You are in the the 182nd Witness Revolution diary, bearing witness to pro-democracy movements in North Africa, the Middle East and beyond. We aim here to simply report, from as many reliable worldwide resources as possible, on the successes, challenges or failures as brave people strive against oppression for representative democracy with civil and human rights. One small bit of assurance that they do not strive in obscurity.
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
It is getting more difficult to find independent photos and videos out of Syrian and Bahrain, as communications are tightly controlled. There were massive rallies throughout Yeman and Syria yesterday. Security forces killed unarmed protesters in both countries. Over 50 in Syria. Still, they manage a little humor.
YEMEN
massive rallies in Yemen yesterday
BAHRAIN
fire in Sanabis, Bahrain after security forces seige the village
SYRIA
The opening of the new Ba'ath Party headquarters:
A little Syrian humor in the midst of all this chaotic tragedy:
veritaz Apr 29, 12:39pm via web
.@SyrianJasmine another sad vid frm #Daraa shows how brutally the security are dealing w/the peaceful protesters http://bit.ly/... #Syria
More news listed country by country below the fold...
This group produces a series of diaries which provide background and analysis on the region in general and on individual countries. We hope these provide context for you as you read about current events. The published diaries in the series are:
Eyes on Egypt and the Region Background Resources
See the group stream for other diary series.
We collect suggested readings for background reference materials in support of the Eyes on Egypt and the Region group. These may be non-fiction or fiction, general to the region or specific to a country or issue. If there are resources which you believe could 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 message to angry marmot.
Libyan Doctors for Hospitals in Libya is an impressive new aide organization launched by one of our own: StepLeftStepForward.
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NOTE: We renamed the original "Egypt Liveblog" to "Witnessing Revolution". From Egypt the pro-democracy fire 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 changed names.
b>GENERAL ANALYSIS
(h/t Dibsa 4/29)Unrest in the Middle East and Africa
Demonstrations have spread across parts of the Middle East and North Africa. Here is the latest from each country and the roots of the unrest
ALGERIA
(h/t Dibsa 4/27) - UN rights expert urges Algerian Government to probe killing of political activist
27 April 2011 – The independent United Nations expert on the right to freedom of opinion and expression today called on the Algerian Government to investigate the killing of a political activist he had met on a recent official visit to the North African nation and to bring those responsible to justice.
Ahmed Kerroumi reportedly disappeared on 19 April and his body was found in his office four days later. He was a professor at the University of Oran, and member of the opposition party Democratic and Social Movement and the Oran section of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy.
BAHRAIN
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Shi'ite worshippers condemn Bahrain death sentences
MANAMA, April 29 (Reuters) - Thousands of Bahraini Shi'ites gathered before a revered cleric on Friday denounced death sentences given to protesters involved in pro-democracy unrest suppressed last month in the U.S.-allied Gulf kingdom. The verdict, handed down by a military court a day earlier to four men accused of killing two policemen in violent protests last month, could intensify sectarian tension in the Sunni Muslim-led state that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Germany calls on Bahrain to rescind death sentences
BERLIN, April 29 (Reuters) - Germany urged Bahrain's ruling monarchy on Friday to rescind death sentences handed down to a group of men accused of killing policemen in recent protests
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Trainee pilots ordered home after protests in London
Seven trainee pilots from Bahrain have been suspended from a British flying school after protesting in London against their government's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - The west's silence over Bahrain smacks of double standards
The European Union and the Obama administration have made a splendid art of double standards by imposing sanctions on Tehran's rulers for their human rights violations and taking military action against the Libyan dictator while failing to address the appalling repression of the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Bahrain sentences four men to death for killing two policemen
A Bahraini national security court has sentenced four men to death for killing two police officers during the pro-democracy protests that were crushed by the authorities last month.
The sentences are likely to deepen divisions between Bahrain's Shia majority, which has been demanding greater political and civil rights, and the Sunni monarchy, backed by Saudi Arabia and the Sunni-dominated Bahraini security forces.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Bahrain 'torture service' official to attend royal wedding
The former head of an agency accused of torture and human rights abuses is expected to be a guest at Friday's royal wedding, the Guardian has learned.
