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Suez Canal, energy lifeline, seen vulnerable to jihadist attack

Egypt’s military has stepped up security along the Suez Canal, a vital oil shipping artery that’s one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, to protect it from attack amid a swelling jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. There were at least two jihadist operations in 2013 on the canal — 120 miles long and 900 yards wide, most of which is vulnerable to attack. No serious attacks have been reported since then but a study by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy warns the military-led government "appears increasingly incapable" of curbing such strikes and that "ships in the canal risk future attacks." "There is concern that militants could successfully disrupt shipments through the Suez Canal, such as sinking a large vessel and blocking the canal for a period of time," the report, written by Middle East analyst Stephen Starr, concluded. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egypt voters overwhelmingly back constitution: official sources

Egyptians who voted in a referendum overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, official sources said, citing early results of a ballot that could set the stage for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president. About 90 percent of voters approved the constitution, the state news agency and a government official said. It comes as no surprise: the constitution won wide support among Egyptians who backed the army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi in July, and there was little or no trace of a no campaign as the state presses a campaign on dissent. Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which is sure to dispute the official numbers, had called for a boycott of the two-day vote, seeing it as part of a coup against a leader freely elected 18 months ago. It had called for anti-government protests. After nine people were killed in clashes between […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Exclusive: With Muslim Brotherhood crushed, Egypt sets sights on Hamas

After crushing the Muslim Brotherhood at home, Egypt’s military rulers plan to undermine the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the neighboring Gaza Strip, senior Egyptian security officials told Reuters. The aim, which the officials say could take years to pull off, includes working with Hamas’s political rivals Fatah and supporting popular anti-Hamas activities in Gaza, four security and diplomatic officials said. Since it seized power in Egypt last summer, Egypt’s military has squeezed Gaza’s economy by destroying most of the 1,200 tunnels used to smuggle food, cars and weapons to the coastal enclave, which is under an Israeli blockade. Now Cairo is becoming even more ambitious in its drive to eradicate what it says are militant organizations that threaten its national security. Intelligence operatives, with help from Hamas’s political rivals and activists, plan to undermine the credibility of Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egypt referendum: Vote to begin amid tight security

Egyptians are to vote in a referendum on a new constitution, which could pave the way for fresh elections. The new charter aims to replace the constitution passed under Islamist President Mohammed Morsi months before he was ousted by the army. Correspondents say the military wants a strong "Yes" vote as a popular endorsement of Mr Morsi’s removal. Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has since been designated a terrorist group, has called for a boycott. A huge security operation is being mounted amid fears of violence. The interior ministry says 200,000 police officers, 150 central security units and 200 combat groups are being deployed around polling stations on both days of voting. Egyptian soldiers stand guard outside a school being used as a polling station Advertisements in […]

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Senior Libyan Official Assassinated, First Since Qaddafi Era

A Libyan deputy cabinet minister was killed by gunmen on Saturday evening in the first assassination of a senior government figure in the country since the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi more than two years ago. The deputy minister of industry, Hassan al-Droui, was hit by a spray of bullets in the former Qaddafi stronghold of Surt, which he had represented in the wartime transitional council and then in the elected Parliament. Assassinations of military and police officers, usually presumed to be the work of Islamist extremists, have been accelerating in the eastern cities of Benghazi and Darnah . But the government had usually been able to negotiate its way out of threats to central institutions or top officials, as it did with the kidnapping of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan from a Tripoli hotel a few months ago. Previous attempts to assassinate senior officials had all […]

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Libyan oil production rises to 600,000-650,000 b/d: minister

Libyan oil production has risen to 600,000-650,000 b/d from 546,108 b/d in early January, the Minister of Oil and Gas Abdulbari Arousi said on Monday. This follows the resumption of production from the major Sharara field in the west of the country. Arousi, on the sidelines of the Petrotech-2014 conference in the outskirts of New Delhi, said he could not give specific timing as to when production would return to 1.6 million b/d due to the closure of oil ports in the country. He however, did add that the port closures could end by the end of this month. He said that the port closures have so far amounted to a revenue loss of $9 billion due to the inability to export. State-owned National Oil Corp. had previously issued a statement which said: "Total production of crude oil on Tuesday, January 7, amounted […]

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Libyan Rebels Say Oil Companies Eager to Buy Crude From East

Rebels in east Libya , who last year declared the region semi autonomous, said oil companies are eager to buy their crude and offered to protect tankers after the government’s navy blocked one such vessel from loading. “Companies are fighting to make contracts,” Salem Al Jedran, whose brother Ibrahim is the self-appointed leader of Cyrenaica, Libya’s eastern coastal region, said by phone today. “We will use Es Sider, Hariga and Ras Lanuf,” he said, referring to three of the country’s largest export facilities that have been disrupted since the middle of last year. The region’s Libyan Oil and Gas Corp. sent a letter to international oil companies yesterday offering to ensure the safety of tankers loading at Es Sider, the biggest port. The notice was distributed days after a vessel was stopped from going to the facility by the central govermnent’s navy. Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zaidan said today […]

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Libyan oil crisis swells as militias refuse to end shutdown

Libya’s battered oil industry crisis appears to be escalating again, with armed separatist militants who have shut down vital facilities in the east since July now seeking to sell oil from rebel-controlled terminals, while the navy drove off with shellfire a Maltese-flagged tanker that tried to illegally load at one of the blockaded ports. The militias, who have set up their own "official government of Cyrenaica," named after the Roman province that covered eastern Libya, vowed in a letter sent to major international oil trading companies that they would "fully ensure the security and safety of any ship or tanker that will enter Libyan waters for oil lifting" at the major eastern port of es-Sider. That pledge rang a little hollow Sunday after the Libyan navy, controlled by the government in Tripoli in western Libya, fired warning shots at the tanker Baku and […]

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Libya Vows to Stop Rebel Plan to Sell Oil

The Libyan government and a rebel group stepped up rhetoric Wednesday as Tripoli responded to a vow by dissidents to sell oil with a threat to sink their cargoes. The exchange, which comes after Libya shot at a tanker it said was illegally entering its waters, raises concerns about whether the chaos that has more than halved oil production in the North African nation and rattled oil markets could get worse. On Sunday, the Libyan Navy stopped a tanker it said was about to load at the blocked Es Sider terminal—though the shipper said it had already renounced entering the oil port. The government has banned shippers from lifting oil at several ports in eastern Libya, including Es Sider, after they fell under the control of a rebel militia seeking autonomy for its region, Cyrenaica. Sunday’s incident and the verbal escalation that followed came as the rebels are making […]

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Libya Warns Oil Tankers Against Dealing With Militias

In a further escalation of tensions with the militias occupying Libya ’s oil facilities, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan on Wednesday threatened to sink any foreign tankers attempting to load oil supplies from seized port terminals. For nearly six months, most of Libya’s oil production and exports have been obstructed by militias in the eastern region of the country that are seeking to gain autonomy from the weak central government in Tripoli. Mr. Zeidan has repeatedly threatened to send the country’s nascent armed forces to dislodge the militias, but he opted to negotiate to retake control of three key export terminals with little to show for his efforts. But the war of words became more trenchant in recent days. Over the weekend, Libya’s navy apparently fired warning shots near a Malta-flagged tanker that government oil officials said was trying to load at the occupied eastern port of Es […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple