You are in the the 160th 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.
Libya-new
Obviously, there have been major developments in Libya. I will add the updates to this section of the liveblog, and any updates to other countries will be down below as usual.
The full text of UN Resolution 1973 on Libya
President Obama's letter to Congress regarding the commencement of operations in Libya found here. (h/t greenbird)
Al Jazeera Libyan live blog found here. (h/t jnhobbs)
UK Telegraph Libyan live blog found here. (h/t bee tzu)
BBC Libyan live blog found here. (h/t greenbird)
The New Yorker Dispatches from Libya found here. (h/t suejazz)
Misurata shelled as battle for Libya rages
Forces loyal to longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have shelled Misurata, pressing their siege of the embattled western city.
Four children were killed in the shelling on Tuesday, a resident named Mohammed Ahmed told the Reuters news agency. The children were killed while trying to flee their home, a rebel spokesman told Al Jazeera.
Gaddafi's regime has encircled Misurata for days, bringing in tanks and stationing snipers on rooftops, in an attempt to choke off one of the only cities in the west where a strong rebel presence remains. Shelling there killed at least 40 people on Monday, Ahmed said.
Misurata lies around 200km east of Tripoli, the capital, and is home to a major oil refinery.
.
(h/t jnhobbs)
Top Ten Ways that Libya 2011 is Not Iraq 2003
Here are the differences between George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the current United Nations action in Libya:
1. The action in Libya was authorized by the United Nations Security Council. That in Iraq was not. By the UN Charter, military action after 1945 should either come as self-defense or with UNSC authorization. Most countries in the world are signatories to the charter and bound by its provisions.
2. The Libyan people had risen up and thrown off the Qaddafi regime, with some 80-90 percent of the country having gone out of his hands before he started having tank commanders fire shells into peaceful crowds. It was this vast majority of the Libyan people that demanded the UN no-fly zone. In 2002-3 there was no similar popular movement against Saddam Hussein.
US crew rescued after Libya crash
Two US airmen have been rescued after ejecting from their F-15E Eagle warplane just before it crashed during allied operations in eastern Libya.
The plane appeared to suffer mechanical failure near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the US military said.
There are reports six villagers were shot and hurt in the US rescue effort
(h/t Lawrence) -
Libya in 'crimes against humanity'
Prosecutors have identified at least seven incidents of demonstrators being shot in the early days of the Libyan uprising which could constitute crimes against humanity.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, said he aims to report on his investigation to the United Nations Security Council on May 4, before submitting a case to the court's judges.
But Mr Moreno Ocampo acknowledged the evidence may not be available to get dictator Muammar Gaddafi's name on to the charge sheet, and prosecutors will face a "challenge" to ensure suspects are detained and delivered to the cou
(h/t Lawrence) -
Al Jazeera journalists missing in Libya must be released
Amnesty International has called on the Libyan authorities to release four Al Jazeera journalists held incommunicado since they were detained while trying to leave the country two weeks ago.
The two correspondents and two cameramen were arrested in Zantan, near the Tunisian border, and could be at risk of torture.
An Al Jazeera cameraman, Hassan Al Jaber, was killed in an ambush in Libya last week.
"This is the latest disturbing example of a campaign of attacks and harassment against journalists trying to do their job of covering the conflict in Libya," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North African director.
(h/t Claudius Bombarnac) -
Timeline of the 2011 Libyan uprising
The 2011 Libyan uprising began on 15 February 2011 as a civil protest and has since become a widespread uprising. On 25 February 2011, most of Libya was reported to be under the control of the Libyan opposition and not the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi Gaddafi remained in control of Tripoli, Sirt and Sabha.
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.
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
PLS REC THIS DIARY! Will you please do the following to keep our dKos community eyes on our international friends risking their lives for self-determination?
1. Rec this diary. (click that star just under the title)
2. "Follow" " Eyes on Egypt and the Region"by clicking on the link and then scrolling down the group box on the right-hand side and clicking "Follow".
