The Tunisia effect: where next?

Victoria de los trabajadores de Smesi tras 19 meses de lucha

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More incomplete thoughts on the Algerian situation

From the Moor Next Door More

From the Moor Next Door

The fall of Egypt’s long time dictator Husni Mubarak may have an impact on the demonstrations planned for 12 February in Algeria. Most assessments appraising the likelihood of a popular revolution in Algeria have been grim: Algeria’s civil society is too weak, its political parties too divided and unpopular to inspire or direct an Egyptian or Tunisian-style mass movement. Protests and uprisings are often localized and spontaneous rather than organized as previous Egypt’s 6 April and Kifaya movements were. Its urban geography, some wrote, is more restrictive than Cairo’s or Tunis’s, lacking large public squares where demonstrators might camp out or confront security forces. These are all valid points and reflect keen observations of Algeria’s political scene. One would be surprised if Said Sadi could turn out large masses of Algerians beyond Algiers and Kabylia. The other factions making up the Coordination nationale pour le changement et la démocratie (CNCD) are small, though each has its own constituency. The Algerian security services have been preparing to swallow up the 12 February protests over the last week (if not more), particularly since the state denied the organizers’ application for a permit to assemble. Because the protests have been associated with the RCD, many doubted the legitimacy of the protests and their intentions; in particular the FFS, the RCD socialist rival in Kabylia, refused to participate as well as have other opposition parties. Some have speculated as to the motivations behind the protests given Said’s links to the DRS. That the demonstration permit was denied lends the demonstrations additional credibility. (the CNCD also includes groups like SOS disparus (an advocacy group for the families of people disappeared during the Civil War), Tharwa Fatma N’Soumer (a group opposed to the 1984 Family Code and especially interested in women’s empowerment) and several independent labor unions.) If 12 February is a success in the sense of turn out it will not be due strictly to the work of the CNCD: it will owe to a whole climate of dissatisfaction and frustration. And the regime’s efforts to smother the protests may have the opposite of their intended effect.

The fall of Husni Mubarak might inspire some politically minded Algerians to go out and join the march in Algiers or elsewhere; but to draw the comparison between the Egyptian movement which focused on Mubarak and “his regime” and Algerian political problem is somewhat difficult. The Algerian regime is more effective at managing popular protests and riots than either Tunisia or Egypt, having done so for the last twelve years. The slow official response to the January demonstrations (as compared to the relatively fast and repetitious public statements from the former leaders of Tunisia and Egypt) helped the regime deprive demonstrators of public targets in the form of the the President or the Prime Minster. This was like partly a learned feature (the aggressive and callus statements from former Interior Minister Yazid Zerhouni during the April 2001 events had a radicalizing effect not unlike Mubarak’s, though very different in tone) and the result of Algerian decision-making processes which ordinarily takes a great amount of time.

The regime already faced a significant popular protest movement in 1988. The response to that crisis is often remembered in terms of the 1992 elections, called after a period of impressive liberalization and aborted when Islamists looked likely to win. The years of suffering that followed are well known to most. The motivation for the transition has been revealed (and debated) in the commentary and memoirs of contemporaries having been the survival of the old regime by writing the electoral law to favor mass-based parties like the FLN so that the former single party could run younger, more religious candidates and co-opt voters’ religious preference while allowing the ancien regime to maintain its hard grip on the country with a popular mandate. The FIS, modeling itself on the FLN benefited from the new electoral law, though. Chadli failed and Army generals visited him in the Presidential Palace and talked him into resigning and giving them control of the country. The regime that came after, a junta, used Chadli’s strategy: it advanced Liamine Zeroual in the 1995 presidential election. The genealogy of Bouteflika’s leadership comes out of that process; internal competition between factions within the regime reflects the same institutional rot that afflicts other long-standing Arab regimes rather than ideological distention. Because Algeria’s core elite is divided between elements of the military and the president’s loyalists there is a possibility that the deep state may attempt to use 12 February as an opportunity to expand their role own power; encouraging or allowing violence to occur would give the security forces a louder voice in government. It might also give them a means of getting concessions out of the civilian leadership in economic policy and on certain political questions. But the regime as a whole understands how dangerous excessive force could be in the current regional climate. That one or the other elite faction might try to exploit the demonstrations for internal leverage is perhaps the greatest risk for both demonstrators, officials and their allies. Practically all key players understand the importance of avoiding the steps that led to the “national tragedy” though those in power see this as meaning maintaining power for themselves more shrewdly than Mubarak or Ben Ali did. In their view this requires a willingness to do just about anything, violent or otherwise.

Keep in mind that the Algerian regime has something neither Tunisia nor Egypt has: piles and piles of gas money ready to be dumped on the right opposition and social players as needed. The government can buy off political figures and their bases; it can attempt to pacify religious and tribal leaders by dumping money and infrastructure on them. Algeria’s leaders may benefit from the country’s status as a major energy exporter to Europe and America in the event of serious street struggle.

The RCD’s headquarters in Algiers was has already been surrounded by police after three hundred people reportedly congregated there to demonstrate their satisfaction with the fall of Mubarak. What kind of affect early obstruction might have will depend on how many people turn out in force to begin with: the masses of police on the streets may have a serious psychological impact on smaller demonstrators and if the demonstrations are as easily dispersed as on 22 January its unlikely that much else will follow. And while many Algerians are thoroughly dissatisfied with Bouteflika, most understand the real political challenge is the whole system, the politicized military leadership, the economic oligarchs, the not mere personalities. Many Algerians have been impressed by the fall of Mubarak, though. Buses of people are heading to Algiers from the surrounding cities and provinces, blocked by the police. By cutting out those seeking to protest peacefully (and with a limited popular appeal) the regime is increasing the likelihood of spontaneous, violent demonstrations which may indeed be to the government’s advantage. While the opposition is weak and without strong popular credentials (not wholly committed to the 12 February movement) there is more potential for something much bigger than previously anticipated as a result of recent events and the anxiety they may cause in the security services and the government at large. Mubarak’s fall has raised the stakes for Algeria’s 12 February march. But his fall does not necessarily make Bouteflika’s imminent. More to come.

From Al Jazeera Quote: 1:54am

From Al Jazeera

1:54am Moroccans also celebrate the demise of Mubarak by waving Egyptian flags in the streets of the Moroccan capital Rabat.

1:25am Lebanese and Egyptians are celebrating together in front of the Egyptian embassy in Beirut.

1:06am In the streets of New York's "Little Egypt" Egyptian expatriates join their countrymen celebrating the fall of Mubarak. Dozens of people are blocking off a street, waving Egyptian flags and banners while chanting, "Praise be Allah" and "We live for Egypt to be proud."

12:35am Palestinians in Gaza are waving Egyptian flags and chant 'Long live Egypt' in a rally of thousands to celebrate Mubarak's resignation.

http://juralibertaire.over-bl

http://juralibertaire.over-blog.com/article-marche-contre-le-regime-en-algerie-12-fevrier-66997589.html

Under Algerian and Tunisian

Under Algerian and Tunisian government pressure, transmission of Radio Kalima - a non-State Algerian radio station - has been blocked.

Someone on twitter just

Someone on twitter just flashed up that both twitter and facebook are blocked in Algeria at the moment. No link because it literally popped up in alerts and I didn't catch the username.

New thread on Algeria

New thread on Algeria protests

http://libcom.org/forums/news/unrest-spreads-algeria-12022011

This, from today's Guardian

This, from today's Guardian :

Syria, too, has been moved to respond. The Ba'athist state took the surprise step of unblocking the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and YouTube, all of which had been used during the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has offered around $400m (£250m) in heating fuel subsidies to the county's lower income earners.
The effects of the revolution have also been felt in Iraq, where the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has said he will not stand for a third term. Maliki has ordered three mega-generators to be installed in Baghdad to deal with the city's chronic electricity shortages.
"He is terrified about electricity," said one senior Iraqi official. "He is convinced that with the zeal alive in the region now, it will bring his government down if he doesn't fix it."

Could Bahrain be

Could Bahrain be next?

Cyber activists in Bahrain have declared Valentine's Day a "day of wrath" in the kingdom. It is also the 10th anniversary of a referendum in which Bahrainis approved a national charter promising a new political era after decades of political unrest.

Organisers chose this date to signal their belief that the authorities had reneged on the charter's promise. Taking a cue from the protests in the wider Arab world, their stated aim is to press the authorities on their political and economic grievances.

The day of wrath's Facebook page passed 10,000 supporters within a few days, and a declaration in the name of Bahraini Youth for Freedom is being widely circulated online...

Uganda Rosebell Kagumire

Uganda

Rosebell Kagumire

The Tunisian revolution, entirely engineered from within, spread ripples to the rest of the Arab world and protests have been going on ever since. Africans have largely followed the protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and Sudan through different media. In Uganda where local TV stations air direct feeds from Al Jazeera and other international networks, many people especially in the capital have watched in disbelief. They have hardly seen determined people standing up to a regime without the help of a gun.

Many Ugandans in the social networks have facebook status and tweets warning or wishing the same could happen in Uganda. I have refused to be optimistic about the events in North Africa. However a good look at Zimbabwe, Angola, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville to Uganda you would understand the excitement.

The first post I made when Ben Ali was ousted by Tunisians was “the African club of dictators has lost a member and they will be doing some rethinking.” May be I should have been more specific on which leaders. So far only Sudan’s Omar al Bashir, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika and to some extent, the self-baptised Africa’s king of Kings, Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi are feeling the quakes and tremors…

Museveni must go! And all the rest!

Ssebo

As the world watches events unfold in Egypt, the fates of other autocratic leaders in sub-Saharan Africa seem to have been relegated to fourth page news. However, it is worth considering the similarities and differences, particularly for Uganda where the incumbent President of 25 years will face re-election on Friday 18th February.

[...]

At the moment people here have not crossed the fear barrier, as they did in Egypt on January 25th. Rumours abound that on election-day, 18th February, and for several days following, Internet and mobile phone services will be down. Both protestors and autocrats are learning from the events unfolding. In Uganda people have not yet realised that their differences, religious and tribal, are less than what they have in common. However, this common experience of being marginalised while the corporate and political elite exercise domination over them is more important. It will not be long before a majority speak out and tell Museveni to go, and his son who he is grooming for the Presidency, and the rest of the parasites!

Iran Quote: Both sides are

Iran

Both sides are continuing to implement their preparations for Monday, when the opposition has called for a rally in support of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings. The regime is continuing with its detentions of journalists and activists and its disruptions of communications, while groups --- university students, political parties, and labour unions --- inside Iran are matching the support outside the country with statements backing the rally…

Algiers Quote: In the

Algiers

In the Algerian capital of Algiers on Saturday, riot police scuffled with anti-government protesters who were defying a ban on demonstrations, inspired by recent historic events in Tunisia and Egypt.

There was a demonstration yesterday, here in Paris too, supporting the protesters in Algiers.

Parisian Demostration

Algeria opposition to hold

Algeria opposition to hold weekly rallies

Several hundred protesters, inspired by revolts which overthrew entrenched leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, defied a police ban and protested in Algiers on Saturday. But thousands of riot police blocked a planned march through the city.

The coalition of civil society groups, some trade unionists and an opposition party which organized the rally decided to repeat the rally weekly on Saturdays and in the meantime to recruit more supporters to their cause.

"We will continue to march until the regime steps down. Each Saturday we will maintain the pressure," said Mohsen Belabes, a spokesman for the RCD opposition party which helped organize the protest on February 12...

Twitter feeds for the Bahrain

Twitter feeds for the Bahrain protests tomorrow

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Feb14

Plz follow events in Bahrain tomorrow. We're a small population & we need all the help we can get. thx

Bahrain protests to add to pressure on government

Anti-government protests by Bahrain's marginalised Shi'ite majority on Monday are not likely to rival the Egyptian revolt, but will add to the pressure on the king to make more concessions to his people.

Gulf states are not expected to face full-scale revolts thanks to a golden bargain under which their rulers trade a share of their oil wealth for political quiescence, but Bahrain is among the most vulnerable to popular pressure.

"There's a deep sense of frustration among large segments of Bahraini society," said Toby Jones, professor of Middle Eastern studies at U.S.-based Rutgers University.

"If there was one place in the Gulf that I was going to predict that there would be something similar (to Egypt), it would be Bahrain," he said.

Bahrain is a small oil producer with a majority Shi'ite population that has long complained of discrimination by the ruling Sunni al-Khalifa family, well before popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt emboldened activists across the region.

Across their island country, Bahrainis sounded car horns and waved Egyptian flags on Friday night when news broke that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had stepped down.

The first protests in Bahrain since the events in Egypt and Tunisia unfolded are expected to take place on Monday.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, trying to defuse the tension, said he would give 1,000 dinars ($2,650) to each local family, and the government has indicated that it may free minors arrested under a security crackdown last year...

Libya Quote: In the wake of

Libya

In the wake of the resignation of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, online activists are threatening to test one of the Arab world's most repressive regimes: Col. Moammar Gadhafi's Libya.

Expatriate activists and an amorphous group of bloggers and social-network users—it isn't clear how many of them are in Libya—are calling for protests across the oil-rich North African nation on Thursday. They are hoping to draw momentum from the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia and to commemorate two of the grislier events in Col. Gadhafi's nearly 42-year reign.

On Feb. 17, 1987, nine young Libyans were publicly executed after being convicted of plotting to kill Libyan and foreign officials. The executions—some by hanging, some by firing squad—were repeatedly aired on state TV.

On the same day in 2006, Libyan security forces fired on demonstrators outside the Italian consulate in Benghazi, killing more than 10…

Sudan Quote: A group of women

Sudan

A group of women demonstrated in the Sudanese capital on Sunday to demand the release of scores of protesters arrested last month, as three journalists were detained in a separate rally.

Around 50 women, among them relatives of those held since anti-government protests on January 30, protested outside the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) building despite a heavy police presence, shouting: "No to terrorism, no to injustice."

As many as 130 anti-riot police were deployed near the demonstrators, who carried pictures of their loved ones and vowed to stay as long as they could.

"We're not going to stop, because this is a bad case of injustice," said Habab Mubarak, daughter of a leading figure in the opposition Umma party.

"We have received information about the detainees being tortured. We heard they are being sprayed with water and electrocuted," she told AFP, adding that around 70 of those arrested in the recent protests, including her two brothers, were still in custody...

Bahrain opposition in protest

Bahrain opposition in protest call

Bahrain's security forces have set up checkpoints to monitor people's movements as opposition groups blanketed social media sites with calls to stage the first major anti-government protests in the Gulf since the uprising in Egypt.

Units patrolled shopping centres and other key spots in a clear warning against holding Monday's rally, which has been the focus of social media appeals and text messages for more than a week.

One cartoon posted on a Bahraini blog showed three arms holding aloft a mobile phone and the symbols of Facebook and Twitter.

The decision by Shia-led opposition groups and others to call for demonstrations on February 14 is symbolic as it is the anniversary of Bahrain's 2002 constitution, which brought some pro-democracy reforms such as an elected parliament.

A Facebook page calling for a revolution in Bahrain on Monday has nearly 14,000 followers, and an emailed schedule of protests and demonstrations is also being circulated.

The developments came as the AP news agency reported that riot police had clashed with a small group of youths who staged a march following a wedding ceremony in Karzakan, a Shia village in the west.   An AP photographer said he had seen several people injured and others gasping from tear gas.

Sunday's wide-ranging clampdown appeared directed toward Bahrain's Shia majority, which has led the drive for Monday's rallies.  Bahrain's Sunni rulers have already given out cash and promised greater media reforms in an effort to quell discontent.

In an open letter to the king, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has called for wide-ranging reforms to avoid a "worst-case scenario", including the dismantling of the security forces, the prosecution of state officials for abuses and the release of 450 jailed activists, religious leaders and others.

The tiny kingdom is among the most politically volatile in the Gulf and holds important strategic value for the West as the home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

Bahrain's Shias , which account for nearly 70 per cent of the total popualtion, have long complained of systematic discrimination by the ruling Sunni dynasty, whose crackdown on dissent last year touched off riots and clashes.

[…]

On Friday, hundreds of Bahrainis and Egyptian nationals went out in the streets chanting and dancing near the Egyptian Embassy in Manama moments after Hosni Mubarak stepped down as Egypt's president.  Bahraini authorities quickly set up roadblocks to contain the crowds.

The chances for confrontation in Bahrain have been further elevated by the ongoing trial of 25 Shia activists - including two charged in absentia - accused of plotting against the state.

The detainees have alleged police torture and being made to sign forced confessions, but the court has moved ahead with the proceedings. The next session is scheduled for February 24.

Guardian on

Guardian on Bahrain

10.10am: The Guardian's Middle East editor has provided some interesting analysis of the situation in Bahrain and the prospects of the protests escalating:

Bahrain's Day of Rage today is unlikely to take on the dimensions of the unrest in Cairo, but it will be closely watched to see if the small island state lives up to its reputation for being the odd man out in the Gulf.

It is not the first time that riot police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesting youths in villages around Manama but the mood has sharpened since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Twitter and Facebook have again been getting out the crowds and a solidarity demonstration is planned by Bahraini exiles in London. Another sign that trouble is expected is a flurry of pre-emptive announcements from the government – smoothly distributed by expensive western PR firms.

9.31am: Video has been emerged of a peaceful protest in Nuweidrat, in Bahrain, this morning where police used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds

[youtube]Mn60gnXaS7E[/youtube]

8.57am: At least 14 people have been injured in clashes on Bahrain's "Day of Rage" Reuters reports:

Police clashed late on Sunday with residents in Karzakan village, where security forces regularly skirmish with Shia youths, and one protester was injured, witnesses said. Police said three officers were hurt.

 In the village of Nuweidrat, police used teargas and rubber bullets on Monday to disperse a crowd demanding the release of Shia detainees, witnesses said, adding that 10 people were slightly injured.

 "There were 2,000 sitting in the street voicing their demands when police started firing," 24-year-old Kamel told Reuters, declining to give his full name. Nearby, streets were littered with teargas canisters and rubber bullets. 

The scene was different in Manama, where government supporters honked car horns and waved Bahraini flags to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a national charter introduced after unrest in the 1990s.

EA liveblog on

EA liveblog on Iran

1010 GMT: Where Is the Security? A reliable EA source from Tehran says that there has been no security presence in the centre of the city this morning, calling the absence of police "strange".

0943 GMT: A Protest? Green Voice of Freedom is reporting that people are gathering at Sadeghieh Square in Tehran.

Sadeghieh is a lower-middle class area far off the official itinerary for today's march. There is a large metro station there.

The website claims there is still no sign of Revolutionary Guards on Tehran's streets.

0940 GMT: Remain Indoors. Saham News claims that office workers have been offered overtime if they remain at their desks until 6 p.m. today.

0934 GMT: Security Moves. Saeed Ahmed of CNN reports, "About 50 riot police in bikes were headed toward Azadi Square. Another 100 are at Ferdowsi square. No protests yet."

0555 GMT: Conflicting accounts on the position that the Revolutionary Guards will take towards any large rally....

There were reports yesterday that the Guards will not confront any rally but just "control" it; however, commmander Hossein Hamadani was talking tough, “The conspirators are nothing but corpses. Any incitement will be dealt with severely.”

0525 GMT: It is 8:55 a.m. local time in Iran. The rally for this afternoon --- which still has not been formally denied permission by the Minister of Interior --- is not scheduled until 3 p.m. (1200 GMT) in Tehran and up to 40 other locations across Iran.

Bahrain http://twitter.com/an

Bahrain

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

#Bahrain video of what happened today morning in nuwadrat after attacking peaceful protest #Feb14 #Bahfeb14 http://bit.ly/gqsnFP

News just in of clashes in Duraz

I counted at least 30 bullet shots !! MOI official statement says only 2 !! #Karzakan http://t.co/7ckEKNU

Crowdvoice: Human rights crackdown in Bahrain

Guardian on

Guardian on Iran

10.52am: The Iranian security apparatus is out In force on the streets of Tehran already in anticipation of the planned opposition rally, Reuters reports.

"There are dozens of police and security forces in the Vali-ye Asr Avenue ... they have blocked entrances of metro stations in the area," a witness told Reuters by telephone, referring to a large thoroughfare that cuts through Tehran. Another witness said police cars with windows covered by black curtains were parked near Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

Mir Hussein Mousavi's website Kaleme said security forces had set up a road block, refusing access to the opposition leader's residence in southern Tehran. It said both mobile and landline telephone communications with Mousavi's house were also cut.

"It seems these newly-set restrictions are aimed at preventing Mousavi and his wife (Zahra Rahnavard) from attending the rally," Kaleme said. Plain-clothes police stopped Rahnavard leaving the house, another opposition website reported....

Authorities deny rigging the 2009 election and accuse opposition leaders of being part of a Western plot to overthrow the Islamic system. "They are incapable of doing a damn thing," the hardline Kayhan newspaper quoted Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi as saying, echoing words used by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to refer to the United States. The opposition is "guided by Iran's enemies abroad", Moslehi said.

More reports on the protests in Iran:

http://crowdvoice.org/opposition-protests-in-iran

another liveblog on Iran:

another liveblog on Iran: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/02/iran-live-blog-25-bahman-14-february.html

(No subject)

[youtube]6hXXn2r-72I[/youtube]

Guardian on

Guardian on Iran

3.44pm: CNN reports that "thousands" marched along Revolution Avenue in Tehran in a largely peaceful procession but also says that security forces fired paint-ball guns and teargas at protesters outside Tehran University.

3.27pm: It's almost 6.30pm Tehran time and reports from various sources suggest that protesters succeeded in gathering in scattered groups in various parts of the capital, mostly in central areas such as Sadeghieh square, Enghelab Square and Vali-e-Asr.

 Eyewitnesses told opposition websites that the riot police used tear gas and wielded batons to disperse protesters. They said that the security forces have blocked the streets to Azadi (freedom) Square where the protesters had planned to gather at the end. 

At the same time, protesters in the cities of Shiraz, Isfahan, Rasht, Mashhad and Kermanshah have given accounts of the presence of hundreds of people in streets.

 Eyewitnesses from Tehran told BBC Persian TV that gunshots have been heard in different places and "significant" numbers of protesters have gathered despite the ban. 

Access to the websites of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi has been restricted. Videos of today's protest, posted on YouTube, showed protesters chanting "Khamenei, shame on you!" and "Death to dictator".

2.41pm: Reuters is also reporting teargas being used against protesters in central Tehran:

Iranian security forces fired teargas in central Tehran on Monday to disperse opposition supporters marching in a banned rally inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, a witness said. "There are thousands of people marching ... not chanting slogans ... Security forces fired teargas to disperse them near Imam Hossein square," said the witness.

Guardian on

Guardian on Bahrain

3.24pm: There are still reports of clashes and people having been injured in Bahrain.

Many direct head injuries in protesters more than 20 people carried to hospital by ambulance including many women #bahrain #feb14

Around 300 people just got attacked at human rights activists march #feb14 they just fired straight at our car

2.20pm: A reader has sent us an account from Bahrain of gunshots and reports of casualties:

I have just got home to to my compound by a village hotspot/poor Shia neighbourhood) and can hear sporadic gunfire. A friend has just reported trouble along Budaiya highway (big hotspot/poor Shia neighbourhood) with gunshots.

There are helicopters flying overhead. and sirens. Now there are so many car horns going off. The shooting in Karzakan last night may inflame. It's alleged that a wedding party was fired on unprovoked with one dead and at least six injured (rumours flying around and depicted on Facebook 'Bahrain Day of Rage' and Twitter).

Most office workers in Manama fled around 2pm local time as have been advised that many villages protesting and roads getting blocked off. The protests are meant to be all day. Not sure if anyone will be going to mosque at sundown due to it kicking off now; usually if anything is going to kick off it does then. Distinct impression (Karzakan) security forces are coming down very hard. They have (apparently) already arrested lots of people. Again. This will add to the hundreds already sitting in prison.

I expect this is all going to be just a little news item as the protesters are surely going to be quashed as quickly as they rise up. On my way home the local english radio station was playing Irish banjo music and the DJ talking about a swimming competition. I am too frightened to tell you who I am or where I live for fear, rational or otherwise, of being found out.

some strikes and workers'

some strikes and workers' protests in Iran during the last days: http://iranenlutte.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/protestation-quotidienne-pour-le-paiement-des-salaires/

Bahrain http://twitter.com/an

Bahrain

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

Askin the ladies if they'll be joinin the protest again, "we'll try, last time they beat us and threatened that they wud arrest and rape us"

Hundreds of riot police come to sitra on buses. It seems they won't let people come out on the streets.

Lungs burning, eyes burning. All I can think is: Perfect timing to be runnin low on batteries.

"We were shouting we are peaceful we will not do anything! They shot at us anyway" an injured protester

The shots are getting closer and closer to the house we're in.. The children here are afraid that the riot police might break in

The men are out regrouping everytime they are attacked, we're in the houses with the injured.

Every time the protestors in Sitra regroup the riot police attack again.. One of the protestors was seen injured & was taken away in a car

Police attacked the protest in Sitra with tear gas after protesters were chanting & clapping peacefully

Sitra protest attacked. Hiding with ppl in a house. Children crying, men fainted on the floor

Sitra crowds. Anticipating attack the hundreds of women have been ased to move back http://twitpic.com/3zq90d

Bahrain - the shooting starts

[youtube]R3LazFJ0wa4[/youtube]

Iran

[youtube]3Pm6wbnaLOA[/youtube]

one demonstrator killed in

one demonstrator killed in Tehran according to http://iranenlutte.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/un-mort-et-250-arrestations-a-teheran/ ... more reports on demonstrations in Iran here: http://www.astreetjournalist.com/2011/02/14/minute-by-minute-reports-of-february-14-25-bahman-%da%af%d8%b2%d8%a7%d8%b1%d8%b4-%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%b8%d9%87-%d8%a8%d9%87-%d9%84%d8%ad%d8%b8%d9%87-%d8%a7%d8%b2-%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%d9%be%db%8c%d9%85/

Also one demonstrator killed

Also one demonstrator killed In Bahrain

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

**warning: graphic photo**
first martyr of this revolution, Ali: http://yfrog.com/h4k6gqtj We will never 4get u Ali. Those who killed u mercilessly, WILL pay the price

Crowds still gathered outside the Salmaniya Medical Complex where the martyr's body is.. A helicopter is circling above..

I'm at the hospital, news confirmed. One martyr due to direct shot in the back

From the

From the Guardian

8.26pm GMT: There are rumours – and let us stress, just rumours at this point – of more deaths in Bahrain following today's protests.

In the meantime the Bahraini government has acknowledged the death of protester Ali Abdulhadi al-Mushaima, with the the official Bahraini news agency, BNA, announcing the news and the minister of interior expressing his condolences.

7.20pm GMT: A major development in Bahrain where there are reports that one person has been killed by security forces during a protest:

According to sources in the hospital, and confirmed by Nabeel Rajab from a Bahraini human rights organisation, Ali Abdulhadi al-Mushaima, 27, was shot in the back with live ammunition. Protesters are incensed

4.54pm GMT: Here's an informative if depressing email from a reader in Bahrain with valuable insights into the protests going on in the Gulf state:

First of all, the protests in Bahrain were never about changing a regime. They are a demand by the majority of the people of Bahrain for human rights which have been eroding swiftly since just before the elections in October last year and continue to decline. All the progress made by the government has been reversed and then some.

The riot police, almost entirely non-Bahraini, have been preparing for today's protests since they were announced. The intention was always to quash the protests before they could gather any steam and to isolate the hotspots to prevent the protestors consolidating. The emphasis seems to be on swiftly resolving the uprisings, and as such the police (if you can call them that) are attempting to disperse peaceful gatherings with rubber bullets, teargas, soundbombs and by beating civilians with batons. By the end of today, hundreds if not thousands of innocent, poor Bahrainis will be languishing in prison for as long as the security apparatus deems fit. There have been scattered reports that additional foreign special forces were flown in specifically to help deal with today's protests, primarily from Pakistan, though they cannot be confirmed.

The main source of news seems to be Twitter, though anybody putting their name to any information that can be viewed as damaging the image of the Kingdom in the eyes of the international media are either brave or stupid. There have been reports that ... they are actively preventing anybody, civilian or otherwise, from taking any photos or footage of the clashes. These protests will, the establishment hopes, be swept under the rug as briskly and harshly as is effectively possible...

The Guardian on

The Guardian on Iran

10pm GMT: PBS's Tehran bureau's blog has some gripping eyewitness accounts of the protests in Tehran today:

When I reached Eskandari Street it looked like a war zone: smoke, dust, teargas, screaming people, flying stones and regular attacks by the well equipped motorcycle riding guards. A petite young girl with a green wristband and a small backpack was walking to my left. Just before we reached Navab Avenue the guards charged from behind, one of their clubs hit my left leg but three of them attacked the girl relentlessly. She screamed and fell to the ground, but the guards kept hitting her. I ran towards them, grabbed the girl's right hand and released her from the grip of the guards. She was in a daze and crying unstoppably. I pushed her north into Navab Avenue towards Tohid Square away from Azadi Avenue when the guards charged towards us. This time the crowd fought back and stones of all sizes were directed back at them. This gave me a bit of time to ask one of the restaurants to open their doors and let us in. The girl was in shock and pain. I got her some water and asked how she was. Her clothes were dusty, her backpack was torn and her hands were shaking. "Why?" she kept asking.

9pm GMT: The Guardian's Saeed Kamali Dehghan reports on today's protests in Iran:

Supporters of the Green movement appeared in scattered groups in various locations in central Tehran and other big cities in what was seen as the Iranian opposition's first attempt in more than a year to hold street protests against the government.

The riot police and government-sponsored plainclothes basiji militia used teargas, wielded batons and opened fire to disperse protesters who chanted "death to the dictator", a reference to both Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Witnesses told the Guardian that despite a heavy security presence, small groups of people succeeded in gathering in main squares leading to Azadi ("freedom") Square – a chosen focal point.

EA liveblog on

EA liveblog on Iran

2035 GMT: A First-Hand Account. We post this from a correspondent for Tehran Bureau with caution, especially about the crowd estimate; however, if it is even halfway to the truth, it is significant testimony to the force of the turnout today:

It was beyond anything we had expected. They didn't shut off the mobile phones so word spread quickly [that they were not cracking down hard] before they shut them off around 4 p.m.

It seemed like the Basij were ordered not to act until ordered. They just stood around looking bewildered. When the riot police would drive by on their bikes, they just put the fires out.

Rarely did they arrest. I saw 10 people arrested; this means probably up to 1000 were arrested [across Tehran].

I was all over on foot and on the rapid transit buses. The crowds were EVERYWHERE. They were remarkable for their peacefulness. They filled a radius of about half a kilometer to 400 meters on both sides of Enghelab Avenue. It looks like for the first time people from working class areas were involved too.

I left two hours ago but the crowds were still out there. The security presence was large, perhaps 13,000.

There may have been some killings. We saw two people beaten to a pulp. The first [beating was administered] by intel ministry officers, the second by Sepah [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps]. Overall people worked hard to stop the beatings of the regime forces.

Iraq Quote: Iraqis have been

Iraq

Iraqis have been venting their anger at the lack of jobs and government services such as electricity in small-scale protests across the country. The protests are not nearly as large as those that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, but are nonetheless embarrassing for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and highlight the many challenges facing his fragile government faces.

"We want reforms to take place," said Hanaa Adwar, an activist from the nonprofit watchdog group, al Amal. "We have witnessed the popular revolution carried by Tunisian and Egyptian people that led to the toppling of their regime." She vowed that there would be more protests if the government did not bow to people's demands.

Despite sitting on some of the world's largest oil reserves, Iraqis endure electricity shortages that make summer almost unbearable and leave them shivering in winter.

There are also water shortages, and garbage is often left on the streets. At the same time, Iraqis are infuriated by the high salaries earned by their elected officials, compared with ordinary Iraqis.

