You are in the 257th 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 of the brave people striving against oppression for representative democracy with civil and human rights. One small bit of assurance that they do not strive in obscurity. Please see the 200th edition where participants shared what this series means to them.
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
SYRIA
Another missing person
Abdulhasib Al-Mu'ashi, (27) an Arabic Language teacher in Tadmour was arrested today. He has a master in Arabic Language from Al-Baath University. Also, he has a certificate in Sharia'a (Islamic Law) from Abu Al-Nour College.
BAHRAIN
Human rights defender due back in court tomorrow
130 HRDs from around the world join 120 HRDs from Middle East in calling for immediate release of fellow Human Rights Defender Abdulhadi Al Khawaja. Appeal court to meet tomorrow, urge Bahraini authorities to vacate the sentence.
YEMEN
Mass march
Hundreds of citizens went out in a mass march this evening in Socotra Island from Change Square, roaming a number of streets in the city demanding the topple of the regime and the trial of Saleh and his regime.
The protesters chanted slogans that demanded immediate resolution as loyalty to the martyrs that were killed since the start of the revolution; they raised banners saluting the steadfastness of the youth in the different Freedom and Change Squares.
The protesters condemned the "massacres" that Saleh's forces committed last week in Sana'a and Taiz demanding the international community to end the silence towards these crimes
country by country updates below the fold
Thank you for bearing witness
ABOUT OUR GROUP
Eyes on Egypt and the Region produces a different series of diaries which provide background and analysis on the region in general and on individual countries. We hope those provide context for you as you read about current events. The published diaries in that series are:
Eyes on Egypt and the Region Background Resources
See the group stream for even more diaries.
DO YOU KNOW OF GOOD READING MATERIAL?
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.
NEWS UPDATES
(country names in bold are updated from the previous diary.)
GENERAL ANALYSIS
(h/t Dibsa 9/27)-Nobel Peace Prize likely to go to key activists from the Arab Spring, institute says
Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The so-called Arab Spring, which has displaced regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, will dominate this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the International Peace Research Institute said
ALGERIA
(h/t Dibsa 9/19) - Algeria 'to have private TV channels in 2012'
ALGIERS — Algeria will get its first private television channels in 2012, Communication Minister Nacer Mehal was quoted as saying Monday by the El Khabar newspaper
BAHRAIN
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Amnesty fears Bahraini women and girls tortured
DUBAI — A group of 38 women and seven girls arrested last week during a protest against Bahrain's parliamentary by-elections have reportedly been tortured or ill-treated, Amnesty International said
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Handball players from Bahrain jailed for 15 years
Two members of Bahrain's national handball team were jailed for 15 years Monday after being charged with taking part in anti-government protests.
The father of Mohammed and Ali Mirza said his sons were found guilty of being part of a group of anti-government demonstrators who burned down a farm owned by a member of the ruling family
BURKINA FASO
(h/t Dibsa 8/25 ) - Burkina Students Relieved Over Zongo Verdict But Not Happy
Ouagadougou — In Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, a verdict was finally delivered in the Justin Zongo case, named after a student whose controversial death raised concerns over police brutality. The case sparked a series of protests that plunged the country into months of social unrest. Students expected a heavier sentence
COTE D'IVOIRE
(h/t Dibsa 9/27 ) - Ivory Coast to launch reconciliation commission
ABIDJAN — Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara will on Wednesday launch a promised reconciliation commission tasked with healing wounds from the west African nation's bloody post-election conflict
(h/t Dibsa 9/27 ) -
Security Along Liberia-Ivory Coast Border Tightened Ahead of Vote
United Nations peacekeepers in Liberia and Ivory Coast are boosting security on both sides of the border ahead of Liberian presidential elections
EGYPT
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Egypt's 1st post-Mubarak election to begin Nov. 28
CAIRO (AP) – Egypt's ruling military decreed Tuesday that the country's first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster will begin Nov. 28, ending months of speculation on the timing of the key vote but failing to quell disagreement over how it will be run
IRAN
(h/t Dibsa 9/21) - Americans freed from prison leave Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state news agency reports that the two Americans freed from a Tehran prison after more than two years in custody have been flown out of Iran
(h/t Dibsa 9/20) - Iranian Judge Delays Release of Two American Hikers in Blow to Ahmadinejad
The release of two U.S. nationals detained by Iran on espionage charges was delayed by the judiciary in a blow to PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had announced their release before his trip to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York
(h/t Dibsa 9/19) - U.S. group leaves Iran empty-handed
A four-person U.S. interfaith delegation was rushed to Tehran last week to seek the return of two imprisoned American hikers but is returning empty-handed Monday in an ordeal that illustrates the domestic battles raging within the Iranian government
(h/t Dibsa 9/19) - BBC: 6 independent filmmakers arrested in Iran
LONDON (AP) – Six independent filmmakers have been detained in Iran, the BBC said Monday, describing it as an attempt to pressure the international broadcaster over its coverage of the country's clerical regime
IRAQ
(h/t Dibsa 9/16) - Sadrists take to Iraq's streets in demos
Thousands of supporters of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr rallied in Baghdad and south Iraq on Friday to decry graft and poor public services, holding up broken appliances to highlight their plight
ISRAEL
(h/t Dibsa 9/26 ) - New leader gives boost to Israel's Labor Party
JERUSALEM (AP) — An opinion poll suggests that Israel's opposition Labor Party could nearly triple in strength in parliament under its new leader
JORDAN
(h/t Dibsa 9/14) - Jordanian protesters demand closing of US Embassy
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Demonstrators have demanded the closing of the U.S. Embassy in Jordan over Wikileaks cables suggesting covert U.S. plans to turn Jordan into a home for Palestinians
KUWAIT
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Kuwait Stock Exchange Workers Postpone Strike, Al-Rai Reports
Kuwait Stock Exchange employees suspended for three weeks a strike planned for tomorrow, Al-Rai reported, without saying where it got the information
LIBYA
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Libya fighters punch into east of Gadhafi hometown
(AP) SIRTE, Libya — Libyan revolutionary forces battled their way into the eastern outskirts of Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte on Tuesday, trying to link up with anti-Gadhafi fighters besieging the city from the west, commanders said
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) -
1,700 slain prisoners found in Libya mass grave
Libya's new rulers said they have unearthed a mass grave of 1,700 prisoners slain by Moamer Kadhafi's regime in a 1996 uprising, a massacre that helped trigger the revolt that ousted the despot
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) -
Civilians flee Kadhafi town as medics warn of crisis
Anti-Kadhafi fighters tightened their siege of the ousted leader's hometown of Sirte on Monday as civilians poured out of the Mediterranean coastal city where doctors spoke of a growing crisis
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) -
Oil giant ENI resumes oil production in Libya
Italian oil giant ENI has resumed oil production in Libya more than six months after civil unrest brought oil and gas output in the country to a near standstill, the company said Monday
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) -
NATO strikes Gadhafi's hometown in Libya
SIRTE, Libya (AP) — NATO says warplanes have struck several military targets in Moammar Gadhafi's hometown as Libyan revolutionary forces besiege the area in an attempt to wear down supporters of the fugitive leader holed up inside
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)
MAURITANIA
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Mauritania police kill anti-census protestor
NOUAKCHOTT — Mauritanian police shot dead one man and wounded several others Tuesday while dispersing a rally against the country's census, which critics claim discriminates against black people, a security official said
MOROCCO
(h/t Dibsa 9/19 ) - Morocco's democracy protests restart after hiatus
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Thousands of Moroccans demonstrated on Sunday calling for greater political freedoms, as the country's pro-democracy movement attempted to regain momentum lost over the summer
OMAN
(h/t Dibsa 9/21) -
Oman paper shut for month over corruption series
MUSCAT, Oman (AP) — A court in Oman has ordered the one-month long closure of a prominent newspaper and sentenced two of its editors to jail after the country's justice minister accused them of slander
PALESTINE
(h/t Dibsa 9/27 ) - Security Council to meet on Palestine statehood
The UN Security Council will meet on Wednesday morning to consider the Palestinian request for full membership of the world body, a step that would see it recognised as a state in its own right
(h/t Dibsa 9/26 ) - Hamas PM calls for strategic dialogue on 'Palestine'
Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya on Monday called for an inter-Palestinian strategic dialogue to decide on a joint strategy for establishing a Palestinian state
QATAR
(h/t ninkasi23 9/5 ) - Is anyone paying attention to the rise and rise of Qatar?
Qatar has also shown strong political leadership, willingness and influence in bilateral relations with its Arab neighbours throughout the Arab Spring -- from rumours of having frozen their investments in Syria, to public messages of support for the opposition in Syria and Yemen -- though Qatar's role may not always seem consistent, as with Bahrain.
SAUDI ARABIA
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Saudi Arabia, the King and Women
Many sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were surprised this week by King Abdullah’s decision. In the consultative council, he gave a short speech focused on almost one topic: women’s rights. He announced that she will join the Shura Council and will be permitted to stand for the local and municipal elections
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Female Driver Sentenced to Lashing in Saudi Arabia
Clearly, the Saudi Arabian ban on women drivers that we mentioned yesterday is still very much in force.
Less than 48 hours after Saudi King Abdullah announced that women would be able to vote in local elections, a court in Jeddah sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for allegedly defying the Kingdom’s ban on female drivers, according to this item in WSJ’s “Driver’s Seat” blog
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) - Arab Spring Benefits Saudi Women
King Abdullah gives Saudi Arabian women the right to vote, another sign that the spirit of reform blowing through the region is making it increasingly hard to defend women’s lack of basic rights—such as the right to drive
SYRIA
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Fearing Change, Many Christians in Syria Back Assad
SAYDNAYA, Syria — Abu Elias sat beneath the towering stairs leading from the Convent of Our Lady of Saydnaya, a church high up in the mountains outside Damascus, where Christians have worshiped for 1,400 years. “We are all scared of what will come next,” he said turning to a man seated beside him, Robert, an Iraqi refugee who escaped the sectarian strife in his homeland
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) - Official: Syrian troops captured in central town
BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian official says gunmen have kidnapped 14 army officers in an ambush that killed six soldiers and a security agent
TUNISIA
(h/t Dibsa 9/22) - Tunisian officer who denounced superiors freed
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A Tunisian military tribunal has granted provisional release to a police officer jailed since May for accusing top Interior Ministry officials of destroying documents compromising the country's deposed president
(h/t Dibsa 9/19) - Tunisia sets Ben Ali clan appeal trial for 3 October
The appeal trial for relatives of Tunisia's ousted leader Tunisian Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi was set to 3 October by a Tunis appeals court Monday
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) - Activists on trial in UAE appear in court
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Five pro-democracy activists on trial in the United Arab Emirates returned to court Monday, two days after the oil-rich Gulf nation held elections for an advisory council that wields little real power
WESTERN SAHARA
(h/t Dibsa 9/16) - A New Dawn? Western Sahara and the Arab Spring
“I’ve never felt more optimistic about the possibility for a just resolution of the situation in Western Sahara than I do today,” former senior British diplomat Carne Ross told a meeting in the House of Commons on September 6th. The meeting - Western Sahara and the Arab Spring - was being held to mark the 20th anniversary of the UN-brokered ceasefire agreement which brought to an end 16 years of fighting between the Polisario Front and Moroccan forces. Under the terms of the ceasefire a referendum on self-determination was promised, but two decades later it has yet to be carried out and negotiations have remained deadlocked. One might think this is not a cause for optimism
(h/t Dibsa 9/14) - Demands for Autonomy Spread
CASABLANCA, Sep 14, 2011 (IPS) - Morocco’s offer of autonomy to Western Sahara to stave off demands for full independence is boomeranging on the kingdom with other regions now demanding similar freedom
YEMEN
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Yemen FM blames opposition for ongoing violence
UNITED NATIONS—Yemen's foreign minister on Tuesday said the opposition's refusal to accept the results of the 2006 presidential election was to blame for the unrest in the country and warned that, unchecked, the tension could escalate into a civil war
(h/t Dibsa 9/27) - Yemen’s defense minister escapes attack
SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s defense minister escaped a suicide bomb attack on his convoy in the volatile southern city of Aden on Tuesday, an assault that government officials blamed on al-Qaeda
(h/t Dibsa 9/26) - Yemeni tribesmen overrun loyalist army base
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Anti-government tribesmen overran an army base housing an elite unit north of Yemen's capital early Monday, security officials said, capturing 30 soldiers and dealing a blow to the prestige of the powerful Republican Guards led by the son of the country's embattled president
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:
1. we invite you to join our wiki. (we'll need an email address from you)
2. you choose 1 or more countries you wish to gather citations for
3. go to the page of that country, click EDIT,
4. copy the mini template and fill in what the red text prompts
5. 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
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
@libyanexpat - Libya
@lissnp - Iran
@sandmonkey (Mahmoud Salem ) - Egypt
@JRamyRaoof - Egypt
@Elazul - Egypt
@Ssirgany - Egypt
@sharifkouddous
@monasosh
@ioerror
@ElBaradei
@SultanAlQassemi
@evanchill
@glcarlstrom
@3arabawy
@shadihamid
@bencnn
@arabist
@speaktotweet: Egyptian Voice Tweets on Twitter
Previous Child Diaries:
Egypt and the Region Liveblog Archive by unaspenser
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.
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