3. Get the word out by putting links in FP threads and telling all your friends.
Thank you!
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-new
(h/t suejazz)The globalisation of revolution
To listen to the hype about social networking websites and the Egyptian revolution, one would think it was Silicon Valley and not the Egyptian people who overthrew Mubarak.
Via its technologies, the West imagines itself to have been the real agent in the uprising. Since the internet developed out of a US Defense Department research project, it could be said the Pentagon did it, along with Egyptian youth imitating wired hipsters from London and Los Angeles.
Most narratives of globalisation are fantastically Eurocentric, stories of Western white men burdened with responsibility for interconnecting the world, by colonising it, providing it with economic theories and finance, and inventing communications technologies. Of course globalisation is about flows of people as well, about diasporas and cultural fusion.
But neither version is particularly useful for organising resistance to the local dictatorship. In any case, the internet was turned off at decisive moments in the Egyptian uprising, and it was ordinary Egyptians, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, who toppled the regime, not the hybrid youth of the global professional classes.
(h/t suejazz)Happy Anniversary, Iraq War
As the United States and its European allies launch attacks against the regime of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddhafi, it seems almost poignant that this third military intervention in a Muslim country in the last decade began nearly eight years to the day that the United States invaded Iraq. It is a fitting reminder that even as 50,000 soldiers remain in Iraq, and American soldiers continue to be killed and maimed there, the lessons of that disastrous decision to go to war remain largely unlearned by many in the foreign policy community.
At the outset it's important to acknowledge the key differences in the manner in which these interventions have been undertaken and the differing levels of international and regional legitimacy that they possess. But it is the similarities that are more disquieting. The U.S. has yet again become involved in a military effort of indeterminate length, justified through a questionable definition of national interest and with little forethought to the long-term consequences of utilizing military force. It seems the costs and consequences of Iraq have simply not been fully appreciated by policymakers and pundits. A full accounting is therefore in order.
ALGERIA-new (note - this update relates to Algeria's response to the intervention in Libya)
(h/t suejazz ) - Algeria demands end to air strikes on Libya
- Algeria on Tuesday called for an immediate end to Western military intervention in neighbouring Libya, Algeria's state news agency reported.
"We judge this intervention to be disproportionate in relation to the objective set out by the United Nations Security Council resolution," the APS news agency quoted Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci as saying. "(We demand) an immediate cessation of hostilities and foreign intervention."
Bahrain-new
(h/t suejazz ) - Crackdown in Bahrain: Notes from the field
Against all advice, I flew to Bahrain to witness first-hand the confrontation between the royal authorities and the thousands of protesters in the streets.
It took a while to get a taxi, because roadblocks have discouraged people from driving. We drove through the eerily empty streets and easily passed through two makeshift checkpoints manned by teenaged shebab.
My young driver was full of enthusiasm about the protest, explaining that the demonstrations were peaceful and not driven by Sunni-Shia sectarianism, which was just a pretext for the regime to justify its control.
As we neared the Pearl roundabout – the epicentre of the protest – I asked him if it would be safe for me to go there.
He assured me that it would be perfectly safe and that I would find whole families – including women and children – peacefully camped out there.
They were there because the ruling Al Khalifa family so far had failed to persuade them that they are sincere about political reform.
While the crown prince had offered to meet the opposition (the Shia Wifaq party and other groups) had refused, insisting that the rulers first make a good will gesture such as accepting a constitutional reform committee of their choosing.
Instead the king took the highly provocative step of calling in outside military forces (the mostly Saudi "Peninsula Shield" of the Gulf Cooperation Council). So the protests continued.
My driver seemed optimistic that "people power" would bring democracy to Bahrain as it had in Tunisia and Egypt.
How wrong he was.
(h/t suejazz) - Egypt, Moussa Back Bahrain Steps to Restore Order, Mena Says
Egypt signaled support for Bahraini government measures to restore order in the kingdom, and the Arab League stressed the importance of stability in a country gripped by protests for more than a month.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Nabil El-Arabi, who met his Bahraini counterpart Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa in Cairo today, said Egypt “supports what the government of Bahrain is doing politically and supports the steps that it has taken,” Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency said today.
Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa, who also met with Sheikh Khalid, said Arab countries stress the importance of preserving the stability and “Arabism” of Bahrain, Mena said. The League has communicated this position through contacts with countries including Iran, Moussa told reporters.
(h/t angry marmot) - Arab League endorses 'Peninsula Shield Force' intervention in Bahrain
The Permanet Delegate-level Arab League Council confirmed on Tuesday the legitimacy of the "Peninsula Shield" forces in Bahrain.
Bahrain has been witnessing protests for political reform since 14 February, in which at least 16 people have been killed.
The first "Peninsula Shield" troops of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) entered Bahrain on 14 March to help maintain the country's security, but activists said the troops took part in suppressing the protests.
COTE D'IVOIRE-new
(h/t suejazz ) - Ivory Coast may cause region-wide crisis
As the world’s attention is focused elsewhere, the power struggle in Ivory Coast has escalated and now threatens a region-wide humanitarian crisis.
Laurent Gbagbo remains the de facto leader of Ivory Coast despite finishing second in the November 28 presidential elections. He contests that result and has called on the country’s youth to join him in taking up arms. Thousands of supporters answered his call.
His rival, Alassane Ouattara, is recognised by the international community as the rightful winner of the election and legitimate president of Ivory Coast. He is backed by rebel forces, whom he has adopted as his army.
According to the United Nations, at least 435 people have been killed and as many as 450,000 have fled their homes since the political crisis began. Human rights groups claim atrocities have been committed by both sides.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, whose country is hosting some 90,000 Ivorian refugees, said that Ivory Coast is already “at war” and that the tensions will further destabilise a region that has struggled with bloody conflict for many years.
(h/t suejazz ) - Nigeria condemns world focus on Libya over Ivory Coast
Nigeria's foreign minister has accused the international community of double standards by imposing a no-fly zone to protect civilians in Libya while doing little to end abuses in crisis-torn Ivory Coast.
Nigeria is the linchpin of West African bloc ECOWAS, which has threatened the use of force in Ivory Coast to push incumbent Laurent Gbagbo from power after he refused to accept defeat in an election the United Nations said rival Alassane Ouattara won.
Around 400 Ivorians have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes since the disputed poll. Thousands of youth supporters of Gbagbo answered a call to join the army this week, adding fuel to fear that the violent power struggle risks sending the country back to civil war.
Western powers, led by the U.S., have in recent days launched air strikes and enforced a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians as the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi fights a civil war against rebels trying to oust him from power.
Speaking at the commissioning of a new foreign ministry building in the capital Abuja, Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said the contradictions were "impossible to ignore".
"The contradictions between principle and national interest ... have enabled the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Libya ostensibly to protect innocent civilians from slaughter, but to watch seemingly helplessly (in Ivory Coast) as ...men, women and children are slaughtered in equally, even if less egregious violence," he said.
decembersue has an excellent diary here. Good reading for those interested in this story.
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-new
(h/t JustJennifer ) -
Egypt: Fire at interior ministry after police protest
A fire which broke out in a building in the Egyptian interior ministry compound in Cairo has now been extinguished, eyewitnesses say.
It came after a protest outside the building by about 3,000 police demanding better pay and conditions.
The cause of the fire, in the building housing the personnel department, is not yet known.
Last month, police set fire to the same building after demanding thousands of officers be reinstated.
Widespread strikes and labour-related protests have broken out since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted last month after 18 days of demonstrations.
(h/t Angry Marmot) -
Tuesday's papers: Anxiety of Islamist-takeover grows in wake of referendum
Tuesday's editorials and columns reflect the anxiety of various journalists and writers about the influence of Islamists, who strongly backed proposed amendments to Egypt's Constitution.
The Muslim Brotherhood, banned under former president Hosni Mubarak, has hailed the results of Saturday's national referendum, in which more than 77 percent of voters favored the amendments.