Many of the demonstrators carried banners that bore the image of a broken red heart, alluding to the fact that the protest took place on Valentine's Day. They shouted slogans saying Iraq's oil wealth should go to the people but goes to thieves instead.

"Government, you should take lessons from Egypt and Tunisia," demonstrators shouted as they walked through downtown.

Across the Middle East, people emboldened by the protests in Tunisia and Egypt have staged demonstrations calling for change.

The gatherings in Iraq have been small in scale, although organizers are promising a much larger event on Feb. 25…

Mourner killed in clashes at

Mourner killed in clashes at Bahrain protester funeral

Police in Bahrain clashed with mourners at the funeral of a Shi'ite protester shot dead during an anti-government "Day of Rage" and one person was killed in the melee, witnesses and police said Tuesday.

Witnesses said the clashes broke out when around 2000 people set out from the hospital to slowly escort the body of slain protester Ali Mushaima through narrow alleys of Shi'ite villages on the outskirts of Bahrain's capital towards his home, where his body was to be washed before burial.

The death of the mourner enraged others at the funeral, who began chanting anti-government slogans inspired by protests that toppled the rulers of Egypt and Tunisia: "We demand the downfall of the regime," they chanted.

Diplomats say Bahrain's protests, organised on the internet, may gauge whether a larger Shi'ite base can be drawn to the streets to raise pressure on the state for reforms that would give Shi'ites a greater voice and better economic prospects.

Analysts say large-scale unrest in Bahrain could also embolden fellow marginalised Shi'ites in nearby Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

Mushaima, the 22-year-old man being buried Tuesday, was killed Monday in clashes in Daih village as security forces clamped down on Shi'ite areas in the Gulf Arab kingdom, where a Sunni family rules over a Shi'ite majority that complains of discrimination.

Ibrahim Mattar, a member of parliament from the Shi'ite opposition group Wefaq, told Reuters that police had tried to disperse the funeral procession using tear gas, but that mourners then regrouped and continued their procession.

Wefaq's Mattar said the man killed Tuesday had been shot...

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

protesters are NOT clashing with police, protesters are being ATTACKED by riot police using excessive force.

Ppl carrying posters saying "we met them with peace, they met us with death"

"Kill ten kill 100, we want our civil rights" people chanting near cemetery #feb14 #bahrain http://yfrog.com/h2dyvorj

The body of the first killed by riot police being carried to cemetery #feb14 #bahrain http://yfrog.com/gyg4msvj

Can we drop the moral equivalency now and stop saying "Both sides need to ..." ? There is only one side that is killing people

martyr has been taken 2 his families house. Mourners stand waiting 4 prayer. They'll bury him after. #bahrain http://twitpic.com/401i2k

procession is so long I have no idea where it starts or ends. Ppl chanting "let the palaces hear us, we are not afraid of ur prisons"

I have seen sunni frnds amongst the protesters. I see us all as 1 ppl, n tired of being asked if its shia or sunni protests.

Global Voices: Bahrain: a second man killed as police attack first victim's funeral

An angry crowd of up to 20,000 people have gathered in Bahrain at the funeral of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was killed in yesterday's protests, according to an eyewitness in an audio interview.

The witness, who did not wish to give her full name, said:

The scene is just unbelievable. There are thousands upon thousands on the road ... There were definitely chants against the regime. The crowd was getting angrier and angrier. A lot of signs said they are peaceful, and this is what we get in return.

It has been peaceful, but people are angry, they are very frustrated. I am assuming that people are going to keep marching. It has been announced that people will be marching again tomorrow for the funeral of the second guy who was killed today.

This is definitely a lot more than people expected when we heard there was going to be some protests. Nobody expected this much turnout.

They are just chanting they want reform, that's all they want. I can see people as far as my eyes can see. There could be 20 [thousand].

Photos

Q&A: Student activist in

Q&A: Student activist in Tehran

February 14th, 2011
Ali is a student activist at Amir Kabir University in Tehran. He organized a student demonstration on campus on Monday and participated in other rallies in a few locations in the capital. He spoke to Arash Aramesh of InsideIRAN.org about the clashes in Tehran.

  Q: Please describe what is happening right now in Tehran?  

A: Lots of people were on the streets; maybe a few hundred thousand. We started at Amir Kabir University, but security forces shut all the gates at the university. My friends and I wanted to march together so we would be in a group to reduce the risk of getting caught. Around campus, security forces split us up in two groups. There was a pro-government professor yelling and chanting against us. Some people were arrested on campus. We moved near Vali Asr Square, but police locked down the entire area. We tried to walk to Azadi Square. You could not see a single open store. It is a good hour or so walk from Vali Asr to Azadi but you did not see a single open business.  

Security forces implemented their old, and well- practiced techniques. Their forces were everywhere and very well organized. I just left my friends. We are trying to get a head count and see what happened to my friends.

  Q: Were there a lot of arrests?

  A: They filled vans with people. They rushed us and took people away. There is a language school near Danshjoo Park. Police occupied that building and the one next to it and turned it into a temporary detention facility. Four or five officers would attack students and kidnap them and then keep them in the building.  

At noon, we told everyone that we had a permit to reduce the fear and anxiety of people. Phones did not work in that area, but we still managed to get many people out. This was a very successful event. Many people showed up and not many got hurt.

  Q: How did the police treat the demonstrators?  

A: Some police forces were surprisingly nice, especially around Azadi Square. But other forces in other areas used brute force. I saw a man whose face was struck with something. I couldn’t tell what it was, but there was blood all over him and he fell down. The government is really worried about people with cameras and this man had a camera. He was taking pictures. The government doesn’t want any media coverage.

  There was such little information about what to do and where to go. We got all our information from the internet. And there is no information about what to do next. But I am very happy about today’s turnout.  

Q: What groups of people were there today?

  A: We saw people from all walks of life. Many students but lots of older people. We saw people with Islamic covers and beards in our ranks. There were people who looked poor. We didn’t expect them to come. But I think they came because of economic pressure. Things have gotten worse since the subsidies reform.  

Q: What is going to happen next?

  A: We don’t know. Moussavi was supposed to talk to BBC, but he is under house arrest. So is Karroubi. People need information but no one is adequately covering the events in Iran. Lots of people have good internet access at work and more people have basic internet at home. But there is not any information for them as what to do.

  I think people are waiting for another call to protest. People want to take advantage of internal rifts in government. The Majlis and the government cannot work together. They always insult each other. And people are fed up with this situation that nothing gets done and there is so much infighting. Everything is getting more expensive because of Ahmadinejad’s subsidy cuts. Metro tickets in Tehran are going to quadruple in price. People, especially the urban poor, cannot live like this. The same people who voted for him because of handouts are now getting tired of his policies

  Q: What do you expect from Egyptian and Tunisian groups and pro-democracy forces?

  A: We want them to issue statements in support of our movement. Imagine what an impact it would have if the Muslim Brotherhood released a statement in our support. Or if Egyptian youth support us, there would be great moral boost.  

People don’t realize how tense the situation is in Tehran. It is very tense. It is a powder keg and only needs a trigger. People no longer consider themselves supporters of Moussavi or Karroubi. Instead, they say they are part of a movement. The Green Movement that does not belong to Moussavi but to the people.

Iran feature: Facebook and a

Iran feature: Facebook and a resurgent opposition? (Habibinia)

Iran analysis: guess who's back? back again?

Of course, there will be the numbers game. Estimates of the marchers yesterday ranged from the "several hundred" offered by a BBC correspondent in London to "hundreds of thousands", put out both by activists and by two Tehran-based reporters for The Financial Times.

There is no way at this point to be sure --- given the scattered natures of the gatherings, a fluid movement of people all day as they tried to get near Azadi Square --- but from the video we received, the reports of eyewitnesses for EA and for other outlets, and signals such as the response of security forces, we believe it is safe to say "tens of thousands" were out in Tehran. And, it should be remembered: this was not just a day for protest in the capital. We have confirmation of rallies in Shiraz, Isfahan, and Arak, and others reported gatherings in Rasht and Kermanshah.

Yet to play the numbers game misses the wider political contest. The fear of activists entering yesterday was that there would be no mobilisation at all, that --- despite the direct allusion to the possibilities of Tunisia and Egypt, which were attributed in part to the Green Wave rising in 2009 --- Iranian people had been imprisoned, intimidated, and beaten off the streets for good.

The test yesterday was just to show that this had not occurred. And that challenge was met. The best evaluation of the day came from one of my EA colleagues. He linked back to 27 December 2009 and the marches on the religious occasion of Ashura, the last time that the opposition showed a significant public presence. Pulling together EA's sources and that of other reliable media, he --- and he is not prone to exaggeration or rosy views of protest --- concluded: what we had seen on Monday was comparable, but it was bigger...

30 mars 2012, la Révolution

30 mars 2012, la Révolution Marocaine...

Bahrain - protesters have

Bahrain - protesters have occupied a roundabout, the Bahraini version of Tahrir Square?

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

Never felt this way be4. We have taken over a roundabout, and for the 1st time we feel free!

Havin trouble uploadin pics. Ppl of the world revolt against oppression, it feels GREAT!

Awesome view from #Luluroundabout flyover of protestors #Feb14 #Bahrain RT@JTheIsl... http://plixi.com/p/77589170

@Nix_lloyd Lol how many times have this many ppl protested in pearl roundabout??or any ppl? How can it be an old pic. Ask any bahraini u kno

Ppl are here with their blankets. Young men cleanin roundabout, others handing out water and food

Young men holding up banners callin Aljazeera to cover the Bahraini uprising.

Now I understand wat egyptians were talkin abt when they said it feels like a concert

Three tents up n more comming. Protesters makin tea for everyone. Speaches callin for an end 2 oppression.

2 clarify. Similar 2 concert in no's, not music and celebration. Ppl still shaken up abt martyrs. Still angry, determined 2 change country.

They've brought matresses for the protesters

Guardian

5.00pm: Here is an evening summary:

• Bahrain: thousands of protesters have descended on Pearl Roundabout in the Bahraini capital Manama for a peaceful demonstration (see 1.59pm). Many have been setting up tents in echoes of Egypt's Tahrir Square and say they will stay there until their demands are met. A man named as Fadhel Salman Matrook was killed in Bahrain when security forces fired shots at a crowd of people who had gathered for the funeral of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was shot dead yesterday (see 7.53am). The king later expressed his sorrow at the deaths and announced an investigation (see 4pm). The main Shia opposition group in Bahrain, al-Wefaq, denounced the "bullying tactics and barbaric policies pursued by the security forces" and said it was suspending its participation in parliament, where it holds 18 of the 40 seats (see 10.40am).

1.59pm – Bahrain: Thousands of protesters, including children, have gathered for a rowdy protests at the Pearl (also known as Lulu) roundabout, according to live mobile phone footage uploaded to Bambuser.

The Angry Arab blog says that

The Angry Arab blog says that the US is freaking out over Bahrain

The home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet -- and a recently-launched $580 million U.S. expansion effort slated to double the U.S. Navy's acreage there -- could be in jeopardy if Bahrain's monarchy falls.

Libya - protests were

Libya - protests were supposed to start on Thursday but have kicked off 2 days early

[youtube]QOqZ391dzfg[/youtube]

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23libya

Clashes in Al-Dhahra area of Tripoli

Protests have already started in Benghazi and Tripoli. They need urgent coverage.

The Internal Security Building in #Benghazi has Burned down with over 500 Protestors out in the streets! Tweet for #Libya!

Protests in City of #Shahhat #Libya have began! Keep Us In Your thoughts!

#Gaddafi Brought #Chad mercenaries to help quell current and upcoming protests, & they refused after their arrival Sources in #Libya say

Protests planned in London outside Libyan Embassy and White House USA..should attract Western Media attention.

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Feb17

URGENT: Follow situation in #LIBYA #FEB17 about 1000 protestors reported in #benghazi right now, unconf reports some killed

Eyewitnesses: protests in Asaha AlKhadra, #Tripoli and more in #Benghazi. The revolt in Libya has begun, can't wait until #Feb17

Opposition in #Libya demanding Gaddafi resignation, 2 days ahead of planned #Feb17 http://bit.ly/ftZcfN

NOW IN BENGHAZI PPL ARE MOVING NEAR MATHABA CITY CENTER Bahrain #feb14, Libya #feb17, Algeria #feb19, Morocco #feb20, Kuwait #Mar8

Bahrain protests prompt

Bahrain protests prompt global concerns

The BBC

Gala Riani, a senior Middle East analyst at Jane's Defence Weekly says: "Bahrain is not unused to this kind of unrest.

"The authorities will be able to handle it, as they have in the past, if it is sectarian in nature."

But that could be a big if.

Journalist Reem Khalifa, a senior editor with the Bahraini newspaper Al Wasat, says this time the protests are different.

"Young Sunni and Shia are marching together and they are shouting 'neither Sunni nor Shia but Bahraini'. We have not seen this before,'" she says.

She adds that women are much more involved in the protests. One reason is that they are less likely to be manhandled by the security forces.

Even so, Ms Khalifa says she saw one woman who had approached a security line with a Bahraini flag being roughed up.

The security police are largely non-Bahraini. They are Sunni Muslims recruited from Pakistan, Yemen, Syria and Jordan.

Fast-tracked to citizenship and given preferential treatment, they are infuriating protesters.

One protester told me: "Some of [the security police] don't even speak Arabic. They have no respect for the people.

"They have no loyalty to the flag. Their only loyalty is to their paymasters."

Meanwhile, American president Barack Obama may have another headache on his Middle East plate. The Fifth Fleet is seen as a bulwark against the rising threat of Iran.

As in Egypt, US policy has been to ignore the often legitimate grievances of Bahrainis in favour of stability and support for a repressive regime.

But if these protests transcend the sectarian divide and the Bahraini government responds with ever more brutal tactics, Washington will be put in a very difficult place - to support the government will be to deny the democratic aspirations of yet another Arab nation.

And Saudi Arabia is even more nervous - a causeway links the kingdom to Bahrain.

An expert with close ties to the powerful Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef told me the Saudi government will intervene if the situation "gets out of hand".

Gala Riani of Jane's Weekly concurs, saying the Saudis would not be loath to lend support - and in a worst-case scenario to intervene directly - should the Bahraini authorities not be able to control the demonstrations.

That would add a nightmarish twist to Barack Obama's growing Middle East dilemma at a time when instability is rapidly outpacing American strategy in the region.

"We don't recognise leaders"

When someone got onto the make-shift podium, already occupied by some turbanned gentlemen and started reading “The Youth’s Demands” he was shouted down by the crowd that they do not recognize him or any others who install themselves leaders. One shouted “our movement does not have leaders, get down!”

That made my day, especially with the turbanned lot wanting to take centre stage in this event...

"We don't recognise leaders"

"We don't recognise leaders" that's ace! Even more considering the long authoritarian tradition in the area. I expect to listen to it more often. These upheavals are being already amazing.

From the Angry Arab

From the Angry Arab blog

Bahrain today

A comrade from Bahrain today: "I took part in the demonstrations today. Below is what I saw there. You can quote me in your blog, but please don't mention my name:

My friends and I took part in occupying the Lulu roundabout. It's packed with tens of thousands of people by now. I could tell that the Islamists are mostly represented by the shia ones, and that only the secular ones are cross-sectarian, but there was only what I'd consider the bare-minimum sectarian-neutral religious chants, which didn't really bother me. It seems that they have learned their lesson from Tunisia and Egypt well.

On the roundabout, a little village very quickly began to take on a life of its own. People distributed food and beverages and picked up garbage. Personally, I helped with the latter. Some of my friends went back and forth to the malls nearby to buy rolls of plastic bags for garbage collection and fruits to distribute to people.

Ibrahim Sharif of the secular and left-leaning Waad was there too. I met and talked to him for the first time. I asked him if he thinks that calls for an elected a Prime Minister to replace of the incumbent Khalifa bin Salman are realistic. He said if there was ever a time to realize such demands, now is it. I then asked him about the mysterious absence of the police, which were present at first but then disappeared; he said that they can't even fire a teargas canister at us at this point because doing that alone would lead to a stampede and therefore many deaths. This probably won't happen because of all the international attention we're getting, he said.

