Conflict and Peace

Libyan leaders are discussing efforts to unite various armed groups that until recently were battling each other for the control of the country. Vice President of the Presidential Council, Moussa al-Kouni, held talks with Libyan National Army (LNA) commander, Khalifa Haftar, on unifying the armed formations from the eastern and western parts of the country.   

Violence erupted on Thursday (29 April) on another border area in the former Soviet space, this time in Central Asia. A ceasefire now appears to be holding on the border area between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan but both sides report casualties in yesterday's clashes.

An informal meeting on the future of Cyprus opens today in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday held separate meetings with the leaders of the Turkish and Greek Cypriots ahead of the plenary session on Wednesday.

The United States came with yet another action with regards to the Yemeni war. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken called the international community to bring Houthi under questioning over their campaign in Marib. The announcement came via a statement on Twitter after Blinken met with the US Envoy to Yemen Timothy Lenderking.

Chad's new military transitional government rejected any negotiations with the rebels who are held responsible for killing the country's former president, Idris Deby, last week.  “Faced with this situation that endangers Chad and the stability of the entire sub-region, this is not the time for mediation or negotiation with outlaws,” a Chadian government official insisted 

Biden's use of the word "genocide" was a significant moral victory for the Armenian people however the geostrategic implications of this for the South Caucasus should not be exaggerated, argues Benyamin Poghosyan in this commentary.

The EU, the US and other countries have called for calm after incidents in East Jerusalem resulted in dozens of injuries and arrests.

Iran has explicitly admitted its role in supporting the Yemeni Houthi movement as they engage in battles on multiple fronts with the Yemeni government and its Arab coalition supporters. General Rostam Qasemi, one of the commander's in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Wednesday (21 April) that weapons that the Houthis possess were provided by Tehran.