Italian Aid Workers Abducted in Syria are Freed

Two Italian aid workers were released and arrived in Rome early Friday after being held hostage in Syria. Vanessa Marzullo and Greta Ramelli were abducted in July 2014 while providing health-care assistance in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. In a video posted two weeks ago showing the two women, the captors claimed the hostages were being held by al-Nusra Front. The Italian Foreign Ministry said the release of the hostages was the result of “intense work by team Italy,” though circumstances behind their release are unclear. Unconfirmed reports suggest up to $14 million ransom may have been paid to al-Nusra Front.

Syria

A Pentagon spokesman reported Thursday that the U.S. military plans to deploy more than 400 troops, as well as hundreds of support personnel, in the spring to help train Syrian rebels in the fight against Islamic State militants. The training will be held outside Syria, possibly in Turkey, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia, which have offered to host the program. The military estimates that in the first year it can train more than 5,000 recruits and that 15,000 will be required to reclaim Islamic State-held territory in eastern Syria. Meanwhile, the U.N. special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the United Nations will continue talks with the Syrian government next week in efforts to negotiate a cease-fire around the northern city of Aleppo.

Headlines

• Saudi Arabia has reportedly postponed the flogging of blogger Raif Badawi on medical grounds, amid increased pressure from Western countries and the United Nations over the sentencing.
• Rival Libyan factions have approved an agenda to form a unity government and have agreed to continue U.N.-brokered talks next week.
• The Quartet announced it will meet in late January seeking a resumption to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged parties to end provocations.
• U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Paris Friday following lengthy discussions on Wednesday.

Arguments and Analysis

‘Oasis or Mirage? Jordan’s Unlikely Stability in a Changing Middle East’ (Curtis R. Ryan, World Politics Review)

“Jordan’s stability and security are not figments of the imagination, especially considering the revolutions, civil wars and endemic terrorism that seem to have afflicted most of the country’s neighbors. Yet the calm may not be sustainable, as Jordan confronts its own continuing struggles over reform and change; faces seemingly countless threats in terms of its internal and external security; and attempts to deal with its own economic crises and challenging energy needs.

But even as Jordan confronts its domestic challenges, its regional setting presents an even deeper challenge. Jordan’s political geography, in short, seems to make every problem more difficult.”

‘Are Israel, Jabhat al-Nusra coordinating on attacks in Syria?’ (Khaled Atallah, Al Monitor)

“Since the start of the Syrian crisis, the Syrian regime has routinely accused Israel of playing a hidden role, from Qusair in the Homs countryside in May 2013 to the emergence and advances of the southern front in September 2014. UN reports published in December appear to vindicate the regime’s arguments that Israel is involved with the southern rebels.

According to a UN report covering the period from March to May 2014, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) detected contact between rebels and the Israeli army across the Golan cease-fire line, particularly during fierce clashes between the Syrian army and the rebels. The report also confirmed that the UN forces spotted rebels transporting 89 wounded across the cease-fire line into the Israeli occupied zone, where they were handed over 19 people who had received medical treatment in addition to two dead. The UN forces also noted that the Israeli army delivered two boxes to rebels on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.”

‘Bahrain’s Daesh Dilemma’ (Giorgio Cafiero and Daniel Wagner, The Huffington Post)

“Bahrain’s liberal policy toward alcohol, progressive gender norms (by GCC standards), and alleged leniency toward the Shi’ite opposition have offended certain Bahraini Salafists in recent years. However, the al-Asalah Society (the dominant Salafist movement in Bahrain) has historically maintained loyalty to the ruling family, resisting the urge to participate in international movements. That may now be changing, as al-Asalah appears to be shifting its focus toward regional issues. This was underscored in 2013 when Abdelhalim Murad, al-Asalah’s MP, organized Bahraini jihadists’ travel to Syria and met with Suqur al-Sham and Liwaa Dawud, both hardline Islamist militias operating in the war-torn country.

Like other GCC states, Bahrain is concerned about its young citizens returning home from the battlefields of Iraq and Syria to challenge the ruling order in Manama. That certain Bahraini Salafists are now referring to the Al Khalifa family as ‘infidels’ and seeking the monarchy’s downfall is a new and troublesome development. The potential for a growing number of Sunnis to abandon loyalty to the monarchy and support Daesh would certainly intensify and further complicate the Kingdom’s already volatile sectarian landscape at a particularly sensitive time in Bahraini history.”

— Mary Casey-Baker

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