Libyan Government Calls for Foreign Intervention

The foreign minister of Libya’s internationally recognized government, Mohamed el-Dayri, called on the Arab League to intervene militarily in Libya to combat the Islamic State. “There is a siege on the Libyan Army and its children and its capabilities by not equipping it to achieve the necessary triumph over this black darkness,” Dayri told diplomats in Cairo on Tuesday, stating that the U.N. arms embargo is unfairly hindering the government’s efforts to respond to the Islamic State. The Arab League responded with a statement that it will “ask member countries to help support Libya in its war against terrorism” and “help it with all means necessary to maintain security.”

U.S. Considering Changes to Sinai Force

The United States is considering options for changing its force posture in the Sinai Peninsula in response to concerns about continuing Islamic State attacks. U.S. troops have operated there as a peacekeeping force for the past three decades and 700 soldiers are deployed there at present.

Headlines

• The Islamic State is believed to have executed a senior archeologist, 82-year-old Khaled Assad, beheading him and hanging his body amid the Roman ruins at Palmyra, Syria.

• The Israeli government said it is willing to release hunger striking prisoner Mohammad Allan in November when his latest six-month period of administrative detention expires; Allan has been refusing food for two months in protest of being held indefinitely without charge.

• After formally announcing that it could not form a coalition government despite its plurality, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) said it would hold a party congress on September 12 to decide next steps.

• Three Syrian refugees were rescued and six others drowned after their boat capsized while trying to reach Greece from Turkey.

• Sunni Muslim clerics convened in Cairo for a conference on better practices for issuing religious edicts, taking into account their use for radicalization and sectarian politics.

Arguments and Analysis

“Kurdistan’s Politicized Society Confronts a Sultanistic System” (Kawa Hassan, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)

“There is a paradox of sorts playing out in the Kurdistan region, in the discrepancy between this system and the development of society. Society in the KRG is increasingly politicized, and more than ever people are aware of and strive for their rights. Yet, at the same time, the KDP and the PUK are becoming more sultanistic. Sultanism is a particular form of rule that is based on cronyism, clientelism, nepotism, personalism, and dynasticism. While both ruling parties and families attempt to consolidate a nondemocratic sultanistic system, members of society seek more democracy and thus by definition a nonsultanistic system that is based on rule of law, merit, transparency, and accountability. There are regular protests against the lack of rule of law, impunity, and rampant corruption at the highest levels.”

“In Translation: April 6’s Ahmed Maher on Egypt Under Sisi” (Moataz Shamseddin interviewing Ahmed Maher, HuffPo Arabi via the Arabist)

“The current regime, structured as it is around the military and security apparatus, is cutting all ties with youth and treating them with hostility. The current regime is under the control of a number of Mubarak’s cronies who want revenge against young people and especially anyone who had a prominent role in the 25 January 2011 revolution — even though most of these youth also rose up against Mohammed Morsi in 30 June 2013, and I was among them. However, those in power now don’t want a rapprochement with young people; they just want revenge. The current regime is the one who started the hostility with the revolutionary youth and with everyone. The proof of this is that it imprisoned the revolutionary youth, then harassed them inside the prisons. It refused to repeal or amend the anti-protest law or pardon young people, even though they are not terrorists and did not bear arms. All they did was defend their right to freedom of expression and opinion and freedom to protest peacefully. These are things that the military regime considers a crime.”

-J. Dana Stuster

ABDULLAH DOMA/AFP/Getty Images