Sisi Vows to Free “Innocent Youths”

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/prominent-egyptian-activist-gets-prison-term-sisi-vows-free-innocent-youths%E2%80%9D

We know al-Sisi is wanting to give the moderate youths of Muslim Brotherhood the chance to join the political framework of Egypt so this news does not come as a surprise. It would be interesting to see if they use these youths to form a new secular version of Muslim Brotherhood - and deal with the old guard.

From Source:
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised on Sunday to release young people who may have been wrongly jailed during a military crackdown on the opposition since he overthrew his Islamist predecessor in 2013.

He said journalists had complained that there were innocent people in prison, so he told them to draw up a list.

"I told them I don't deny there might be innocent youths" in prison, Sisi said.

"Over the next few days the first group of our youths in detention will be released," he added.

US confirms that Brotherhood is not a designated terrorist organisation

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/americas/16845-us-confirms-that-brotherhood-is-not-a-designated-terrorist-organisation

The United States government has confirmed that the Muslim Brotherhood has not been designated as a "terrorist organisation" by the state department.

Spokeswoman Marie Harf was referred to a statement on the movement's official website apparently calling for jihad. When asked if it would change the way that the US is dealing with the Islamic movement she pointed out that surfing the Brotherhood's website "is not usually part of [her] morning reading [but] we engage with a variety of parties in Egypt... The Muslim Brotherhood is not designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States."

She noted that she was updated about the issue and said: "I think it was attributed to the Revolutionary Punishment Group. And the message contained in the video is certainly disturbing in light of last week's attacks in the Sinai."

The government, Harf added, is seeking more information about the jihad statement. "We would condemn any call for violence, and do not have more to say than that."

Egypt preparing to deliver basic needs ahead of a unity government including the Islamists?

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/16729-egypt-to-import-natural-gas-directly-from-noble-energy


Ahead of recent reports that the current regime in Egypt (headed by al-Sisi and controlled by the US) are trying to incorporate the Muslim Brotherhood into the political framework, there are now trade and infrastructure deals going through that will lift the burden off the Egyptians. It is interesting to note the timing of such deals that bring normality back to the lives of many, giving  them a sense of relief and acceptance that any new change in government is a good change - even if it is a drastic compromise from an already compromised political party (Muslim Brotherhood).


From source:

A senior official from Egypt's natural gas holding company, EGAS, said on Sunday that Egypt plans to import Israeli natural gas directly from American oil firm, Noble Energy without the mediation of companies in Egypt or abroad, Anadolu news agency reported.

The Egyptian judiciary accused Salem, who is currently in Spain, of taking advantage of his partnership with the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Company, which exported Egyptian gas to Israel in 2008. He was acquitted of the charges last month.

A collective including British energy company B.G. Group, Spanish gas and electricity giant Unión Fenosa, and Egyptian investors led by businessman Alaa Arafa, signed a memorandum of understanding with Noble Energy to supply natural gas for the domestic market. The agreements are currently awaiting the formal approval of the Egyptian government.

Egypt suffers from frequent power cuts around the year due to shortages in natural gas.

Hamas' senior leader Bardawil endorces PLO's visit to Gaza Strip for National Unity Government

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/16732-hamas-welcomes-plos-planned-trip-to-gaza

Hamas senior leader and spokesman Salah Al-Bardawil said yesterday that his movement welcomes the PLO's planned visit to the Gaza Strip to discuss the unity government, PLS48.net reported.

Al-Bardawil said that no one has contacted Hamas regarding this visit and his movement found out about it through the media. However, he reiterated that his movement welcomes the move.

"In case there is a visit and meeting decided, we would welcome such steps aiming to agree on the outstanding issues," he said.

Yesterday evening the PLO factions held a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah and decided to contact Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza to pave the way ahead of a visit for a PLO delegation aiming to discuss the terms of the national reconciliation agreement.

