You are in the the 146th 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 the previous liveblog diary.
BAHRAIN: We've zeroed in on Libya lately and they still need our attention. But, we also need to remember that people are rising up at great risk in other places. On Sunday, we saw two horrifying videos out of Bahrain. These are so important (video evidence of crimes) that I'm breaking our regular rules and embedding these today:
just for using a camera:
already injured:
in what seems like fundamental news regarding the balance of powers in the region:
(h/t Richard Lyon) - Bahrain royal family welcomes Saudi troops to face down violent protests
Saudi Arabia has moved decisively to bolster Bahrain's embattled royal family, sending military forces across the causeway linking the two kingdoms after violent weekend pro-democracy protests by Shia demonstrators all but overwhelmed police.
...
Responding to demands for more democracy and an end to sectarian discrimination, Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, has promised national dialogue, enhanced powers for parliament, electoral reform, and a nationwide referendum on any new deal.
But opponents, including the largest Shia party, Wefaq, remain sceptical. Wefaq said today it had held talks with the prince about a national dialogue. But it deplored the GCC intervention, reportedly saying a deployment of Saudi troops would be an occupation and amount to a declaration of war.
We can't go in and help these people. International law means it's highly unlikely that anyone else will go in. 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.”
ALGERIA:
h/t ny brit expat - Algeria's Rebellion by Installments
In mid-February, with autocratic rulers deposed in Tunisia and Egypt, and another tottering in Libya, a coalition of opposition political parties, human rights activists and others took to the streets in the capital of Algeria. Their broad call, as elsewhere in North Africa, was for "change and democracy." The Algerian demonstrations, however, have not found the mass popular constituency that has propelled them forward elsewhere. Why not?
(h/t suejazz ) - Algerian police stifle small pro-democracy demonstration
Police in Algeria's capital Algiers on Saturday swarmed a small pro-democracy demonstration, forcing the protesters to disperse in a by-now weekly show of force against people rooting for democratic reforms.
Hundreds of police surrounded a small group of around 200 demonstrators from the National Coordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD), who assembled in the city's May 1 square to call for greater civic freedoms and institutional reform.
The CNCD is a grouping of opposition parties, trade unions and human rights groups formed in the aftermath of anti-government riots in January that left at least five dead and hundreds injured.
(h/t suejazz) - Libya: Algiers hopes there will be no intervention
Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mourad Medelci said Friday that Algeria was "against foreign intervention" in Libya, which would feed terrorism, but that a "mediation" between the regime of Colonel Gaddafi and the armed opposition would be better.
"We are concerned because there is an armed opposition between a portion of the population and another, and because the use of weapons has become uncontrollable," the minister said in an interview with French daily Le Monde.
"We are against foreign intervention, but we are not alone and I can understand that the messages of the international community are becoming firmer. If the situation continues, we know very well that sooner or later, the Security Council (UN) would take decisions. Let them assess the situation, but hopefully there will be no intervention," said Mourad Medelci.
COTE D'IVOIRE:
(h/t suejazz ) - Gbagbo forces launch I. Coast offensive: army
Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara stepped up his drive Saturday for diplomatic support, as forces loyal to rival Laurent Gbagbo launched a "make or break" offensive in one of his Abidjan strongholds.
The army began a "major offensive" to "get rid" of insurgents from the Abobo district in the north of Abidjan, military headquarters said, with local people reporting firing by heavy weapons.
Meanwhile, Ouattara, the internationally recognised victor in last November's presidential election, continued his overseas tour to gather support from African leaders.
He held talks with the current head of regional bloc ECOWAS, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, late Friday in Abuja.
Earlier in Addis Ababa, Ouattara had met a panel of African presidents tasked by the African Union (AU) with finding a lasting solution to the Ivory Coast crisis.
(h/t suejazz) - Fears of Ivorian conflict grow as mediation fails
Senegal's leader, Abdoulaye Wade, said on Friday Ivory Coast was "entering a phase of war" after the latest attempt by the African Union to resolve a power struggle by diplomacy failed.
Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo rejected an AU proposal at a summit on Thursday offering him a safe exit in return for ceding power to rival Alassane Ouattara, winner of a disputed November poll according to U.N.-certified results.
Ouattara said on Friday he could not in any case have accepted the power-sharing pact because it would be illogical for him to form a unity government with Gbagbo allies still in control of the top cocoa grower.
"Ivory Coast is entering a phase of war," Wade, president of nearby Senegal, told French-language Africa news website Slateafrique.com.
DJIBOUTI:
(h/t suejazz ) - Djibouti suspends US election mission
Djibouti has told the United States that an independent election observer mission is “illegal” and suspended its partnership with the US-funded mission. The news came amid reports that the north-east African coastal state had arrested two opposition leaders on Friday.
Democracy International (DI), which has a $2.2m, eight-man team in the tiny strategic state, provides the only international technical assistance and observation group in the country, which has been ruled by the same dynasty since independence.
The increasing visibility of the Djibouti’s anti-democratic leanings is awkward for the US, which relies on the country for its only military base on the continent and last year doubled aid to the country, funding DI’s Djibouti operation. Many of its 3,000 troops are dedicated to fighting piracy and terrorism in neighbouring Somalia.
(h/t suejazz ) - Djibouti Forces Arrest Opposition Leaders, Scuppering Protests
Djibouti’s security forces detained four opposition leaders, scuppering a planned demonstration against President Ismail Guelleh, a member of the opposition said.
“They were gathered in one place about to go out to the demonstration,” Halimo Ismael, a member of the Union for a Democratic Alternative, said today by phone from Djibouti city. “Then the police, without any papers, came and took them away.”
Those arrested included leaders of the UDA, the Djibouti Party for Development, the Union for a Democratic Movement and the Movement for Democratic Renewal, Ismael said. Calls seeking comment to the mobile phones of Interior Minister Yacin Elmi Bouh and Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Yousef weren’t answered or didn’t connect.
EGYPT:
(h/t UnaSpenser) - In Egypt, signs that the revolution has only just begun
A week of violent clashes has underscored a growing perception among Egyptians that the regime they overthrew a month ago today is alive and well, working in the shadows to sow instability in a country scrambling to create the credible democratic institutions it has lacked for more three decades.
....
Said Sadek, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo, said that only agents from Egypt’s intelligence agency could be pitting these two sides against each other right now.
“State security is acting as a counter-revolutionary force,” he said. “Their tactics are to spread fear and chaos.”
(h/t UnaSpenser) - Christians in Egypt stage protest
Thousands of Christian Copts in Cairo protested outside the offices of the Egyptian state broadcaster, witnesses said on Friday.
It was the seventh day of protests over what they're calling the "marginalization and lack of representation" of their concerns in state media.
There have been longstanding tensions between Muslims and Copts in Egypt, and 13 Copts were killed in sectarian clashes last Tuesday.
(h/t angry marmot) - Ministry calls for speeches on national unity in all mosques
In an attempt to curtail sectarian violence, the Ministry of Religious Endowments decided to unify Friday’s prayer speech to talk about national unity.
IRAN:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Iran expels AFP reporter for covering protests
Iran has expelled a reporter of the French news agency AFP for trying to cover a protest gathering, news media sources in Tehran said Friday.
...
Since July 2009, the foreign media has officially been banned by the foreign press department of the culture ministry from directly covering the protests and contacting opposition figures.
Any violation of the ban would lead to prohibition from work or even expulsion.
The Iranian judiciary last month established a special prosecution office for offences related to media.
IRAQ:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Iraq Kurds protest, man tries to set himself ablaze.
A protester tried to set himself on fire in Iraq's semi-autonomous northern Kurdish zone on Friday, where demonstrators have camped out on a square to call for the ouster of the powerful regional administration.
Protests were also held in several other Iraqi cities, although numbers were smaller than in previous weeks and there was no major violence.
Nasik Qadir, spokeswoman for protesters in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, said one demonstrator had doused himself in kerosene and tried to set himself ablaze. He was rescued by other demonstrators and suffered no major injuries.
(h/t UnaSpenser) - Top Sunni figure calls protesters' demands "reasonable". Meet protest demands or go, deputy tells Iraq leader
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki should step down if his government fails to meet his own 100-day target to improve its performance in the wake of Egypt-inspired protests, one of his deputies said.
The remarks, by Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, reveal the deep divisions remaining in a fractious coalition government formed in December after nine months of wrangling following an inconclusive election.
Like other countries in the Arab world inspired by the fall of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Iraq has seen a steadily growing wave of demonstrations this year among a public angry about corruption, a lack of public services and jobs.