Sheikh Khalifa Bin Ali al-Khalifa is a former head of Bahrain's National Security Agency (NSA) and will attend the wedding in his role as the current Bahraini ambassador to London
(h/t Dibsa 4/28) - Buzek on the sentencing to death of Bahrainis
The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek strongly condemns the death sentence passed against four Bahraini protestors.
EP President Buzek said: "I condemn the sentencing to death of the four protestors in Bahrain and I call for their sentences to be reviewed. The fact that the trial took place behind closed doors is deplorable. The EU is opposed to the death penalty in all cases and under all circumstances
(h/t Dibsa 4/28) - McCarthyism in Manama?
WASHINGTON, Apr 27, 2011 (IPS) - As the savage crackdown on the majority Shiite opposition movement drags on in Bahrain, King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa's military regime – backed by the hefty armed forces of Sunni- dominated Saudi Arabia – has moved from launching outright assaults on peaceful protestors on the streets of Manama in broad daylight into the murky waters of what experts are calling state terror, featuring all the old tactics of petrifying a population into submission.
(h/t Dibsa 4/28) - Shiites decry 'persecution in Bahrain'
Bahrain persists in persecuting members of its Shiite majority in "systematic" human rights violations, seven weeks after crushing a month-long pro-democracy protest, activists say.
Shiites face fast-tracked martial courts, continued detention of hundreds, demolition of mosques and arbitrary dismissal of employees in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, they say
(h/t Dibsa 4/28) - Arabian Spring: The Hidden Tragedy of Bahrain
"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, his account of the war between Sparta and Athens (fifth century BC)
This statement seems to me not only unfair but, at the current stage of development of civilization, a threat to human survival.
BURKINA FASO
(h/t Dibsa 4/28) - Burkina Faso police shoot to protest in Ouagadougou
Protesting police officers have fired their guns in the air in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou.
The police are the latest group to take to the streets over the rising cost of living in the impoverished, landlocked West African country.
Cotton farmers and market traders protested in different parts of the country on Wednesday, while soldiers mutinied earlier this month
COTE D'IVOIRE
(h/t Dibsa 4/27) - Ivory Coast: Pro-Ouattara forces clash in Abidjan
Fighting has broken out in the Ivorian city of Abidjan between forces loyal to the new president and the "Invisible Commandos", a rival militia.
The Invisible Commandos helped Alassane Ouattara to power and gained control of parts of Abidjan during the four-month dispute after November's poll
DJIBOUTI
(h/t UnaSpenser 4/14 ) -
JIBOUTI: WHY NO ONE CARES
section of article which covers pro-democracy movements throughout Africa
Whilst the world was watching Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt and Libya, Djibouti had an election on 8 April. With no opposition, a state-controlled media and no civil society movement, it was easy enough for President Omar Guelleh to change the constitution allowing him to run for a third term - thereby continuing 35 year rule by the same family. But this little dictatorship is strategically central to the US Africa Command (2,000 US troops are based here) and the NATO countries. Unlike in Libya, Djibouti's 1 million population can expect no support from the West in their small attempts to have a voice.
EGYPT
DailyKos Diary from someone in Egypt doing political organizing consulting:
Challenges with Democracy in Egypt by katienaranjo
Note: For the last year and a half, I have been working on-and-off with Egyptian political parties and youth activists. Below is the first blog post in a series of reports on the upcoming Egyptian elections. This series represents my views from interactions with activists, party leaders, and candidates on the ground in Egypt. I am currently in Cairo after a week of traveling around Egypt meeting with eager activists.
I am a week into my efforts to train Egyptian political activists on how Americans campaign, and it is clear the challenges facing political parties and youth activists here are daunting. In addition to high illiteracy rates, limitations on election resources, and a politically-uninitiated populace, Egypt’s troubles are mounting as its parliamentary elections draw near.
(h/t Dibsa 4/27) - Egypt minister pleads not guilty over protester deaths
CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian ex-interior minister Habib al-Adly pleaded not guilty as he went on trial in Cairo Tuesday accused of ordering the shooting of demonstrators during protests that toppled the former regime.
