Mentre il 2014 è terminato, lo Yemen continua a desiderare sicurezza e stabilità: i quattro anni della lotta al potere hanno diviso e demoralizzato le sue forze armate e di sicurezza e hanno mandato in rovina la sua fragile economia. Invece di venire ricordato come l’anno della Conferenza di Dialogo Nazionale (NDC), il 2014 rimarrà nella storia dello Yemen come l’anno della perdita della rilevanza dello Stato come centro.

Alla luce dell’attuale debolezza dell’amministrazione politica, lo Stato yemenita apre il nuovo anno senza un centro per le principali decisioni politiche, militari ed economiche. Tenendo a mente che il potere politico in Yemen è sinonimo di potere militare, e che il potere militare è sinonimo di accesso alle risorse del centro, la conseguenza di una prolungata assenza di un centro decisionale potrebbe risultare catastrofico.

La NDC è stata spesso citata da diplomatici e politici regionali e occidentali come modello: inclusiva, di gestione e proprietà locale, legittima. Tuttavia, il clima di violenza e caos post-NDC suggerisce che la Conferenza è stata usata dalle élite locali solo come una “vetrina” per dar sfogo alle frustrazioni, nonché uno strumento strategico per rimandare i conflitti, e non per terminarli.

Undici mesi dopo la chiusura ufficiale, la presenza dello Stato yemenita nel Paese si è dissolta, le competizioni elitarie per la torta nazionale si sono fatte feroci e letali, le forze sociali si riparano dietro ai gruppi settari, tribali e regionali. Uno stallo politico pericoloso, senza nessuna svolta significativa all’orizzonte.

Oltre ai nuovi intermediari in Yemen, cioè il movimento Houthi-Ansar Allah (che ha ulteriormente scosso la caleidoscopica politica yemenita con la presa di Sana’a in settembre), lo Stato, incluse le sue istituzioni militari e securitarie, è attualmente controllato da una costellazione di attori non-statali e individui potenti che plasmano le dinamiche politiche quotidiane nelle aeree rurali e tribali con reti informative che possono rapidamente trasformarsi da alleanze a rivalità.

È importante ricordare che le radici dell’attuale turbolenza in Yemen non giacciono su basi settarie. L’antica nazione yemenita non ha quelle nette divisioni che si possono trovare in Iraq e Libano, né un retaggio storico di violenza settaria.

Piuttosto, le radici sono nella ricerca del potere politico e dei guadagni materiali, nella tanto negata legittimità delle provincie del Sud e nella distanza psicologica tra l’élite di Sana’a e le comunità locali e rurali disperse per il Paese, che contano il 70% della popolazione. Altre radici possono essere chiaramente individuate nella rete regionale e interazionale degli interessi personali, che culmina in una grezza macchinazione geopolitica.

Lo Yemen costituisce un’immensa sfida per chiunque voglia addentrarsi nel suo complesso groviglio politico e di sicurezza. Il Paese ha bisogno di cambiamenti radicali nel comportamento delle sue élite politiche e di trasformazioni nella cultura politica del suo esercito.

A livello strategico, gli sponsor regionali e internazionali, soprattutto USA e Arabia Saudita, devono rendersi conto che un governo centrale che non soddisfa i bisogni di base del popolo non potrà sconfiggere al-Qaeda e nemmeno limitare l’aumentare dei disordini.

Nel 2015, i popoli del Medio Oriente arabo continueranno a cercare una via di mezzo tra l’autocrazia, la democrazia e la teocrazia. La gente dello Yemen, invece, continuerà a cercare un centro.

Source: Arabpress

Qatar’s recent move toward reconciliation with Egypt has left Turkey as the only country in the region taking a position against the legitimacy of the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, but there are also dissenting voices inside Turkey pushing for a normalization of relations with this key Arab country.

In a surprise move, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani made a statement on Dec. 21 announcing Qatar’s intention to normalize ties with Sisi, adding that Egypt’s security is important for the security of Qatar and that the two countries are linked by deep fraternal ties.

