You are in the the 148th diary of the liveblog bearing witness to the 2011 populist uprisings. We stand with our international friends and their courageous struggle for dignity, self-determination and human rights. (see more about the work of our group below)
PLS REC this diary to maximize how many people bear witness. PLS UNREC the previous liveblog diary.
BAHRAIN: The mainstream news is far too quiet when it comes to all these revolutions underway. The two in greatest peril at the moment are Bahrain and Libay (see the updates below the fold.) Events in Japan have captured all the attention. Let's try and recapture some for these people and their struggles. They need us to pay attention.
(h/t suejazz ) - Two killed in Bahrain violence despite martial law
At least two people have been killed and as many as 200 injured in clashes between anti-government demonstrators and security forces in Bahrain.
A doctor told the BBC he was treating many people with head and gunshot wounds, and that soldiers and police were using ambulances to attack people.
The violence came as the government announced a state of emergency and called in Saudi troops to keep order.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has appealed for calm and restraint.
"The use of force and violence from any source will only worsen the situation," she told reporters during a visit to the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
"Our advice to all sides is that they must take steps now to negotiation towards a political resolution," she added.
Mrs Clinton also said she had told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal that "they, along with everyone else, need to be promoting the dialogue".
A diplomatic row has also flared over the issue, with Bahrain recalling its ambassador in Tehran and complaining of "blatant interference" in its affair because Iran had condemned the arrival of foreign forces.
(h/t suejazz ) - Bahrain Declares Emergency as Gulf Arab Forces Arrive to Tackle Protests
Bahrain declared a three-month state of emergency as a second contingent of forces from Gulf states arrived in the kingdom to support its government following persistent protests.
King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa asked the head of the military to guarantee security, state television said. Police opened fire on protesters in the village of Sitra, killing one, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights said in a statement. Hundreds of people were injured, according to Ali Al-Akri, a doctor at the emergency room of the Salmaniya Medical Complex. He didn’t have details on the kind of injuries sustained.
Imposing a state of emergency “probably means they are running out of options,” said Gala Riani, a Middle East analyst at London-based forecaster IHS Global Insight. “If we see more violence against protesters than I suspect it’ll incite further unrest.”
(h/t suejazz) - Why Bahrain is unlikely to turn into an Iran-Saudi battleground
The intervention of Gulf forces to help put down Bahrain's pro-democracy uprising escalates an already dangerous situation but does not necessarily mean the entire region will be pulled into the conflict, say analysts and scholars.
For now, Saudi Arabia's decision to send 1,000 troops to Bahrain under the aegis of the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) is most likely a protective, albeit provocative, measure – one Sunni monarch helping another, says Michael C. Hudson, a longtime Washington diplomat who is now director of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.
“It's not [that] other countries are coming to the rescue,” says Dr. Hudson, who was on his way to Bahrain Tuesday. “It's like other families coming to the rescue. It's symbolic.”
(h/t suejazz) - UK "extremely concerned" by Bahrain state of emergency.
Britain is extremely concerned about the escalation of the situation in Bahrain and the declaration of a state of emergency, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday.
"We're extremely concerned about the escalation of the situation in Bahrain, in particular the decision by the government of Bahrain to declare a state of emergency. We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to avoid violence," Hague told parliament.
Bahrain declared a state of emergency following weeks of unrest, state television announced earlier on Tuesday
We can't physically go to these people. International law means it's highly unlikely that the protesters will receive help.What we can do is bear witness and to ask as many people as we can to join us in that. The more public these acts, the more pressure on the government to behave. Please remember to do Twitter and Facebook updates and, if you can, reach out through email to whomever you can. We need all eyes on these events and there are so many around the world, we need people looking everywhere at once: Yeman, Cote d'Ivoire, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Algeria.... a long haul in Egypt and Tunisia.... So many places requires a vast multitude of eyes.
More regional tidbits after the fold....bold section names indicate fresh content...
The liveblog is primarily for witnessing, for other activities see the group stream.
We are in the process of collecting suggested readings for background reference materials in support of the Eyes on Egypt and the Region group. These readings may be either non-fiction or fiction, general to the region or specific to a country or issue. If there are resources which you believe aid our understanding of the events and processes we are witnessing, please either a) post a comment in the Liveblog with the title "Suggested reading:" and a brief description of the reading in the body of the comment, or b) send your suggestions via the dKos internal mailer to angry marmot.
conchita has a diary up responding to Libyan requests for a no-fly zone
Libyan Doctors for Hospitals in Libya an impressive new aide organization launched by one of our own: StepLeftStepForward.
Please place links and info for intervention ideas (humanitarian and beyond) in comments titled "Intervention". We encourage you to provide information without imploring, disrespecting those who might not pursue the intervention, or engaging long debates about the merits. With uniform content labeling, those interested can readily find them and those who want to produce intervention diaries can gather the data efficiently. Please post the link if you do produce an intervention resource diary. We'll include it in the next updated liveblog. Thank you.
The group is producing a series of diaries that provide background and analysis on the region in general and on individual countries. We hope to provide a context for interpreting current events in the news. The published diaries in the series are:
Eyes on Egypt and the Region Background Resources
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NOTE: We have renamed the liveblog "Witnessing Revolution". What started in Egypt has spread rapidly. It's not clear that it will be limited by geography or ethnicity. So, we wanted a name which states what is happening yet allows us to grow with the movement, wherever that will be. The number sequence will be continuous. The group name will remain the same. Only this particular diary series within the group will have a name change.
GENERAL ANALYSIS:
(h/t suejazz ) - From Saudi Arabia to Oman, a revolution of boldness
From Saudi Arabia’s “Day of Rage” today to an explosion of free speech in Oman, Arab unrest is making ever-larger waves in the oil-rich Gulf region. Most of the protesters in these Gulf nations are seeking reform, not the overthrow of the royal ruling families. But citizens’ willingness to express their discontent – even after their leaders have made unprecedented concessions – signals what may be the beginning of the end for the monarchies’ strategy of buying compliance with generous social welfare benefits.
“We’re told they’re stable regimes that manage to buy off protests,” says Toby Jones, a Middle East historian at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “But they’re characterized by deep disillusionment, and disappointment, about the nature of the political system.... There was always a simmering level of frustration, and that’s going to be there five years from now, 10 years from now, just like it has been.”
(h/t suejazz) - Will Gaddafi reverse the tide of the Arab Spring?
Ever since Tunisian fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi set himself ablaze 86 days ago, the Arab uprising has been a mutating virus. That is why Moammar Gaddafi - who has set Libya ablaze - has become so important.
By now it's almost hard to remember, but Bouazizi at first inspired not popular protests but copycat self-immolations in Algeria and Egypt. Then the contagion altered: A mass secular movement emerged in Tunisia under the banner of liberal democracy, and Egypt's young middle class took up the same cause. U.S.-allied armies in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain decided one after the other that they would not gun down their own people to preserve the autocratic status quo - and each decision strengthened the principle of nonviolence being pushed by the United States and other outside powers.
Now Gaddafi has altered the virus's nature once again. Thanks to his "Green Book" madness, Libya stood for decades at the margins of Arab politics. But Gaddafi's scorched-earth campaign to save himself has not only stopped and partially reversed the advance of rebel forces on Tripoli during the past two weeks; it has done the same to the broader push for Arab democracy. If he survives, the virus of repressive bloodshed and unyielding autocracy could flow back through the region.
ALGERIA:
(h/t suejazz ) - *Algeria's pilots Bomb Targets in Libya, Rebel Leader said.*
Accusations of an Algerian military involvement in support of Gaddafi’s regime grew even louder with recent proof of dozens of Air Algerie‘s “special flights” to small military airfields controlled by Gaddafi’s forces.
In an interview with the Canadian daily Globe and Mail, Omar Hariri, military head of the Libyan Provisional National Council, accused the Algerian military in backing the Libyan regime’s drive to squash the revolutionary forces in the city of Benghazi.
Mr. Hariri said that Gaddafi hired “Algerian pilots for bombing raids on Libyan targets.” The opposition military official also added that ”data from the air traffic control tower at Benina International Airport showing 22 flights by Algerian aircraft to Libyan destinations between Feb.19 and 26. Some are listed as passenger flights by Air Algerie,using civilian aircraft, but the majority are labeled “special flights” by aircraft bearing registration codes used by the Algerian military.”
