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15 November 2013
Saudi Arabia is planning to build a new national army for the Syrian opposition, aiming to create a force trained outside of Syria that is capable of defeating the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and countering the growth of jihadist rebel groups affiliated with al-Qaeda.
According to Saudi insiders, training involving some 5,000 rebels had already been under way in Jordan for several months with the aid of Pakistani, French, and US instructors, although Jordanian sources suggest a much lower number. Saudi Arabia reportedly plans to build a rebel army of 40,000–50,000 at a cost of ‘several billion dollars’. A high-level Saudi delegation visited Paris in October to negotiate contracts for arming and equipping both the Free Syrian Army and the new national army.
According to Yezid Sayigh, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center, competition for external funding is a powerful driver of organisational dynamics within Syria’s armed rebellion. Not all of that support comes from government sources however, private donors in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates also sponsor rebel groups of their choice.
Source: Carnegie Middle East Center | Unifying Syria’s Rebels: Saudi Arabia Joins the Fray
15 November 2013
This is our News Items Overview of 16 October-15 November 2013, a summary of recent news relating to shared responsibility. (more…)
14 November 2013
An alliance of organisations and citizens, among others the Dutch Association of Defense Counsels, the Dutch Association of Journalists, the Internet Society Netherlands Chapter and Privacy First Foundation initiated legal proceedings against the Dutch state, demanding Dutch intelligent services to stop using United States National Security Agency (NSA) data.
The alliance said it is asking the Hague District Court on 27 November to ban the government from using intelligence data gathered by the NSA, using surveillance techniques that breach Dutch privacy laws. The case has been spurred by revelations that Dutch intelligence agencies have exchanged information with overseas agencies, including the NSA. Minister Plasterk confirmed that the NSA had collected information about 1.8 million Dutch phone calls in one month last year and acknowledged that the Dutch Intelligence Agency had supplied information to the NSA and vice versa.
Source: Miami Herald | Dutch government taken to court over NSA links
Source: Xinhua | Dutch Minister Plasterk sued over NSA spying
14 November 2013
Tomilola Akanle Eni-Ibukun has published ‘International Environmental Law and Distributive Justice: The Equitable Distribution of CDM Projects under the Kyoto Protocol’. The abstract can be found here.
Source: Routledge | Books | International Environmental Law and Distributive Justice - The Equitable Distribution of CDM Projects under the Kyoto Protocol
12 November 2013
Adrian Edwards, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the UNHCR is encouraging cooperation among countries affected by mixed migration, and is supporting the Yemeni government to organise a conference next week on asylum and migration together with the International Organization for Migration.
This three-day conference will take place in Sana’a, with participants from governments from the Horn of Africa, Gulf states, donor countries, non-governmental organisations, and institutions such as the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat.
According to Mr. Edwards, ‘the aim of the Yemen conference is to establish a regional plan to help manage mixed migration between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula’.
Source: UNHCR | More than 62,000 people, mostly Ethiopians, risk lives to cross Gulf of Aden this year