Veteran journalist Galal Dweidar, in his daily column for the state-run Al-Akhbar, analyzed the ways in which voters were pushed to vote "yes" in the nation's first democratic exercise in decades.
(h/t Angry Marmot) -
What was religion doing in the debate on the Constitutional amendments?
After the victory for the “Yes” camp, many are wondering whether this was a consequence of the religious sway of Islamists and Salafists.
Egypt, which held its first referendum in 1956 after the collapse of the monarchy, held its 22nd and what many are calling its freest, fairest referendum on Saturday.
The proposed constitutional amendments put to the vote largely dealt with the articles of the 1971 constitution pertaining to presidential elections and the president’s term in office.
(h/t Angry Marmot) -
Prominent Egypt Salafi proclaims victory for religion in referendum
One of Egypt’s prominent Salafi sheikhs, Mohamed Hussein Yaqoub, said that religion won in Saturday's referendum on constitutional amendments.
The Muslim Brotherhood and some Salafi groups had urged supporters before the referendum to support the changes, which leave untouched a part of the Constitution that names Islam as the primary source of legislation. More than 77 percent of voters voted in favor of the proposed amendments, but some groups wanted more changes made.
(h/t Angry Marmot) -
Alexandria human rights group slams Salafists
A report issued by an Alexandria human rights group, Baladi (my country), slammed the city's Salafists for what it described as “blatant violations” of democratic practice in their campaigning for a “yes” vote in yesterday's referendum on Constitutional amendments.
According to the report, the Salfists accused other political parties of being anti-religious and infidel, and claimed that all those who call for a “no” vote were enemies of Islamic Shari'a and supporters “of those who do not follow the path of God and his Prophet.”
IRAN
(h/t JustJennifer ) -
Iran 'frees 80-year-old opposition head'
Ebrahim Yazdi, the 80-year-old head of a banned liberal party who was arrested last October 1, was released from prison on Sunday, state news agency IRNA reported.
Yazdi, a former foreign minister, was arrested in the city of Isfahan along with several other members of the Freedom Movement of Iran.
He was also detained in June 2009 during a wave of unrest which followed the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the opposition in the Islamic republic said was the result of massive fraud.
IRAQ-new
(h/t JustJennifer ) -
Police officer killed in N. Iraq demonstration
The mayor of a town in Iraq's Kurdish self-ruled region says one policeman was fatally shot and ten others wounded during a demonstration.
JORDAN
(h/t suejazz ) - Jordan Islamists urge Morocco-style reform
Jordan's Islamists urged King Abdullah II on Monday to carry out reforms similar to measures taken this month by his Moroccan counterpart, saying there was no need for a dialogue commission.
"King Abdullah knows the meaning of real reform, which does not need a committee to initiate dialogue," Zaki Bani Rsheid, head of political office of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), told AFP.
"The king of Morocco (Mohammed VI) is an example to follow. He has announced reforms unilaterally and they are satisfactory."
Mohammed VI announced comprehensive reforms on March 9 including greater independence for the judiciary, enhanced powers for the prime minister, and the separation of powers, in an apparent move towards a constitutional monarchy.
Jordan's government on March 14 formed a national dialogue committee and invited 52 people including three top Muslim Brotherhood leaders as well as former ministers, politicians, trade unionists and writers to join in.
But five of those, including the Islamists and a political activist, refused to take part in the panel, which held its first meeting on Saturday.
"We are ready to join the dialogue commission if it is ready to discuss constitutional reforms, which are essential to empower the people, particularly through a parliamentary government," Bani Rsheid said.
Senate president Taher Masri, who heads the committee, declined to comment on the Islamists' demands, but told AFP the panel plans "within two weeks to go to different governorates for consultations on amendments of the electoral and political parties laws."