Turkey and Qatar had joined forces to protest Sisi, Egypt’s former military head, and questioned his legitimacy since he came to power in 2013.

But Qatar’s recent move to reconcile with Egypt is a sign that under pressure from heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the tiny country is distancing itself from Islamist movements in the region, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).

Just like Turkey, Qatar has been trying to get involved in almost every problematic issue in the region, including those in Lebanon, Sudan, Libya, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Since the removal of Egypt’s first elected leader — former President Mohammed Morsi — from power in June 2013 by Sisi, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been one of the strongest critics of the new regime, saying that it has no legitimacy. Erdoğan’s decision to take sides with Morsi, a member of the MB — which is considered a terrorist organization by Egypt and Saudi Arabia — has damaged Turkey’s relationships with the Gulf States as well.

Under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, over the summer Qatar told MB members to leave the country.

Qatar had been hosting some MB members who had fled from Egypt after Sisi came to power. When Qatar told the MB members to leave, President Erdoğan announced that Turkey would be happy to host them after evaluating each individual on a case-by-case basis. Qatar seems to be focusing on domestic issues as a priority, rather than on becoming a mediator and a regional power by supporting political Islam in the region.

With the start of the Arab Spring in 2011, countries like Qatar and Turkey emerged as supporters of movements such as the MB, which is considered a threat by other Gulf States.

According to diplomatic sources who spoke with Sunday’s Zaman on the condition of anonymity, Egypt is ready to reconcile with Turkey and Sisi will open the door to improved ties if the heavy criticism by Erdoğan and other Turkish officials stops.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç recently said during an interview with TV channel Al Jazeera Türk that Turkey needs to mend its ties with Egypt but that Egypt should first break the deadlock.

Source:  todayszaman

The leader of Yemen’s Shiite rebel Houthi movement on Saturday rejected an agreement reached last year to divide the country into six federally organized regions, a major blow to efforts to unite the divided country.

In a message broadcast to thousands of supporters on public screens across the country, Abdul Malik al-Houthi said the rebels, who have taken over a string of Yemeni cities including Sanaa, the capital, reject the plan “categorically.”

The Houthis, backed by ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, are one of the strongest Yemeni factions locked in a power struggle with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Their critics view them as a proxy for Shiite Iran, an assertion the rebels deny.

Yemen also faces a southern secessionist movement and radical groups such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which Washington considers the most dangerous offshoot of the terrorist network.

A panel of delegates from across the country agreed in February to restructure Yemen’s regions, aiming to address grievances that had fed instability in the impoverished nation.

Some southerners, who feel dominated by the more populous north, oppose the plan, which was supposed to figure in Yemen’s new constitution.

Houthis continue to push to expand their territorial gains and have been moving toward the south-central city of Taiz, where on Saturday thousands demonstrated against them.

Earlier, authorities in Sanaa arrested a Belgian, a Bulgarian and a Somali suspected of having links to al-Qaeda. A search of their car at a checkpoint found one of them carrying documents and materials bearing the group’s logos, said security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information.

Separately, unknown gunmen killed two Houthi fighters in Ibb province, south of Sanaa, the officials said. They added that the Houthis had blocked roads and deployed hundreds of gunmen in the streets of the capital Friday and Saturday to guard against possible suicide attacks by al-Qaeda during celebrations of the prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

France could undertake military intervention in Libya within the next three months, an Arab diplomatic source informed Asharq Al-Awsat as French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian gave the strongest indication yet that Paris is considering the move.

Speaking following a meeting with Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, Le Drian said: “Libya is in chaos today and it is a breeding ground for terrorists that threaten the stability of Niger and, further afield, France.”

“We think that the moment has come to ensure that the international community tackles the Libyan problem. I think this is also what President Issoufou believes,” he added.

Niger’s president explicitly called for military intervention in Libya, a position that is supported by a number of other African states including Mali and Senegal.

Le Drian’s statement came on the same day that an Arab diplomat, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the press, said that the question is no longer whether France will intervene militarily in Libya, but when.

“I am ready to bet that this intervention will take place within three months,” the diplomat said.