Adly and six former aides made a brief appearance in a packed Cairo courthouse before Judge Adel Abdelsalam Gomaa, who postponed the trial until May 21 to allow more time for defence lawyers as well for legal experts acting for families of victims
(h/t Dibsa 4/26) - Egypt adjourns trial of former interior minister
CAIRO, April 26 (Reuters) - A court adjourned on Tuesday the trial of Egypt's former interior minister on charges of killing anti-government protesters, delaying the verdict in a case seen as a test for the country's ruling generals
IRAN
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Iranian journalist protests against sentences with hunger strike
"I will refuse food, telephone contacts, visits or furloughs until my demands are met. I protest against all the sentences issued against me. I will continue this path until I get a result and everything that happens to me will be the responsibility of those who have issued sentences against me and have a role in keeping me imprisoned in Ward 2A," Nourizad wrote in a letter addressed to Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, Tehran's Prosecutor.
IRAQ
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Military presence halts protests in Iraq's Kurdistan
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) – The deployment of thousands of heavily armed troops in Iraq's Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya appears to have quelled, for the moment, two months of protests against corruption and authoritarian rule.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Iraqi Kurdistan's two ruling parties call on opposition to resume negotiations
ARBIL: The two ruling parties in north Iraq's Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union or Kurdistan (PUK), have called on the opposition parties to resume negotiations, in order to settle the crisis witnessed in the Region, according to a statement they issued on Tuesday
ISRAEL
(h/t Dibsa 4/21 ) - Israeli leftists call for Palestinian state
TEL AVIV (AFP) – Some 300 Israeli left-wingers, including prominent cultural leaders, gathered in Tel Aviv on Thursday to call for the Jewish state to embrace the creation of a Palestinian state.
The activists met to sign a petition, which is endorsed by 17 winners of the prestigious Israel Prize, in a symbolic ceremony in front of the building where the state of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948.
The ceremony was met with anger by several dozen right-wing protesters who also gathered at the site and had to be kept away by a heavy police presence, an AFP photographer at the scene said
JORDAN
(h/t Dibsa 4/27) - Jordan king creates panel to review constitution
AMMAN (AFP) – Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday asked a former prime minister to head a committee to review the constitution and consider amendments, in a bid to face growing demands for reforms.
The king asked Ahmad Lawzi and the 10-member committee, which includes other former premiers, to "look into constitutional amendments that would be suitable for Jordan in the present and future," said the state-run Petra news agency.
KUWAIT
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Ahistorical Kuwaiti sectarianism
Sectarian violence in Bahrain has led many to nervously speculate about the potential for these events to set rapidly into motion a downward spiral of Sunni-Shia relations in the rest of the Gulf, and the catastrophe that could arise should the violence pit the regional religious rhetorical powers of Saudi Arabia and Iran against each other. One vital question is how much weight will the turmoil in Bahrain have over other Shiite communities in the Gulf, namely the large Shia population in Kuwait, perhaps the U.S.'s strongest regional ally and strategic partner in the region?
LEBANON
(h/t UnaSpenser 04/19 ) - Turkish envoy to Lebanon: Democracy will spread
Turkey's ambassador to Lebanon, Inan Ozyildiz, believes that despite the recent political uncertainty, all political actors in Lebanon are "engaging in dialogue," and expects democracy to take root in every country in the Arab world.
"Although every country in the region has its own characteristics and political history, the people of the Middle East have a common demand: Democracy," said Ozyildiz.
According to Ozyildiz, the Arab world's transition to democracy is late in coming. "These uprisings were kind of late, they should have started immediately after the end of the Cold War," said Ozyildiz.
LIBYA
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Misrata battle rages, rebels hold Libya border post
MISRATA, Libya (AFP) – Government tanks launched an assault Friday on Misrata, rebels said, as NATO reported its warships had stopped Moamer Kadhafi's forces from laying mines in the besieged city's harbour.
Fierce fighting which had raged for days for control of Libya's Dehiba border crossing into Tunisia, meanwhile, hit a lull on Friday, but armed rebels were on guard in expectation of a new offensive, witnesses said
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Fight rages between Gadhafi troops, Misrata rebels
MISRATA, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi's forces holed up inside the airport in the key western city of Misrata have been shelling a civilian neighborhood around it. Libyan rebels say at least two men died in the morning fighting.
Their bodies were brought to Misrata's Hikma hospital on Friday, as loud booms and the crackle of machine gun reverberated across the city.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Gaddafi forces attack Tunisia border town-witnesses
TUNIS, April 29 (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are attacking the Tunisian town of Dehiba, near the Libyan border, with small arms and artillery, two local residents told Reuters on Friday.
RESOURCES:
A vision of a democratic Libya an 8-point plan from the National Transitional Council
The full text of UN Resolution 1970 on Libya.
The full text of UN Resolution 1973 on Libya.
President Obama's letter to Congress regarding commencement of operations in Libya. (h/t greenbird)
Al Jazeera Libyan live blog. (h/t jnhobbs)
UK Telegraph Libyan live blog. (h/t bee tzu)
BBC Libyan live blog found here. (h/t greenbird)
The New Yorker Dispatches from Libya. (h/t suejazz)
BBC's Libyan crisis mapped. (h/t phil S 33)
revolutionology is a blog from an American in Benghazi
MAURITANIA
(h/t dibsa 4/26) - Mauritanian police use teargas to break up protest
NOUAKCHOTT, April 25 (Reuters) - Security forces using teargas and batons dispersed several hundred anti-government protesters in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott on Monday, the most serious clash in the West African state for nearly two months.
MOROCCO
(h/t ninkasi23 ) - Bomb attack in Moroccan tourist cafe kills 15
Two residents in Marrakesh who were near the square told Reuters the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. If confirmed as the work of Islamist militants, the attack would be the first such major attack in Morocco since 2003, when suicide bombings in the commercial capital, Casablanca, killed more than 45 people.
PALESTINE
(h/t Dibsa 4/27 ) - Palestinian officials: Unity agreement reached
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians have reached initial agreement on reuniting their rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza, officials from both sides said Wednesday, a step that would remove a main obstacle in the way of peace efforts with Israel.
Even before the agreement was to be signed, however, key questions about how to unify rival security forces remained unsolved. Israel immediately rejected the prospect of a Palestinian government including Hamas, and the U.S. expressed similar concerns
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Hamas-Fatah reconciliation a Palestinian form of Arab spring
Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is a historic achievement for the Palestinians, whose rivalries and divisions have weakened them and been exploited by their enemies.
Agreement to form an interim government and fix a date for elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip next year is also a real triumph for Egyptian mediation – and a surprise given the momentous changes in Cairo in the past few months.
But above all it is a challenge to Israel, the US and EU, which have all shunned Hamas as a terrorist organisation since its shock victory in Palestinian elections in 2006.
The agreement is, in its way, a version of the Arab spring shaking regimes from Libya to Syria and giving hope of change after years of impasse.
OMAN/QATAR
(h/t JustJennifer 4/23) - Protests break out in Omani city
At least 1,000 protesters have taken to the streets in Oman's southern port city of Salalah in one of the biggest pro-reform demonstrations since scattered unrest began in the Gulf Arab sultanate two months ago.
The protesters assembled in a car park across the street from the governor's office on Friday, where a preacher led mid-day prayers and led them on a march across the city.
"The Omani people are not afraid of protesting for as long as it takes for reform, [but] first and foremost is to get government officials, who have been embezzling funds for years, to stand trial," Amer Hargan, the leader, told the crowd.