JORDAN:
(h/t suejazz ) - Jordanians Call for Dissolution of Parliament
Protests continued on Friday in the Jordanian capital Amman and other major cities despite bad weather conditions, demanding a quick dissolution of the country's parliament and holding national elections to choose new one
The demonstrations were called by opposition parties, former lawmakers, independent activists and largely by the powerful Islamic Action Front, or IAF, which has threatened to boycott a political reform dialogue called by King Abdullah II and the new government of Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit.Inspired by popular revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and elsewhere in the Arab World, thousands of Jordanians have held protests for weeks to demand greater political reforms that would curb swelling poverty and unemployment. The protests have been largely peaceful and haven't reached the level of violence seen elsewhere in the region.
(h/t suejazz ) - Hundreds Rally for Reform in Jordanian Capital
Hundreds of Jordanians have taken to the streets of the capital, demanding sweeping political and economic reforms.
The protesters gathered in Amman following Friday prayers. A demonstration has also been reported in at least one other Jordanian city.
Some of the protesters called for the dissolution of Jordan's parliament.
The protests followed new calls by opposition leaders Thursday to relieve King Abdullah of many of his powers and turn Jordan into a constitutional monarchy.
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 ) - As March 14 Approaches, Tensions Rise in Lebanon
On March 13, 2011, Lebanon's March 14 Forces plan to hold a mass demonstration in Beirut to mark the sixth anniversary of the movement's establishment. In anticipation of the demonstration, Lebanon's two rival camps, the March 14 Forces and the March 8 Forces, have scaled up their attacks. The recent speeches of Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister S'ad Al-Hariri focused on three central issues: Hizbullah's arms, the "coup" that had been perpetrated against him, and the international tribunal investigating the murder of his father Rafiq Al-Hariri. Hizbullah responded by threatening that turning its arms into a main point of dispute could lead to civil war.
Tensions in Lebanon are high in anticipation of the demonstration, the speeches expected to be delivered there, any actions the March 14 Forces may take regarding Hizbullah's arms, and Hizbullah's reaction to these moves.
LIBYA:
(h/t UnaSpenser) - Britain and France urge G8 to take action against Gadhafi
France, hosting a G8 foreign ministers meeting later on Monday, said it was consulting other powers to try to set up a no-fly zone to assure the protection of civilians "in the face of the terrible violence suffered by the Libyan population".
France said on Monday it would try to achieve agreement among the G8 on what action should be taken in Libya in order to speed up a UN Security Council decision on whether to impose a no-fly zone.
France has formally recognized the opposition national council as Libya's legitimate representatives and the European Union has agreed to talk to them.
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Wrestling for control in Libya's tricky war
For a time at the weekend, it seemed as if the government advance was unstoppable.
But at dusk on Sunday evening, rebel forces moved back into the oil town of Brega. It is an illustration of the problems that still face Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces as he attempts to regain control of Libya.
The rebel commander, Gen Abdul Fattah Younis, reminded a news conference on Sunday of the special nature of desert warfare.
...
Col Gaddafi's big advantage is the superior firepower, air power and sea power he has at his disposal. In the case of the oil towns of both Ras Lanuf and of Brega, it has meant he can bombard them into submission.
But as he has found in Brega, it is harder to hold onto his gains. He has limited numbers on the ground, perhaps only a maximum of a few thousand troops in eastern Libya, and his supply lines are becoming ever longer.
(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)
Morocco demo barred, several hurt: witnesses
Security forces prevented about 100 people from holding a pro-reform demonstration Sunday in Morocco's biggest city, Casablanca, leaving several people wounded, witnesses said.
Security forces sealed off Mohammed V Square, the site of most demonstrations in the city, and forcefully kept protesters and pedestrians away, an AFP journalist and witnesses said.
The activists were from the Islamist Justice and Charity movement, which is banned but tolerated in Morocco and is one of the most important political parties in the country.
"There were a dozen wounded, including a journalist with the Al Ahdath Almaghribia daily, during the forceful dispersal of the demonstrators," one witness said.
OMAN:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - Oman sultan to cede some powers after protests
Oman's ruler has decided to cede some legislative powers to a partially elected council, the state news agency reported on Sunday, in an apparent effort to quell protests in the Gulf Arab sultanate.
The ONA agency also said Sultan Qaboos bin Said would double monthly welfare payments and increase pension benefits, becoming the latest Gulf ruler to offer handsome incentives to citizens in the wake of unrest that has rocked much of the Arab world.
The normally tranquil Oman, an oil-producing nation at the mouth of the Gulf, was stunned by protests in at least two cities last month that left one person dead.
PALESTINE:
(h/t Flyswatterbanjo ) - Human Rights Watch Urges Hamas to End Attacks on Demonstrators
Hamas authorities in Gaza should investigate claims that security officials tortured a blogger and activist and prosecute any officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said Friday.
Ahmad Arar, 31, a blogger who had called for demonstrations in favor of ending the split between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, was detained and tortured, witnesses told the rights group.
"The Hamas government has shown time and again that it cares little about the rights of Palestinians who peacefully challenge its policies," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Hamas says it's fighting for liberation from occupation but is repressing people living under its control."
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 ) - Threats of Violence, Fear of Islamists Quell Saudi Day of Rage
The first of Saudi Arabia’s two Days of Rage – a Facebook-organized protest against the government modeled after those in Egypt and elsewhere around the region – has fallen flat and experts and organizers say the next one scheduled is likely to meet the same fate.
Threats of police violence and a religious decree banning protests had their effect in preventing protestors from gathering in the capital of Riyadh as planned last Friday. But activists said that the Day of Rage campaign was taken over by Islamist radicals, deterring more moderate reformists from joining. Saudis have even less experience organizing protests than their peers elsewhere in the Arab world. As a result, a second day of rage slated for March 20 seemed highly unlikely, they said.
SYRIA:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - 3 Syrians missing after protest call in Lebanon
Three Syrian brothers have been missing for two weeks after handing out pamphlets in Beirut urging demonstrations for democratic change in Syria, an international human rights group said Thursday, calling on Lebanon to investigate.
The men's family said they disappeared early on Feb. 25 after they distributed fliers in the Lebanese capital calling for change back home, where the regime of President Bashar Assad closely controls the media and routinely jails critics of the regime.
The family told Human Rights Watch they are concerned the men might have been forcibly transferred to Syria.
"We fear that Lebanon may be back to doing Syria's dirty job of shutting up its critics," said Nadim Houry, Beirut director at Human Rights Watch.
TUNISIA:
(h/t UnaSpenser ) - In Birthplace Of Arab Uprising, Discontent Lingers
The protests have common roots: anger against official corruption and political oppression, a "youth bulge" that means economies can't grow fast enough to provide jobs for all, and growing expectations of a better life as a result of improved education and widespread Internet and satellite TV access.
In Sidi Bouzid, a town of about 70,000 people and the provincial capital of a district of about 410,000 people in the Tunisia's central plain, disillusionment has largely replaced the euphoria of the uprising.
Unemployed young men spend their days playing cards in coffee shops, dreaming of sneaking into Europe. Since the overthrow of Ben Ali, thousands of Tunisians have attempted the dangerous trip across the choppy Mediterranean in old fishing boats.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:
(h/t suejazz) - Saudi Arabia, UAE Call Gadhafi's Regime "Illegitimate"
Gulf nations including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have withdrawn any sort of support for Muammar al-Gadhafi calling his regime “illegitimate” and condoning its use of organized violence against a civilian population. The move comes as many Western nations have stepped up their rhetoric, with France officially recognizing the rebel governing-council and advanced talks of a no-fly zone in the UN Security Council and NATO. Reports that Saudi police dispersed protestors by shooting into crowds sent oil stocks on a steep jump ahead of what could be massive protests in the context of a “day of rage” in Saudi Arabia, which, for now, hasn't been reported have seen escalating violence.
YEMEN:
(h/t UnaSpenser) -Schoolboy dies in latest Yemen protests
The assault with gunfire and teargas - which two doctors at the scene said was nerve gas - was the toughest yet by theYemeni government in a month of protests aimed at unseating President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 32 years.
....
In Sanaa people were passed out in the street and convulsed after inhaling gas.
"This isn't teargas," said Iraqi doctor Hussein al-Joshaai, a nerve specialist who was at the scene. "This is poison gas that disables the nervous and respiratory systems. People hit by (it) pass out."
Another doctor said: "Those wounded today couldn't have been hit by teargas grenades. They are suffering spasms." The Interior Ministry denied the allegations as "baseless slander".
Britain, the EU and the UN condemned the crackdown.
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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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bicycle Hussein paladin - Why Iran 1979 Went to the Islamists and This One Won't
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