Monday Spin

Algeria continues to prepare for May parliamentary elections. With Islamist parties unbanned questions have been raised as to whether Algeria will follow its North African compatriots and vote for Islamic parties. Even if they do historical precedent suggests voter turnout will be low. Powers given to parliament are also limited and its ability to affect meaningful political change is unlikely. A bomb exploded in Lebanon earlier today near the Nocean restaurant in Tyre. The bomb was the most recent attack targeting a business premise that sells alcohol. The identity of the attackers is not known; however, suspicion has fallen on Islamist militants. Conflict continues in southern Yemen. In the past 24 hours government air strikes have killed at least 18 militants in Abyan governorate. The attacks form part of President Hadi’s renewed offensive in the south to retake Zinjibar, which was captured by Islamist militants in May 2011. Israel issued a terror warning for the South Sinai, Egypt, over the weekend. The warning was largely ignored by Israelis vacationing in the area. Israel regularly issues such warnings; however, there have been no major attacks since 2006. Nonetheless, a high threat still exists. The Bahrain Grand Prix concluded without major incident on Sunday. Attempts by the Shiite political opposition to disrupt the event failed due to the heavy security in place for the event. Further demonstrations are planned for Monday. Mecasr are watching with interest the recent spat between Egypt and Israel. Egypt cancelled a gas supply deal to Israel over the weekend in a move some commentators have called a threat to the 1979 peace treaty between the two states. The move is likely linked to repeated (at least 14) bombings of the pipeline by suspected Islamist militants over the past year and pressure from the Islamist-dominated government to cut ties with Israel.