(h/t Dibsa 4/21) - Oman pardons 234 arrested during protests
(CNN) -- Oman's ruler has pardoned 234 people who were arrested during anti-government protests earlier in the year, the Gulf state's news agency said.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said pardoned only those who were taken into custody for "the crimes of crowding in public streets," the Oman News Agency said Wednesday
SAUDI ARABIA
(h/t Dibsa 4/28) - Saudi Arabia detains bloggers over protest: activists
(Reuters) - Authorities in Saudi Arabia have detained two Shi'ite bloggers this week for taking part in demonstrations in the country's oil-producing Eastern Province, a Shi'ite website and activists said on Wednesday
SYRIA
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - U.S. slaps sanctions on top Syrian officials
Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. government announced Friday that it has imposed new sanctions against top members of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad responsible for overseeing the recent violent crackdown against protesters.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Syria's Assad regime gets little sympathy from neighbors
Beirut, Lebanon
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must wince whenever he recalls saying in a January interview that unlike Tunisia and Egypt, Syria was stable because the leadership is “very closely linked to the beliefs of the people
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) -
55 dead on Syria 'rage day': sources
DAMASCUS (AFP) – More than 50 Syrians were killed as tens of thousands of protesters rallied for a "day of rage" after Friday prayers, defying warnings of a harsh crackdown, rights activists and officials said.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Syrian Forces Clash with Protesters
Thousands of anti-government protesters are rallying in Syria on Friday in defiance of a government crackdown, while the government says its forces have been attacked in the southern flashpoint city of Daraa
(h/t Dibsa 4/29 ) -
Syrian security forces open fire at protesters
BEIRUT – Thousands chanting "We are not afraid!" demonstrated Friday across Syria, calling for President Bashar Assad's downfall and pledging support for the southern city of Daraa, where troops opened fire on marchers trying to break an army blockade on its residents who launched the six-week uprising, witnesses said
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - AP Exclusive: Syria's referral to UNSC likely
VIENNA – The International Atomic Energy Agency is setting the stage for potential U.N. Security Council action against Syria as the organization prepares a report assessing that a Syrian target bombed by Israeli warplanes was likely a secretly built nuclear reactor meant to produce plutonium, diplomats say
(h/t dibsa 4/29) - Syrian regime engaged in genocide: Muslim Brotherhood
NICOSIA (AFP) – Syria's Muslim Brotherhood accused the regime of President Bashar al-Assad on Friday of carrying out genocide in the country and called on citizens not to yield to tyrants.
"Every Syrian citizen knows that the regime is perpetrating genocide on Syrian territory, which is targeting the desire for emancipation expressed by the revolt of young patriots aspiring to liberty and dignity," the group said in a statement obtained by AFP
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - UN rights body debates call for probe in Syria
GENEVA (AFP) – The UN Human Rights Council opened a special session on Syria on Friday, as Western nations pressed for condemnation of a crackdown on protests and sought an international probe into the bloodshed.
The meeting was requested by 10 European nations, the United States, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Senegal and Zambia, but they face strong opposition from Syrian allies
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Syria's Assad faces dissent over crackdown
AMMAN - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faced rare dissent within his Baath Party and signs of discontent in the army over violent repression of protesters that a rights group said on Thursday had killed 500 people.
Two hundred members of the ruling party from southern Syria resigned on Wednesday after the government sent in tanks to crush resistance in the city of Deraa, where a six-week-old uprising against Assad's authoritarian rule erupted
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Bloody Syrian crackdown embarrasses Turkish allies
Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Turkish officials engaged in last-minute shuttle diplomacy with their restive neighbor Syria and repeated calls for restraint ahead of what is expected to be another violent day of protests across the Arab nation on Friday.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Syria protests erupt despite government warnings
Reporting from Beirut—
Fresh protests erupted in Syrian cities and towns after weekly Muslim prayer sermons Friday despite dire warnings by security officials and violent suppression of protests by the armed forces.
Amateur video posted to the Internet showed protests in the Lebanese border city of Homs, the third largest, the coastal city of Baniyas, Deir Azour in the country's east, the northwestern town of Kafr Zita and southern town of Jassem, near the embattled flashpoint city of Jassem. Activists also reported protests in the suburbs of Damascus and the coastal city of Lattakia, where there were reports of gunfire
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Syria: 4 soldiers killed in attack on army post
BEIRUT – Syria's state-run television says "armed terrorists" have attacked a military post in the southern city of Daraa, killing four soldiers and capturing two.
The report comes as thousands of Syrians took to the streets across the country — including the capital of Damascus — in demonstrations against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The six-week uprising has posed the gravest threat to his rule
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Bashar al-Assad's inner circle
Although Bashar al-Assad inherited Syria's presidency on his father's death in 2000, analysts say he does not have Hafez al-Assad's absolute grip on power. He is surrounded by military and intelligence figures, most of whom are either related to the president or are members of his minority Alawite community.
Maher al-Assad, Republican Guard chief
(h/t Dibsa 4/28) - Syrian funding causes embarrassment at British university
A prestigious British university is to review the work of one of its academic research centres because its funding was arranged by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the Guardian can reveal.