As the sun was setting, the protesters began setting up a speakers and a stage. Major opposition figures gave speeches. But what was interesting is that the stage was entirely open to us, the youth, to speak our minds. And some did. Through them, two important announcements were made: 1) there has been a third death -- don't know its details yet -- and 2) one of our fellow protesters has volunteered to buy us all dinner. All around us, tents have been set up. It was clear that the roundabout will remain occupied until further notice.

Ibrahim Sharif was giving a speech as my friends and I were leaving. He addressed the logistical problems of our new little village: we need a youth committee to clean up the place, another to provide food, another to provide shelter to those willing to stay overnight, etc. I'm back home now, but my friends tell me they have set up a projector and a screen to follow the international media and a canteen to distribute food. The level of civility and self-organization I have witnessed today is profoundly impressive. After it became evident that the police weren't about to attack such an increasingly big number of protesters under the noses of the international media -- they were nowhere to be seen, as a matter of fact -- my fear of being gassed, beaten or both had subsided. In its stead, I experienced a feeling of liberty and a real sense of community, both of which I've never known before.

We plan to set up our own tent soon. We're also working on forming a coalition of secular and left-ish/ leftist protesters. Will update you on that later, if you're interested...

Al Jazeera liveblog -

Al Jazeera liveblog - Bahrain

12:08pm Our correspondent says that there are rumours of a third person dying after being injured in protests yesterday. he said that protesters are very angry about this, but it was still unconfirmed.

11:14am Funeral processions ends with burial of the deceased. Some of the protesters reported to head back to Pearl roundabout from the cemetery

10:35am Policemen behind the killing of two protesters in Bahrain have been arrested pending investigation, AFP news agency reports the interior minister as saying, while thousands of protesters continue their demonstration in the centre of Manama.

10:24am Activists say they also want the release of political prisoners, which the government has promised, and the creation of a new constitution.

8:12am Pearl roundabout, a major landmark of the city is occupied by thousands of people. They are very well organised and are saying that they will make this Bahrain's version of Egypt's Tahrir Square.

There are no police officers on the roundabout - they are standing some 700 meters away. A group of protesters will march from the roundabout while others remain and keep it occupied.

Violent protests break out in

Violent protests break out in Libya

Al Jazeera

Protesters have clashed with police and government supporters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, reports say.

Demonstrators gathered in the early hours of Wednesday morning in front of police headquarters and chanted slogans against the "corrupt rulers of the country", Al Jazeera's sources said.

Police fired tear gas and violently dispersed protesters, the sources said without providing further details.

The online edition of Libya's privately-owned Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi, said the protesters were armed with petrol bombs and threw stones.

According to the newspaper, 14 people were injured in the clashes, including three demonstrators and 10 security officials.

In a telephone interview with Al Jazeera, Idris Al-Mesmari, a Libyan novelist and writer, said that security officials in civilian clothes came and dispersed protesters by using tear gas, batons and hot water.

Al-Mesmari was arrested hours after the interview, unconfirmed reports say.

Anti-government protesters have also called on citizens to observe Thursday as a "Day of Rage". They are hoping to emulate recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia to end Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year-old rule.

The rare protests reportedly began after relatives of those killed in a prison massacre about 15 years ago took to streets. They were joined by scores of other supporters.

The relatives were said to have been angered by the detention of Fathi Terbil, human rights lawyer and official spokesman of the victims' families, who was arrested by the Libyan security forces, for no apparent reason.

However, Terbil was later released, according to reports.

Twelve-hundred prisoners were killed in the Abu Slim prison massacre on June 29, 1996, after they had objected to their inhumane conditions inside the prison.

Those killed were buried in the prison's courtyard and in mass graves in Tripoli. The families of the victims have been demanding that the culprits be punished.

Mohammed Maree, an Egyptian blogger, said "Gaddafi's regime has not listened to such pleas and continues to treat the Libyan people with lead and fire."

"This is why we announce our solidarity with the Libyan people and the families of the martyrs until the criminals are punished, starting with Muammer and his family."

Libyan state television reported that rallies were taking place all over the country early this morning “in support of the rule of the people by the people”…

http://twitter.com/search?q=%

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Feb17

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23libya

reports of two or more deaths and multiple injuries in benghazi demonstrations yesterday

FB group for #Libya protests confirming that Tripoli protests are gaining steam. http://ow.ly/3Xmic #feb17

Reports of Helicopters circling the city of #Benghazi, hang in there guys #Libya #Feb17 security being further tightened

just heard Tripoli youths are moving towards city centre .. We have to wait & see

First martyr of the #Benghazi protests against #Gaddafi is a 17 year old boy from the Nabbous family. Please pray for him, and for #Libya.

BREAKING: Reports that ruling "People's Committee" building in #Benghazi on fire

Angry protests in #Benghazi this morning, though in #Tripoli there have been pro-govt demonstrations

More live updates, Bahrain,

More live updates, Bahrain, Libya and elsewhere

Washington Post on Bahrain

a call for revolution by a

a call for revolution by a tribal Libyan opposition group: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article20274

Tremours must be occuring

Tremours must be occuring within the offices of US imperialism over Bahrain. As Mark says above there's a massive extension of the 5th Fleet facilities going on that is due to take years, firstly to reinforce US presence overall and secondly to encircle Iran. Much has been made of the split between the Shia majority and the minority Sunni Bahraini regime with its mercenary special forces but for one Iran is not involved in stirring things up - it has too much on its plate (its called a demonstration to support the state on Friday) and secondly, this appears to be a wider based movement. Bahrain has no oil and is reliant on US/Saudi support. There are large numbers of construction workers here both local and immigrant labour and the regime has announced a payment of $2700 for every family - with strings of course.

Britain also has a naval base here that it tends not to talk about.

It's not just the 5th fleet.

It's not just the 5th fleet. There's a potential Saudi dimension to the Bahrain struggle as well. Despite their violently intolerant Wahhabi brand of Sunni islam, Saudi actually has a 15% Shia majority, most of whom are concentrated in the Eastern province in the areas of the old Al-Bahrayn province which includes Al-Hasa, Qatif, etc (and historically stretched from Basra in the North to Oman, being the home in 10th CE of one of the more fun Shia lunatic sects, the Qarmatians). The Eastern Provice of Saudi Arabia also happens to contain most of the big oil-fields and oil infrastructure. You can be sure the prospect of a Sunni herediatary ruler being overthrown by the hated Shia, right in the middle of their main oil region, will drive the al Saud regime absolutely hysterical, and not in a funny-ha-ha way.

. http://twitter.com/search?

[youtube]q9Bw45P2zGs[/youtube]

.

[youtube]XK6h8LBRwz0[/youtube]

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23libya

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Feb17

13 year old boy shot dead in Baida #Libya today, evidence of how ruthless #Gadaffi is.

Word on the street: Beida is escalating we need MORE media coverage live fire being used! ppl reported dead

there are a handful of deaths in #benghazi & #beida but nobody knows exactly due to lack of independent news agencies present

In #Tripoli: SMS messages being sent out warning those who go out tomorrow will be shot

EA liveblog

2010 GMT: Al Jazeera English reports that hundreds of protesters "torched" Libyan police outposts in the eastern city of Al-Bayda (see video at 1745 GMT), while chanting: "People want the end of the regime."

In the southern city of Zentan, 120 km (75 miles) south of Tripoli, hundreds of people marched through the streets and set fire to security headquarters and a police station, then set up tents in the heart of the town

Police reportedly fired tear gas and violently dispersed protesters, arresting 20, in Benghazi. Families of those arrested are reportedly planning to gather outside the city's security directorate to demand their release.

Guardian

7.48pm GMT - Libya:

Here's a round up of the protests and reaction being reported in cities across Libya. Because of reporting restrictions imposed by the Libyan government reliable eyewitness reports are hard to come by so this is an amalgam of social media and opposition reports via third parties in other Arab states, including Tunisia:

• The city of Beyida has seen some of the heaviest clashes between protesters and security forces, with police stations set on fire. Police responded by rounding up activists. Lately there have been repeated claims of the use of live fire by security forces, with some witnesses seeing snipers in the security headquarters wounding several people.

• Benghazi: Protests continued into a second day in the countries second largest city, with police using rubber bullets and water cannon on protesters following by the arrest of a human rights activist there, although the numbers involved are said to be small. Witnesses said the protests were peaceful but were attacked by Gadhafi loyalists.

Reuters quotes a "Libyan security official" saying that 14 people, including 10 policemen, were injured. The official also accused protesters of being armed with knives and stones.

• In Zentan, south of Tripoli, hundreds of protesters marched through the streets and set fire to a police station and government offices, before establishing a camp in the centre of the city modelled on Egypt's Tahrir Square.

More updates on Libya at http://www.libyafeb17.com/

EA liveblog on

EA liveblog on Iraq

2015 GMT: Reuters report three people were killed and about 30 wounded in Kut in southern Iraq as about 2000 protesters demanding better basic services fought with police and set government buildings on fire

1530 GMT: Reports are coming from Kut, a southern Iraqi province, that at least one person has been killed in clashes between security forces and protesters.

Around 2,000 people had attacked government offices in Kut in protest over poor services. 27 people are also reported as wounded. The protests began at 0600 GMT.

Washington Post on

In Bahrain, demonstrators again packed Pearl Square, a central traffic circle in the heart of Manama's financial district, in an effort to replicate the fervor that engulfed Cairo's Tahrir Square, the central staging ground for protests that led to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's ouster earlier this month.

A parade of speakers at the roundabout called for more freedoms as local merchants lent a carnival atmosphere to the day by selling popcorn and sandwiches amid a light police presence, witnesses said. The second of the two protesters killed was buried earlier Wednesday.

Although the U.S. State Department expressed concern about the mounting tensions in Bahrain - a pivotal American ally in the Persian Gulf that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet - President Obama on Tuesday threw his support behind demonstrators' demands for more freedoms and a better life.

[...]

Regional experts predicted that if demonstrations spin out of control, Saudi Arabia could intervene to ensure the al-Khalifa family remains in power. Already on Wednesday there were unconfirmed reports that Saudi police had come across the causeway to combat protests...

Edit: Reading through this article I've got doubts about how accurate it is.

http://twitter.com/search?q=%

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Feb17

Eyewitness on the ground: a local of Benghazi just been killed! SPREAD THE WORD PPL WE NEED YOUR HELP

CONFIRMED: a man was killed moments ago in #Benghazi #Feb17 #Libya heavy clashes taking place in city center

Eyewitness on the ground, all streets blocked in #Benghazi, and clashes in maydan al shajara (city center)

guys maydan al shajara is a small Italian style square in the city center, its focal point is the tree (shajara)

3 protesters dead and 4 injured in Albaida, east of #Benghazi, Libyan security officers using live ammo

http://on.fb.me/f6Y3YO not long ago, police station burning in beida +police cars

Pictures of #Gaddafi burnt throughout #Benghazi

internet is going to be shut down as of tomorrow. we must make as much connections as possible before then.

Word on the street, revolution guard in gar younis southern benghazi working their way to city center, expect clashes tonight

Another man killed in Benghazi

reports coming in, another unarmed youth killed in Al #beida, seems Qaddafi will shed a lot of blood before he goes

38 Injured in clashes yesterday in #Benghazi according to Jazeera

can we rely on our army like #Tunisia and #Egypt? I very much doubt it

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23libya

Confirmed guy on the ground in maydan al Shajara, huge clashes now taking places, guns involved

CONFIRMED: Revolutionary guard are trying to run over protesters in Maydan Al Shajara #Libya #Feb17 all this with not one tv station

CONFIRMED: at least 2 buses packed with revolutionary guards heading to maydan al shajara carrying guns and leathal weapons

Maydan al shajara and the uni hospital are blocked off in #Benghazi by support troops

tents are appearing in the city of albaydah, this means the libyans mean to stay put and that their protests are serious.

AlMadar 1of2 gov't owned cell providers sending out mass texts to subscribers taunting and challenging if they dare to rise up

Edited to add this comment

[youtube]S0f6FSB7gxQ[/youtube]

Edited to add this comment from the Arabist

Following up on my previous post on Morocco, here is the video made ahead of the February 20 protests for constitutitional reform (and muche else), but with subtitles this time.

The Moroccan press and most of the political parties are on full-fledged attack mode against the organizers of the 20 February movement, accusing them of either being irresponsible, extremist or actually traitorous. The narrative emerging from the inimitable Minister of Communications, Khaled Naciri (effectively the government spokesman) is that some wayward Moroccan youth are being led astray by a call from Facebook that is probably initiated by an American-Iranian-Algerian-Polisario conspiracy.

Another line the regime has taken is that it's ridiculous to want to imitate Tunisia or Egypt because Morocco has always been considerably freer. This is untrue, some regime figures have had the temerity to claim that people have been free to protest since the 1960s, which is an insult to the memory of the victims of the "years of lead." In any case, a confusion has been deliberately created that the February 20 protests are about overthrowing King Muhammad VI, which they are absolutely not about: they are largely about socio-economic grievances and the need for the reforms that the regime has pretended to undertake to actually be implemented, starting with constitutional reform to make Morocco into a genuine constitutional monarchy rather than an absolute one that disguises what it is by calling itself an "executive monarchy".

For the past two weeks, the regime propaganda machine has created an outpouring of affection from Muhammad VI. Much of it is based on genuine respect for the institution of the monarchy as well as the man himself, but it is dangerous to play with the king's image in this way. One possible backlash is that on February 20 the protestors will get attacked as traitors. Street violence can get pretty savage in Morocco — I dread to think what might happen. And that's on top of official and covert repression organized by the state. And the regime is taking steps like boosting subsidies (which begs the question — if they were not thinking of doing it before, are they only doing it now because of the threat of protests?)

I've been in touch with activists are there are reports of Youtube and other social media accounts being hacked, everyone involved is changing their passwords. Nonetheless, I am seeing organizing committees in about 10 cities thus far, mostly in the north. What's not clear right now is how things might play out in Western Sahara, where protests took place only last November (ending in a riot, partly because of the army's intervention). Since one of the main arguments used against the protestors is that they are putting Morocco's territorial integrity in danger (even though the protests have nothing to do with Western Sahara, but nevermind). This is the line being put out by anti-protest bloggers, whose motivation against the protests are utterly confounding: if these are just normal protests, and Morocco is a free country where one can express oneself, then what's the worry? Take a look for instance at Robin Des Blogs and BigBrother.ma — in the French-language Blogoma, long the most stalwart defenders of the Makhzen. For the other side, see Larbi or Vox Maroc. There are many more of course on either side, but I don't follow that many blogs myself. I am curious what my friend Ibn Kafka will say when he decides to intervene, though.

To summarize, I think these protests hint at the malaise that has taken over Morocco in the last few years in the face of the mounting political and economic micro-management from the palace (and accompanying corruption), the king's unwillingness to move away from a neo-feudal system of governance that relies on his own symbolic power combined with backdoor negotiations led by the Makhzen, as well as disgruntlement with the result of this style of management: high unemployment, inability to carry out educational reform, political disaffection, etc. The 20 February movement has strong elements from the hard left and from Adl wal Ihsan, the largest Islamist movement. These have long been the monarchy's most outspoken critics, but their ideologies often alienate others. From what I've seen so far, I'm not sure that large parts of the apolitical urban middle class youth will join in, either because of fear, brainwashing of simply discomfort with these groups. Even so, these protests could put the question of constitutional reform back on the table, and remind the regime that it cannot continue to claim to be reformists while not carrying out any fundamental reforms in the last five years.

