EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT DESTROYS TUNNELS, HURTS THE REGION AND HAMAS
The military-controlled government in Egypt has demolished at least 40 smuggling tunnels on the Egypt-Israel border over the past two weeks and closed the Rafah border crossing for two days. A crackdown against militants in the Sinai peninsula has made shortages of construction materials and cheap, Egyptian-produced gasoline (the main products traveling through the tunnels) even worse in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Without the use of the tunnels, about 60% of the territory’s daily commerce is at risk. Hamas has called for reopening the Rafah border crossing for commercial traffic, suggesting it would defeat the need for smuggling through tunnels. However, Egypt and Israel remain skeptical, insisting Hamas will continue to use the tunnels to transfer weapons and fighters between the two territories. (Los Angeles Times September 11, 2013)
AL-NUSRA A THREAT TO TURKEY
On September 4, a senior Turkish official said: “[Islamist Syrian opposition group] Al-Nusra is also a threat for us...It is out of the question for Turkey to support Al-Nusra in any manner.” The denouncement is significant because Turkey – which has offered support to the anti-Syrian resistance -- had previously taken an ambivalent attitude toward Al-Nusra, one of the more radical Islamist groups operating against the Syrian regime. However, the Turkish government seems to have had a change of heart, though it has not yet called the group a terrorist organization, as Washington has. Last April, Al-Nusra declared its affiliation with al-Qaeda but Turkey asserts that once the civil war is over in Syria and there is a legitimate authority, Al-Nusra and other radical Islamist groups will not gain a foothold in Syrian territory. (Al Monitor September 9, 2013)
$30 BILLION IN DEALS BETWEEN CHINA AND KAZAKHSTAN
President Xi Jinping of China met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on September 7 as part of Xi’s four-country visit to Central Asia . There it was decided that Kazakhstan and China would sign more than twenty agreements worth a total of roughly $30 billion, including several deals in the energy sector. China will also gain shares in Kazakhstan’s colossal Kashagan offshore oil project. (Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty September 7, 2013)
LIBYAN FOREIGN MINISTRY ATTACKED IN CAR BOMB
On Wednesday, a car bomb exploded near Libya’s Foreign Ministry building in Benghazi causing significant physical damage to the building and slightly wounding several civilians, but resulting in no casualties. The attack occurred on the one year anniversary of the al-Qaeda linked attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans in Benghazi. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the recent bombing. Libyan interim governments have struggled to maintain law and order since the ouster of strongman Moammar Gaddafi in 2011. Lacking a strong national army, militia forces, originally formed in opposition to Gadhafi, now control the country and are considered a threat to the success of democracy in Libya. (Los Angeles Times September 11, 2013)