The University of St Andrews, where Prince William and Kate Middleton studied, has received more than £100,000 in funding for its centre for Syrian studies with the assistance of Syria's ambassador to the UK, Sami Khiyami.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Dark Days for Syria
In late January, as popular protests shook pro-American regimes in the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad boasted to the Wall Street Journal that he had nothing to fear. Assad argued that unlike the leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, he did not seek to please the United States and his foreign policy choices made him more “closely linked to the beliefs of the people.” But by mid-March, protests erupted in Daraa, a southern town near the border with Jordan that has suffered under corrupt officials and economic neglect by the central government. Like other protests convulsing the Arab world, these demonstrations were driven by local grievances and not concerns about Syria’s foreign policy.
DailyKos diary on the Ba'athist resignations in Syria:
Meanwhile, In Syria: Mass Resignations By Ba'ath Party Officials
Over the last few days tanks have been deployed in Deraa and other cities inside Syria. The various security forces have opened fire with live ammunition on protesters with more than 400 reported dead. It is hard to know exactly what is going on in Syria as the Assad government had expelled all foreign journalists. However in the days of the internet reports and video are leaking out.
Today there is a major development. The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that 400 members of the Ba’ath Party have resigned the government and the party over the killing and oppression of the protesters. Here are excerpts from two of the mass resignation letters:
From the Deraa officials:
"In view of the negative stance taken by the leadership of the Arab Socialist Baath Party towards the events in Syria and in Deraa, and after the death of hundreds and the wounding of thousands at the hands of the various security forces, we submit our collective resignation."
TUNISIA
(h/t Dibsa 4/26) - Tunisia bans ex-ruling party leaders from ballot
TUNIS, April 26 (Reuters) - Senior members of Tunisia's former ruling party will be banned from a July 24 election and the vote will be run by an independent body for the first time, Prime Minister Beji Caid Sebsi said on Tuesday.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
(h/t Dibsa 4/27 ) - UAE quiet on streets but Web reformers face heat
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – No protesters have taken to the streets calling for reforms. There's been barely a public whisper about whether the Arab uprisings could intrude on the cozy world of the United Arab Emirates' rulers.
The main challenge to authority so far has been a modest online petition urging for open elections and the creation of a parliament
WESTERN SAHARA
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - UN under fire for hypocrisy
In developing United Nations Security Council resolutions for Libya and Côte d'Ivoire this year, council members appeared unanimous in their concern for the civilians of these countries.
YEMEN
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Four killed in south Yemen violence
ADEN, Yemen (AFP) – Four people, two of them civilians, were killed and several others wounded in clashes in Yemen's restive south, security officials said on Friday.
Soldiers killed a suspected Al-Qaeda gunman attempting to throw a grenade at a hotel and wounded another in Aden, the south's main port city, the sources said
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Rival demos pack Yemen capital under security net
SANAA (AFP) – Tens of thousands of protesters staged rival demonstrations in the Yemeni capital amid tight security, in another Friday show of strength between President Ali Abdullah Saleh's foes and his supporters.
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Yemeni police fire on protesters in port city
SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni plainclothes police opened fire Friday on protesters calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster in a western port city, while hundreds of thousands poured onto the streets of the capital to mourn protesters slain in the crackdown
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - UN chief concerned at violent clashes in Yemen
UNITED NATIONS, April 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday said that he is concerned by the violent clashes that erupted on Wednesday in Sana'a, capital of Yemen, which reportedly left 12 people dead and several hundred injured, and called on all concerned in the country "to exercise utmost restraint."
(h/t Dibsa 4/29) - Massive rally in Yemen urges Saleh to go
Vast crowds have taken to the streets across Yemen to demand the immediate resignation of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, rather than the phased handover of power envisaged by a Gulf Arab plan expected to be signed on Sunday
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
Will you help us gather updates?
Many hands make light work and we rely on teamwork for timely posting.
Here's how it works:
we invite you to join our wiki. (we'll need an email address from you)
you choose 1 or more countries you wish to gather citations for
go to the page of that country, click EDIT,
copy the mini template and fill in what the red text prompts
click SAVE
We're working on a publication schedule: Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday. Ideally we would see fresh citations in the wiki by late evening the day before. That is, posts from late Monday evening would be published in Tuesday morning's diary. (If you'd like produce a diary on a different day of the week, we'd love to show you how to update the template and paste it into your diary!)
It's really that simple! Please join us.
Resources:
Note: The old Mothership Diary has good 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 OR 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
@March15Syria - Syria
@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
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