Amir has right to dissolve or reinstate parliament

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah has the sole power to dissolve or reinstate the 2009 parliament, Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi said. He underlined that the Constitutional Court ruling on dissolving 2012 parliament and reinstating the former one has to be respected. “The recently-submitted government’s resignation is the first step towards the enforcement of the ruling,” Al-Khorafi said in a press conference at the National Assembly headquarters.

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UAE directs Somali peace initiative

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

In a major boost to the peace process in the Horn of Africa, Somalia and Somaliland broke the ice at a landmark meeting after two decades of conflict on Thursday. The presidents of the two governments were brought to the table for the first time by the UAE at the counter piracy conference, and talked as equals in a bid to bring stability and build trust in the region.

Both groups agreed to the continuation of the formal dialogue that began in London last week and two committees will continue the talks in ‘‘order to clarify the relationship’’, according a statement signed by the Somalia transitional government President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Somaliland’s President Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo.

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Yemen loses $10-15 mln/day as oil exports halted

Source: Reuters (Read full story)

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The attacks on the pipeline have also forced Yemen’s 150,000 barrel per day (bpd) Aden refinery to close, leaving the country more dependent on imports and donations.

Yemen’s location on the strategically important Bab al-Mandab strait, through which millions of barrels of oil are shipped between Asia, Europe and the Americas, makes instability there a risk to global trade.

Saudi state oil giant Aramco has thrown one lifeline after another to its troubled southern neighbour.

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