Arab and French diplomatic sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that there is a difference of opinion between the French ministries of defense and interior over how to deal with the situation in Libya, with the French Defense Ministry favoring military intervention.

The French Defense Minister issued his statement while touring a remote French military base in northern Niger, close to Libya’s borders. However Le Drian stopped short of openly backing the military intervention called for by regional powers.

Libya is in the midst of a political and security crisis, with rival governments and military forces in control of different parts of the country. The internationally-recognized Abdullah Al-Thani parliament is based out of Tobruk, while Islamist forces, dubbed Libyan Dawn, have established a rival parliament and government in the capital Tripoli.

Libyan Dawn fighters launched a series of rocket attacks on some of the country’s largest oil terminals in late December, setting oil tanks alight and causing oil production to plummet, prompting international fears over the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Although there have been international calls for national dialogue, the violence has continued to escalate with Libya’s southern desert becoming a stronghold for armed groups, including some with ties to Al-Qaeda.

Source:  aawsat.net

A total of 20 Egyptian Christians have been seized by militant Islamist militiamen in neighbouring Libya, a non-governmental group reported Saturday, amid growing concerns among Egypt’s Christian minority that they are targeted in Libya’s violence.

The Islamic State’s “provinces” in Egypt and Libya claimed recent attacks in both countries via jihadist supporters earlier today. The group’s claims of responsibility were first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The Islamic State’s Wilayat Sinai, or Sinai province, publicized that its operatives were responsible for the Dec. 23 attack on a natural gas pipeline that runs into Jordan. The organization said the attack was retribution for Jordan’s “participation in the war on the Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria.
Wilayat Sinai’s claim of responsibility was published in tweets by the Islamic State’s supporters. Twitter has repeatedly suspended Wilayat Sinai’s accounts, forcing the group to distribute its propaganda through other sites.
The Wilayat Sinai also claimed responsibility for two attacks on Egyptian military vehicles, saying that the personnel in one of them were killed.
On Dec. 24, the day after the gas pipeline bombing, the Islamic State claimed to have shot down a Jordanian warplane in Raqqah, Syria. CENTCOM quickly disputed the Islamic State’s account, saying that the group did not shoot down the bomber.
Whatever the circumstances surrounding the downing of the plane, the group captured the Jordanian pilot flying it and is holding him hostage.

Separately, as SITE reports, the Islamic State’s Wilayat Tripoli claimed to have detonated a car bomb at the diplomatic security building in Tripoli. Islamic State supporters have posted a photo, seen on the right, that purportedly shows the bombing.
Attacks on Egyptian pipelines first claimed in name of al Qaeda, now the Islamic State