Libya - it looks like

Libya - it looks like protests are being met with more open force than they were in Tunisia and Egypt. Live firing and a lot of people killed.

http://www.libyafeb17.com/

Twitter highlights:

"Helicopters have reportedly been used to shoot protesters in Al Bayda"

"Large number of tweets confirming that the protestors have some control over Benghazi town centre"

"Reports that Benghazi has currently turned into a war zone as the protestors are fighting back to take control"

"Reports of water and electricity being switched off in some parts of Libya"

"Claimed sightings of Snipers on top of buildings in Benghazi"

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Feb17

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23libya

Reminder: Protests planned in London Thursday 17th February 2011 @ 13:00: Libyan Embassy 15 Knightsbridge SW1X 7LY

Protest in #London tomorrow in solidarity with #Libya. A Call to all #Brits who can be there, #Feb17 outside the Libyan Embassy 1pm to 4pm.

NOW: Reports coming from the ground: benghazi is now a war zone, fire everywhere rocks flying all over

Reports from the town of Cyrene East #Libya, they have burnt down the HQ of Revolutionary guard and the interior security HQ

Demonstrations in #Benghazi on Gamel AbduNasr St., over 5000 demonstrators

reports coming in, Youth in #Benghazi have ambushed the pro #gaddafi thugs between omar binal'as st and jamal st

Libyans are receiving anonymous SMSes warning them not to demonstrate #Libya #feb17 #Benghazi http://twitpic.com/40jiun

Unconfirmed: Sniper fire attacks protesters in #Bayda and #Benghazi

Helicopters used to shoot demonstrators in #Bayda, 3 CONFIRMED dead

Demonstrations in Zintan, Headquarters of Gaddafi's Revolutionary Committee in Zintan burnt down

Protesters are out on the street in the East Libyan city of Ajdabiyah

Demonstrations in Ban Walid yesterday and today

Thugs of #Gaddafi are firing live bullets on protesters in #Benghazi. Batons, water cannons and tear gas have also been used.

PLS HELP. PROTESTORS SHOT IN #Benghazi

Eyewitness to #aljazeera: 13 killed and over 20 injured in what he describe as a massacre in #Beida

Map of the protests

http://www.libyafeb17.com/ D

http://www.libyafeb17.com/

[youtube]WV07MH8XbH0[/youtube]

Disappointment with the media increases

Posted on February 16, 2011 by admin
As the night continues and more people are allegedly injured, people are growing increasingly disappointed with the media coverage the protests in Libya have received so far.

@LibyanDictator People in #Libya are dying by the dozens – media has up to now failed to seriously cover this #Feb17 @alarabiya_ar @BBCWorld @guardiannews

@EnoughGaddafi: CONFIRMED: Demonstrations in #Derna, chantin “Ya sa7afa, waynkum waynkum” “Media! Where are you? Where are you?”

@Libyan4life: Confirmation of reports of demonstrations in #Derna #Libya of protesters asking where is the media presence. #Feb17

The lack of coverage makes it really difficult to confirm the snippets of news we are getting. Especially when it concerns news of protesters being injured or even killed as many of the people are tweeting.

Riot cops waded into Pearl

Riot cops waded into Pearl roundabout in Bahrain at 3am local time (midnight GMT). Reports of 2 to 3 dead, hundreds injured.

So far absolute deafening silence from US and EU.

AJ Bahrain liveblog

Guardian live updates

Reuters

Unrest spreads as Bahrain cracks down on protesters
Thu Feb 17, 2011 7:20am GMT

MANAMA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Bahrain police stormed a Manama square on Thursday to clear activists camped out there as anti-government protests in the Middle East and North Africa, inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, gathered pace.
[...]
In Bahrain, police firing tear gas and rubber bullets cleared hundreds of people from the central Pearl Square in the early hours as they tried to end three days of protests.

At least two protesters were killed and armoured vehicles were later seen heading to the area.

"Police are coming, they are shooting teargas at us," one demonstrator told Reuters by telephone. Another said: "I am wounded, I am bleeding. They are killing us."

Thousands of overwhelmingly Shi'ite protesters took to the streets in Bahrain this week demanding more say in the Gulf Arab island kingdom where a family of Sunni Muslims rules over a population that mostly belongs to the Shi'ite sect.

Hundreds had camped out at Pearl Square, a road junction in the capital that they sought to turn into the base of a protest like that at Cairo's Tahrir Square which led to the downfall of Egyptian President Mubarak.

But the square appeared nearly empty of protesters early on Thursday after police moved in and was littered with abandoned tents, blankets and rubbish. The smell of teargas wafted through the air.

"I was there ... The men were running away, but the women and kids could not run as easily," said Ibrahim Mattar, a parliamentarian from the main Shi'ite opposition Wefaq party, which has walked out of parliament.

"It is confirmed two have died," he said. "More are in critical condition."

On Wednesday, the party demanded a new constitution that would move the country toward democracy.

Bahrain's Interior Ministry said on Twitter that security forces had "cleared Pearl roundabout" of demonstrators, and a section of a main road was temporarily blocked.

The religious divide that separates Bahrain's ruling family from most of its subjects has led to sporadic unrest since the 1990s, and Bahrain's stability is being closely watched as protests blow through North Africa and the Middle East.

It is considered the state most vulnerable to unrest in a region where, in an unwritten pact, rulers have traded a share of their oil wealth for political submission.

WARNING ON "HEAVY-HANDED REPRESSION"

Regional power Saudi Arabia, and the United States -- which bases its Fifth Fleet in Bahrain -- both view the ruling Khalifa family as a bulwark against Shi'ite Iran.
[...]

edit: confirm, 3 dead.

BBC live

BBC live updates

Security forces in Bahrain have used tear gas and batons to disperse thousands of anti-government protesters in Pearl Square, in the capital Manama. At least three people are reported to have been killed.

1014: More from our correspondent in Bahrain: Ambulances have been turned away and the centre of Manama is "effectively shut down".

1011: A BBC correspondent at Salmaniya Hospital in Manama, Bahrain, has confirmed that three people have been killed and 300 are injured following clashes with police.

0950: A report coming from Yemen says at least 12 people have been injured in clashes in the capital Sanaa. An AFP reporter says about 2,000 protesters - mostly students - left Sanaa University headed for the city centre when they ran into regime supporters and fighting broke out.

0941: Geneva-based rights group Human Rights Solidarity is quoting witnesses in Libya who say snipers on rooftops have killed as many as 13 protesters and wounded dozens more.

0932: As our live coverage of protests across the Middle East and North Africa gets under way, AFP news agency quotes witnesses as saying that dozens of armoured military vehicles are being deployed near Pearl Square in central Manama.

Some background on

Some background on Bahrain

From the comments:

There’s some news coming out of saudi that a demonstration is set to take place on Thursday in the Shia town of Awamiyah. The Shiites in the eastern province of saudi arabia enjoy cultural and tribal ties with their counterparts in Bahrain, and they are livid.

Angry Arab blog Quote: A

Angry Arab blog

A comrade who should remain anonymous:

The following numbers are straight from the hospital in Bahrain

5 dead, 2000 young adults injured, 400 elderly injured, 250 women injured, 70 children injured... 300 of the mentioned in critical condition

Police have attacked ambulance crews

blood donors heading to the hospital attacked. Only people that can safely go to the hospital are doctors and nurses with IDS

Libya http://twitter.com/sear

Libya

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Feb17

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23libya

SMS in #Benghazi down, this is the method news was spread across the country

ok an update on the situation, it looks like East #Libya has no net & electricity out in some places #Feb17, he is planning something today

Reports from #Benghazi, Benina airport is closed, and now the net seems to be off, he has started the shut down

Security now searching for those who called AJ from Bayda city in #Libya yesterday. Source http://ow.ly/3Y6Yj

Bahrain http://twitter.com/an

Bahrain

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

another 2 dead bodies found in Qufool that raise total of today killed to 6 and total since #Feb14 to 8

Doctors at Salmanya hosptl protesting against minister as no ambulances available #Bahrain #lulu #14Feb http://plixi.com/p/78000060

Eye Witness: all the salmaniya staff are out on a march including doctors and nurses demanding the resignation of the minister of health

Guardian Quote: 10.54am –

Guardian

10.54am – Bahrain: In the comments, goonerinoman, who works at a university in Bahrain, posts the following first-person description of Pearl roundabout this morning:

Today I should be celebrating Arsenal's fantastic win last night and reading all about it. Instead I have been driving around seeing what's going on here. My first port of call was the supermarket to buy some batteries for my camera. The supermarket was packed with people filling up. Normally there would be two or three people in the supermarket, today there was around a hundred, my joke about it looking like armageddon did not go down to well with the Aussie women in front of me. Everybody had trolleys filled with essentials. Salmaniya Medical Centre where I think some of the bodies were taken. It was very quiet I saw a handful of youths and the only thing that alerted me to there being something different was that one of them had a Bahraini flag draped around him.

From there I drove down to the Pearl roundabout. I was surprised that the road was open, as I drove down on the other side of the carriageway there were bricks scattered all over the road. I saw a lot of broken glass and some heavily bloodstained areas. I got half way down the road and there was a police blockade maybe 100 armed police with rubber bullets and tear gas and machine guns. I went right and after some crazy driving and driving over some waste ground I arrived at the roundabout. It was surrounded by more police. There are bulldozers ripping up the tents and a huge clean-up operation. I did not see any tanks. There were a lot of cars smashed up and lots of debris on the ground. The tents that have survived are being ripped down and taken away. It is like the scene a day or two after the end of Glastonbury. There are lots of roadblocks.

As I was leaving I saw eight ambulances being allowed through one of the blockades. I have no idea where they were going and it was impossible to follow. I do not know if there are clashes on the other side of the Pearl or in another part of Bahrain but it was eerily quiet around the roundabout. I said it would get messy I did not think this quickly. Tomorrow will be very interesting funerals and Friday prayers. Hold on to your hijabs.

EA liveblog Quote: 1035 GMT:

Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi...

1035 GMT: The New Yorkk Times's Nickolas Kristof writes: "Nurse told me she saw handcuffed prisoner beaten by police, then executed with gun." He continued: "One Bahraini ambulance driver told me a Saudi army officer held gun to his head, said wld kill him if helped injured."

...which raises the question of possible Saudi involvement in the repression.

Bahrain - I'm not sure if

Bahrain - I'm not sure if these are recent reports or from earlier today

http://twitter.com/angryarabiya

i just saw the abmulance driver who are beatin they have broken arms and heads banded

Eyewintness:the army are firing shots at the protestors near the pearl roundabout

Salmaniya have instructions not to treat any injured ppl, the bahraini nurses are helping out. injured are being rejected treatment

Comment from an Arsenal fan

Comment from an Arsenal fan working in a university at Bahrain, who finished his account thusly:

Today I should be celebrating Arsenal's fantastic win last night and reading all about it. Instead I have been driving around seeing what's going on here.[...]

As I was leaving [Pearl roundabout]I saw eight ambulances being allowed through one of the blockades. I have no idea where they were going and it was impossible to follow. I do not know if there are clashes on the other side of the Pearl or in another part of Bahrain but it was eerily quiet around the roundabout. I said it would get messy I did not think this quickly. Tomorrow will be very interesting funerals and Friday prayers. Hold on to your hijabs.

quite.

12 hours later, the UK

12 hours later, the UK finally makes a public statement.

12.18pm – Bahrain: The UK foreign secretary, William Hague (left), has called on the authorities in Bahrain to "exercise restraint", reports the Press Association:
[...]
"We urge all sides to avoid violence and the police to exercise restraint..."

Despicable. Still not a word from the US.

G Quote: 12.44pm – Bahrain:

G

12.44pm – Bahrain: About 60 people are missing after yesterday's raid at Pearl roundabout, a Shia opposition MP said, according to Reuters, [...]

Mattar said the whereabouts of about 60 people remained unclear, hours after police forced demonstrators to abandon Pearl roundabout, an intersection in Manama which they had hoped to turn into a protest base similar to Cairo's Tahrir Square. "Are they in prison or did they escape and are now hiding in houses? We don't know," he said, adding that his figure was based on telephone calls received from worried relatives.

AJ

17:02pm [GMT+3] Al Jazeera's correspondent says that three more bodies are being kept in the morgue of Salmaniya hospital. Two more children are fighting for their lives. There are also a lot of missing people. A source told our correspondent that the army may have taken away bodies in a refrigerated truck.

ocelot wrote: 12 hours later,

ocelot

12 hours later, the UK finally makes a public statement.

12.18pm – Bahrain: The UK foreign secretary, William Hague (left), has called on the authorities in Bahrain to "exercise restraint", reports the Press Association:
[...]
"We urge all sides to avoid violence and the police to exercise restraint..."

The talk of both sides needing restraint always reminds me of this.

That US response in full.

Grin http://iwpr.net/report-n

Grin
http://iwpr.net/report-news/azerbaijan%E2%80%99s-opposition-warns-egyptian-scenario

As Hosni Mubarak’s grip on power faded in his own country, opposition leaders in Azerbaijan stepped up calls for a statue of the Egyptian president to be removed from their capital.

The opposition leaders drew comparisons between the situation in their own country and the wave of popular protests in Egypt, saying events in Cairo should serve as a warning to other authoritative regimes.

The statue of Mubarak was erected in 2007 in Khirdalan, a suburb of the Azerbaijani capital Baku, and a local school was dedicated to the Egyptian leader’s wife at the same time.

“As if we don’t have enough idols and dictators of our own,” Panah Huseyn, a member of parliament until the November 2010 election, said in a statement.

Warning: graphic footage

[youtube]B6RCBOC-MAM[/youtube]

Arms sales to

Arms sales to Bahrain

Foreign Secretary William Hague has said there is no evidence Bahrain is using British-made products to crack down on protesters.

Mr Hague demanded Bahrain's leaders involve opposition politicians in reforms, and said the UK's "strict" export criteria aims to prevent governments providing weapons for internal repression.

He told Radio 4's Today programme: "We have no evidence that they have been used."

Mr Hague added: "I'm not relaxed about it - we have very strict export licensing criteria in this country.

"We do not sell material to other countries that are likely to be used for internal repression or to fuel regional or international conflicts." ...

So what is he expecting arms to be used for then?

Bahrain
Bristol against the arms trade

In 2010, equipment approved for export included tear gas and crowd control ammunition, equipment for the use of aircraft cannons, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and sub-machine guns. No requests for licences were refused.

UKTI DSO has listed Bahrain as a key market for UK arms exports.

Bahrain was invited to attend the UK arms fairs: the Farnborough Airshow in 2010 and Defence and Security Equipment International in 2009. UKTI DSO supported the Bahrain International Airshow 2010, where it organised an outdoor event.

UK armed forces have been used in support of sales efforts, demonstrating arms to the Royal Bahrain Artillery.

The International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) is the largest defence and security event in the Middle East and North African region.

  In 2011, the 10th edition of IDEX, takes place from Sunday 20th - Thursday 24th February, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  

Retaining the prestigious honour, IDEX 2011 will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

List of exhibitors at IDEX

Bahrain uses UK-supplied

Bahrain uses UK-supplied weapons in protest crackdown
The Guardian

Last night, the Ministry of Defence was unable to say what role the British military has supporting or advising the Bahraini defence forces through secondments or training programmes. Military analysts said the anglophile nature of the Bahraini elite made it likely. "The Bahrain military employs a number of British citizens as advisers on organisation and strategy in the ministry of interior and the ministry of defence," said Jonathan Eyal, the director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute.

According to the Foreign Office's own records and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, the UK has also supplied Libya – which has warned in an SMS message that it will use live ammunition against protesters – with similar weapons and ammunition. Sales to both Bahrain and Libya were actively promoted by the UK government's arms promotion unit, the UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation.

Despite the widespread unrest throughout the Middle East and North Africa, British arms manufacturers this weekend will be attending IDEX, a major arms fair in Abu Dhabi, to promote sales throughout the Middle East region.

Examination by the Guardian of pictures of the injuries of the dead and injured taken at hospitals in Bahrain showed the tell-tale blast pattern of shotgun pellets, including on a young, seriously injured child who appeared to have been shot in the ribcage at close range. Credible witnesses to both Thursday's assault and a similar attack on a funeral procession in Manama describe police using shotguns, alleged to have been responsible for the death of mourner Fadhel Ali Almatrook.

Other licences granted for export to Bahrain by the UK included small arms ammunition and submachine guns.

