Saudi Arabia has said the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had agreed to host talks in Riyadh to end the Yemen crisis, according to the state news agency SPA.
The announcement by the Saudi king’s office came on Monday, following a request from Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, but it was not clear who would take part in the talks.
“The security of Yemen is part and parcel of the security of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries,” the statement said.
“The GCC countries have expressed their agreement to the request of Yemen’s president to hold a conference under the umbrella of the GCC in Riyadh.”
Yemen, a neighbour of Saudi Arabia and a global security hotspot because of a strong al-Qaeda presence, is caught in a stand-off between Hadi and the Shia Houthi, now the country’s de facto rulers who are supported by Iran.
Last month, Hadi fled a house arrest by Houthis in the capital Sanaa to the southern port city of Aden and re-established his presidency there.
Soon afterwards, the UN announced it would mediate in a dialogue between the two sides, warning that Yemen was sliding towards civil war.
But Hadi has refused to talk with the Houthis unless they vacate Sanaa and has asked to move the talks to a neutral area.
In another Yemen-related development, fighters of Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) overran and held the southern city of Mahfad – their former stronghold – in Abyan province for hours on Monday before an army counterattack pushed them out, officials said.
AQAP took control of the city council building and several army checkpoints before moving in on a key army base. Fighting killed four Yemeni soldiers and seven AQAP fighters, they said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to journalists.
AQAP has taken advantage of a deep political crisis roiling the country to launch attacks.
The Houthi offensive and its plan to seize control of southern cities with a Sunni majority are threatening to turn the political conflict into a sectarian one. AQAP is likely to benefit from such chaos

Iraqi forces have captured another district and some oil fields outside of Tikrit, but were met with fierce resistance as they tried to advance into the city controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), according to state television.
Iraqiya TV reported on Monday that government troops, backed by Shia volunteer fighters and Iraqi air strikes, have entered the district of al-Alam, said to be the last stop before Tikrit, 18km northeast.
The ground troops were composed of joint forces from Tigris, Samarra and Salaheddin, as well as militiamen and tribal fighers from Salaheddin.
Iraqiya TV also reported that the government forces and their allied militia have taken control of the oil wells in al-Ojail oil field northeast of Tikrit.
But ISIL fighters, who controlled al-Alam, have reportedly set fire to some oil fields to confuse government forces, and shield themselves from attack by helicopter.
Control of oil fields has always been an ISIL hallmark, even when its fighters lack the technical expertise to operate them at full capacity.
The extent of the damage to the oil fields was not immediately clear.
In June 2014, ISIL took over al-Ojail, which produces an estimated 25,000 barrels per day of crude oil that used to be shipped to the Kirkuk refinery to the northeast, as well as 4 million cubic metres of gas per day piped to the government-controlled Kirkuk power station.
Crucial battle
The battle over Tikrit is crucial for Iraqi forces in their advance towards Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city.
Tikrit also serves as an important hub because it is on the main highway leading to Baghdad.
The army, backed by Shia militias are based just 30km southeast of the city, in al-Dour, which was retaken by government forces last week.
Capturing al-Alam and al-Dour cuts off vital ISIL supply routes.
Iraqi troops are also standing by further out, in Samarra and Beiji, as well as outside the town of Garma in Anbar Province.
Government forces are also trying to push forward to the city of Fallujah, which is just 10km away. Fallujah has been under ISIL control for several months.
Meanwhile, Kurdish forces are also attacking ISIL positions around the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
The fighters have been advancing from several areas to the west of the city, seizing villages as they go.
The city itself is under Kurdish control but ISIL still controls some areas nearby.
Peshmerga forces said they have killed 100 ISIL fighters, but Al Jazeera could not independently verify the repor

Nigeria’s military has repelled a new attack by militant Islamist group Boko Haram on the strategically important north-eastern city of Maiduguri, an army source has told the BBC.

Dozens of militants and soldiers were reportedly killed during a major assault on the city on Sunday.

The city is quiet on Monday, with some businesses open, a BBC reporter says.

Earlier on Sunday, Boko Haram captured the north-eastern town of Monguno – the latest to be seized by the group.