COTE D'IVOIRE:
(h/t suejazz ) - 'Promising signs' in Ivory Coast?
Suggestions that incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo controls a sizable military force don't correlate with facts on the ground, a U.N. special envoy said.
The political fallout from a November presidential election in Ivory Coast is pushing the country to the brink of civil war. Y.J. Choi, the U.N. special envoy to the Ivory Coast, said the situation on the ground is moving in favor of Alassane Ouattara, the candidate recognized by the international community as the winner of the election.
Choi said in an interview with Radio France International that U.N. peacekeepers were "all over" parts of the country during the weekend despite pressure from Gbagbo's camp.
Choi added that assumptions regarding the size of the force loyal to Gbagbo "do not quite correspond to the facts since that majority of the military are not prepared to fight."
(h/t suejazz ) - Ivory Coast: Aid Agencies Struggle to Help Displaced
It’s estimated that between 300,000 and 400,000 people have been displaced by the political turmoil and fighting in Ivory Coast. Humanitarian agencies and NGOs are stretched thin trying to help.
Tens of thousands of refugees have crossed the border into Liberia, seeking shelter in villages and camps run by the United Nations. Tuesday, the aid agency Oxfam flew in emergency supplies to help Ivorian refugees there.
Djibouti:
(h/t suejazz) - Election observers quit Djibouti
An international election observation team funded by the US is pulling out of Djibouti after being declared “illegal” less than a month before the country goes to polls boycotted by the opposition.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, foreign minister, told the Financial Times the group had failed to maintain neutrality and that the country was seeking to avert scenes of “chaos and upheaval” similar to those across the Middle East and north Africa.
The tiny port state, ruled by the same party since independence in 1977, has faced a series of opposition rallies in past weeks as many have sought to imitate a wave of democratic fervour that has swept north Africa. At least one person was killed during protests in which police lobbed teargas at rock-throwing demonstrators on February 18.
Mr Ali Youssouf said the US group had several times exhibited “very very concerning behaviour”, offering food and water to demonstrators, carrying participants in their cars. On March 2, Djiboutian authorities declared the US group, Democracy International, “illegal”.
EGYPT:
Egypt has a referendum on some constitutional changes this weekend. To learn more about what the people will be voting on and what the ramifications are, please read Richard Lyon's diary, Meanwhile Back in Egypt
IRAN:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Demand for Change in Middle East Not Lost on Opposition in Iran
But these new protests are causing Iran's leaders new problems, say analysts here in Washington: How can Iranian authorities praise protests elsewhere in the Middle East, tying them to Iran's own Islamic Revolution in 1979, and then show no mercy to opposition groups in their own country?
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently noted what she called the hypocrisy of the Iranian government.
IRAQ:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Maliki uses protests as excuse to consolidate power
Maliki formed his government for a second term in late December, bringing Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions into a coalition after nine months of wrangling following the election.
From the outset, he said he was not satisfied with the cabinet, complaining he was forced to accept some ministers to win the blessing of parliament.
The protests effectively give him an opportunity to revisit the coalition agreement, blame ministers for Iraq's woes, and replace them.
JORDAN:
(h/t suejazz) - Jordan's king sets 3-month deadline for political reforms
Jordan's king has set a three-month deadline for agreement on political reforms.
Abdullah II says a 53-member committee with government officials and opposition leaders will draft new laws for parliamentary elections and political parties — key demands in 11 weeks of protests.
Powerful Islamist opposition and their leftist allies also call for dissolving parliament and for the prime minister to be elected instead of appointed by the king.
Abdullah said the new laws should produce a parliament where all Jordanians are "fairly represented," fostering "justice and the rule of law."
A Muslim Brotherhood leader, Abdul Latif Arabiyat, said Tuesday he would not take part unless parliament is dissolved and a prime minister is elected from a parliamentary majority.
KUWAIT:
(h/t suejazz) - Kuwait urged to free stateless detainees
The independent Human Rights Asscoaition called for the "release of all those arrested during the events on March 11 without delay and without pressing charges against them."
Media reported Saturday that security forces arrested dozens of stateless Arabs, locally known as bidoons, during and after the protest.
The rights association also accused security forces of using excessive force in dispersing the protest and using tear gas canisters inside people's homes.
About 500 demonstrators took to the streets in Jahra, west of Kuwait City, immediately after Muslim prayers Friday, while hundreds protested in two other locations.
Stateless Arabs, estimated at more than 100,000, protested last month for three consecutive days until officials gave them assurances their grievances would be addressed.
But parliament refused on Tuesday to debate a bill that would give them civil rights because the government, backed by many MPs, said it prefered to issue executive decisions granting those rights rather than a law.
(h/t suejazz) - Riot police break up protests by stateless Arabs
Police in anti-riot gear descended Friday on a small protest rally near Kuwait City that was staged by stateless Arabs demanding greater rights, media reports said.
According to the Reuters news agency, despite a stern warning from the new minister of the interior, about 200 protesters had congregated for a peaceful demonstration in an area west of the Kuwaiti capital after Friday prayers. Other media reports put the number of protesters a bit higher, at about500.
Rally-goers carried banners reading "Stateless since 50 years, we demand citizenship," and chanted "we will not leave without a solution,"reported Agence France-Presse.
But when riot police began firing tear gas into the crowd, the protesters quickly ran for cover.
LEBANON:
(h/t suejazz ) - Lebanon to Draft No-Fly Zone Resolution
UNITED NATIONS--Lebanon said Monday it will take the lead in drafting a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, a measure that still lacks council agreement, following a formal request by the Arab League to enforce vigilance over Libyan skies.
Lebanon's U.N. ambassador Nawaf Salam said he presented the Arab League decision over the weekend to support a no-fly zone to a private Security Council meeting and that the council "will be meeting soon to make a decision on this matter."
As forces loyal to Col. Moammar Gadfhafi gain on the rebels, the international community is under increased pressure to act in order to aid the rebels. Officials of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations are meeting in Paris Monday to discuss possible measures, including the creation of a no-fly zone.
It is politically advantageous for the West if Lebanon takes the lead in drafting the resolution that will incorporate an earlier British-French version of a no-fly zone that was prepared last week, a diplomat said, since it would give the initiative to an Arab country.
(h/t Flyswatterbanjo ) - Tens of Thousands Rally in Beirut
Tens of thousands of supporters of Saad al-Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister, have rallied in Beirut calling for Hezbollah, the Shia group that toppled him, to give up its weapons. The rally in the capital's Martyrs' Square on Sunday was a show of support for al-Hariri who was pushed into opposition earlier this year when Hezbollah and its allies pulled out of his government.
"It is impossible for weapons to stay raised against the will of a democratic people and against the truth," al-Hariri told the crowd.
"We want to put [Hezbollah's weapons] under the control and authority of the state because it's the army which protects us all."
Many in the crowd waved Lebanese flags and the banners of al-Hariri's Future Movement.
Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of Hezbollah's political bureau, said the group would not respond to Sunday's gathering, but a number of billboards in Beirut lately carried signs saying: "Israel also wants Hezbollah disarmed".
Hezbollah's weapons are a longstanding and contentious political issue in Lebanon and with Iranian backing, the group's arsenal is thought to outweigh that of the national government.
Lebanon's Daily Star also covered the story.
LIBYA:
(h/t ny brit expat) - Libya in the Balance
Since the rule of Col. Muammar Qaddafi had been even more gruesome than that of neighboring dictators, the Libyan people’s release from captivity by the February 17 uprising pulsated with an unparalleled hope. Freed from a ban on public assembly of four or more persons, rebel-held towns across Libya thronged with celebrants late into the night. Benghazi, Libya’s second city, which the colonel had stripped of its museums, cinemas and cultural symbols, including the mausoleum of its anti-colonial hero, ‘Umar Mukhtar, buzzed with impromptu memorials to Qaddafi’s victims, political theater, songs and art, and mass open-air prayers. And after four decades in which one man had appropriated the right to speak on behalf of a country, Libyans in their hundreds of thousands recovered their voice. “Your place, Muammar,” scrawl protesters on upturned rubbish bins.
Could these be true? Please, please, please:
From Al Jazeera (h/t David PA) - 4:30pm
Anti-government activists said that rebels commanding fighter jets have destroyed two of Gaddafi's warships off the northeast coast of Ajdabiya.
The opposition also claimed to have hit a third naval ship in the air attack, according to opposition website Libya al-Youm.