Despite the warnings from HRW and other organisations of a worsening rights situation in Bahrain, the Foreign Office's own statistics reveal that the number of arms exports licences continued to increase in 2010 from 34 to 42 with no licences being refused. Arms exports to Libya, where lethal force has already been used against demonstrators, appear to have followed a similar pattern with exports last year including tear gas, and £3.2 million worth of ammunition including for crowd control...

Al Jazeera Quote: 2:08pm

2:08pm Pro-government rallies being held in Bahrain's capital, despite ban on such gathering by police. Al Jazeera reporter says that strong police presence in other areas of city, with helicopters patrolling overhead.

12:27pm Friday prayers are over and strong police presence on some streets. Here is a picture that was uploaded on Twitter that shows tanks in the streets.

11:09am The funerals are taking place before the Friday prayers. Al Jazeera's reporter in Bahrain says that people taking part in the funeral processions fear for their lives

10:07am Thousands now gathering at grave yard for the funeral ahead of Friday prayers.

9:58am Funeral for some of those killed yesterday is now underway. People are very sad, but also very angry.

8:35am No sign of security forces in area where funerals are to be held. Hundreds have gathered and the funeral procession is preparing to start.

8:23am The funerals of four people killed in Thursday's pre-dawn raid in Manama are expected to be held today and could well serve as a rallying point for protesters.

More live updates EA

More live updates

Morocco, 20 February (in Spanish)

BBC

Hague says he has "no

Hague says he has "no evidence" of British arms being used to murder. He hasn't wanted to look at any of course and this makes his statement factually correct.

Reference Mark above, the British have finally stated that they have a naval base in Bahrain and Hague's visit last week showed him visiting a British army garrision. Where there's soldiers, there's special forces and these latter, along with MI6, have likely been "advising" the regime. The British ruling class once again accomplices to murder.

spain sells a lot of light

spain sells a lot of light weapons to israel. In libya's case spanish' stablishment must be hysterical, cos lybia is the most lucrative bizness for repsol-ypf: http://www.webislam.com/?idn=6124

More Bahrain killings this

More Bahrain killings this evening near Pearl roundabout.

Guardian

4.01pm: Mark Tran has been speaking to Martin Chulov in Manama. He says:

The worst fears have played out to some extent. A small group of villagers marched to Pearl Square ... They were beaten back. There were a large numbers of shots fired. Most of them were warning shots fired in the air ... We're told it was only 100 or so villagers walking on the area; that was perceived as being something far more significant by the security forces, who had laid siege to that part of town, which is in central Manama. We understand that the shots were fired in the air, but we also believe that a couple of people have been injured ... They absolutely will not tolerate any dissent and nor will they tolerate demonstrators returning to Pearl Square ... It appears that [now] they [the security forces] have retreated back to their positions.

BBC

1612: A witness to today's dramatic events in Manama tells al-Jazeera English: "[There were] only bullets. They didn't give us any [indication] so that we could just run away from them. They just started shooting us. Now there are more than 20 injured in the hospital. One guy, he has already passed away because he got shot in his head. And there are more than three injured. They will pass away in a few hours because... they have got shot... near their chest or near their heart."

AJE

The circumstances of the shooting after nightfall on Friday were not clear.

A former Shia lawmaker said troops shot at the protesters and wounded several.

Jalal Firooz, of the Wefaq bloc that resigned from parliament on Thursday, said demonstrators had been elsewhere in the city, marking the death of a protester killed earlier this week when riot police had fired tear gas at them. The demonstrators then made for the roundabout, where army troops are deployed.

A doctor of Salmaniya hospital told Al Jazeera that the hospital is full of severely injured people after the latest shootings.

"We need help! Our staff is entirely overwhelmed. They are shooting at people's heads. Not at the legs. People are having their brains blown out," a distraught Dr Ghassan doctor said, describing the chaos at the hospital as something close to a war zone.

He said the hospital was running short of blood and appealed for help to get more supplies.

Police had no immediate comment.

[...]

Iran:

Iran: http://antifateheran.blogsport.de/2011/02/18/iran-news-diese-woche-2/

„Senior officers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have written a letter to their commanding officer demanding assurances that they will not be required to open fire on anti-government demonstrators.
Following the recent violence that occurred during anti-government protests in Egypt, the officers argue that it is against the principles of Shi‘ite Islamic law to use violence against their own people.
In a suggestion of a major split within the Islamic Republic’s ruling hierarchy over its handling of anti-government protests, the letter has been circulated widely throughout the ranks of the Revolutionary Guards, the body responsible for defending religious system.“

Re Bahrain

Re Bahrain shootings

G

4.32pm - Bahrain: Martin Chulov is tweeting from Salmaniya hospital in Manama. A man admitted with gunshot wounds has just died, Martin says.

• @martinchulov Just seen one man in hosp hit with live round in the head. In terrible shape. Not expected to live.

• @martinchulov Man shot in the head just died.

4.24pm - Bahrain: Lots of tweets flying around about medical treatment being denied in Manama. Reports unconfirmed as yet.

Meanwhile, news from

Meanwhile, news from elsewhere via le Parisien

> In Jordan, witnesses and hospital sources assure that eight people were injured during a pro-democracy rally, calling for "political reform", an "elected government" and "end to corruption" .

These are the first recorded instances violence since the start of the protest movement in Jordan in January. Unlike other Arab countries, the protests had up until now taken place peacefully.

> In Syria, according to an opposition website which broadcasts from Dubai, all4Syria.info, hundreds of people demonstrated Thursday for more than three hours, in the heart of Damascus, to protest against the brutality of policemen deployed against an inhabitant . The rally quickly turned into a denunciation of police corruption.

The protesters remained more than three hours on site, blocking nearby streets. They asked the Minister of the Interior, who came to see them [!?!] to arrest the officers involved and bring them to justice, according to the website.

> In the Sultanate of Oman, Muscat, the capital, some 300 people, including women, demonstrated peacefully to demand wage increases and political reforms. Participants in the parade, the second of its kind in a month, traveled Central Avenue departments with banners proclaiming: "Stop the rise in prices," "Increase wages", "Allow Islamic banks' .

Couldn't say as to reliability of that source re the Syrian story. In the words of the acerbic comment reputedly passed on by Orwell from his war days in the Ministry of Propaganda - "good if true".

BBC - Kuwait Quote: 1703:

BBC - Kuwait

1703: Some news now from Kuwait: Dozens of protesters are said to have been arrested in a big demonstration by stateless people demanding citizenship, Reuters reported

AJE - Basra

Violent protests have taken place at various locations in Iraq, with anti-government protesters rallying against corruption, poor basic services and high unemployment.

In Basra, the country's second largest city, about 1,000 people rallied on Friday, demanding better service delivery from the government, jobs and improved pensions.

They called for the provincial governor to resign, and blocked a bridge for an hour. Protesters shouted slogans saying that while Friday's protests would be peaceful, ones held in the future may not be.

"We're living in miserable conditions, no electricity, dirty, muddy streets. We have to make changes. We should not be silent," said Qais Jabbar, one of the protesters.[...]

Basra, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman... That's the length of the historic Al-Bahrayn region. The Saudis must be going spare.

Not to mention Yemen and Jordan. With the exception of the UAE and Qatar, there's not a country bordering Saudi that isn't in some kind of instability.

BBC eight o'clock tonight

BBC eight o'clock tonight reports that anti-aircraft cannon (Britain supplied similar ordnance) was fired from military trucks over the heads of protesters in Bahrain. 300 doctors walked out of the hospital (and went back to work I should imagine); 60 protesters still missing (Channel 4 reports helicopters firing on demonstrations).

In Yemen the crowd were kettled by the police who then opened up and let the thugs in, directing operations.

There's reports on the former of demonstrations occuring in Tripoli, the home base of the regime. And there is another (one above I think) of soldiers joining the protest. All Libyan youth have to do some form of national service and it's certainly not a mercenary force like Bahrain. These, as much as anywhere in the region, will be mainly the sons, brothers, cousins, uncles, etc., of protesters. Unemployment here is at least as great as anywhere in the region.

Reports of protests in

Reports of protests in Djibouti

Al Arabiya

Thousands of opposition supporters, mainly students, gathered in Djibouti Friday to demand President Ismael Omar Guelleh step down, witnesses said.

  The rare demonstration in the tiny Horn of Africa country was organised amid mounting opposition to the president, who last year had the constitution amended to allow him to seek a third mandate in upcoming April elections.

  "IOG out", read one banner, using the president's initials, as most Djiboutians do. "No to a third mandate", read another banner.

  Amid a tight police deployment, the demonstrators gathered at a stadium with the intention of staying there until their demands are met.  

Officials from the Union for Democratic Change, an umbrella group of three opposition parties, gave speeches calling for Guelleh's resignation.

  The group's leader, Ismael Guedi Hared, told AFP before the demonstration that Guelleh should leave power and called for a sustained protest movement akin to those that have swept the Arab world in recent weeks.

  "For the moment, our goal is to remove Ismael Omar Guelleh from power," he said.  

Asked if he hoped for an Egypt-like scenario, he said: "Yes, that's it." ... 

Businessweek reports a claim that police opened fire on demonstrators but this seems to be unconfirmed

Police have opened fire on demonstrators in Djibouti, the Horn of Africa nation that hosts the only U.S. military base on the continent, according to the leader of an opposition party.

“The police are confronting demonstrators,” Mohamed Daoud Chehem, head of the Djibouti Party for Development, said by phone from the protest in the capital, Djibouti. “They have opened fire,” he said, without being able to specify if anyone was injured or what type of ammunition was used.

Chehem earlier said that as many as 20,000 people had joined the protest

[...]

Exiled Djiboutian opposition leader Abdourahman Boreh, who is currently in London, put the number of protesters today at as many as 5,000. The demonstration may extend beyond today, he said in a phone interview.

“We will see how it goes,” Boreh said. “This is the first day. We will see how the government reacts.” 

The U.S has had a base in Djibouti since 2001, while former colonial power France also has 3,000 troops stationed in the country, which is smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The republic borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and is seen as a strategic location in the U.S.-led fight against terrorism and piracy.

Last month, Boreh called for elections scheduled for April to be delayed by as much as a year and for international monitors to oversee an electoral roll that includes 130,000 to 140,000 of the population of about 865,000.

Edit: BBC live updates, this is sounding more serious

1954: Witnesses in Djibouti says the area facing the interior ministry has been blocked to traffic following Friday's unrest. Burned-out cars can be seen near the el-Hannan hospital and there are other damaged vehicles nearby

1744: There's a report of unrest in Djibouti. An AFP correspondent says police fired tear gas and clashed with thousands of youths calling for the president to step down.

Video of bahrain army

Video of bahrain army shooting protesters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwnUQcKXmMM&feature=youtu.be

From CGT North

From CGT North Africa

Confirmation of the Saudi protest

Kuwait Al Jazeera wrote: At

Kuwait

Al Jazeera

At least 1,000 stateless Arabs have demonstrated in Kuwait demanding citizenship, leading to dozens of them being arrested by police, witnesses have said.

Ambulances rushed an unspecified number of wounded protesters and security forces away from the scene, with a witness telling the AFP news agency that at least five people were hurt, one of them seriously.

The protest in Jahra, northwest of Kuwait City, on Friday was the first in the Gulf Arab state since a wave of unrest began sweeping across the Middle East in December.

Security forces dispersed the demonstration, using smoke bombs and water cannon after protesters refused warnings to leave.

[…]

Stateless Arabs, estimated at more than 100,000, claim they have the right to Kuwaiti citizenship, but the government says that ancestors of many of them came from neighbouring countries and they are not entitled to nationality.

Kuwait launched a crackdown on them in 2000, depriving them of their essential rights in a bid to force them to reveal what the authorities say are their true identities.

Authorities said that following the crackdown, some 20,000 of them disclosed their original citizenship and were given residence permits like other foreigners.

Many of them have no right to a driver's licence, cannot get birth certificates for their babies or death certificates for the dead. They are also banned from getting their marriage contracts attested.

Due to stringent government restrictions, a majority of them are living in dire economic conditions in oil-rich Kuwait, where the average monthly salary of native citizens is more than $3,500.

Most of the stateless claim to be Kuwaitis whose forefathers, who lived as Bedouins in the desert, failed to apply for citizenship when the state first introduced its nationality law in 1959.

Comment on the Guardian live updates

To whoever is doing the live blog: I received reports from Kuwait that the state security had closed off all entrances and exits to Taima, Jahra where the Bedoon protests were taking place ''until security has been restored.'' - eg. they will brutally repress all dissent. 150 were reported as being arrested and 50 hospitalised. Police and state security were using tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and stun grenades - I posted footage of the water cannons firing on the protesters earlier, but it can also be found on Twitter and You Tube.   

And the vast majority of Kuwaitis, as well as Bedoon, are ''descendants of desert nomads'' so that is not a point of differentiation between them (nor is religion in case anyone's curious) - Kuwait was only colonised in the early 18th century by the Bani Utbah. The vast majority of Bedoon have been there as long as Kuwaiti citizens - you can find out more about their history here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bidoon_in_Kuwait

The view from Saudi

Remember, in a former post, when I said that Saudis were captivated and shocked by what happened in Tunis and Egypt but hadn’t collectively made up their mind about it? Well it appears that they have. Everywhere I go and everything I read points to a revolution in our own country in the foreseeable future. However we are still on the ledge and haven’t jumped yet.

I know that some analysts are worried particularly of Saudi Arabia being taken over by Al Qaeda or a Sunni version of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. Calm down. Besides my gut feeling (which is rarely wrong), the overwhelming majority of people speaking out and calling out for a revolution are people who want democracy and civil rights and not more of our current Arab tradition based adaptation of Sharia. My theory of why that is, is that Al Qaeda has already exhausted its human resources here…

In Qatif, a Shia majority area in Eastern Saudi, there is talk that there was a protest demanding the release of political prisoners yesterday…

Although these updates are

Although these updates are confined to movements in the North African region, wouldn't you say that in fact, the movements have had a rippling effect globally - in Wisconsin and Ohio, for instance? And - who knows? - France had an effect on Millbank which had an effect on .... ?

Also, and more importantly, given that we're along the path to a new epoch of global revolts, it now seems essential to develop nuanced critiques of leftist parties/organisations and trade unions (independent or otherwise), given their very different histories in different countries, if we're not to end up very brutally (and brutalisingly) defeated yet again - and defeated in a way that doesn't learn new mistakes and successes.
But perhaps this is not the thread to be doing that in.

Confirmation of the Saudi

Saudi Shi'ites have held a small protest in the kingdom's oil-producing eastern province, close to Gulf Arab neighbour Bahrain where unrest has cost six lives, local Shi'ite sources said on Saturday.

They said a group of Shi'ites staged a protest on Thursday in the town of Awwamiya, near the Saudi Shi'ite centre of Qatif on the Gulf coast, to demand the release of fellow Shi'ites held in prison without trial.

Top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia fears that unrest in Bahrain, where majority Shi'ites are protesting against the Sunni government, might spread to its Shi'ite minority who mostly live in the eastern province, the source of Saudi oil wealth.

Shi'ite website Rasid.com said protesters gathered in the centre of the small town but stayed silent and did not hold up any posters to avoid provoking the authorities…

Bahrain trade union calls

Bahrain trade union calls strike from Monday

The main trade union in Bahrain, rocked by anti-government unrest this week, has called for a strike from Monday, a member of an airline trade union said.

"The Gulf Air trade union has told its members that the General Union of Bahraini Workers has called for a strike from Feb. 20," said a Gulf Air employee who asked not to be named.

Samotnaf wrote: Although

Samotnaf

Although these updates are confined to movements in the North African region, wouldn't you say that in fact, the movements have had a rippling effect globally - in Wisconsin and Ohio, for instance? And - who knows? - France had an effect on Millbank which had an effect on .... ?

The other day I caught a local TV news report about the closure of swimming baths in Levenshulme due to cuts. One of the women interviewed, definitely just a local resident not a lefty, said they should be doing what the Egyptians were doing. So yes, the ripples are global, everyone is watching events, there aren't really any boundaries.