It launched an insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria in 2009 to create an Islamic state.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Nigeria on Sunday to call for peaceful elections next month.

Nigeria correspondent Will Ross says that Mr Kerry is in Nigeria to show solidarity in the fight against Boko Haram.

Government troops beat back Boko Haram fighters after they launched an assault on Maiduguri on Sunday night – the second in less than 24 hours, an army source said.

Both attacks were in the Jimtilo district.

Loud explosions were heard in the city, a resident told the BBC Hausa service.

A 24-hour curfew was imposed on Sunday but this has since been relaxed.

Our correspondent says the militants have captured so much territory surrounding Maiduguri that there is only one road in and out which is considered safe.

He says there is still a great danger that Boko Haram will return to try again.

On August 15th 2014, the Somali government ordered the closure of three leading opposition media and imprisoned its owner and his journalists. His security forces destroyed personal property and equipment of the opposition media and seized a lot of valuable property inside the media headquarters. The security forces stormed into the media headquarters without prior notice, a search or court warrant, nor told anybody the reason of the arrests. The Somali government authorized for them to be kept in detentions that are secret and not subject to court review, where cruel and unusual punishments are inflicted to them. In addition, the detainees lack access to counsel, humanitarian aid, sanitary conditions, and time with family and loved ones.

The Somali president will be in New York City this Monday, September 21, 2014. He is going to put a phony act together where he portrays himself as the new Somali democratic leader in front of the eyes of the United Nations. However, in his home country, he is nothing but a dictator! He does not believe in democracy and its principles such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, reasonable searches, seizures, and arrest warrant, and the right to a fair trial.

It is beyond democratic civility that the US provides considerable amount of aid to such a regime. US should not support a leader that practices such harsh, undemocratic practices to his citizens. I urge the US to place sanctions against the Somali president and his regime. The US should convey a clear message to the Somali president that his practices in his home country are not acceptable. The US should put conditions on the aid it supplies to the Somali government and have them comply with democratic principles.

The President of the Somali People’s Party disapproved the heinous, inhumane treatment to the Somali opposition journalists. Dr. Mohamud indicated that the Somali government leaders are doomed to failure if they continue such practices. Their allegations of fighting against inappropriate mobilizations are all pretexts to intimidate, persecute, prosecute, incarcerate, torture, and execute anti government political opponents and the free press journalists. The inhumane torture and covert assassinations of the political opponents of the Somali government are sinister agendas of an authoritarian leadership that fools itself in believing to have the absolute power to have their say without opposition.

Dr. Mohamud said “Those ruthless actions of the Somali government are unsupportive and indicate a clear message of poor leadership skills that violate the unalienable rights of its civil citizens. The corrupt Somali government officials raise eyebrows of utilizing totalitarian rules where the rights of personal property ownership and respect of universal human rights are continuously violated. The Somali government leaders are abusing their authority and misusing them as a tool of personal retaliations.”

Dr Mohamud requests from the US government to put pressure on the Somali President who is coming to New York City. We want that the US asks the Somali president to respect the rights of its citizens and the opposition media and its journalists. The US should request from the Somali president to free the opposition media owner and all the opposition journalists who were captured wrongfully. The Somali government should respect public opinion and the job of the journalists. The Somali government should compensate the damages incurred to the privately owned media corporations. Dr. Mohamud said “No society is free and safe without a free and independent media. Without an independent media, corrupt government officials can wreak havoc on human rights, individual liberties, and cripple an economy with unfettered corruption.”

Dr. Said Mohamud

President of the Somali People’s Party

Candidate of the Somali Presidential Election in 2012

saciidciise258@aol.com

Maine, United States of America

In today’s session, over 65 Members of Parliament (MPs) have brought forward a motion to have a vote of confidence against Abdullahi Godah Barre, the Minister of Interior & Federalism. The second Deputy Speaker was chairing the session with 128 legislators in attendance.

Abdinasir Garane an MP of the Federal Parliament and also among the 65 lawmakers that have raised their discontent in Barre’s role as Minister, said that the government needs to review whether Mr. Barre is suitable enough to hold onto the title or whether he needs to be replaced