KUWAIT (note: this update relates to Kuwait's involvement in Bahrain)
(h/t suejazz ) - Kuwait troops arrive in Bahrain after violent clashes
A Kuwaiti navy vessel arrived Monday to Bahrain with a number of ground forces onboard, following violent clashes escalated this month between protesters and security forces.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan reported the vessel had docked in Bahrain, while broadcaster Al Arabiya aired images of Kuwait's military officers meeting with officials in Bahrain.
Kuwait's ambassador to Bahrain was quoted Monday in the state-run Kuwait News Agency saying that his country is help calm the situation in Bahrain. His comments were made during a meeting with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa.
Earlier this month a military source from the Gulf region confirmed to the German Press Agency dpa that Kuwait would be involved in sending troops after Bahrain's rulers requested assistance from member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The six-member regional bloc of the GCC consists of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Meanwhile, the opposition in Bahrain has condemned the presence of foreign troops, calling it an 'occupation.'
There are growing fears in Bahrain that anti-government protests for constitutional reforms and greater rights have shifted into a sectarian conflict, with the country's Shiite majority clashing with the ruling Sunni minority.
The are also concerns among neighbouring countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which both have small, but significant Shiite populations, that Shiite-led Iran is meddling in the affairs of gulf countries.
LEBANON
h/t suejazz ) - Thousands rally in Lebanon against confessionalism
Thousands of Lebanese held a protest in Beirut on Sunday, the third in less than a month, to demand an end to the country's confessional system.
Men and women of all ages set off with children in tow on a march from the residential neighbourhood of Ashrafiyeh to the interior ministry demanding "the fall of the confessional regime."
Between 6,000 and 7,000 people took part in the protest, the third since February 27. Another rally was held on March 6.
"I am here for the sake of a better future for my children. We are fed up. We want a better Lebanon," said Farah Ismail, a mother of two small children who joined her for the march.
Inspired by the success of uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, several groups demanding an end to Lebanon's confessional system have sprouted on the social networking site Facebook.
Lebanon's system of government is rooted in a 1943 power-sharing agreement along confessional lines adopted after the country won its independence from France.
Aimed at maintaining a balance between Lebanon's 18 religious sects, the agreement calls for the president to be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister to be a Sunni Muslim and parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim.
Other government jobs are also allocated according to religious affiliation.
The power-sharing arrangement has been blamed for most of Lebanon's problems over the decades, including corruption, cronyism and especially the devastating 1975-1990 civil war.
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-new
(h/t JustJennifer)
Several hundred keep up protest pressure in Morocco
Several hundred teachers marched through Rabat on Monday for better pay a day after one of Morocco's largest anti-government protests in recent decades against corruption and demanding government change.
Monday's protest, which briefly and noisily disrupted traffic in central Rabat, proceeded peacefully, as did wider nationwide protests on Sunday in the North African kingdom.
"This is an open sit-in: we will protest every day until we get our rights," said Aziz Benjloud, who was among a group teachers seeking better pay and benefits. "We are about 5,000 teachers in all Morocco. Today we are about 1,500 people protesting in Rabat and tomorrow other teachers will arrive from other regions."
OMAN-new
(h/t suejazz ) - Oman protesters set up camp in Muscat govt district
About 100 Omani demonstrators set up tents on Tuesday in a district of the capital housing the main government ministries, demanding political reform.
Protests against autocratic rulers sweeping the region have not spared conservative and usually tranquil Oman at the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula whose Gulf Arab dynasty has long been backed by Washington.
In power for 40 years, Sultan Qaboos this month began moves to cede some legislative powers to the partially elected Oman Council, which is so far only an advisory body. At present, only the sultan and his cabinet can legislate.
The government also said it would double monthly welfare payments and increase pension benefits. But workers at many public and private companies have continued to stage sit-ins and strikes over wages, including at two refineries on Sunday.
The camp in Al Khuwair is the second in the capital. Several weeks ago prostesters set up tents outside parliament. Activists are also camped out nightly in tents in front of the governor's office in Salalah in the far south and in Sohar where at least one person died in protests and clashes with police last month.
