Excerpts: Iran helped Houthis seize Yemen.IS jihadists kidnap 90 Christians
in Syria. Jordan gives Lebanese army military weapons February 24, 2015

+++SOURCE:Al Arabiya 24 Feb.’15:”U.S. says Iran helped Houthis seize Yemen
“, by Staff Writer with Reuters
SUBJECT:Iran helped Houthis seize Yemen
FULL TEXT:Iran has “contributed” to the Houthi militia’s takeover of Yemen
and the collapse of the government there, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
said on Tuesday[24 Feb.].

Speaking to U.S. lawmakers, Kerry agreed that Tehran’s support for the
Houthi militia was “critical” for the rebels, but he added Iranian leaders
appeared to have been “surprised” by the events in the Gulf country and “are
hoping to see a national dialogue” take place.

The Houthi militiamen seized the capital Sanaa in September and laid siege
to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's residence, prompting his resignation
and leading to a political vacuum.

But Hadi escaped to Aden in southern Yemen last week after a month under
house arrest and on Tuesday[24 Feb.] he officially recanted his resignation.

On Tuesday he retracted his resignation and now holds court guarded by
thousands of tribesmen and army loyalists from the mainly Sunni Muslim
south.

The Houthi rebels said Hadi had lost his legitimacy as head of state and he
was being sought as a fugitive from justice.

“The higher revolutionary committee is following the suspicious moves by
Hadi, who lost his legitimacy to act as president of the Republic of Yemen,
and whose reckless acts harmed the Yemeni people,” the Houthi group said in
a statement, its first official reaction since Hadi fled.

Sources close to the president told Reuters he is considering declaring Aden
as Yemen's interim capital until Sanaa is taken back from the Houthis.
Loyalist army units and tribesmen from Hadi's neighboring province of Abyan
now run the city and much of the south.



+++SOURCE:: Naharnet (Lebanon) 24 Feb.:”IS Jihadists Kidnap 90 Christians in
Syria:, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT:IS jihadists kidnap 90 Christians in Syria

FULL TEXT:Jihadists from the Islamic State group have kidnapped at least 90
Assyrian Christians in northeast Syria, after overrunning two villages, a
monitor said Tuesday[24 Feb.].

The abductions appeared to be the first time the group has kidnapped
Christians en masse in Syria, though the jihadists have taken thousands of
prisoners as they have advanced in the country and neighboring Iraq.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said IS
kidnapped the 90 Assyrians on Monday[23 Feb.] after seizing two villages in
Hassakeh province.

The group had no immediate details on those kidnapped, including whether
women and children were among them, or where they were being held.

There were just 30,000 Assyrians in Syria before the country's conflict
erupted in March 2011, with most of them living throughout Hassakeh
province.

They represent a tiny percentage of the country's overall Christian
population, which numbered around 1.2 million people before the war.

The 90 Assyrians were kidnapped after IS fighters overran the villages of
Tal Shamiram and Tal Hermuz, which had been under the control of Kurdish
People's Protection Unit (YPG) fighters.

Fierce clashes broke out on Monday[23 Feb.] between IS and YPG forces for
control of the two villages as well as the nearby town of Tal Tamr, which
remains under Kurdish control.

After the clashes, IS forces set fire to part of a church near Tal Tamr,
before installing some of their fighters in the remains of the building, the
Syrian Revolution General Commission activist network reported.

The US-led coalition fighting IS, which has backed Kurdish forces battling
the group, then bombed the building on Monday[222223 Feb.], destroying it
and killing IS forces inside, the SRGC said.

Control of Hassakeh province is largely divided between Kurdish forces, who
in some places patrol with regime troops, and IS fighters.

YPG fighters have since last week been advancing in the province, expanding
on their gains further west in Raqa and Aleppo provinces.

Since recapturing the strategic border town of Kobane in Aleppo from IS
fighters on January 26, YPG forces have taken dozens of nearby villages.

They have also seized 19 villages from IS in Raqa, where the jihadist group
has its de facto capital, and another 30 villages and hamlets in Hassakeh.

The Kurdish advances have been aided by the US-led air strikes, including a
series in Hassakeh on Monday[23 Feb.] that killed at least 14 IS fighters,
the Observatory said.

The mass IS abduction of Assyrians appeared to be the first of its kind in
Syria, but the group has become infamous for its abuses, including the mass
kidnapping of minority Kurdish Yazidis in Iraq.

It also abducted dozens of Kurdish students in Syria last year, freeing them
only after months in captivity.

The group has destroyed Christian shrines and churches in the territory it
controls in Syria and Iraq, and demanded a tax known as jizya from
Christians who remain in its self-declared Islamic "caliphate".

It regularly refers to Christians as "crusaders," and has carried out brutal
executions of foreigners held hostage in Syria.

Last week, the group's Libyan branch released a video showing the gruesome
beheading of 21 mostly Egyptian Coptic Christians.

Those killings prompted "extreme sadness" from Pope Francis, who has
frequently warned of the plight of the dwindling number of Christians in the
Middle East.

SourceAgence France Presse


+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 24 Feb.’15:”Jordan donates heavy weapons to Lebanon”,
by JT

SUBJECT: Jordan gives Lebanese army military weapons

FULL TEXT:AMMAN — Under directives from His Majesty King Abdullah, Supreme
Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF), the army has provided
the Lebanese army with artillery weapons and tanks.

The military assistance was part of cooperation between the two armies, a
military source said, quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

A ceremony was held in Beirut on Monday to[23 Feb.] receive the Jordanian
donation, attended by a JAF delegation, the source said.

Earlier this month, King Abdullah met with Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad
Machnouk over “means to strengthen bilateral ties in a manner that serves
the interests of the two countries and their people”.

============
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA