Ukraine ►Anti-terrorist operation continues in Eastern Ukraine On 9 July the Ukrainian authorities’ ‘anti-terrorist operation’ (ATO) against separatists in Eastern Ukraine went on. On 26 and 27 June separatists reportedly attacked a military unit in Artemovsk (Kramatorsk). On 1 July fighting continued near Kramatorsk, Slaviansk and the larger Donetsk region. On the night of 2 July separatists fired at Novoazovsk checkpoint on the border with Russia. On the same day Counselor of the Interior Minister Zoryan Schkiryak stated that on July 1, the first day of antiterrorist operation after the end of the truce, ATO forces caused considerable damage to separatists, with over 1000 fighters ‘terminated.’ Also on 2 July, information came in that separatists were leaving the building of Donetsk Oblast State Administration seized by them early in April. On 3 July Ukrainian soldiers reportedly re-established control over the state border with Russia in the Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts. Fighting in various locations in the Donbass continued in following days. On 8 July Defense Minister Valery Geletey declared that there will be no more unilateral cease fire by the Ukrainian forces. He said: ‘the President stated this unambiguously. Now any negotiations are possible only after final laying down of arms by fighters.’ On the same day it was reported that Luhansk and Donetsk airports are under control of the Ukrainian army. Fighting goes on. ►Justice Ministry wants to ban the Communist Party On 8 July Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko signed and filed a lawsuit to the court to ban the activity of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU). Petrenko said the decision was made after summing up a great number of documentary information concerning illegal actions of the CPU, which was given to the Justice Ministry by law-enforcement bodies. He noted that the lawsuit was filed to District Administrative Court of Kyiv and it was registered today. In early may then acting President Sergey Turchinov had asked the Justice Ministry to investigate the lawfulness of the activitiets of CPU and spoke of the possibility of its ban related to its possible participation and active support of the separatists in Donbass. The Security Service head Valentin Nalivaichenko had reported on 14 June that his service had forwarded to the Justice Ministry evidence of separatist activity of the CPU. ►Parliament decides to scrap recess and continue working in the summer On 1 July the Verkhovna Rada made a decision to work without a recess; the session is prolonged till September 2; 288 out of 346 MPs registered in the session hall voted for this decision. The decision was probably prompted by the large amount of work to be done by parliament considering the recent change of power and the signed Association Agreement. On 3 July parliament appointed Valery Geletey as the new Minister of Defense. Mikhail Koval had been interim Minister of Defense, but a new one had to be appointed after the election of President Poroshenko. ________________________________________MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES Egypt ►President Sisi declares “The state respects human rights” On 8 July President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Mohamed Fayek, chairman of the National Council for Human Rights, at the presidential palace in Heliopolis. Presidential spokesperson Ihab Badawi said the President listened to the council’s assessment of the human rights situation in Egypt and presented his vision as to how to balance between security requirements and the rights and freedoms of people. He said Sisi highlighted the importance of expanding human rights to include economic and social rights, particularly the right to work, so that young people do not fall as prey to the forces of extremism and terrorism. ►High Parliamentary Elections Committee to set rules for parliamentary vote on July 18 On 7 July it was announced that the High Parliamentary Elections Committee is scheduled to have its first meeting on July 18. It aims to discuss all the procedures that would pave the way for the next parliamentary elections, the source said, adding that the date for the elections is yet to be decided. In addition, regulations that organize the House of Representatives’ new law passed by Egypt’s former Interim President Adly Mansour on June 5, will be reviewed during the meeting. The new draft sets the number of elected members of parliament at 540, giving the president the right to appoint 5 per cent of the members (27 seats). Of the 540 members, 420 will be elected individually, while as many as 120 seats will be elected through electoral lists. 24 seats will be reserved for Coptic Christians and 70 for women. Egypt’s parliament also includes quotas for representatives of farmers, workers and other unions, according to the House of Representatives’ new law. ►Muslim Brotherhood leader sentenced to life emprisonment On 5 July an Egyptian court sentenced Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie to life in prison, the courts judge said, for inciting violence that erupted after the army deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last year. Badie, convicted along with about 36 other Brotherhood leaders and supporters for the same crime, is facing the death sentence in two separate cases. Badie and around 200 Brotherhood supporters were sentenced to death in a mass trial in June over violence that killed one police officer. The sentences caused outrage among Western governments and rights groups. Jordan ►Israel ready to help Jordan fight against Iraq insurgents On 4 July the Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister announced that Israel is ready to meet any Jordanian request to help fight off Islamist insurgents who have overrun part of neighboring Iraq, although he believed Jordan was capable of defending itself. Jordan is one of two Arab countries - along with Egypt - to have full peace treaties with Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Ammans stability while echoing Western powers in pledging support to safeguard it. We have an interest in ensuring that Jordan does not fall to, or be penetrated by, groups like al Qaeda or Hamas or ISIS, he told reporters. ►Jordanian court acquits radical cleric Abu Qatada of conspiracy On 26 June a Jordanian court acquitted radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada, who was extradited from Britain last year, of charges of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. But authorities will continue to detain the preacher because of separate charges related to a plot to attack tourists during Jordans New Year celebrations in 2000. Abu Qatada had previously been sentenced in absentia by a Jordanian court to life imprisonment for conspiracy to carry out al Qaeda-style attacks against U.S. and other targets inside U.S. ally Jordan. 26 June’s session was a retrial in which the prosecution had argued Abu Qatada was a mentor to militant cells in Jordan while he was in Britain, providing spiritual and material support to a campaign of violence during the late 1990s. But the court quashed the conspiracy charges and postponed another hearing on the New Year plot charges until 7 September. Libya ►Libya declares oil crisis over On 3 July Libyas acting Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said the government had reached a deal with a rebel leader controlling oil ports to hand over the last two terminals and end a blockade that crippled the OPEC nations petroleum industry. Thinni said the ports had been reclaimed after an agreement with Ibrahim Jathran, whose fighters had seized the terminals almost a year ago to demand more regional autonomy. Taking back the two major eastern oil terminals could make around 500,000 more barrels a day of crude available for export, a major breakthrough for the Libya, whose coffers have been hit hard by oil revenue losses. The end of the blockade would also see a final chapter of a crisis that included failed negotiations, threats to bombard rebels and even an attempt by Jathran to dispatch an oil tanker that was later boarded on the high seas by US commandos. Disputes over Libyas vast oil resources have been among the many triggers for conflict between rival brigades of former rebels and allied political factions since civil war ended four decades of Muammar Gaddafis one-man rule in 2011. ►Libya to announce elections results on July 20 On 1 July the head of the elections commission announced that Libya will announce results of last months parliamentary elections on July 20, pushing back the results another week. Fewer than half of registered Libyans voted, reflecting disillusionment with the chaos prevailing since Gaddafis overthrow. The government and outgoing parliament have failed to produce security and curb militias who helped oust Gaddafi but now defy state authority. The North African oil producer elected on June 25 a new assembly in a vote marred by a low turnout and violence, opening a new chapter in Libyas bumpy transition toward democracy since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi to an armed uprising. ►Islamist party figure kidnapped by gunmen On 30 June gunmen kidnapped a leading member of a Libyan Islamist party affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, a party spokesman said, in a further sign of lawlessness crippling the oil-producing country. No group claimed responsibility for the abduction of Mohammed Hraizi. But kidnappings for political coercion have become increasingly common in Libya, where Islamists, brigades of former rebels, tribes and factional militias all compete for influence over the weak central government. Libya has struggled for three years with bands of former rebels who helped topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi with the support of NATO air strikes, and they remain influential players in Libyas disordered democracy.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 17:05:59 +0000
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