Middle East

Photo: Maj Gen Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo has emerged as the second-most powerful man in Sudan after the overthrow of Omar Al Bashir. Western officials privately describe him as “potentially Sudan’s Sisi,” a reference to Egyptian general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who came to power in 2013 in a UAE-Saudi-supported military coup. Source: The National, UAE.

Arab Power Struggles: 'The King is Dead, Long Live the King'

Viewpoint by James M. Dorsey

James M. Dorsey – a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture – offered this viewpoint to IDN.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Political transition in the Middle East and North Africa operates so far on the principle of ‘The King is dead, long live the King.’

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 28 April 2019

Photo: Three young children wait to be evacuated from Libya to Niger, at UNHCR’s Gathering and Departure Facility in Tripoli. © UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem

Fighting in Tripoli Throws Refugees Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire

By Klara Smits

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Multiple independent sources report that at least three people were killed and around 20 injured in an attack on the Qasr bin Ghashir detention centre in southern Tripoli. The attack seemed specifically aimed at the refugees and migrants in the centre, according to witnesses who say that the rebel militia fighters of General Khalifa Haftar were behind the attack.

Reports say that after a brief lull, the fighting around Libya’s capital Tripoli has intensified in the past week. In the southern districts of Tripoli, forces loyal to the UN-recognised Tripoli-based government clashed with the forces of General Khalifa Haftar.

: Klara Smits; THE WORLD; Middle East; 26 April 2019

Photo: Nuclear disarmament in the Middle East. Credit: USA Air Force.

New Attempt to Tackle Nuclear Proliferation Threat in the Middle East

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – A conference on the establishment of a Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone (WMDFZ) and a Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East appeared to have been consigned to oblivion until the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) decided in December 2018 "to entrust to the Secretary-General the convening" of an international meeting to address the risk of nuclear proliferation in one of the world's most volatile regions.

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; Middle East; 21 April 2019

Photo: Jamal Khashoggi offers remarks on "Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia: A Deeper Look" during Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) on 21 March 2018 in Washington, DC. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

UN Expert Demands from Saudi Arabia Public Trials of Khashoggi's Accused Killers

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Six months after veteran Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has in a report criticised Riyadh's closed-door trials of accused killers, which have thus far fallen short of meeting "international standards".

In her report released on March 28, Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur leading an independent human rights inquiry into Khashoggi's killing, renews her "request for permission to undertake a country visit to Saudi Arabia".

: Jamshed Baruah; THE WORLD; Middle East; 30 March 2019

Upsurge in Middle East Arms Imports Amid Upswing in Global Weapons Trade

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Global arms trade is on the upswing with the United States increasing dominance in the group of five largest exporters including Russia, France, Germany and China, which together account for 75 per cent of the total volume of weapons exports in 2014-2018. While the Middle East imports almost doubled in the past five years, Saudi Arabia became the world’s largest arms importer.

According to new data on arms transfers published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the volume of international transfers of major arms in 2014-2018 was 7.8 per cent higher than in the previous five years and 23 per cent higher than in 2004-2008.

: Jaya Ramachandran; ARMAMENTS; Arms Trade; 14 March 2019

Photo: Syrian refugees in Iraq. Credit: EU

Getting the Priorities on Human Rights Right in Syria

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The long war is almost over in Syria. Tyranny has won. Violence has won. Most have suffered, many unspeakably. For too long all sides were stalemated by each other’s brutality. Now the government of Bashar Al-Assad has come out on top, aided by Russia and Iran

What to do next? On March 12, 2019 the EU member states start their three-day third annual Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, co-chaired by the UN. It’s time for some radical re-thinking. Well-wishing for good things like the persecution of war crimes is whistling in the wind, at least for now.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 12 March 2019

Photo: Numbers of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean may have dropped in 2018, but at a heavy human cost. Source: MSF Sea.

Europe’s Invisible Wall Whets Human Trafficking

By Klara Smits

BRUSSELS (IDN) – After his visit to Austria, Libya’s foreign minister Mohammed Sayala told the Kuwaiti News Agency on January 31 that Libya’s southern borders have now become Europe’s borders. Illegal migration could not be stopped at the Mediterranean Sea, he argued. Therefore, he promised that on the February 20, Libya will present the EU with a policy to cooperate on ‘protecting’ those southern borders. The plan will also include border agreements with Chad, Niger and Sudan.

: Klara Smits; THE WORLD; Middle East; 14 February 2019

Photo: Amazigh women in a village with an association that cultivates an olive tree nursery. Credit: Peter J. Jacques

Morocco's Indigenous People Cry For Sustainable Development

By Peter J. Jacques

The writer is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, USA. He recounts what Indigenous Amazigh people told him during field work in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

ORLANDO (IDN) – Life and death for whole communities hang in the balance of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that include eliminating poverty, conserving forests, and addressing climate change, passed by the United Nations unanimously in 2015. Take for example, the Indigenous Amazigh people who live in the mountains around Marrakech. They are representative of people who need to be served first by sustainable development.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 10 February 2019

Photo: A Simorgh launch vehicle launched the Payam-e Amirkabir Satellite from the Imam Khomeini Space Center, Iran, on 15 January 2019. The satellite was not placed into orbit due to an issue with the rocket’s third stage.

New U.S. Report Focuses On Possible Future Iranian ICBM

By Arms Control Association

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – On January 17, the Trump administration unveiled its Missile Defense Review, which outlines the administration’s strategy to counter missile threats, focusing on those posed by "rogue states" defined as Iran and North Korea.

The review cites Iranian missile development as a primary challenge, repeatedly referencing the possibility of the development of an Iranian ICBM and the U.S. missile defense response.

The report also describes Iran’s transfer of missiles to terrorist organizations which then target U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East as a missile threat, noting that “one of Iran’s primary tools of coercion and force projection is its missile arsenal, which is characterized by increasing numbers, as well as increases in accuracy, range, and lethality.”

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 24 January 2019

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, at the Department of State in Washington, DC on May 21, 2018. Credit: State Department.

EU, Iran Not Amused By U.S. Middle East Summit In Poland

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Nearly four months after the U.S. Department of State released on the eve of the Islamic Revolution's 40th anniversary a 48-page report 'Outlaw Regime: A Chronicle of Iran's Destructive Activities', Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has made a much frowned upon announcement that an international summit on the security and stability of the Middle East will be held on February 13 and 14 in Poland's capital city Warsaw.

Since that announcement on January 11, few details about the agenda of the event have been revealed. Pompeo said the gathering would “focus on Middle East stability and peace and freedom and security,” including “an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.”