The Executive Committee of the PLO asked the factions to meet and decide on making contacts with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza in order to discuss the issue of the national unity government and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Member of the Executive Committee Wasel Abu Yousef told the local Palestinian news agency Safa that the meeting concentrated on the measures to be taken for the work of the national unity government to begin and which will give it the ability to continue its work in the Gaza Strip.

What is a National Unity Government?

A national unity government, government of national unity, or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.

Yemen - Shiite-Houthi takeover of Sanaa falls in line with Western agenda to create coalition

Source: http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/22/yemen-houthi-shiite/

Full Article:

There’s a new boss in Sanaa, but for how long that city is the capital of a unified Yemen, no one quite knows. On Thursday, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and Prime Minster Khaled Baha stepped down, in the face of a Shiite Houthi insurrection that now threatens to dissolve the Yemeni state as we know it. Their resignations came just one day after Hadi bowed to the northern “invaders,” brokering an agreement with them to end their siege of his home, withdraw their militias from the streets and government institutions, and release abducted Chief of Staff Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak. In return, the government agreed to grant the Houthis the constitutional changes they seek, along with a greater share of power in government and state institutions.

But it’s government itself that may be the greatest casualty. Since the Houthis started their push to power last fall, al Qaeda has exploited the fears of Yemenis who oppose the Shiite group, trying to convince them that it is their natural ally against the Houthis. A sectarian war in Yemen would further strengthen al Qaeda, providing it with more recruits among the disaffected Sunni Yemenis who increasingly view the rise of the Houthis as an existential threat. There are already clear signs of a strengthened al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), including expanded operations and a larger presence across the country.

Southerners have long resented the northern-dominated government, which they believe has historically discriminated against them on everything from political appointments to development projects. The south also never embraced the 1990 unity agreement with the north that created the Yemeni state. These tensions have sparked two armed confrontations, which helped give birth to the independence or secessionist movement (southern factions use both terms). Known as “al-Hirak,” the southern coalition consists of seven different political parties that are roughly united in their quest to build a southern Arab State.

On Jan. 17, the Houthi militia kidnapped Mubarak, the president’s chief of staff, who hails from the southern city of Aden. Houthi tension with Mubarak is well-documented: when Hadi — also a southerner — selected him as his prime minister last year, they vetoed his appointment. Mubarak further angered the Houthis by presiding over a new constitution that proposes to divide Yemen into six federal regions. Such an arrangement would leave the Houthis with an overpopulated area strapped of oil and gas deposits, which are concentrated in the south. The Houthi counterproposal: just two regions, a north and a south.

Events soon accelerated. On January 19, Houthi militias attacked the presidential palace, laid siege to a palace where the prime minister had taken refuge, and fought and defeated Hadi’s guards outside his private residence; they fled, and the Houthis took over their positions. That same day, the Houthis seized the state television and the official Saba news agency. The Twitter account of Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf became the government’s sole means of communicating with the outside world. As chaos engulfed Sanaa, reports also surfaced that authorities in the southern capital of Aden had closed off all air, sea, and land access to the governorate of Aden, in a show of solidarity with the president (himself a southerner).

Now that the Houthis have forced out Hadi, they will consolidate their power, a move likely to hasten Yemen’s dissolution. In a fiery speech on January 20, Al Malak Al Houthi, the Houthis’ leader, outlined his demands, including a national partnership with “southern and revolutionary parties,” and improved security for people in Marib, a governorate some 120 kilometers east of Sanaa. Why Marib? Its oil fields produce 70 percent of Yemen’s oil and gas. But it is also a region dominated by al Qaeda. Just a week before the Houthis moved on the presidential palace in Sanaa, Marib tribes were mobilizing to prevent Houthi militias from entering their province.

The Houthis, for their part, insist that their sole interest in Marib is defending it from al Qaeda. Everyone else is convinced their true intention is to seize control of its oil resources. The governor of Marib has warned that the Houthis want to destabilize the region and endanger Yemen’s interests, and insists that local government and the citizens of Marib reject their presence. Local tribes there supported now-former President Hadi, and claim he gave “direct directions” to protect the province against the Houthis —described by a tribal leader as “occupiers, invaders and terrorists.”