The Islamic State’s Wilayat Sinai grew out of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM). On Nov. 10, an unidentified ABM leader swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Shortly thereafter, the group was rebranded as an official subsidiary of Baghdadi’s enterprise.
Jihadists have executed numerous attacks on pipelines running from Egypt into Israel and Jordan since the political uprising first began in 2011. Initially, ABM’s attacks were claimed in the name of al Qaeda and, in turn, al Qaeda’s senior leadership praised the group.
In an August 2011 audio message, for instance, al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri lauded the gas pipeline attacks, which ABM claimed as its own. “Not only does the siege of Gaza continue, but also continues the provision of Israel with Egyptian gas at prices lower than the market price,” Zawahiri said in the al Qaeda production. “Were gas sold to Israel at a price higher than the market price, it would be a crime. What can [you] then say about this compound crime?!” Zawahiri continued: “I here commend the heroes who blew up the gas pipeline to Israel. I ask Allah to reward them for their heroic act, for they have expressed the anger of the Islamic Ummah against this continuing crime from the reign of Hosni Mubarak to the rule of the Military Council….”
Zawahiri praised other ABM attacks and the group’s “martyrs” as well. In January 2014, the al Qaeda leader directed part of his message “to our people in Sinai.” A clip from an ABM video, showing a funeral for some of its members, was included in this section of Zawahiri’s message.
[For more on the early ties between ABM and al Qaeda, see LWJ report: Al Qaeda’s expansion into Egypt.]
However, ABM has suffered significant leadership losses over the previous year. And those losses reportedly led to a schism in the group between its Sinai-based fighters and the organization’s Nile Valley leadership.
There have been disputes within ABM concerning the rivalry between the Islamic State and al Qaeda. An alleged ABM statement pledging loyalty to Baghdadi was quickly disavowed in early November, only to have the Sinai-based wing of the group officially swear fealty to the Islamic State leader less than two weeks later.
Citing Western officials “familiar with intelligence reports on the group’s internal communications,” The New York Times reported that while the Sinai contingent has been in favor of allying with the Islamic State for months, “some of the Nile Valley leadership remains loyal to Al Qaeda in its theoretical disputes and rivalry with the Islamic State.”
Recently, a previously unknown group of jihadists in the Sinai rejected ABM’s allegiance to Baghdadi, claiming that the Sinai remains open for other jihadists to operate in as well. In addition, Ajnad Misr, another Egyptian jihadist group, appears to be tied to al Qaeda’s international network. Ajnad broke off from ABM earlier this year.
Still, a group of jihadists in the Sinai clearly remains loyal to Baghdadi and continues to execute attacks in the Islamic State’s name.
– See more at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/thomas-joscelyn-islamic-states-provinces-claim-attacks-in-egypt-libya/#sthash.6Mg3CEZG.dpuf

