Tunisian Revolution and the Middle East

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...0AL5LB20130116

Dozens held after Islamists attack Algerian gas field

Islamist militants attacked a gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, claiming to have kidnapped up to 41 foreigners including seven Americans in a dawn raid in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, according to regional media reports.

The raiders were also reported to have killed three people, including a Briton and a French national.

An al Qaeda affiliated group said the raid had been carried out because of Algeria's decision to allow France to use its air space for attacks against Islamists in Mali, where French forces have been in action against al Qaeda-linked militants since last week.

The attack in southern Algeria also raised fears that the French action in Mali could prompt further Islamist revenge attacks on Western targets in Africa, where al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) operates across borders in the Sahara desert, and in Europe.

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak

AFP: Kidnappers demand release of 100 Islamists held in Algeria in exchange for hostages
1:37 PM

https://twitter.com/FromJoanne

Algeria MoI Dahou said on Nat TV: Algeria-n authorities "will not meet the demands of terrorists and refuse any negotiation
1:58 PM

Egypt:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCont...t-first-f.aspx

Shura Council agrees women will be amongst first four candidates on any given electoral list

The Shura Council approved in its Wednesday session an article in the elections law that stipulates that women must be included amongst the first four candidates on any given electoral list in the upcoming parliamentary elections expected in April, according to Ahram Arabic website.

The article stirred debate and disagreement within the legislative body as the Salafist El-Nour Party opposed it, considering it discriminatory. Others, however, argued for the law, considering it an instrument of positive discrimination that empowers women.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90F16P20130116

In northern Mali, civilians between hope and fear

In the far-flung desert cities of northern Mali, civilians weary of the violent rule of Islamist rebels hope French troops can rout them but fear being caught in crossfire as fighters try to melt into the local population.

Several residents contacted by telephone in Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, towns that are each home to a few tens of thousands of people, told Reuters that militants were keeping out of sight of roving French assault aircraft but could still put up a fight.

Having put Mali's army to flight nine months ago and imposed a harsh form of Islamic law in oasis towns they occupied across thousands of miles of Sahara, al Qaeda's north African wing AQIM and its allies from Mali's MUJWA and Ansar Dine have some local sympathizers. But many residents say they wish them gone.

"There is a great hope," one man said from Timbuktu, the ancient trading city 700 km (450 miles) northeast of the Malian capital Bamako. "We hope that the city will be freed soon.

"People are eagerly awaiting the arrival of ground troops."

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/0...ion-86289.html

Washington scrambles to respond to U.S. hostage situation

Military commanders and State Department officials were scrambling Wednesday to figure out what happened at an Algerian natural gas field after Islamist insurgents claimed to have taken American hostages there.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed to reporters traveling with him in Italy that there were Americans being held after what he described as a “terrorist attack,” and vowed the U.S. “will take all necessary and proper steps,” The Associated Press reported, but officials in Washington did not have much information beyond that.

https://twitter.com/HannahAllam

Senior US official stresses that hostage taking happened near Algeria's border with Libya, not Mali
2:40 PM

Sr US official: US continuing w/Mali support, to airlift in French forces, ECOWAS African troops, under UNSC resolution
2:43 PM

Sr US official: we're working thru legal issues bec can't directly aid Malian govt because of coup. Considering renting planes for airlift. Sr US official: dealt w/same legal issues in Somalia. Nigeria, S Africa have airlift capacity, we'd pay for fuel/airtime to lift forces
2:46 PM

Sr US official: US not giving lethal aid to Mali [ECOWAS African forces], looking at flashlights, body armor, canteens, uniforms, malaria meds, first aid kits
2:48 PM

US official: French working with EU to bring 250 military trainers to help get Malian military in fighting shape
2:51 PM

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa...639188977.html

US to recognise Somali government

The United States will recognise the Somali government in Mogadishu, ending a diplomatic hiatus that has lasted more than 20 years, a senior US official said.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will announce the shift during a meeting on Thursday with visiting Somali president Hassan Sheikkh Mohamud, whose election last year marked the first vote of its kind since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, assistant secretary of state Johnnie Carson told reporters on Wednesday.

"When the secretary meets with Hassan Sheikh tomorrow, she will exchange diplomatic notes with him and recognise the Somali government in Mogadishu for the first time in 20 years," Carson told a news briefing.

