Tuesday 17 Sep 2024 {HMC} Egypt and Eritrea are exploring a possible military co-operation deal and intelligence sharing as they seek to cement already close ties, according to sources.

The sources told The National that such an accord would also include outlining bilateral steps to protect Red Sea shipping, which has been severely disrupted by attacks from Iran-backed rebels in Yemen carried out in solidarity with the Palestinians during Israel’s 11-month war in Gaza.

Egypt is also discussing with Eritrea possible mediation by Cairo to end decades-old animosity between Asmara and the separatist rebels of Tigray in neighbouring Ethiopia, where the Tigray People’s Liberation Front poses the most potent threat to the rule of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Mr Abiy has been an anathema in Egypt because of what Cairo views as his intransigence in more than a decade of fruitless negotiations to resolve the two nations’ dispute over a giant Nile dam that Ethiopia is building, which is seen by Cairo as an existential threat to its life-and-death share of the river’s water. Addis Ababa has in turn accused Egypt of supporting anti-government groups to destabilise Ethiopia.

The discussions between Egypt and Eritrea come amid a surprise visit to Asmara last weekend by Egyptian intelligence chief Gen Kamal Abbas, a confidant of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty. The pair met Eritrea’s longtime leader Isaias Afwerki.

The Foreign Ministry on Saturday said the pair handed the Eritrean leader a message from Mr El Sisi on “bolstering and developing bilateral relations in all fields”.

“They also listened to President Afwerki’s views on developments in the Red Sea regarding the importance of finding the right circumstances to restore normal maritime shipping and international trade through the Bab Al Mandeb,” it said, referring to the narrow strait that links the Red and Arabian seas.

The Egyptians also heard the Eritrean leader’s views on developments in the Horn of Africa, the challenges faced in that region and methods for reinforcing security and stability there, it said.

Egypt and Eritrea together account for about 5,000km of Red Sea coastline, including the Egyptian shores of the gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, as well as 355 islands under Eritrean sovereignty. While Egypt controls the northern reaches of the Red Sea, including the Suez Canal that links to the Mediterranean, Eritrea is located close to the strategic Bab Al Mandeb strait.

The two have forged close ties in the 10 years since Mr El Sisi rose to power in the most populous Arab nation, with Mr Afwerki meeting the Egyptian President several times in recent years. They last met in Cairo in February, only three months after their previous meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“The primary aim of Egypt in the region is to curb Ethiopian influence in the Horn of Africa and put pressure on Abiy Ahmed’s government,” said one of the sources. “To boost co-operation with Eritrea is a huge step in that direction.”

A military co-operation agreement with Eritrea would be the latest deal of its kind to be struck between Cairo and countries in the Horn of Africa, East Africa or the Nile basin. These include Djibouti, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Somalia.

Analysts have long suspected those deals are primarily designed to put pressure on Addis Ababa to show flexibility in its dispute with Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The latest military co-operation agreement between Egypt and its southern neighbours was signed last month with Somalia, which has traditionally been at odds with Ethiopia. Under the provisions of that deal, Egypt late last month airlifted arms, military hardware and troops to Somalia, deeply angering Ethiopia, which has warned that the move would undermine stability in the Horn of Africa and vowed not to stand idly by.

Eritrea, on the other hand, gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a decades-long civil war. The pair fought a ruinous war over a border dispute between 1998 and 2000; and although they have since made peace and fought together against Ethiopia’s Tigrayan rebels in 2020-2022, they remain rivals.

Somalia’s quarrel with Addis Ababa now is over a preliminary deal its landlocked neighbour signed this year with the breakaway territory of Somaliland to lease coastal land in exchange for possible recognition of its independence from Somalia.

Somalia called the deal an assault on its sovereignty and said it would block it by all means necessary.

“Somalia and Ethiopia share a long-enduring animosity,” Somalia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ali Mohammed Omar told Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV network in an interview aired last week.

Asked how Somalia would respond if Ethiopia and Somaliland went ahead and implemented their agreement, he said: “That will be a declaration of war.”

Somalia has already threatened to send home an estimated 10,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia as part of an African Union-mandated peacekeeping force if the deal is not cancelled.

For its part, Egypt said it planned to apply to the AU to be part of a new peacekeeping force in Somalia which, as the host nation, Somalia must approve.