PALESTINE
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-new
(h/t JustJennifer ) -
Saudi Arabia to hold municipal elections next month after delay of year and a half
Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday it will hold municipal elections next month after a delay of a year and a half that had angered rights activists.
In a setback to reform advocates, the voting on April 23 will not be open to women.
The kingdom held its first municipal elections in 2005, the first elections ever held under the absolute monarchy. The councils have little power, but many Saudis jumped at the chance for even a small voice in politics and saw the elections as a sign the conservative kingdom was ushering in a new era of reform. Half the seats are elected while the rest are appointed.
.
SYRIA-new
(h/t suejazz ) - Fear barrier crumbles in Syrian "kingdom of silence"
The preacher of the Saladin Mosque was reflecting on the joys of Mother's Day, his sermon straying far from dramatic protests now gripping Syria, when a young man jumped up to the pulpit and grabbed the microphone.
"Why are you talking about this in these circumstances? Tell us about the political situation!" shouted the youth, before secret police arrested him and hurried him away.
The scene at the mosque in the lower income Damascus district of Ruknaldin, recounted to Reuters by worshippers who witnessed it on Friday, was striking in a country where pliant citizens have endured government-dictated sermons for decades.
In Damascus, as in the provinces, a barrier of fear which had blocked dissent is breaking down. Uprisings across the Arab world have not stopped at the door of one of its most hardline administrations.
For the first time, placards other than those glorifying Syria's ruling elite and the "historic achievements" of the Baath Party are being raised in the towns of the strategic Hauran plain south of Damascus.
A single word is etched on them -- "Freedom."
The region, where four protesters have been killed by security forces since Friday, has seen the first non-sectarian protests against the Baath Party since Assad's late father Hafez al-Assad crushed leftist and Islamist opponents in the 1980s.
Among them were the cream of Syrian society -- lawyer and former judge Haitham al-Maleh, leftist leader Riad al-Turk, writer Akram al-Bunni, and poet Mohammad al-Maghout, who wrote that being tortured by a compatriot was more painful and humiliating than repression under French colonialism.
(h/t suejazz ) - Protesters march in south Syria for fifth day
Hundreds of people marched in two southern Syrian towns Tuesday demanding freedom, the fifth straight day of demonstrations challenging the ruling elite.
The protests took place in the city of Deraa and the nearby town of Nawa, they said.
"Freedom, freedom. Peaceful, peaceful," shouted protesters who gathered near the Old Omari mosque in Deraa, which has become the main site of demonstrations in the city.
(h/t suejazz ) - Syria: Setting the country alight?
Although the movement there is just starting to stir, President Bashar al-Assad is widely deemed to be facing his gravest internal challenge since he took office in 2000 on the death of his father, Hafez.
On the face of it, Syria shares many of the qualifications which led to the overthrow of the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, and which underlie the upheavals in Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and elsewhere.
Although President Assad has only been in power for a decade, the Baathist system of which he is the scion has been in place since his father, an Air Force commander, staged his "Corrective Movement" coup in 1970.
Like the other threatened Arab regimes, Syria is riddled with high-level corruption and cronyism, linked to political repression enforced by pervasive security services operating unaccountably under draconian state of emergency laws in place for nearly 50 years.
It has the additional factor that much power is concentrated in the hands of Mr Assad's minority Alawite sect - an obscure offshoot of Shia Islam - to the resentment of many in the Sunni majority community.
But there are other elements tending in the regime's favour, notably its nationalist stance in holding firm against Israel and, at times, the western powers.
Much will depend on how Mr Assad deals with the immediate flashpoint for dissent, which flared late last week in the southern city of Deraa.
Please see unspeakable's diary
Uprisings in Syria
TUNISIA-new
(h/t suejazz ) - US gives $20 million to support Tunisian democracy
The Obama administration says it is providing $20 million to support the democratic transition in Tunisia following a popular uprising that ousted the North African country's longtime autocratic leader in January and emboldened anti-government protesters across the Middle East.