The Islamic State’s “provinces” in Egypt and Libya claimed recent attacks in both countries via jihadist supporters earlier today. The group’s claims of responsibility were first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The Islamic State’s Wilayat Sinai, or Sinai province, publicized that its operatives were responsible for the Dec. 23 attack on a natural gas pipeline that runs into Jordan. The organization said the attack was retribution for Jordan’s “participation in the war on the Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria.
Wilayat Sinai’s claim of responsibility was published in tweets by the Islamic State’s supporters. Twitter has repeatedly suspended Wilayat Sinai’s accounts, forcing the group to distribute its propaganda through other sites.
The Wilayat Sinai also claimed responsibility for two attacks on Egyptian military vehicles, saying that the personnel in one of them were killed.
On Dec. 24, the day after the gas pipeline bombing, the Islamic State claimed to have shot down a Jordanian warplane in Raqqah, Syria. CENTCOM quickly disputed the Islamic State’s account, saying that the group did not shoot down the bomber.
Whatever the circumstances surrounding the downing of the plane, the group captured the Jordanian pilot flying it and is holding him hostage.

Separately, as SITE reports, the Islamic State’s Wilayat Tripoli claimed to have detonated a car bomb at the diplomatic security building in Tripoli. Islamic State supporters have posted a photo, seen on the right, that purportedly shows the bombing.
Attacks on Egyptian pipelines first claimed in name of al Qaeda, now the Islamic State
The Islamic State’s Wilayat Sinai grew out of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM). On Nov. 10, an unidentified ABM leader swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Shortly thereafter, the group was rebranded as an official subsidiary of Baghdadi’s enterprise.
Jihadists have executed numerous attacks on pipelines running from Egypt into Israel and Jordan since the political uprising first began in 2011. Initially, ABM’s attacks were claimed in the name of al Qaeda and, in turn, al Qaeda’s senior leadership praised the group.
In an August 2011 audio message, for instance, al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri lauded the gas pipeline attacks, which ABM claimed as its own. “Not only does the siege of Gaza continue, but also continues the provision of Israel with Egyptian gas at prices lower than the market price,” Zawahiri said in the al Qaeda production. “Were gas sold to Israel at a price higher than the market price, it would be a crime. What can [you] then say about this compound crime?!” Zawahiri continued: “I here commend the heroes who blew up the gas pipeline to Israel. I ask Allah to reward them for their heroic act, for they have expressed the anger of the Islamic Ummah against this continuing crime from the reign of Hosni Mubarak to the rule of the Military Council….”
Zawahiri praised other ABM attacks and the group’s “martyrs” as well. In January 2014, the al Qaeda leader directed part of his message “to our people in Sinai.” A clip from an ABM video, showing a funeral for some of its members, was included in this section of Zawahiri’s message.
[For more on the early ties between ABM and al Qaeda, see LWJ report: Al Qaeda’s expansion into Egypt.]
However, ABM has suffered significant leadership losses over the previous year. And those losses reportedly led to a schism in the group between its Sinai-based fighters and the organization’s Nile Valley leadership.
There have been disputes within ABM concerning the rivalry between the Islamic State and al Qaeda. An alleged ABM statement pledging loyalty to Baghdadi was quickly disavowed in early November, only to have the Sinai-based wing of the group officially swear fealty to the Islamic State leader less than two weeks later.
Citing Western officials “familiar with intelligence reports on the group’s internal communications,” The New York Times reported that while the Sinai contingent has been in favor of allying with the Islamic State for months, “some of the Nile Valley leadership remains loyal to Al Qaeda in its theoretical disputes and rivalry with the Islamic State.”
Recently, a previously unknown group of jihadists in the Sinai rejected ABM’s allegiance to Baghdadi, claiming that the Sinai remains open for other jihadists to operate in as well. In addition, Ajnad Misr, another Egyptian jihadist group, appears to be tied to al Qaeda’s international network. Ajnad broke off from ABM earlier this year.
Still, a group of jihadists in the Sinai clearly remains loyal to Baghdadi and continues to execute attacks in the Islamic State’s name.
– See more at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/thomas-joscelyn-islamic-states-provinces-claim-attacks-in-egypt-libya/#sthash.6Mg3CEZG.dpuf

The Islamic State’s “provinces” in Egypt and Libya claimed recent attacks in both countries via jihadist supporters earlier today. The group’s claims of responsibility were first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The Islamic State’s Wilayat Sinai, or Sinai province, publicized that its operatives were responsible for the Dec. 23 attack on a natural gas pipeline that runs into Jordan. The organization said the attack was retribution for Jordan’s “participation in the war on the Islamic State” in Iraq and Syria.
Wilayat Sinai’s claim of responsibility was published in tweets by the Islamic State’s supporters. Twitter has repeatedly suspended Wilayat Sinai’s accounts, forcing the group to distribute its propaganda through other sites.
The Wilayat Sinai also claimed responsibility for two attacks on Egyptian military vehicles, saying that the personnel in one of them were killed.
On Dec. 24, the day after the gas pipeline bombing, the Islamic State claimed to have shot down a Jordanian warplane in Raqqah, Syria. CENTCOM quickly disputed the Islamic State’s account, saying that the group did not shoot down the bomber.
Whatever the circumstances surrounding the downing of the plane, the group captured the Jordanian pilot flying it and is holding him hostage.