The US never formally severed diplomatic ties with Somalia, whose slide into anarchy was highlighted by the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" incident which saw militia fighters shoot down two US military helicopters over Mogadishu.

In subsequent years, Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab insurgents seized control of large areas in the south and central parts of the country before Ethiopian, Kenyan and African peacekeeping (AMISOM) troops began a long, US-supported counter-offensive aimed at restoring order.

The formation of the new government, led by Mohamud, is the culmination of a regionally brokered, UN-backed effort to end close to two decades of fighting that has killed tens of thousands of people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/wo...=tw-share&_r=0

U.S. Sees Hazy Threat From Mali Militants

As Islamic militants methodically carved out a base in the desert of northern Mali over the past year, officials in Washington, Paris and African capitals struggling with military plans to drive the Islamists out of the country agreed on one principle: African troops, not European or American soldiers, would fight the battle of Mali.

But the surprise French assault last Friday to blunt the Islamists’ advance upended those plans and set off a cascading series of events, culminating in a raid on Wednesday by militants on a foreign-run gas field in Algeria. That attack threatens to widen the violence in an impoverished region and drag Western governments deeper into combating an incipient insurgency.

And yet the rush of events has masked the fact that officials in Washington still have only an impressionistic understanding of the militant groups that have established a safe haven in Mali, and they are deeply divided about whether some of these groups even pose a threat to the United States.

Moreover, the hostage situation in Algeria has only heightened concerns that a Western military intervention could transform militant groups that once had only a regional focus into avowed enemies of the United States — in other words, that the backlash might end up being worse than the original threat.

Largely for these reasons, the Obama administration adopted a strategy over the past year to contain the Islamists in Mali until African troops were ready to confront them, rather than to challenge them directly with an American military campaign of drone strikes or commando raids.

https://twitter.com/weddady

Although the French military is at a disadvantage in Mali they are arguably the best force out there to fight this..
5:58 PM

France military was re-designed for these kind of ops. Their main weakness is their inadequate logistical support capabilities
6:01 PM

France has an important decision to make: either front the whole op to score a decisive win, or risk waiting for subpar ECOWAS troops..
6:03 PM

If Hollande decides that France cannot afford 2 get bogged down indefinitely in Mali then he'll have to commit at least another Division
6:06 PM

France already committed troops in Mali include some of their best units: marines, foreign legion, paras. all are elite units.
6:08 PM

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http://www.todayszaman.com/news-3042...-hostages.html

Algeria mulls intl force to free desert hostages

Algerian officials scrambled Thursday for a way to end an armed standoff deep in the Sahara desert with Islamic militants who have taken dozens of foreigners hostage, turning to tribal Algerian Tuareg leaders for talks and contemplating an international force.

The government was in talks throughout the night with the United States and France over whether they could help against the militants, who say they attacked the natural gas plant in retaliation for France's military intervention against al-Qaida-linked rebels in neighboring Mali.

The group claiming responsibility - called Katibat Moulathamine or the Masked Brigade - says it has captured 41 foreigners, including seven Americans, in the surprise attack Wednesday on the Ain Amenas gas plant.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90G0DL20130117

30 Algerian workers escape desert gas facility: APS

Thirty Algerian workers have managed to escape from the desert gas facility where dozens of hostages are being held hostage by an al Qaeda-affiliated group, Algeria's official APS news agency said on Thursday.

https://twitter.com/AP

BREAKING: Algerian official: 20 foreign hostages, including Americans, escape from their captors
6:47 AM

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90G0KI20130117

Algerian helicopters attack plant, two Japanese hostages hurt: ANI

Two Algerian army helicopters attacked the gas complex where Islamists have seized dozens of foreigners and Algerians, injuring two of the Japanese hostages, Mauritania's ANI news agency reported, citing one of the kidnappers.

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https://twitter.com/natlsecuritycnn

Algeria operation led by Algerian Special Forces, a "land action" that freed nearly 600 workers and foreign nationals-state media
3:50 PM

Holy ****! 600 hostages?


http://www.todayszaman.com/news-3043...democracy.html

Turkey says it backs Mali intervention to restore democracy

Following a long silence on the French-led intervention in Mali backed by its African neighbors, Turkey finally threw weight behind the military operation against rebels in the country’s north and said it believes in the benefit of the implementation of UN Security Council resolution in this regard.

A Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday said Ankara is closely monitoring developments in Mali and it will continue supporting international efforts to restore national reconciliation and democracy through free elections as fighting raged on the seventh day of the French-led military intervention to wrest back Mali's north from al Qaeda-linked groups.

Northern Mali fell under rebel control after a March military coup in Bamako triggered a Tuareg-led rebel offensive that seized the north and split the West African nation in two.

France, which has poured hundreds of troops into the Malian capital Bamako in recent days, carried out increased air raids this week in the vast desert area seized last year by an alliance grouping al Qaeda's north African wing, AQIM, alongside Mali's home-grown MUJWA and Ansar Dine militant groups.

Stressing the importance Turkey attaches to the territorial integrity of Mali, Ankara said it hopes Mali will embrace peace in the shortest period possible.

The statement noted that Turkey believes in the benefit of rapid implementation of UN Security Council resolution 2085 and supports decisions of the African Union and (ECOWAS).

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90F1JJ20130117

Some foreign hostages said killed in Algeria assault

Algeria said several hostages were killed on Thursday when its forces stormed a remote desert gas plant occupied by Islamist militants in retaliation for French intervention in Mali, and local sources said six foreigners were among the dead.

Amid reports of many more casualties in one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades, Western leaders expressed anger they had not been consulted before the operation and scrambled for word of their citizens. Some eight hours after the army assault began, Algerian state media said it was over.

Americans, Britons, Norwegians, French, Romanians and an Austrian, were among those taken, their countries said.

Algeria said its troops had been forced to act to free them due to the "diehard" attitude of their captors.

"When the terrorist group insisted on leaving the facility, taking the foreign hostages with them to neighboring states, the order was issued to special units to attack the position where the terrorists were entrenched," the government spokesman, Communication Minister, Mohamed Said told the state news agency.

Breaking News: Among dead hostages are 8 Algerians, 2 Japanese, 2 Britons and one French national: Algerian security source

https://twitter.com/MahirZeynalov

Latest Algeria hostage crisis death toll: 11 militants, 30 hostages, including seven foreigners killed.
4:11 PM

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90I0IM20130119

Residents in northern Malian town lynch Islamist: sources

Residents in the northern Malian town of Gao on Saturday lynched a prominent Islamist leader in retaliation for the killing of a local journalist earlier in the day, residents and the office of Mali's president said.

Residents in Gao, a northern Malian town under Islamist rebel control since mid-2012, have previously protested against the strict imposition of Islamic law but, if confirmed, the lynching would be a first of a fighter by civilians.

The incident comes after over a week of French air strikes on Islamist positions sought to break the grip of al Qaeda-linked fighters on northern Mali.

Gao journalist Kader Toure was killed for having been suspected of working with foreign radio stations, according to Issa Idrissa Toure, a former colleague.

"Islamic police commissioner Aliou Toure was killed by the youth in revenge," Mazou Toure, a Gao resident added.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21108527

Mali crisis: Civilians flee Islamist takeover and French bombs

Since Monday, few civilians had managed to escape from Diabaly.

The Islamists had cut off the road south and the population - in effect held hostage inside the town - was preoccupied with staying out of trouble and hunkering down in their homes to avoid the daily air strikes from the French military against the Islamists positions.

But the convoy told a different story. No-one was sure if all the Islamists had left town. But it seemed that way.

Most of them had just fled a few hours earlier, heading north - perhaps towards Mauritania - leaving vehicles and equipment behind.

"Maybe there are 30 of them left," said Mamadou Coulibaliy, who was bringing his cousin and her baby daughter - fast asleep and covered in dust - out on his motorbike.

---------- Post added January-20th-2013 at 02:01 PM ----------

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/21/wo...tion.html?_r=0

Africa Must Take Lead in Mali, France Says

With French officials saying confidently on Saturday that an advance by Islamist militants on Bamako, Mali’s capital, had been halted, France’s foreign minister told African leaders that “our African friends need to take the lead” in a multilateral military intervention in Mali.

The foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, spoke in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at a summit meeting to discuss how to accelerate the involvement of West African troops in Mali, although he acknowledged that it could be weeks before they were there in force.