The State Department announced Tuesday that the money will go to help draft a new constitution, strengthen political parties and non-partisan civic groups, develop a framework for free and fair elections, create a professional and independent news media and encourage economic
reforms. Tunisia's revolt was a catalyst for the unrest that is now sweeping the Arab world. The U.S. is concerned that the revolutions may be hijacked by extremists or anti-democratic forces.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Tunisia last week to pledge U.S. backing for democratic change.
(h/t suejazz ) - Ban Ki-Moon meets Tunisia's post-revolutionary leadership
Tunis - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon continued his North African visit in Tunisia Tuesday, meeting with the country's post-revolutionary leadership.
Ban was met upon his arrival from Egypt Monday night by Foreign Minister Mouldi Kefi.
On Tuesday Ban was to: hold talks with interim President Foued Mebazaa and interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi; take part in a round-table discussion with young people; and address a group of civil society representatives and students.
The UN would not confirm whether Ban would meet a representative of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi - former foreign minister Ali Treki - who has been in Tunisia for several days, apparently in the hope of meeting Ban.
Gaddafi named Treki as Libya's ambassador to the UN after the previous ambassador, Abdulharam Shalgam, was sacked for denoucing Gaddafi's regime last month.
Treki has not yet taken up his post in New York.
Ban's visits to Egypt and Tunisia are aimed at gaining first-hand information of the changes in those two countries, which led this year's so-called Arab Spring of pro-democracy uprisings.
Western Sahara
(h/t suejazz ) - Western Sahara: ‘We only want our country’
Western Sahara is the last country in Africa awaiting decolonisation.
Invaded by Spain in the late 19th century, mass mobilisations in the early 1970s heralded the birth of the modern independence movement.
.
YEMEN-new
(h/t Angry Marmot ) -
Yemen president warns of civil war, U.S. concerned
Yemen's president warned on Tuesday his country would descend into civil war if he were forced to quit and Washington voiced concern about instability in the Arabian state that has become an al Qaeda stronghold.
Seven weeks of unrelenting anti-government protests and defections among the ruling elite have piled pressure on Saleh, a U.S. ally against radical Islamist ambitions in the Arabian peninsula, to step down immediately after 32 years in power.
But an aide said he would leave office only after organizing parliamentary polls and establishing democratic institutions, by January 2012 -- a declaration the opposition promptly rejected.
(h/t Angry Marmot ) -
U.S. concerned about Yemen instability, Qaeda fight
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday he was concerned about instability in Yemen and its impact on the fight against terrorism but declined to say whether Yemen's leader should step down immediately.
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda, is facing unrelenting anti-government protests and fresh defections among the ruling elite that are adding to pressure for him to resign after 32 years in power.
Asked whether the United States still supported Saleh or if it was time for him to go, Gates said: "I don't think it's my place to talk about internal affairs in Yemen."
PLEASE PLACE LINKS NOT EMBEDS INTO COMMENTS
Embeds can lead to problems for some of our users.
We all thank you for your consideration.
It bears repeating - Please Rec this diary.
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
HOW TO HOST A WITNESSING DIARY message UnaSpenser or Richard Lyon or the group that you'd like to host.
Please note the following:
1. you must be or become a member of the group
2. the diary must be published to the group queue (do not publish directly, the group editors/admins must do the final publishing so that it is available for the group to edit if important updates arise while the diary is active)
3. please remember that timing is unpredictable. We generally wait until a current diary has about 300 comments before publishing the next diary in the chain. Sometimes that's one diary per day. Sometime's it's 15.
4. THANK YOU for volunteering and keeping this effort vibrant.
Resources:
Note: The Mothership Diary is the place to go for a complete list of resources.
Al Jazeera English - Watch Live (the Youtube link below should work for Mac users unable to load this.)
Al Jazeera live also available on
Dish Network channel 9410
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
PLEASE PLACE LINKS NOT EMBEDS INTO COMMENTS
Embeds can lead to problems for some of our users.
We all thank you for your consideration.