraq MPs set to approve anti-money laundering law
Iraq is stepping up efforts to curb money laundering and terrorism financing. Iraq’s parliament is expected to endorse a new law that aims to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, government economic adviser Mazhar Mohammad Saleh said. He added that the draft law, which was approved by the cabinet in June, would be more inclusive than a 2004 law and would cover tax evasion, smuggling of antiquities and cash, and corruption. “The new law will draw additional policies, legislations and procedures to chase and trace money and smugglers through a national council,” he said. He added that between 3 and 5 percent of Iraq’s gross domestic product has been lost to smuggling over the past ten years as a result of money laundering. [Zawya, 7/21/2015]