“Step by step, I think it’s a question from what I heard this morning of some days, some weeks,” said Mr. Fabius, referring to the time frame when the bulk of troops from the Economic Community of West African States, the regional group known as Ecowas, would arrive.

On Sunday, Mr. Fabius told Europe 1 radio that Russia, which has previously remained on the sidelines of the conflict, had suggested helping France transport soldiers and equipment to Mali. He did not say whether France had accepted the offer.

French officials conceded, however, that there were disputes over how African participation would be financed and about the best way to transport troops to Mali. In Paris, French officials said the United States, while willing to help ferry African troops, wanted to bill France for the use of transport aircraft, which officials said would not go down well with the French. The Pentagon favors providing rapid help with transport and even with air-to-air refueling, but the White House is more reluctant, the officials said.

But the officials said France and that the United States were sharing intelligence about Mali and the Sahel region of North Africa that was garnered from drones and other means, and that discussions with Washington continued amicably.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90J0IC20130120

Iraq protester sets himself ablaze in anti-government rally

An Iraqi protester set himself on fire on Sunday in the northern city of Mosul in a dramatic turn after more than three weeks of Sunni Muslim rallies that are challenging Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government.

Thousands of Sunni demonstrators have rallied since late December against a Shi'ite-led government they say has marginalized their minority sect, raising fears the OPEC country may slide again into widespread sectarian confrontation.

During protests by around 2,000 people in the northern city of Mosul, one man set himself on fire before others quickly stamped out the flames with their jackets, police said. He was sent to hospital with minor burns to his face and hands.

"We don't want people to hang themselves or burn themselves, this would be against Islam," said Ghanim al-Abid, a protest organizer in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad. "But he reached such a state of despair he set himself on fire."

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...Name%3DtopNews

U.S. begins transporting French troops, equipment to Mali

The United States has started transporting French soldiers and equipment to Mali as part of its logistical aid to French forces fighting Islamist militants in the north of the country, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.

Paris has launched a military campaign against Islamist fighters in Mali at the request of the Malian government, amid fears the vast desert country could become a launchpad for international attacks.

"We have started air lifting French army personnel and equipment to Bamako from Istres," said Benjamin Benson, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/wo...seid=auto&_r=0

Some Algeria Attackers Are Placed at Benghazi

Several Egyptian members of the squad of militants that lay bloody siege to an Algerian gas complex last week also took part in the deadly attack on the United States Mission in Libya in September, a senior Algerian official said Tuesday.

The Egyptians involved in both attacks were killed by Algerian forces during the four-day ordeal that ended in the deaths of at least 38 hostages and 29 kidnappers, the official said. But three of the militants were captured alive, and one of them described the Egyptians’ role in both assaults under interrogation by the Algerian security services, the official said.

If confirmed, the link between two of the most brazen assaults in recent memory would reinforce the transborder character of the jihadist groups now striking across the Sahara. American officials have long warned that the region’s volatile mix of porous borders, turbulent states, weapons and ranks of fighters with similar ideologies creates a dangerous landscape in which extremists are trying to collaborate across vast distances.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90L0GK20130122

Chadians advance in Mali troop moves against Islamists

Chadian forces advanced towards the Mali border on Tuesday as an African troop deployment and a U.S. military airlift swelled international support for French operations against Islamist rebels occupying the north of Mali.

Military experts say the swift and effective deployment of African forces is crucial to sustain the momentum of a French air campaign against the Islamists and prevent them melting away into empty desert or rugged mountains near the Algerian border.

An armored column of Chadian troops, experienced in desert operations, rumbled north from the Niger capital Niamey on the road to Ouallam, some 100 km (60 miles) from Mali's frontier, where Nigerien units are already poised to cross.

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http://mobile.reuters.com/article/id...30123?irpc=932

Army seals off Mali town after reports of ethnic reprisals

SEGOU, Mali (Reuters) - Mali's army sealed off the central town of Sevare to journalists on Wednesday following allegations by residents and human rights groups that government soldiers had executed Tuaregs and Arabs accused of collaborating with Islamist rebels.

The allegations, which have been denied by the Malian army, threatened to cast a shadow over a French-led operation to drive Islamist fighters allied to al Qaeda from northern Mali.