A number of army generals and soldiers, particularly in the Libyan Air Force, have defected to join the rebels and have an arsenal of weapons and fighter jets at their disposal.
The alleged attack comes as Gaddafi's forces continue to battle for control of Ajdabiya and the nearby city of Brega in order to advance on to the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.
(h/t SallyCat)
feb17voices AJA reporter live from #Benghazi: news from Ajdabiya are not confirmed, revolutionaries say #Gaddafi army remains unable to take it. #Libya
1 minute ago via TweetDeck Libyan4life Revolutionary #Libyan Navy from Tobruk intercepted a fuel tanker heading from Turkey to #Tripoli. Rerouted and now heading to #Benghazi
4 minutes ago via webChangeInLibya If Gaddafi's Sirte airbase has been bombed, his jets would b pushed bk to Mitiga (Tripoli) or Sabha, bth far enough to make a diff #libya
5 minutes ago via webShababLibya Reports that the Free Libyan Airforce has bombed Gardabiya Airbase which is just outside Sirte #Libya #Feb17 #gaddaficrimes
10 minutes ago via webChangeInLibya "Libyans enforcing their own NFZ" did I mention that a Gaddafi plane has been shot down too? #libya #feb17
15 minutes ago via webChangeInLibya The Free Libyan airforce has apparently bombed the Gardabya airport runways, Gaddafi's biggest air base in the region #libya #feb17
17 minutes ago via web
(h/t JNHobbs)
01:52 Almanara Media reports that two defecting fighter jets have just landed at Benghazi airport and have joined the revolution
These could be game-changing developments.
And they still have a sense of humor:
(h/t Claudius Bombarnac)
@feb17libya: "Now Gaddafi will be asking for a No Fly Zone" @Hamidoss #Libya #NFZ #Feb17
(I keep this list here to remind us of these options. A no-fly zone is not the only thing to pursue.)
one ex-diplomat's suggestions:
Libya: Eight Nonmilitary Options
1. Establishment of an escrow account for Libyan oil revenues
2. Listing all Libyan personnel involved in repression for sanction under SCR 1970
3. Seek public declarations from all commercial companies that they will not do business with the Gadhaffi regime.
4. Immediately position monitoring units on all borders and a naval blockade to ensure that the military embargo under UNSCR 1970 is enforced, and that regime members under ICC investigation or subject to paras 22-23 of UNSCR 1970 do not escape.
5. Electronic jamming of all regime communications [why aren't we doing this already??]; interference with internet communications, Stuxnet-like attacks on regime IT infrastructure.
6. Provide immediate and substantial humanitarian assistance in rebel-held areas.
7. Set up publicly accessible websites using satellite and other reconnaissance data to inform anti-Gaddafi forces of the disposition of regime military and irregular units.
8. Consider making the Libyan currency non-convertible
MAURITANIA:
(h/t mali muso) - Mauritania protesters want better salaries, lower food prices
Hundreds of people took to the streets after Friday afternoon prayers, demanding more jobs and decent food prices. What was initially meant as a peaceful protest, ended with protesters throwing stones at security forces and setting fire to car tires.
...
Protesters distributed bottles of fresh water to security forces surrounding them, while the authorities continued to deny any access to Blokat square. Demonstrators prevented Mauritania TV from covering the protests, fearing the station would use the footage for political propaganda. Protesters earlier complained about police women pretending to be journalists. The videos were reportedly used by intelligent forces to identify youth leaders and facilitate future arrests.
MOROCCO:
(h/t UnaSpenser) - Dozens of activists injured in Moroccan protests
DOZENS OF people were injured and more than 100 arrested in Morocco after demonstrations by protesters unconvinced by King Mohammed’s concessions on political reform.
Riot police used truncheons to break up a rally in Morocco’s biggest city, Casablanca, on Sunday – the latest in a series of weekly protests in the country over the past month.
Reports suggested dozens were injured when police tried to storm the Unified Socialist Party headquarters, where protesters had sought refuge during clashes.
...
Oussama El-Khifli, one of the organisers of the Moroccan protest movement, told Le Monde yesterday police charged the crowd as they began a sit-in demonstration, arresting 123 people. “We will continue to protest for radical change,” he said, predicting a “surprise” for next weekend when a further march is planned.