Separately, as SITE reports, the Islamic State’s Wilayat Tripoli claimed to have detonated a car bomb at the diplomatic security building in Tripoli. Islamic State supporters have posted a photo, seen on the right, that purportedly shows the bombing.
Attacks on Egyptian pipelines first claimed in name of al Qaeda, now the Islamic State
The Islamic State’s Wilayat Sinai grew out of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (ABM). On Nov. 10, an unidentified ABM leader swore allegiance to the Islamic State’s emir, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Shortly thereafter, the group was rebranded as an official subsidiary of Baghdadi’s enterprise.
Jihadists have executed numerous attacks on pipelines running from Egypt into Israel and Jordan since the political uprising first began in 2011. Initially, ABM’s attacks were claimed in the name of al Qaeda and, in turn, al Qaeda’s senior leadership praised the group.
In an August 2011 audio message, for instance, al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri lauded the gas pipeline attacks, which ABM claimed as its own. “Not only does the siege of Gaza continue, but also continues the provision of Israel with Egyptian gas at prices lower than the market price,” Zawahiri said in the al Qaeda production. “Were gas sold to Israel at a price higher than the market price, it would be a crime. What can [you] then say about this compound crime?!” Zawahiri continued: “I here commend the heroes who blew up the gas pipeline to Israel. I ask Allah to reward them for their heroic act, for they have expressed the anger of the Islamic Ummah against this continuing crime from the reign of Hosni Mubarak to the rule of the Military Council….”
Zawahiri praised other ABM attacks and the group’s “martyrs” as well. In January 2014, the al Qaeda leader directed part of his message “to our people in Sinai.” A clip from an ABM video, showing a funeral for some of its members, was included in this section of Zawahiri’s message.
[For more on the early ties between ABM and al Qaeda, see LWJ report: Al Qaeda’s expansion into Egypt.]
However, ABM has suffered significant leadership losses over the previous year. And those losses reportedly led to a schism in the group between its Sinai-based fighters and the organization’s Nile Valley leadership.
There have been disputes within ABM concerning the rivalry between the Islamic State and al Qaeda. An alleged ABM statement pledging loyalty to Baghdadi was quickly disavowed in early November, only to have the Sinai-based wing of the group officially swear fealty to the Islamic State leader less than two weeks later.
Citing Western officials “familiar with intelligence reports on the group’s internal communications,” The New York Times reported that while the Sinai contingent has been in favor of allying with the Islamic State for months, “some of the Nile Valley leadership remains loyal to Al Qaeda in its theoretical disputes and rivalry with the Islamic State.”
Recently, a previously unknown group of jihadists in the Sinai rejected ABM’s allegiance to Baghdadi, claiming that the Sinai remains open for other jihadists to operate in as well. In addition, Ajnad Misr, another Egyptian jihadist group, appears to be tied to al Qaeda’s international network. Ajnad broke off from ABM earlier this year.
Still, a group of jihadists in the Sinai clearly remains loyal to Baghdadi and continues to execute attacks in the Islamic State’s name.
– See more at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/thomas-joscelyn-islamic-states-provinces-claim-attacks-in-egypt-libya/#sthash.6Mg3CEZG.dpuf

Twenty eight ISIL members were eliminated on Friday in an air raid by the international coalition in Al-Reqqa northeast of Syria.

Sham news agency said coalition raids led by the US targeted the outskirts of Al-Reqqa city, killing at least 28 ISIL members.

The news agency noted that ISIL set up fences surrounding Al-Reqqa after the air raids, stressing that the move was made after anticipation of air drop operation to secure the release of the Jordanian pilot who was captured by ISIL.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and Syria Mubasher Agency said both that three main opposition factions in southern province of Deraa announced their unification under one military command.

The Al-Hamza Group, Jabhat Al-Thuwwar, and Al-Fawj Al-Awal, which all include around 10,000 fighters are now under one military command called Al-Jaish Al-Awal, the move is continue their fight and impose control over Howran and Al-Qunaiterah areas.

Other groups and factions in Al-Damshqia Jobar area announced similar move, and are now under one military command called Jond Al-Aasma.

Developments come after a short visit by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to military units in Jobar area.

Source:  kuna.net.kw

Islamic State militants holed up in the Qalamoun mountains on the Syrian-Lebanese border are seeking to gain control of nearby Lebanese villages to support their fighting positions, the head of Lebanon’s main security apparatus told Reuters.

Major General Abbas Ibrahim said Lebanese forces were on high alert to prevent the hardline militants from seizing any Lebanese territory near the Qalamoun mountains, which demarcate Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria.

Such crossborder incursions would add to concern that Lebanon, which suffered its own civil war in 1975-90, could be drawn further into the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Fighting from Syria has regularly spilled into Lebanon since the war erupted nearly four years ago. In 2014, Islamic State and Syria’s al Qaeda wing attacked the border town of Arsal and took Lebanese soldiers captive. Gunmen including militants linked to Islamic State also clashed with the army in the coastal city of Tripoli.

Ibrahim, who is the head of Lebanon’s General Security office, said Islamic State had recently boosted its numbers in the Qalamoun area with the aim of securing crossborder territory to support its Syrian operations.
“Islamic State does not want to dominate Qalamoun … but they want to use it to secure their backs in the region through controlling (Lebanese) villages in contact with the Qalamoun area,” he said.