Samotnaf

Also, and more importantly, given that we're along the path to a new epoch of global revolts, it now seems essential to develop nuanced critiques of leftist parties/organisations and trade unions (independent or otherwise), given their very different histories in different countries, if we're not to end up very brutally (and brutalisingly) defeated yet again - and defeated in a way that doesn't learn new mistakes and successes.
But perhaps this is not the thread to be doing that in.

There's definitely a need for more discussion. A new thread would be a good idea.

Bahrain EA

Bahrain

Will the House of Saud adapt enough to survive ... again?

1237 GMT: Different reports now, from Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times and American ABC News's Miguel Marquez, that protesters have made it to Pearl Roundabout and police have pulled back.

1225 GMT: Renewed reports on clashes near Pearl Roundabout, with police firing tear gas and ambulances en route to Suleimaniya Hostpital.

There are other reports, however, that police have pulled back from the other protest route on Dana Mall.

1110 GMT: The official statement from the Bahrain monarchy on the Army withdrawal from Pearl Roundabout (see 1017 GMT):

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has ordered the withdrawal of all military from the streets of Bahrain with immediate effect.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has ordered the withdrawal of all military from the streets of Bahrain with immediate effect. The Bahrain police force will continue to oversee law and order.

1017 GMT: The Bahraini Army is withdrawing its force from Pearl Roundabout in the capital of Manama, after occupying it since Thursday's police assault on the opposition's camp.

The Roundabout, ringed with barbed wire, is now guarded by police units.

Found through the EA

Found through the EA Liveblog: Bahrein trade union calls for strike on Monday

Will the House of Saud adapt

Rage, rap and revolution: inside the Arab youth quake

Sudan: protesters' stories

Bahrain Al

Bahrain

Moroccans riot ahead of protests

3:10pm Even as the crown prince appeals for calm, our correspondent in Manama reports that anti-government protesters are gathering at three locations around the Pearl roundabout, planning to march towards it. Police are also present, setting up barriers using barbed wire.

2:54pm More details on the clash that took place after the military withdrew from Pearl roundabout. The police, who were positioned to take control of the square as soon as the military left, fired tear gas on jubilant protesters who had approached the square in their vehicles, honking their horns and waving flags. The police arrested several people at the square, with the Associated Press putting the number at 10.

2:28pm Our correspondent reports that while the military have pulled out of Pearl roundabout, they have repositioned themselves on surrounding streets.

A protest was scheduled for 4:00pm local time by doctors at Salmaniya Hospital, but people there now say that if there are casualties from the clash at Pearl roundabout, they will not hold that protest.

2:06pm Al Jazeera's correspondent confirms that only tear gas was used during the most recent clashes at Pearl roundabout, when protesters attempted to retake the square after the military pulled out.

China. I wouldn't hold my

China. I wouldn't hold my breath - yet. Still...
A call for 'Jasmine Revolution' in China...

Al Jazeera on

Al Jazeera on Bahrain

5:00pm People in Pearl roundabout were seen kissing the ground, clapping, laughing and crying.

Some wore white sheets symbolising their readiness for martyrdom, while others carried Bahraini flags, flowers and signs and chanted "Peaceful".

"People want the removal of the regime," they chanted as they marched back into the square that has been the headquarters for their revolt against the Sunni monarchy in the predominantly Shiite island nation.

4:00pm Bahraini riot police retreated from Pearl roundabout and thousands of anti-government protesters streamed back into their former stronghold in Manama.

Iraq http://twitter.com/mtawf

Iraq

http://twitter.com/mtawfeeqCNN

Iraq: At least ten people wounded in Sulaimaniy when hundreds of angry demonstrators rallied against KDP party and demanded other things.

Iraq: Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of #Sulaimaniya,north of Baghdad on Sat. Dozens of Kurdish security forces on stand by.

Middle East protests hit Baghdad - http://bit.ly/g9f4Q8

Tomorrow, D-Day in

Tomorrow, D-Day in Morocco #fev20
The Arabist

[youtube]Lli6YpMjGO8[/youtube]

Above is the second video ahead of February 20 protests for constitutional reform, the dissolution of parliament and the formalization of the Amazigh (Berber) language(s) in Morocco. These videos have been attacked as too well produced to be the work of young Moroccans, which tells you a lot about the contempt the regime has for the country's youth. Incidentally, I think it was a mistake to add the second two requests — the last parliamentary election was fairly clean (even if money played a big role) and the question of Amazigh is a) divisive and b) something parliament can vote for. The real problem is the emasculation of parliament by a constitutional framework that gives all power to the palace. But that just my jouj centimes and I wholeheartedly support the protest movement.

Tomorrow's protest will be joined by all sorts of people, but it seems to me two groups will stand out. One is a network of mostly leftist youth that has been involved with all sorts of activism in the last few years and is close to the human rights world and the AMDH specifically. It gravitates around leftist parties such as the PSU and will probably include disaffected members of the USFP, the historic center-left party. The other group will consist largely of Adl wal-Ihsan, the largest Islamist movement in Morocco, which has long advocated constitutional reform. It is legally banned. Also present should be the wing of the legal Islamist party, the PJD, whose leaders have largely been "Makhzenized" but that has a strong figure of resistance in Mustafa Ramid, a member of parliament for Casablanca. And of course there will be tons of ordinary people with no political affiliation…

Bahrain: from the comments

Bahrain: from the comments for the Guardian live updates

gooneriman

19 February 2011 4:28PM
Just got back from the Pearl huge party atmosphere but with lots of sadness thrown in as well. Must be about 30 or 40 thousand protesters there. There are people celebrating and people paying their respects to where people died. Lots of the protesters believe that this is the end for the Prime Minister. They believe he will resign tonight or tomorrow. Around the corner outside the City Centre shopping mall there is around 100 police vehicles. No army vehicles or tanks. I hope they are right but with such a police presence and also what has happened in the past I do worry. Yesterday was such a dark day and today is such a celebration. Lots of peace signs and lots of happiness. One man was holding the shoe of his daughter who he claimed had been shot on Wednesday night.

I really hope this is an end to it but personally I can't see the PM going without a fight and certainly now as positions have become so entrenched. What kind of a sign does this show the Saudis and the Kuwaitis and maybe even the Emiratis. Is the PM willing to give up and are the Royal Family really going to have a fully elected PM. We shall see.

Moroccans riot ahead of

Al Jazeera

Protesters have attacked a police station and premises linked to French firms in the Moroccan city of Tangier in a dispute over the local utility firm's management, organisers and residents have said.

Saturday's violence came a day before a planned nationwide protest to push for political reform but there was no immediate evidence of a direct link.

Riot police intervened to break up the protest in Tangier, which evolved from a sit-in in front of the city hall to a march that gathered hundreds of protesters, the Moroccan branch of the local activist organisation, Attac, said on its website.

The sit-in was organised to push for the cancellation of a utilities contract that the city has awarded to an affiliate of the French firm Veolia.

Moroccans in cities where foreign firms run utility services often complain of hefty tariffs.

Residents, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a protest initially against utilities tariffs had developed into a march, which anti-riot police prevented from reaching the city centre.

"No tear gas, nothing was fired. They used long truncheons to disperse the crowds," one resident said.

Tanjanews.com published pictures showing the shattered windows of a police station and branches of firms affiliated to Veolia and the French bank Societe Generale, and said a branch of the latter had been set on fire...

Al Jazeera: Taking back

Al Jazeera: Taking back Bahrain's 'Tahrir'

I don't know if it was

I don't know if it was already mentioned, but AJE has just said that there is a strike in Bahrain tomorrow involving 65 different unions.

Samotnaf wrote: Although

Samotnaf

Although these updates are confined to movements in the North African region, wouldn't you say that in fact, the movements have had a rippling effect globally - in Wisconsin and Ohio, for instance? And - who knows? - France had an effect on Millbank which had an effect on .... ?

From another thread...

Hieronymous

Working Class Internationalism

Guardian live

Guardian live updates

10.48am Morocco:
Our correspondent Giles Tremlett is in Madrid but will be in contract with protesters in Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech and Tangier throughout the day. Here's his take on the current situation:

Today the focus for the protest movements sweeping through north Africa and the middle east moves partly to Morocco, which has been free of trouble until now. Youth groups, who began their campaign on Facebook, have called people to protest across the country this morning.

Last night Moroccan state media began claiming that the protesters had called their marches off. Reuters confirmed that a handful of leaders were now shying off, but organisers denounced a propaganda operation, claimed Facebook pages were being hacked by security forces and confirmed that the protests were going ahead at 10am (UK and Morocco time).

Although people are expected to take to the streets of many cities, the main protests are in the capital Rabat as well as in the major cities of Casablanca, Marrakech and Tangier. Early reports suggest several hundred people are out in the rain in both Rabat and Casablanca.

Protesters are calling for a rewrite of a constitution which accords King Mohamed VI vast powers. They also want action against corruption and other ills. They stress that these are to be peaceful demonstrations - calling for evolution towards real democracy rather than revolution.

There has been some police harassment of the organisers, but Morocco claims it is more liberal than the rest of North Africa and with greater freedoms - including of protest. Police reaction to the protests will, therefore, be key. It will also be interesting to see if protesters try to set up camps, as in Bahrain and Egypt, in order to keep the pressure on the regime for greater reforms.

Protests have started in Morocco

Photos and videos

liveblog in French

http://mariamsrevolution.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/search?q=%23Morocco

Claim on Twitter for numbers on demos. I've no idea if these figures are accurate. Some of the figures quoted on the liveblog are lower.

5000 à Rabat, 1400 à Casablanca, 1000 Agadir, 200 Hoceima, 10000 Marrakech, 1000 Oujda.

Edit: figures according to the liveblog

12h03 GMT Selon les estimations de notre correspondante, 3000 personnes défilent à Rabat, 2000 à Casablanca et 1500 à Marrakech.

Also from the

Also from the Guardian

11.36am Bahrain:
Martin Chulov reports from Pearl Square in the Bahraini capital Manama:

The hub of Bahrain's anti-Government revolt resembles a folk festival today, with tents pitched, candy and juice being handed out and thousands of people continuing to stream to and from the site. Blood from the last battle to be fought here on Saturday afternoon between government forces and Bahraini youth still stains the ground in parts. But the razor wire that had barricaded the central Bahrain site has been taken away and the roundabout is again being used by traffic.

Teachers and lawyers who went out on strike today in a bid to maintain pressure on the regime, called for civic unrest until their demands of more inclusion in the affairs of state. So far the main opposition group, which walked out on the Government after a savage pre-dawn assault by loyalist government riot police on Thursday, has refused the kingdom's pleas that it join a national dialogue. However, talks seem inevitable.

For now though, the riot police are nowhere to be seen and the military has removed tanks and armoured personnel carriers from the streets of the central city. Pearl Square is festooned with Bahraini flags and peace signs.

rooieravotr wrote: China. I

rooieravotr

China. I wouldn't hold my breath - yet. Still...
A call for 'Jasmine Revolution' in China...

EA liveblog: China

1030 GMT: The Associated Press posts its summary of today's events in China: "Jittery Chinese authorities staged a show of force Sunday to squelch a mysterious online call for a 'Jasmine Revolution' apparently modeled after pro-democracy demonstrations sweeping the Middle East."

0845 GMT: Police take away a protester in Shanghai

0745 GMT: It appears that the flutter of protest is over. Police have dispersed the gatherings in Beijing. What is left are defiant messages on the Internet: "The seeds of freedom have also been broadcasting [to] the people. We tell the ruling class...to use action. The power is in the hands of the people. Their time is running out, and if we do not reform, people will come to write history."

There are still some claims of protest, such as a report that in the northern city of Harbin, police cars blocked central square as protesters moved toward the Sofia Church area.

0715 GMT: Police have been deployed at a supposed protest location, Renmin Park, in the southern city of Guangzhou.

0655 GMT: Despite the regime's efforts, there has been a gathering in Wangfujing in Beijing

0645 GMT: Suddenly, the Internet is awash with talk of protests in China.

AFP, who reported this morning that up to 15 leading Chinese rights lawyers and activists have disappeared since Saturday after a Web campaign called for commemoration of the "Jasmine" uprisings in the Middle East.

The campaign, apparently fuelled by posts on overseas websites run by exiled Chinese political activists, called for demonstration in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and 10 other Chinese cities. Slogans would include "We want food to eat", "We want work", "We want housing", "We want justice", "Long live freedom", and "Long live democracy".

Human rights attorney Ni Yulan said, "Many rights defenders have disappeared in recent days, others are under house arrest and their mobile phones are blocked. "The police detachment outside my door has increased. They follow us if we go out."

Searches Sunday for "jasmine" on China's Twitter-like micro-blog Weibo produced no results, and messages on the Baidu search engine said that due to laws and regulations such results were unavailable. Some Chinese Internet search pages listed "Jasmine" entries, but links to them were blocked.

In a speech on Saturday, Chinese President Hu Jintao acknowledged growing social unrest and urged the ruling Communist Party to safeguard stability as he ordered strengthened controls over "virtual society" and the Internet.

Iran:

Iran: http://iranenlutte.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/la-raffinerie-dabadan-bloquee/

La révolte sociale et politique envers Ahmadinejab prend de l’ampleur.

La raffinerie d’Abadan, complexe clé du pétrole made in Iran, est désormais paralysée par les manifestants anti-régime. A l’abris des caméras, la dictature d’Ahmadinejab commence à vaciller.

the refiney in Abadan is one of the largest in the world, when the oil workers in Chuzistan start moving, the regime will be in serious trouble

http://iranenlutte.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/premieres-informations-des-protestations-du-20-fevrier/

http://iranenlutte.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/premieres-nouvelles-des-protestations-en-province/

http://iranenlutte.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/un-manifestant-tue-a-teheran/

Iranian

Iranian Kurdistan:

http://iranenlutte.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/breves-des-protestations-du-20-fevrier/

Mahabad (Kurdistan) : La ville de Mahabad est en flammes. Les agents du gouvernement ont perdu le contrôle de la ville. Une très grande foule avance depuis la Place Esteghlal et d’autres lieux autour de la ville. Les agents du gouvernement sont incapable de contrôler la foule. La foule crie des slogans contre le gouvernement et jette des pierres en avançant vers les agents du régime. Les flammes sont visibles à plusieurs endroits dans et autour de Mahabad.

More about Iran in French

More about Iran in French here.
Though Mahabad seems to be the centre of the most significant confrontation, there are also confrontations in Teheran in at least 10 differtent parts of town, with "Death to Khamenei" being shouted. Also confrontations in Marivan (in the West), demonstrations in Ispahan ("Death to the dictator" shouted), Racht (in the North) and Kerman.

More on Iran EA

Report on protests in Morocco

From the Guardian

From the Guardian liveblog:

9.22am – Sudan: The Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir has announced he will not stand at the next election, writes my colleague Adam Gabbatt. His pledge not to stand in the 2015 poll comes after been dozens of small protests have been staged throughout the north of the country since January, as an economic crisis began to bite and Sudanese people witnessed uprisings in other Arab countries.

"[Bashir] announced that he will not enter the coming elections to compete for the presidency," Rabie Abdelati, a senior National Congress Party official, told Reuters.
Bashir, the only sitting head of state to be indicted by the international criminal cCourt, for war crimes and genocide in the war-torn Darfur region, took power in a bloodless coup in 1989. In April 2010 he won presidential elections which many opposition parties boycotted, citing fraud.

Again from the

Again from the Guardian:

1.59pm - Morocco: Giles Tremlett writes:

Yesterday's 'Day of Dignity' protests in Morocco have turned out to be both more numerous and more violent than it initially seemed, with some violence continuing today in the city of Fes, according to Tweets from a reporter at Morocco's Atlantic Radio @mathiaschaillot. Protests took place in 53 towns and cities.

Protest organisers denounce the violence and blame thugs who took advantage of the peaceful demonstrations to riot.

1.34pm - Morocco The county's interior minister said five charred bodies were found in a bank set aflame by "troublemakers" in pro-democracy protests.