OMAN:
(h/t suejazz) - Protests Continue in Oman, Despite Ruler's Concessions
New protests against the government have erupted in Oman, despite a series of reforms announced by the country's rulers.
Several hundred state petroleum workers rallied Tuesday outside of the agency's headquarters in Muscat to demand higher wages. There also are reports of demonstrations in other towns.
On Sunday, Sultan Qaboos bin Sa'id issued a decree granting lawmaking powers to councils that previously had only advisory roles. He also ordered an increase in state pension benefits and payments for families receiving social security.
The sultan announced the reforms in response to a series of protests than began last month. Demonstrators have said they are seeking jobs and a greater role in politics.
PALESTINE:
(h/t Flyswatterbanjo ) - Thousands rally in Gaza, West Bank for 'unity'
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Tens of thousands of Palestinians were rallying in Gaza City and Ramallah on Tuesday in a mass show of strength to call for end to the division in their national movement.
The biggest gathering was in Gaza City, where officials from the Hamas-run interior ministry said vast crowds had packed into the city's Square of the Unknown Soldier.
"There are tens of thousands of people already there, and there may be more on the way," interior ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein told AFP.
In Ramallah, which lies some 90 km (55 miles) further north, around 3,000 people had gathered in Manara Square, with hundreds more pouring in all the time, an AFP correspondent said.
The rallies, called by the March 15 protest movement and planned through Facebook by young activists demanding an end to the division between the rival Fatah and Hamas factions, are taking place simultaneously in the two cities.
QATAR:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Al Jazeera journalist killed in Libyan ambush
Al Jaber is the first journalist to be killed during the Libyan uprising generated a wave of spontaneous revulsion and anger. Outside the courthouse, the epicentre of the anti-Qadhafi revolt. Thousands gathered to mourn the loss of an intrepid journalist, and to reinforce their resolve to unseat the regime of the Libyan leader, Muammar Qadhafi.
“Here and now, Libyan and Qatari blood is mixed for the sake of freedom. Our condolences go to the Qatari people and the Al Jazeera channel” read a prominent banner held aloft by several young protesters. As the sun dipped over the Mediterranean and the lights outside the courthouse came alive, the Qatari national flag was raised from the top of the building.
Wadah Khanfar, Director-General of the Qatar based Al Jazeera channel said the network would not be silenced. The killing of Al Jaber, he said, came after Mr. Qadhafi launched an “unprecedented campaign” against the channel.
(h/t UnaSpenser) -
Monday calender the week ahead
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 16
- An anti-government protest organized on Facebook is scheduled in Doha, Qatar.
SAUDI ARABIA:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - We won't trouble Saudi's tyrants with calls to reform while we crave their oil
Did you hear it? The clamour from western governments for democracy in Saudi Arabia? The howls of outrage from the White House and No 10 about the shootings on Thursday, the suppression of protests on Friday, the arrival of Saudi troops in Bahrain on Monday? No? Nor did I.
Did we miss it, or do they believe that change is less necessary in Saudi Arabia than it is in Libya? If so, on what grounds? The democracy index published by the Economist Intelligence Unit places Libya 158th out of 167, and Saudi Arabia 160th. At least in Libya, for all the cruelties of that regime, women are not officially treated as lepers were in medieval Europe.
Last week, while explaining why protests in the kingdom is unnecessary, the foreign minister, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, charmingly promised to "cut off the fingers of those who try to interfere in our internal matters". In other parts of the world this threat would have been figurative; he probably meant it. If mass protests have not yet materialised in Saudi Arabia, it's because the monarchy maintains a regime of terror, enforced with the help of torture, mutilation and execution.
Yet our leaders are even more at ease among the Saudi autocracy than they were in the court of Colonel Gaddafi. The number of export licences granted by the UK government for arms sales to the kingdom has risen roughly fourfold since 2003. The last government was so determined to preserve its special relationship with the Saudi despots that it derailed British justice by forcing the Serious Fraud Office to drop its inquiry into corruption in the al-Yamamah deals.
SYRIA:
(h/t suejazz ) - Mid-East unrest: Syrian protests in Damascus and Aleppo
Hundreds of Syrians have staged a rare protest in the capital, Damascus, calling for democratic reforms and the release of all political prisoners.
