MENA Week in Review - January 10, 2013 Share This /

Below is a roundup of some of the top articles and news highlights from around the Middle East and North Africa over the last week:

United States policy:

• Al Qaeda-linked fighters and other militants took control of the Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, sparking a debate as to whether the Obama administration’s Iraq policies contributed to Al Qaeda’s reemergence. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claimed the administration’s decision to withdraw from Iraq in 2011 and its refusal to intervene in the Syrian conflict has fueled Al Qaeda’s resurgence. Others countered that the administration had few options in dealing with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose policies towards the minority Sunni population helped spark the most recent crisis.
• Secretary of State Kerry said that the U.S. is prepared to do “everything that is possible” to help Iraq battle Al Qaeda forces in those cities, though the U.S. is “not contemplating putting boots on the ground.”
• On Monday, the White House announced that it is expediting the delivery of surveillance drones and Hellfire missiles to Iraq and is looking to provide additional Hellfire missiles later this spring. Reuters further reported that the U.S. is considering training Iraqi Special Forces units in Jordan. The administration has also increased its pressure on Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who is blocking the sale of Apache helicopters to Iraq. Menendez delayed the sale out of fear that Maliki’s government would use the Apaches against the opposition.
• After denying that a December drone strike hit a wedding convoy and killed over a dozen civilians in Yemen, U.S. government officials have now confirmed that the U.S. is investigating that strike. NBC News’s report stated that the strike was carried out by the Defense Department’s Special Operations Command rather than the CIA, and quoted a Yemeni official who stated, “It is a total mess… It is completely not clear who was killed.”
• The Defense Department announced Wednesday a proposed USD 150 million sale of Marine counterterrorism and counter-piracy training to the United Arab Emirates’ Presidential Guard, a special military unit that operates independently of the country’s conventional forces. Since the UAE is purchasing the training, it is subject to Congressional Approval. Meanwhile, on Thursday the head of U.S. Africa Command, General David Rodriguez, stated that the training of 5,000 to 8,000 Libyan troops should begin by mid 2014.
• Monitoring U.S. citizens returning from Syria has become a top counterterrorism priority for the FBI, Director James Comey said on Thursday, as the Bureau fears that extremist groups operating in Syria may have radicalized these individuals. Similar law enforcement tactics were used in recent years to track Somali-Americans returning from the turbulent East African state. Intelligence officials indicated that at least 70 American citizens have travelled to Syria since the start of the conflict.
• The head of U.S. Central Command, General Lloyd Austin, visited Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on Sunday and Monday, respectively. Both meetings focused on recent security developments in the region and on strengthening U.S. cooperation with each country.

Other top security stories from the region:

• On Wednesday Egypt adjourned the trial of former president Mohamed Morsi until February, claiming bad weather prevented Morsi’s transport to the courtroom. Morsi’s supporters, though, argued that the trial was postponed to keep tensions at bay before next week’s constitutional referendum.
• Though the December 31 deadline to disarm Libya’s armed groups passed, Libya has stopped paying the salaries of militia members on government payroll, the head of a ministerial committee tasked with disarming the militias confirmed to the Christian Science Monitor. The minister, Ali Mihirig, also stated that Libya is boosting its recruitment of individual soldiers, rather than entire militia units, to serve in the national army. However, a number of local and foreign experts quoted in the Christian Science Monitor article remain skeptical of the government’s ability to reign in the armed groups.   
• South Korea suspended the delivery of teargas to Bahrain, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The suspension followed an international human rights campaign against the sale, which claimed that Bahrain has used teargas “indiscriminately and inhumanely,” causing the deaths of 39 people. Bahrain denied that South Korea banned the sale of teargas and defended its use of teargas as consistent with international law.
• Both British and unnamed western officials expressed concern about the “recent terrorist threat faced by Bahrain,” a week after Bahrain announced that it foiled four terrorist attacks and intercepted an arms smuggling cache from Syria and Iran. 
• Over the past week the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) lost control of much of its Syrian territory, specifically in the influential cities of Raqqa and Aleppo, to more moderate, Islamic rebel groups. A diverse set of rebel groups, frustrated by Al Qaeda’s alienating governing style and its attacks against more moderate rebels, coordinated the large assault against ISIS.
• Secretary Kerry left the region on Monday having failed to convince Israelis and Palestinians to agree to a framework agreement that would help narrow the gaps between the two. Moreover, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon stated that “wide gaps” still exist between both sides, and that negotiations right now are focused on extending the nine-month dialogue deadline rather than an actual peace agreement. Nonetheless, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, said on Tuesday that a framework proposal is in the works and will be presented to both sides in a few weeks.