Libya....
Libya Standoff Emerges as Premier Refuses to Yield to Successor
'Acting PM' Claims Incoming PM's Election Illegal
by Jason Ditz, May 28, 2014
They had very little power to begin with, and even less since Gen. Khalifa Hifter took over their parliament building, but Libya’s parliament is still hard at work, fighting internally over who the real prime minister is.
Ahmed Maiteeq, elected weeks ago, was supposed to officially be installed as premier this week, but the “acting prime minister,” Abdullah al-Thinni, is refusing to hand over power, claiming Maiteeq’s election was illegal.
Ali Zaidan was Libya’s prime minister for quite some time, and Thinni was given the position during the fiasco with the Morning Glory, an oil tanker that escaped from Navy custody. Thinni resigned almost immediately, citing threats to his family, and Maiteeq was finally settled on.
Maiteeq is backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, and his perceived pro-Islamist slant was a big part of Gen. Hifter’s reason for attacking parliament. Thinni, by contrast, is said to enjoy support from the Interior Ministry, but continues to insist he doesn’t even really want the job, despite refusing to turn the post over to Maiteeq.
Libya Coup General Conducts Airstrikes on Benghazi
Interior Ministry, Militia Fight Over Cabinet Office
by Jason Ditz, May 28, 2014
Fighting is once again picking up in Libya today, as coup leader Gen. Khalifa Hifter’s troops launched airstrikes against Benghazi, targeting the bases of an Islamist factionthey claim are allied with “terrorists.”
Gen. Hifter, who earlier in this month captured parliament, is in the process of trying to consolidate power, and insists he will continue his operations until the entire nation is “cleansed” of Islamist factions.
In addition to his own self-proclaimed “Libyan National Army,” Hifter commands the loyalty of parts of Libya’s actual military, while parliament’s support seems to be primarily split between the Interior Ministry and Islamist militias.
Even parliament’s allies don’t necessarily get along, however, as fighting was also reporting in Tripoli when an unnamed Islamist militia attacked the Interior Ministry troops guarding a cabinet office. The fighting appears to be related to an ongoing power struggle within parliament, which may be mooted by the reality that parliament was ousted militarily by Hifter anyhow.
Syria......
US: Reports of American Suicide Bomber in Syria ‘Likely Accurate’
American Bomber Launched Attack for al-Qaeda
by Jason Ditz, May 28, 2014
US officials say they are investigating reports of an American having carried out a suicide bombing in the Idlib Province of Syria on behalf of al-Qaeda, but say they believe the reports are “likely accurate.”
The attacker was identified by militants as Abu Hurayra al-Amriki, and was said to be one of four suicide attackers for Jabhat al-Nusra that day in the Idlib Province attacks.
Some investigators say they believe they know the “US person’s true identity,” but they gave no further details. If confirmed he would be the first American suicide bomber to launch an attack in Syria on al-Qaeda’s behalf.
Jabhat al-Nusra has been issuing promotional videos recently about a longer video, putatively centering on the “American Muhajir” in Syria. The video has yet to be released.
Obama’s $5 Billion ‘Counter-Terrorism’ Fund Has Syria in Crosshairs
'Partnership Fund' Aims Exclusively at Syria Neighbors
by Jason Ditz, May 28, 2014
In his foreign policy speech at West Point Academy today, President Obama urged Congress to fund, to the tune of $5 billion, a new “counter-terrorism fund” that seems aimed squarely at the Syrian Civil War.
Obama presented the “partnership fund” as targeting terrorism in the region, and conspicuously named only neighbors of Syria as the likely recipients of such funds.
Though not getting into specifics, the generic naming of it as a “counter-terrorism” fund suggests it may be at least in part aimed at bankrolling secular Syrian rebels, as the administration was expected to announce an increase in such activities, and has couched its funding of secular rebels as trying to create an “alternative” to the al-Qaeda dominated rebellion.
Tellingly, the Syrian National Coalition followed up Obama’s speech with a statement saying they welcome the “strategic cooperation in countering the terrorism enabled by the Assad regime in Syria.”
Iraq.......
Bombers Strike in Baghdad and Mosul; 94 Killed, 116 Wounded Across Iraq
by Margaret Griffis, May 28, 2014
Although Anbar was unusually quiet today, attacks picked up in Mosul and Baghdad. In one gruesome attack in the east, two children were kidnapped before being murdered. At least 94 people were killed and 116 were wounded.
Anbar:
A roadside bomb in Abu Ghraib killed one person and wounded three more.
Twelve civilians were kidnapped on a highway near Haditha.
Shelling killed three people in Falluja.
Elsewhere:
Twenty-one people were killed in a suicide blast at a checkpoint in Mosul; at least six were wounded, but probably a lot more. A separate bomb killed three security personnel at a police base. Gunmen killed two policemen. Two policemen were killed and another was wounded when a bomb hidden inside a dumped body exploded.Three militants were killed.
In Baghdad, a bomb in the Doura neighborhood wounded five policemen. A bombkilled two people and wounded nine more in Amin. Two people were killed and seven more were wounded in a blast in Jihad. Sixteen people died in a suicide bombing at a checkpoint in Kadhimiya; at least 50 were wounded. Two dumped bodies were found in Obeidi.
A man parked a car bomb among a row of taxis in Sadr City, where the blast killed four people and wounded 14 more, after he walked away.
Bombs killed four Turkmen family members in Tuz Khormato. At least one more person was killed in the string of blasts and 11 more were wounded.
In Qayara, a roadside bomb killed a middle-schooler and three companions. Eleven militants were killed in an operation.
Mortar fire in Jurf al-Sakhar wounded five soldiers and wounded three more.
Gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded another in al-Riyash.
In Hamra, a sticky bomb killed a man and his daughter.
Gunmen kidnapped two children and killed them in Jalawla.
A sticky bomb killed a policeman in Husseiniya.
In Zab, a soldier was shot dead outside his home.
A roadside bomb in Latifiya wounded five people.
Gunmen wounded a Badr official in Kirkuk.
Pakistan....
Pakistani Taliban Splits in Two Over Peace Talks
TTP-Mehsud Faction Courting Separate Peace
by Jason Ditz, May 28, 2014
The Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the longtime umbrella of Pakistani Taliban factions, has split in half with the emergence of the new TTP-Mehsud faction, led by Khalid Mehsud.
The Mehsud tribe had long dominated the TTP, with Baitullah and Hakimullah Mehsud ruling the faction for years. After Hakimullah’s death, the election of Maulana Fazlullah as the TTP head shifted the power base to the Swat Valley.
But it was peace negotiations that appear to have cemented the final split of the two factions, with the hardline Fazlullah opposing most peace talks, or giving tepid support before pulling the plug on the efforts. The TTP-Mehsud is said to be hoping to negotiate a separate peace with the Pakistani government.
The Mehsud Tribe dominates South Waziristan, and believes their tribe has the most to lose if peace talks fail and the military launches new offensives. Fazlullah, by contrast, has shown a remarkable ability to survive assassination attempts, a must for any TTP leader, but doesn’t seem particularly bound to any territory.
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