Eurasia Security Watch: No. 253

ISRAEL TESTS ITS ARROW ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM

On February 10, Israel tested its Arrow missile defense system and its ability to defend against medium range missiles in an exercise that took place place over the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. missile defense systems also participated in the successful exercise. According to the Defense Ministry in Israel, the success of this test “provides confidence in operational Israeli capabilities to defeat the developing ballistic missile threat.” The U.S. and Israel have been collaborating on the multi-billion dollar anti-missile system since its inception in 1986. The Arrow system is designed for compatibility with a similar anti-missile systems in the U.S. and intended to protect Israel against a potential missile threat from Iran. (February 10, CNN)

TURKMENISTAN’S PRESIDENT “WINS” ANOTHER TERM

The incumbent candidate in Turkmenistan, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, won the country’s presidential election on February 12, receiving 97% of the vote. The election was only the second in the former Soviet state that included more than one candidate and did not end in a unanimous result. However, all of the other candidates served in Berdymukhammedov’s Democratic Party, including some who held positions in his administration. The president will now serve another five year term. Despite the façade of elections, the political process in Turkmenistan is not “free and fair,” according to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which did not send any officials to oversee the elections because of its predetermined outcome. (February 13, The New York Times)

CANADIANS HELPING QADDAFI’S SON TO MEXICO?

Cynthia Vanier, a consultant for a Canadian engineering and construction company, was charged on February 10 with involvement in a plan to illegally transport Saddi el-Qaddafi, the son of former President Muammar el-Qaddafi, to Mexico. SNC-Lavalin, the Canadian company, which paid her over $100,000 for a business trip to Libya in 2011, worked closely with the Qaddafi regime and especially his son on collaborative works, such as a prison construction project. Meanwhile, SNC-Lavalin fired two executives within its company last week, citing ethical transgressions. One of these employees was of Tunisian origin and both had extensive dealings with Vanier. Vanier, who oddly had no connections to the region or the country in her professional and education background, is being charged with organized crime, human trafficking and forging documents in connection with trying to illegally transport Qaddafi. (February 10, The New York Times)

BLACKOUTS IN GAZA

The Gaza Power Company warned that the region would be, “swimming in a sea of darkness,” as a result of the closing of the sole power station in the area on February 14. Gaza receives somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of its power from this station with the rest supplied by Israel. Fuel shortages were cited as the reason for the closing of the station. Gaza’s fuel comes illegally through a network of tunnels running from Egypt, which have been negatively affected by recent turmoil there. The result of the shortages has been an increase in the number of power outages as well as growing lines at gas stations. The company is calling on Egypt to allow more power through the tunnels and Israel to end its blockade of the region, which has been in place since 2007 when Hamas rose to power. (February 14,BBC)