In his January 20 speech, Al Houthi said that his revolution knows “no limits.” Indeed, the Houthis are now empowered to further expand their power into pivotal regions in the south, which could split the southern front as some of its members ally with the new dominant force in the country.

So far, the international community has reacted to the Houthis with a mix of alarm and resignation, peppered with words of condemnation. On January 20, the U.N. Security Council issued a statement supporting President Hadi as the “legitimate authority,” and urging Yemeni parties to solve their differences through dialogue. The Council also condemned the Houthis’ “recourse to violence,” a statement that the United States supported. But aside from sanctioning two Houthi military officials for “threatening the peace” in Yemen, Washington has not exactly been tough on the rebel movement. The tepid international response will undoubtedly further embolden the Houthis.

The civil war also has regional implications. Dr. Abd Al Aziz Al Saqr, head of the Gulf Research Center, said the Gulf states would regard a Houthi-controlled Yemen as unfriendly, due to its close ties with Tehran. If the rebel movement continues apace, this might leave Gulf states “no other option but to support the independence of the south.”

The specter of “limitless” Houthi ambitions, coupled with still-growing power, could be the last straw for a country that is barely clinging to its very existence. At the very least, it can only portend many more months, and probably years, of violence and fragmentation. Now, Yemen stands on the brink of dissolution.

John Kerry invites foreign ministers from the International Coalition against ISIS to a conference in London

Sources:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-led-coalition-meets-british-fm-says-anti-isis-efforts-could-last-years

Key Points:
Foreign ministers from the international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) gathered for talks in London on Thursday following jihadist attacks in France, as Britain's Foreign Secretary said the coalition's efforts could last at least two years.

"This isn't going to be done in three months or six months. It's going to take a year, two years to push ISIL (ISIS) back out of Iraq but we are doing the things that need to be done in order to turn the tide," Hammond told Sky News.

"In Iraq and Syria, American leadership — including our military power — is stopping ISIS' advance," Obama said.

((But it is not destroying ISIS - it means they are controlling how far ISIS expand and how long they last in Iraq.))

Asked whether the US-led airstrikes had been helpful to him, Assad, whose army has been fighting rebel groups for over three years, told a French magazine in December that the strikes in Syria have made no difference.

"It isn't true that the strikes are helpful. They would of course have helped had they been serious and efficient,” Assad asserted.

According to Paris Match, the Syrian president said that ISIS continues to advance in territories bombed by the coalition.

"You can't end terrorism with aerial strikes. Troops on the ground that know the land and can react are essential. That is why there haven't been any tangible results in the two months of strikes led by the coalition," he said.

Damascus, Iran and other critics opposed to US involvement in the conflict with ISIS have pointed out that Washington in partnership with its Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, played a role in the formation and expansion of extremist groups like ISIS by arming, financing and politically empowering armed opposition groups in Syria.

Moreover, the influx in terrorist attacks all over the world, particularly in Iraq, raises questions about the effectiveness of the US "War on Terror" launched by the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks, which included the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The campaign failed to eliminate or even reduce terrorism, as a recent report revealed a steady increase in the death toll over the last 14 years, from 3,361 in 2000 to 11,133 in 2012 and 17,958 in 2013.

The countries confirmed to be attending Thursday's conference are Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Libya - "unity government is near"

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/14/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0KN1MZ20150114

Key Points:

The European Union has called negotiations a "last chance" to resolve the crisis in Libya, where a standoff between two rival governments and allied armed factions threatens to slide into civil war three years after Muammar Gaddafi's demise.

"The second goal is to stop the fighting. I'm sure you all know that Libya is falling very deeply into chaos."
Leon said if the two sides agreed on a unity government, it would consolidate the ceasefire by ensuring militias withdrew and weapons were brought under control. If all parties agreed, it might also start a constitutional and electoral process. "The constitution is almost ready," he said.