Six protesters were reportedly detained by the security forces, a witness told the BBC Arabic Service.
The AP news agency said government supporters later broke up the rally by punching and attacking the protesters.
A Facebook group, The Syrian revolution against [President] Bashar al-Assad 2011, is said to have called the march.
A similar appeal on Facebook last month failed to bring protesters to the streets, but critics blamed a heavy security presence for the failure of that campaign.
TUNISIA:
(h/t suejazz ) - Tunisia new Prime Minister in Algiers
ALGIERS- Tunisian new Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi arrived Tuesday in Algiers for a one-day visit, said the Algerian agency APS.
Mr. Essebsi, who heads the interim government of Tunisia, was greeted upon arrival at the airport by the Head of Government Ahmed Ouyahia and Algerian Minister Delegate for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel, the source said.
After Algiers, the Tunisian Prime Minister will travel to Morocco for his first trip abroad since the revolution that ousted Jan. 14 President Zine el Abedine Ben Ali.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
(h/t suejazz ) - UPDATE 1-UAE says sent 500 police officers into Bahrain
The United Arab Emirates has sent about 500 police officers into Bahrain to calm protests by the Shi'ite Muslim majority, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said on Monday.
The move came after Bahraini police clashed on Sunday with mostly Shi'ite demonstrators in one of the most violent confrontations since troops killed seven protesters last month.
"The Bahraini government asked us yesterday to look at ways to help them to defuse the tension in Bahrain and we have already sent roughly 500 (police officers)," UAE's Sheikh Abdullah said.
About 1,000 Saudi soldiers also entered Bahrain to protect government facilities, a Saudi official source said earlier on Monday.
YEMEN:
(h/t UnaSpenser) -Yemen deports 4 Western journalists
Authorities in Yemen have deported four Western journalists amid anti-government protests.
Police came to a house the four journalists shared in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, and took them to an immigration office, where they were told they would be deported, according to two of the journalists, Oliver Holmes, a British freelancer, and Haley Sweetland Edwards, an American freelance journalist.
....
Human Rights Watch has accused Yemen's government of harassing, attacking, or allowing attacks on 31 journalists to stop them from reporting on the protests.
"Beating up journalists is a blatant attempt by the authorities to prevent the Yemeni people and the world from witnessing a critical moment in Yemen," said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the group's Middle East and North Africa division.
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Our Egyptian brethren articulated what people around the region are fighting for, though variations to the theme may exist from country to country. banner held by protesters and translated to English:
1 The departure of Mubarak
2 An end to the current Parliament
3 An end of the state of emergency
4 The creation of a national united government
5 A parliament elected by the people to modify the constitution and run the presidential elections
6 Put those responsible for the killings on trial
7 Put those responsible for stealing the country's money and other acts of corruption on trial
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DirecTV: Channel 375 Link
Al Jazeera on Facebook:
http: //www.facebook.com/aljazeera
Al Jazeera Live on YouTube
English Stream http://www.youtube.com/...
Arabic Stream http://www.youtube.com/...
BBC Middle East reporting
BBC Middle East and Arab Unrest
WorldWideTahrir{NEW} : Worldwide protests being organized to coincide with the upcoming ones in Egypt.
bicycle Hussein paladin - Why Iran 1979 Went to the Islamists and This One Won't
People to follow on twitter: - please suggest people for specific countries. Thank you!
@ArabRevolution - Region
@Dima_Khatib - Region
@JNovak_Yemen - Yemen
@WomanfromYemen - Yemen
@Gheblawi - Libya
@ShababLibya - Libya
@feb17voices - Libya
@DrsForLibya - Libya
@libyanexpat - Libya
@lissnp - Iran
@prsianbanoo - Iran
@sandmonkey - Egypt
@JRamyRaoof - Egypt
@Elazul - Egypt
@Ssirgany - Egypt
@sharifkouddous
@monasosh
@ioerror
@ElBaradei
@SultanAlQassemi
@evanchill
@glcarlstrom
@nolanjazeera
@3arabawy
@shadihamid
@bencnn
@arabist
@speaktotweet: Egyptian Voice Tweets on Twitter
Previous Child Diaries:
Egypt and the Region Liveblog Archive by unaspenser
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