“The (Lebanese) military and security forces are on full alert,” he told Reuters at his village home in southern Lebanon.

Islamic State controls land in Syria and Iraq and has declared an Islamic caliphate. The group is being targeted by U.S.-led strikes in both countries.

Ibrahim said Islamic State had become the dominant armed group in Qalamoun. “In the recent period about 700 new fighters pledged allegiance, and so they are now more than 1,000 fighters,” he said.

Fighting has escalated in Qalamoun and other areas along the border since the summer, pitting Islamic State and other insurgents against forces fighting on behalf the Syrian government.

Sunni Islamist militants attacked strongholds of Shi’ite group Hezbollah in Lebanon several times in 2014. Hezbollah has sent thousands of its fighters to battle on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Referring to Islamic State and other militant groups like Nusra Front, the Lebanese army chief warned in November that Lebanon was facing “the most dangerous terrorist plot in the whole region”. Lebanese residents near the border have said they are ready to take up arms to defend their homes.

Ibrahim, who narrowly escaped a suicide bombing in June, said the security services had arrested many militants in broad security sweeps across the country and dismantled networks of fighters in operations that it did not always publicise.

A Libyan official has revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Libyan interim Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thani may consider resigning from his position, with an “undeclared battle” to succeed him raging behind-the-scenes among members of the parliament.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity a member of Thani’s cabinet told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Libyan PM “wishes to withdraw quietly from political action as he is exhausted and working in an extremely tough atmosphere.”

Despite the PM’s reluctance to take such a decision, the minister said, a power struggle on who will replace Thani is currently taking place within the Tobruk-based parliament, which is the internationally recognized authority in the country.

He said: “At least five candidates are secretly competing to succeed Thani, with each claiming to be the most popular among the parliament’s members.”

A former defense minister, Thani was appointed as the acting prime minister in March to replace Ali Zeidan who was ousted from office by a no-confidence vote in the Libyan General National Congress (GNC).

During his tenure, the North African country has become increasingly polarized, culminating in the emergence of a rival government. The competing Islamist-led government installed its own prime minister and reinstated the outgoing GNC after some of its members refused to recognize the newly-elected cabinet.

In August an Islamist militia, known as Libyan Dawn, stormed the capital Tripoli and its airport, forcing Thani to relocate his parliament to the eastern city of Tobruk.

Libya has descended into violence as rivals remain locked in a fierce struggle for power and oil revenues.

Libyan Dawn fighters launched a series of rocket attacks on some of the country’s largest oil terminals in late December, setting oil tanks alight for days and causing oil production to plummet. Libyan volunteers are still struggling to extinguish the flames engulfing the oil tanks in Sidra and Ras Lanuf ports.

A member of the Tobruk parliament, widely seen as a contender for the position of prime minister, told Asharq Al-Awsat that he is trying to persuade MPs to back him in his bid “in case he [Thani] decides to step down.”

The minister denied the existence of fundamental differences between Thani and the powerful General Khalifa Haftar with whom the Tobruk government formed an alliance to fight Islamist militias.

Haftar, who returned to Libya from his US exile to participate in the armed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, has made significant gains against Islamists in the eastern city of Benghazi.

He was accused of attempting a military coup after ordering the then-ruling GNC to dissolve when it attempted to extend its term in office in February. In May he launched a military campaign, dubbed “Operation Dignity,” against radical militias.

“The two men [Thani and Haftar] have overcome their differences at this time for the public good but there continue to be some personal issues disrupting the improvement of ties between them,” the official added.

Meanwhile, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday called on the international community to act to prevent Libya from becoming a “sanctuary for terrorists.”

In a New Year’s visit to N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, which borders Libya, Le Drian told French troops that “it will be a serious mistake for the international community to remain passive in the face of the growth of such a hotbed of terrorism in the heart of the Mediterranean.”

The minister’s call came as the UN Special Envoy to Libya prepares to hold a fresh round of peace talks between rival factions to end months of instability and violence.

Source:  aawsat