If this comes to fruition, it could increase tensions. Already, the 17-month-old war in Sudan has driven more than two million people over the borders of that vast Afro-Arab nation. And in Ethiopia, ethnic divides appear to be ominously worsening and Somalia is faced with a constant threat from militant group Al Shabab.

SOURCE 

Hamza Hendawi

Tuesday 17 Sep 2024 {HMC} Turkey plans to deploy frigates to Somali waters to protect a Turkish energy research vessel, two sources familiar with the issue told Middle East Eye.

Under a deal signed between Turkey and Somalia earlier this year, Ankara is authorised to protect Somali waters against external threats, as well as giving it rights to explore and drill energy sources in the Somali exclusive economic zone.

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar last week told Turkish media that Turkish Petroleum has a licence for three areas in Somali seas, each field being 5,000 square kilometres. Bayraktar added that Oruc Reis will conduct a 3D seismic study in the area, “which had never been done before”.

He also said that Turkish naval forces will guard the ship. Two sources familiar with the issue said Ankara was planning to deploy two frigates and additional auxiliary ships to secure the area.

Tunc Demirtas, an analyst on African affairs at Seta think tank, said that Ankara was taking utmost caution to guard the ship because it would operate in the open ocean.

“This is the first time a Turkish research vessel would operate in the ocean,” he told Middle East Eye. “The ship has to be protected from pirates as well as possible land-based threats.”

‘Production sharing’ oil deal

Ankara has operated in the Eastern Mediterranean in recent years, facing Greek objections and possible attempts at disruption. But the Gulf of Aden and the waters near Somalia are significant new challenges for drilling operations.

Bayraktar said initial data indicates the research vessel would likely discover oil in the chosen fields. The ship will be deployed in the area beginning in October.

He added that in the event of a possible discovery off Somalia, the oil in the region will be shared with the Somali state within the scope of a “production-sharing agreement”.

“After giving them the state rights they need to get, as long as you have oil, you can sell it anywhere in the world,” he said.

“We can bring it to refineries in our country. Therefore, it will be possible for it to be commercialised quickly and added to the economy.”

Turkey and Somalia signed a defence and economic cooperation deal in February, aimed at bolstering Somalia’s maritime defence capabilities and establishing a navy for the African nation.

The secret deal was reportedly concluded in response to Ethiopia’s agreement with the breakaway state of Somaliland in January, which grants Addis Ababa the right to build a military port there.

Two rounds of talks hosted by Turkey to find a middle ground between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa earlier this year have not yielded any results.

In March, Turkey and Somalia also inked an oil and gas exploration deal to allow the Turkish government to work on the Somali offshore fields.

SOURCE 

By Ragip Soylu in Ankara

Tuesday 17 Sep 2024 {HMC} Some Eswatini legislators, backed by human rights activists, are calling for an urgent review of the Game Act of 1991, a law they say allows wildlife park rangers to shoot and kill suspected poachers with little or no accountability.

Game park owners have defended these shootings for years as necessary to protect animals. But critics contend that the Game Act instead jeopardizes human life.

Human rights lawyer Thabiso Mavuso of the Law Society of Swaziland, who has represented the families of shooting victims, says the law not only allows game rangers to use lethal force with impunity but also shields them from legal accountability.

“We have seen here in Eswatini the killing, injury and torture of people, some as young as 13 years and some in their 60s, but nothing has been done against the perpetrators … ,” Mavuso said. “This law needs reform. It must be aligned with human rights and general principles of constitutionalism such as accountability and responsibility.”

No one has exact numbers for how many suspected poachers have been killed in Eswatini’s game parks, but the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs estimates dozens are slain each year.

Game ranger Mandla Motsa told VOA that it is rangers who need protection and that the Game Law should not be altered.

“We have lost a lot of rangers – some have been killed and others injured,” Motsa said. “Almost all the time, the poachers shoot at rangers first. There has been a wrong narrative that we value the lives of animals more than that of humans. What people are forgetting is that there are two sides of lives involved in this issue and that is that of the ranger and the poacher. So, amending the Game Act would be to make it seem that our lives as rangers are also not important.”

However, political analyst Mandla Hlatshwayo said the killings in the parks are a consequence of the government’s abuse of power under the guise of environmental protection.