They also pointed to a risk the internationally backed military campaign could trigger further racially motivated killings in Mali's desert north, home to complex mix of ethnic groups.

A Reuters reporter saw at least six bodies in two areas of the Walirdi district of Sevare. Three of them were lying, partly covered in sand, near a bus station and showed signs of having been burned. Three more had been thrown into a nearby well.

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http://www.unhcr.org/510289b56.html

UNHCR calls anew on international community to help Mali as war expands

BAMAKO, Mali, January 25 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Friday renewed its call for increased international aid for hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Malian civilians, warning that stepped up aid was vital to prevent a worsening of the humanitarian situation across the Sahel region.

Since the start of the conflict in northern Mali a year ago, more than 150,000 refugees have fled to neighbouring Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso, while nearly 230,000 have sought safety in other areas inside Mali. In Bamako, Mali's capital, the number of internally displaced people (IDP) is now estimated at close to 50,000. Most are living in poor neighbourhoods with little or no access to housing or vital services such as clean water, education and health.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90O0C720130125

French-backed Mali forces push towards rebel-held Gao

French-backed government forces advanced into northern Mali on Friday towards the Islamist rebel stronghold of Gao, recapturing the town of Hombori, as they followed up on relentless French air strikes against the rebels.

Two weeks after France sent troops and aircraft into its West African former colony to block an offensive south by al Qaeda-allied Islamists occupying the north, Mali's army was now on the move as Islamist fighters pulled back from towns.

Malian officials, who said an offensive against Gao could take place in the next few days, said government forces entered Hombori, about 160 km (100 miles) from Gao, late on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90N1E620130125

Violence flares on anniversary of Egypt uprising

Protesters clashed with police across Egypt on Friday on the second anniversary of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, taking to the streets against the elected Islamist president who they accuse of betraying the revolution.

At least 91 civilians and 42 security personnel were hurt in violence across the country, officials said. Street battles erupted in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said, where the Muslim Brotherhood's political party offices were torched.

Thousands of opponents of President Mohamed Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood allies massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the cradle of the uprising against Mubarak - to revive the demands of a revolution they say has been hijacked by the Islamists.

The January 25 anniversary showcased the divide between the Islamists and their secular foes that is hindering Mursi's efforts to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a plunge in Egypt's currency by enticing back investors and tourists.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-afri...53#TWEET561645

Mali crisis: French-led troops 'enter Timbuktu'

French-led troops in Mali have entered the historic city of Timbuktu encountering little resistance, French and Malian military sources.

But there are reports of thousands of ancient manuscripts being destroyed, with video footage of the library showing charred books and empty boxes.

French President Francois Hollande declared that the joint forces were "winning this battle".

They seized Gao, north Mali's biggest city, on Saturday.

Most militants appear to have moved out to desert hideouts, says the BBC's Thomas Fessy in the capital, Bamako.

The advance comes as African Union (AU) leaders are meeting to discuss sending more troops to Mali

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...90N1E620130128

Egypt protesters defy curfew after emergency rule imposed

Thousands of Egyptian protesters ignored a curfew on Monday to take to the streets in cities along the Suez canal, defying a state of emergency imposed by Islamist President Mohamed Mursi to end days of violence that has killed at least 51 people.

One man was killed in violence late on Monday in Port Said and another was shot dead earlier in Cairo as a wave of violence raged on, unleashed last week on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the popular revolt that brought down autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Political opponents spurned a call by Mursi for talks to try to end the violence, with main opposition groups refusing to attend a meeting.

Instead, huge crowds of protesters took to the streets in the capital Cairo, Alexandria and in the three Suez Canal cities - Port Said, Ismailia and Suez - where Mursi imposed emergency rule and a curfew on Sunday.

MALI

https://twitter.com/jenanmoussa

I found a driver and fixer. We go on. Buckle up. The road to timbuktu was never easy.
1:00 PM

I passed thru a little village. Children show victory sign. they scream 'merci france'.
1:09 PM

Here we go again. I just passed another village. They scream 'vive le franbe'.
1:15 PM

We'll take a break now. Stopped at village, took permission from town chief to stay w/ them for night. He gave us key 2 a house 2 sleep in.
4:33 PM

Mali: people here are so nice and friendly. I am so lucky to be at this place. Good night for now.
4:35 PM