Weekly Update 18-25.08.2014
1) LIBYA
» 25.07.2014: Misrata-Backed Forces Control Tripoli Aiport but Political Deadlock Persists
After around six weeks of fierce battle to control Tripoli’s international airport and other key political and military assets, the Misrata backed armed forces managed late last week to dislodge the Zintan pro-Khalifa Hafter troops from the airport. It now looks like the two air strikes which targeted last week the Misrata-backed armed forces and which aimed to prevent them from capturing the airport have backfired. New York Times sources say both raids were launched by the UAE and Egypt. On the ground however, the Zintan Qaaqaa and Saiq brigades struggled to hold their positions because their supplies from the mountainous area of the Zintan tribe were cut by other tribes allied with the Misrata forces. Politically, the New York Times revelation would be an embarrassment to the pro-Hafter group and the parliament elected recently, in that Hafter had claimed his forces carried out the raids, while the new parliament called for foreign intervention during its first meeting in Tobruk, east of Benghazi. The outgoing General National Congress, which considers that no handover of powers took place between it and the new parliament, insists that it is still the legitimate authority and that the decisions of the new parliament in Tobruk are unconstitutional. The GNC have elected Omar Al Hassi as the new PM and equipped him with executive powers. With the GNC still holding together in control of Tripoli and other key sites while only 40 MPs met in Tobruk it is unclear how Hafter is going to bounce back from this military setback, especially since the Zintan forces are said to have been evicted from Tripoli. The GNC is calling, however, for a proper handover of powers to the new parliament in Tripoli as the Constitutional Declaration stipulates.
2) TUNISIA
» 25.08.2014: Ennahdha’s Legislative Candidates Announced
On Monday 25 August, the Ennahdha Movement put an end to speculations about its intentions for the upcoming legislative elections, on 26 October, when it made public its list of candidates. With 46% female and 54% male candidates Ennahdha allocated 18% of seats to youth. Largely drawn from the education sector, Ennahdha’s candidates reflected the movement’s traditional socio-economic base. Ennahdha put two heavyweights at the top of its lists of candidates for Tunis 1 and 2 electoral constituencies: former PM and current secretary general Ali Laârayedh, and Sheikh Abdelfattah Mourou, Ennahdha’s number two. Observers believe these two candidacies confirmed rumours that Beji Caid Sebsi had to abandon his decision to put his son, Hafed Sebsi, at the top of one of Nid Tounes’ candidate lists for a Tunis constituency when he failed to reach a deal with Ghannouchi not to present strong Ennahdha candidates for the capital Tunis. It is still early to say, but observers believe Ennahdha would retain the traditional 20% votes of it ideological loyalists but contrary to the 2011 elections, it would struggle to attract more votes than this. That potential outcome would not necessarily benefit Nida Tounes, as it has become the party of former Ben Ali RCD party career politicians and businessmen. The nomination of businessman Moncef Sellami to lead Nida Tounes’s candidate list in Sfax is one example of this much criticised practice in the pro-liberal parties’ media outlets.
http://www.kapitalis.com/politique/24252-legislatives-les-tetes-de-liste-d-ennahdha-definitif.html
http://www.kapitalis.com/tribune/24188-nida-tounes-de-la-cratie-a-la-ploutocratie.html
3) YEMEN
» 15.08.2014: Killing of 14 Yemeni Soldiers Sign of Al Qaeda in Yemen Inner Fighting
Yemenis were stunned by the butchering of 14 Yemeni soldiers. The horrendous act represented a shift in the modus operandi of the Ansar Shariaa in Yemen, an offshoot of Al Qaeda. The footage of the killing which was uploaded to the internet set a precedent. While Ansar Shariaa claimed that those soldiers were killed because of their alleged connection with the Shiite Howthi rebel group, observers think that the killing was in fact a result of the growing infighting inside Al Qaeda in Yemen, especially that fact that one faction has pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/abducted-soldiers-killed-yemen
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/09/uk-yemen-militants
4) MAURITANIA
» 21.08.2014: A Surprise in Ould Abd Alaziz’s New Government
President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz unveiled his new government last Thursday after much delay and speculation. The new ministerial team, however, did not bring much fresh blood nor indication of a change of policy as promised according to keen observers of Mauritanian affairs. The only surprise, however, was the abolition of the Ministry of Communication that was led by Sidi Mohamed Ould Moham. He was the government’s spokesperson, considered the ruling party’s rising star and was even rumoured to be the next prime minister during the run up to the June presidential elections.
03.08.2014: An African Perspective on Obama’s US-Africa Summit by Centre 4 S
English
http://www.centre4s.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=138&catid=39&Itemid=57
French
http://www.centre4s.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155&catid=45&Itemid=63
5) MALI
» 24.07.2014: GATIA, the Latest Tuareg Armed Group to be Formed
The Groupe d’autodéfense touareg Imrad et alliés (GATIA) has become the latest armed group to be formed by a Tuareg tribe in northern Mali. Set up by Fahad Ah al-Mahmoud of the Imrads tribe, GATIA has reportedly positioned itself against the MNLA. GATIA recognises the territorial integrity of Mali and defines itself as a self-defence movement. Mossa Ag Attaher, spokesperson of the MNLA told Radio Studio Tamani in Bamako that GATIA would not take part in inter-Tuareg movements’ talks to agree a platform based on which talk would resume in Algiers with Bamako next month.
http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20140824/
http://www.studiotamani.org/index.php/journaux/1664
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