“What’s happening in the country in my view has nothing to do with environmental protection,” Hlatshwayo said. “The killing of so-called poachers in the manner that it’s actually taking place is wrong and must be condemned in the strongest of terms. We are witnessing the cold-blooded execution of suspects under circumstances that are very questionable. This is simple murder that is being condoned by the authorities, mainly because the victims are poor people with no power to fight back.”

Former Senator Ngomayayona Gamedze, whose family has suffered losses at the hands of game rangers, says the act must be amended to prioritize the sanctity of human life.

“Wildlife in Eswatini is now accorded higher status and greater protection than human beings,” Gamedze said. “This must be addressed by our legislators before human lives are further disregarded. Game rangers hold immense power over ordinary Swazis who love hunting, yet are penalized to the extent of death without trial. It is an injustice that the people of Eswatini are treated as less than animals, and a review of the Game Act is needed to prevent further loss of life.”

Government spokesperson Alpheous Nxumalo said a motion from senators to amend the Gaming Act was being debated and that a vote was pending.

SOURCE VOA

Tuesday 17 Sep 2024 {HMC} The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Niger is complete, an American official said Monday.

A small number of military personnel assigned to guard the U.S. Embassy remain, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Earlier this year, Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement that allowed U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. A few months later, officials from both countries said in a joint statement that U.S. troops would complete their withdrawal by the middle of September.

The U.S. handed over its last military bases in Niger to local authorities last month, but about two dozen American soldiers had remained in Niger, largely for administrative duties related to the withdrawal, Singh said.

Niger’s ouster of American troops following a coup last year has broad ramifications for Washington because it’s forcing troops to abandon critical bases that were used for counterterrorism missions in the Sahel. groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate in the vast region south of the Sahara desert.

One of those groups, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, known as JNIM, is active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and is looking to expand into Benin and Togo.

Niger had been seen as one of the last nations in the restive region that Western nations could partner with to beat back growing jihadi insurgencies. The U.S. and France had more than 2,500 military personnel in the region until recently, and together with other European countries had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training.

In recent months Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to reinforce the country’s air defenses.

SOURCE VOA

Tuesday 17 Sep 2024 {HMC} Militants attacked a military training camp near the airport in Mali’s capital on Tuesday, as explosions were heard in the area. Within hours, the government said it was temporarily closing the airport in Bamako.

A security official said, without elaborating, that there was unspecified loss of life and significant damage.

A sweep operation was underway after gunmen attempted to infiltrate the Faladie gendarme school, the military said in a statement. The army said the situation was under control and asked people to avoid the area.

Later, the military confirmed that the attack took place in “multiple locations,” without providing details.

JNIM, which is linked to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack. Through its media arm, the website Azallaqa, the group claimed inflicting “major human and material losses” and set aircraft on fire. Militant groups often exaggerate their claims.

Earlier in the day, an Associated Press reporter heard two explosions and saw smoke rise in the distance of the camp and airport, both located on the outskirts of the city.

A security official told the AP that the attackers entered the training camp, causing a “loss of life and material damage” but did not provide any numbers or specifics. He said they attacked both the training camp and the military base near the airport.

At least 15 suspects were arrested, said the official, who was inside the base at the time of the attack. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Soon after the attack, Mali’s authorities closed the airport. Mohamed Ould Mamouni, communications officer at the ministry of transport, said flights were suspended indefinitely because of the exchange of gunfire that took place near it.

The U.S. Embassy in Bamako told its staff to remain at home and stay off the roads.

Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russian mercenary units for security assistance instead.

Since taking power, Col. Assimi Goita has struggled to stave off growing attacks by the jihadis. Attacks in central and northern Mali are increasing. In July, approximately 50 Russian mercenaries in a convoy were killed in an al-Qaida ambush.

The mercenaries had been fighting mostly Tuareg rebels alongside Mali’s army when their convoy was forced to retreat into jihadi territory and ambushed south of the commune of Tinzaouaten.

Attacks in the capital of Bamako are rare, however. In 2022, gunmen struck a Malian army checkpoint about 60 kilometers outside the city, killing at least six people and wounding several others.

Tuesday’s incident is significant because it showed that JNIM has the ability to stage a large-scale attack, Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center, told the AP.

“It also shows once again that they are concentrating their efforts on military targets, rather than random attacks on civilian targets,” he said.