Taeib Cherqaoui told reporters at least 128 people were injured, mostly security forces in unrest linked to protests a day earlier that drew at least 37,000 demonstrators in dozens of towns and cities.

The minister said that "troublemakers" vandalised dozens of public buildings, shops and banks, including one in northeastern Al Hoceima where the five bodies were found. He said 120 people were arrested.

Political campaigners said the protests were hijacked by thugs in some towns, especially by football fans leaving matches. Some 37,000 protested, according to the interior ministry.

Channel 4 News tonight

Channel 4 News tonight reports that teachers have gone on strike in the Yemini capital.

Teachers on strike in Bahrain

Teachers on strike in Bahrain yesterday

Don't forget to keep checking

Don't forget to keep checking the news for Qatif. If anything starts in Saudi, it's most likely to start there. (although the current tack in Bahrain's zig-zag fishtailing reduces the pressure temporarily).

from Sunday
Reuters: Three Saudi Shi'ites released after rare protest

AWWAMIYA, Saudi Arabia, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Three Shi'ites held in prison for over a year were freed in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern province, a Shi'ite preacher and a local journalist said on Sunday, days after a rare protest demanding their release.

Shi'ites staged a small protest on Thursday in the town of Awwamiya, near the Shi'ite centre of Qatif on the Gulf coast, to demand the release of the three, who had been held without charges.

"They were released today," preacher Khoder Awwami told Reuters on the sidelines of a ceremony in a small mosque where the three were welcomed.

"I am so happy," said Muneer al-Jasas, a blogger and one of the released men.

Officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite minority mostly live in the Eastern province, which holds much of the oil wealth of the world's top crude exporter.

The province is near Bahrain, scene of protests by majority Shi'ites against Sunni rulers. [ID:nLDE71J00K]

Saudi Arabia applies an austere Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam and Shi'ites say that, while their situation has improved under reforms launched by King Abdullah, they still face restrictions in getting senior government jobs.

The government denies these charges.

Awwamiya, a town visibly less affluent than the rest of the country, was the scene of protests for weeks in 2009 after police launched a search for firebrand Shi'ite preacher Nimr al-Nimr, who had suggested in a sermon that Shi'ites could one day seek their own separate state.

The secessionist threat, which analysts say was unprecedented since the 1979 Iranian revolution provoked anti-government protests, followed clashes between the Sunni religious police and Shi'ite pilgrims near the tomb of Prophet Mohammad in the holy city of Medina.

Since then, Shi'ites say the situation has calmed down but they are still waiting for promised reforms to be carried out.

Officials say Shi'ites make up 10 percent of the Saudi population, although diplomats put it closer to 15 percent.

Aside from Qatif, the other name to keep an eye out for would be Hofuf - although it's unlikely, anything there would be prelude to armageddon.

Ocelot: Quote: Aside from

Ocelot:

Aside from Qatif, the other name to keep an eye out for would be Hofuf - although it's unlikely, anything there would be prelude to armageddon.

What makes Hotuf such a sensitive location? Trying to follow all this, and would like to know more.

Then again, I would think that the Saudi rulers would unleash Armageddon as soon as anything big occurs in that country, no matter where exactly. Like the Bahreini rulers, and even a bit like Khadaffi, they don't have anywhere to go, and there is not much room for compromise. An institution that at least 'looks' neutral (like the army in Egypt), that can dump the dictator while retaining the regime's structure, is not really there, is there? Just wondering.

The Moor Next Door on

The Moor Next Door on Mauritania

rooieravotr

Ocelot:

Aside from Qatif, the other name to keep an eye out for would be Hofuf - although it's unlikely, anything there would be prelude to armageddon.

What makes Hotuf such a sensitive location? Trying to follow all this, and would like to know more.

Then again, I would think that the Saudi rulers would unleash Armageddon as soon as anything big occurs in that country, no matter where exactly. Like the Bahreini rulers, and even a bit like Khadaffi, they don't have anywhere to go, and there is not much room for compromise. An institution that at least 'looks' neutral (like the army in Egypt), that can dump the dictator while retaining the regime's structure, is not really there, is there? Just wondering.

Hofuf (or anywhere in the al-Hasa area) would be dynamite because it sits on the Ghawar oil field. That's the largest oil field in the world, by far. And historically the al-Hasa oasis area was part of the old Al-Bahrayn kingdom, although the Saudis have, afaics, made a special effort to bring in Sunni/Wahabi population to outweigh the Baharna population, which is why it is unlikely.

Just on the Wahabi thing, I find it bizarre that certain commentators seem to worry about the possibility of Saudi becoming an Islamic fundamentalist country. Hello?

Ahaa, I see. Thanks! And

Ahaa, I see. Thanks! And yes... the Saudi monarchy is fundamentalist enough , one would think... they subsidized the Taliban coming to power in the nineties, members of the ruling class subsidize all kind of fundamentalist outfits. The current revolts not only put fear intu o Western capitals, but in these kind of outfits as well, by the way. Their funding is threatened, and there message seems more irrelevant as ever. Who needs Al Qaeda when one can make a revolution oneself?

here are all the reports i've

here are all the reports i've come across on the china 'jasmine' protests:

The Secret Politburo Meeting Behind China’s New Democracy Crackdown http://bit.ly/i7ReyI
China acts to stamp out call for 'Jasmine Revolution' likely inspired by Egyptian protests http://bit.ly/gefOtX
China cracks down after calls for protests http://bit.ly/fILKOd
Mideast Protests a Concern for Party, not Police http://on.wsj.com/fxyZjO
China state-run media play down protest calls http://bit.ly/h0Uua7
China Crushes Internal Dissent http://bit.ly/h0pvU4
Pro-Democracy Protest Repressed in China http://bit.ly/fa2fH9
Authorities in China stage swift response to crush mysterious calls for 'Jasmine Revolution' http://nydn.us/fZUwV8
Chinese police snuff out planned Arab-inspired protests http://reut.rs/hYjkgn
Analysis: Discontent, but no revolt in China _ yet http://wapo.st/fA3Xm9
China police show up en masse at hint of protest http://lat.ms/f1Mgt3
Activists Detained as China Web Users Call for ‘Jasmine Revolution’ http://bit.ly/gYFBf0
China's 'Jasmine Revolution' draws small crowds http://bit.ly/dI8tSd
Clampdown on "Jasmine Revolution" http://bit.ly/htfM4n

so yeah, so far not much in terms of a comparable movement arising, although this month there have been a couple of the usual village uprisings over land disputes and a bus drivers strike. apparently media controls have been tightened recently though, so it's possible even fewer reports of events like this are getting out than before. there's also been this:

China Deletes Egypt Song http://t.co/YHQ6NcY

china is rather different from the middle eastern countries though - the state is far more sophisticated in it's response to dissent, and those at the top have certainly read marx (albeit through the distorting prism of maoism) and listen less to the us and europe for advice on maintaining stability, which seems to have worked for them so far. the economy there has also been doing pretty well so far, and so holds out enough of a mythical carrot of self-improvement through hardwork still. also, if things did kick of in a big way there, my understanding is that since 1989 the army has undergone major reforms, making it even more politically tied to the party than it was, and no longer based on conscription, which could be a problem.

on the other hand, prices are rising, the number of unemployed workers is rising, complaints tend to be dealt with heavily despite the rhetoric from the top, corruption is rife, despite tight controls there is an ever-growing section of the population that uses the internet to spread news and critical views, the cities will soon have a greater share of the population than the country (if that isn't already the case) and thanks to the ccp, there is no credible or effective opposition party or union that could coopt any outburst in an effective way.

btw, thanks to everyone contributing to this and other middle east threads, they've been really helpful

zimbabwe? Arrests in Zimbabwe

zimbabwe?

Arrests in Zimbabwe for Seeing Videos http://nyti.ms/ewFEcw
Zimbabwe police arrest 46 attending lecture session on uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia http://bit.ly/hn4V9u

re: the global spread of

re: the global spread of struggles, i've been thinking for a while since seeing this site that it would be good to have something similar for the whole world, both to visualise the geographical and chronological developments of the proletarian response to the crisis and to emphasis that they are not isolated.

so today i set one up: http://workerstruggles.crowdmap.com/

at the moment it's just a very rough draft version to see how it would work and whether it would be useful - hence the rather arbitrary categories. if others think it's a good idea, i'm happy to add them as admins and maybe start a thread somewhere else on stuff like categories and how to decide a report is reliable etc.

Al Jazeera article on the

Al Jazeera article on the prospects for uprisings in sub-saharan Africa

In search of an African revolution

Mark. wrote: Al Jazeera

Mark.

Al Jazeera article on the prospects for uprisings in sub-saharan Africa

In search of an African revolution

I'm not sure how trustworthy the global voices site is... I referenced their report on Gabon earlier in the month, the same report the al jazeera article references, but afterwards a friend who just got back from zimbabwe told me they were heavily partisan and not to be trusted. My friend is smart and trustworthy, so I would naturally pay attention to what she says, but it might be this global voices site is simply not to be trusted about zimbabwe. I'm not sure, but thought I'd drop that caveat

This looks a bit different

This looks a bit different from what we're seeing elsewhere - if the protests are indeed pro not-in-office-elected government as opposed to more generall anti in-office-un-elected government. But you never know what might happen:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/ivory-coast-protesters-laurent-gbago

Ivory Coast protesters killed calling for Laurent Gbagbo to step down

Ouattara's government has called for an Egyptian-style revolution to remove Gbagbo, but attempts to demonstrate have been thwarted by security forces. Residents reported gunfire all morning in pro-Ouattara neighbourhoods of Abidjan, as soldiers and paramilitaries broke up attempted demonstrations.

Residents of the Koumassi district said soldiers fired on protesters from machineguns mounted on military vehicles. Djate Traore, a local resident, said at least three demonstrators were killed, and reported seeing the bodies.

An official at the mayor's office who asked not to be identified said three people were killed and 14 wounded in the city's Treichville neighbourhood, adding that he saw the dead and helped evacuate the wounded to a clinic.

There was no immediate comment from the military.

Similar attempts to demonstrate at the weekend were crushed by pro-Gbagbo forces, who witnesses said killed at least five people when they opened fire on attempted gatherings.

Army spokesman Babri Gohourou told state television at least four soldiers or police officers had been lynched by protesters on Sunday, three of them killed by having their throats cut.

From Paul Mason's

From Paul Mason's blog

Revolutions: the democracy thing is becoming an economic thing

A Suez-type moment?

Twenty reasons why it's kicking off everywhere

Let’s turn Syntagma into

Let’s turn Syntagma into Tahrir Square

Wednesday 23d of February, day of general strike and demonstration in the centre of Athens. As the time passes it becomes increasingly obvious that the general strikes called by the [bureaucratic trade unions] GSEE and ADEDY are not just “empty shots” but a field for the release of the increasing social discontent and rage: from the costless protests of parts of the demonstration to the dynamic practices of those parts which attempt to approach parliament, clash with the riot police or hurdle marble and molotovs against the forces of repression. This is confirmed by the fact that the question of an Indefinite General Strike has never come up; it is confirmed by the “weird” dates chose for general strikes, it is confirmed by the huge time lapses between one strike and the following one. After each demonstration, even when there are many people, a strong pulse to it and the expression of confrontational attitudes, we are always left with a question hanging: “and now what?”

At the same time however this choice of the side of authority is a game with fire. Whether the situation remains at an “acceptable” level, spatially and chronologically limited, or whether it will escape this “fencing off” to take on the unpredictable character of a blaze, is always unknown and uncertain.

This Wednesday we could try something slightly different, utilising the experiences from the revolts in the Arab world, such as in Egypt. We can show tolerance and insistence that would be much greater than the government bodies could ever imagine. We can flood, along with thousands of other demonstrators, Syntagma square. We can encircle parliament and wait. To hold on and not leave. We can turn Syntagma into Tahrir Square. And from that point on, we’ll see what happens…

Not only in Africa or the Middle East, revolt must spread across the world. 

See you on Wednesday at 11am, at the [Archeological] Museum.

“See you at the airport?” As Gaddafi counts his last hours in power, could Papandreou be next?

Gaddafi seems to be next in the domino of dictators toppled across the Mediterranean. We should not forget: Mubarak was a member of the “Socialist International” – of which George Papandreou is the president. Gaddafi did good business with the Greek regime. And the anger of the people across the Mediterranean basin keeps growing… Only a few hundred kilometres from Crete, the revolted of Benghazi have shown the way. On Wednesday, the first General Strike of 2011 might be our golden opportunity to make something bigger than a ritualistic demonstration can ever be.

Everyone to the streets, where anything is possible!

Live updates

Reuters reports a

Reuters reports a demonstration of 100,000 workers through Delhi protesting against rising prices and corruption. While the demonstration is linked to the trade unions and established political parties, I think that this development belongs in a "where next?" thread.

construction workers strike

construction workers strike in Mekka/Saudi Arabia: http://translate.google.de/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rf-news.de%2F2011%2Fkw08%2F22.02.11-in-mekka-streiken-600-bauarbeiter-seit-2-tagen&sl=de&tl=en&hl=de&ie=UTF-8 (dodgy machine translation of a dodgy German maoist page)

http://www.memrieconomicblog.

http://www.memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=4282

and

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article268888.ece
EDIT: and http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article277886.ece, I think the basis for the MEMRI story (I checked MEMRI site and I find it a very dodgy site)

EA Liveblog: Quote: 0933 GMT:

EA Liveblog:

0933 GMT: Reuters reports that Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan has turned into "a militarized city" amidst anti-government protests.

About 3000 people demonstrated on the streets on Tuesday and thousands of students rallied at Sulaimaniya University against corruption and the local government.

Three people have died so far and more than 100 have been wounded in clashes between protesters and heavily armed militia forces linked to the two Kurdish ruling parties.

0930 GMT: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who has been abroad for medical treatment, has announced a series of economic reforms including housing and other benefits.

The social security budget will be increased by 1 billion riyals and housing fund by 40 billion riyals, with a 15% cost of living allowancefor government employees made permanent.

From

From SignalFire

Protest plan in Angola draws warning from ruling party
Posted on February 23, 2011 by mat

Is Dos Santos just another domino?
LUANDA — An anonymous call for a mass protest in Angola on March 6 has drawn a warning from the ruling MPLA party, which threatened to take “serious measures” against anyone seeking power in the streets.

Rumours have been circulating on the Internet for several days of a protest against President Jose Eduardo dos Santos who has been in power since 1979.

According to a Facebook page called “The Angolan People’s Revolution”, the protest will take place at midnight on March 6 (2300 GMT) at Independence Square in the capital city, Luanda, and throughout the country.

Under the pseudonym Agostinho Jonas Roberto dos Santos — the first names of the leaders of Angola’s three independence movements and the surname of the current president — the organiser called on Angolans to “march with posters demanding the departure of Ze Du (Dos Santos’ nickname), his ministers and his corrupt friends.”

The call has been picked up by several Internet sites, but no opposition or civil society leaders have publicly endorsed the plan, and the Facebook page currently has just 100 members.

A spokesman for the MPLA, the party that has ruled Angola since independence in 1975, declined to comment on the planned protest, saying there was “nothing formal” about it.

“There are a lot of lies and a lot of truths on the Internet. We only comment on serious matters,” MPLA spokesman Rui Falcao Pinto de Andrade told AFP in a telephone interview Tuesday.

But the party’s secretary general on Sunday issued a call on state radio “not to confuse what is happening in north Africa with the reality of Angola”.

“In these circumstances (a protest), serious measures can be taken, because power cannot be in the streets,” said Juliao Mateus Paulo Dino Matross.

and

Cameroon fears mount closer to protest day
Posted on February 23, 2011 by mat
Will Cameroonians answer opposition’s call to protest against President Paul Biya’s regime? The country is anxiously waiting for the people’s reaction despite intimidation attempts by government forces yesterday.

In the past 24 hours, police forces have been regularly patrolling the streets of the capital city, Yaoundé. Tension will mount on the evening of 23 February, a date chosen by some opposition leaders to equal the Tunisian protests that ousted President Ben Ali. Four opposition parties have chosen the same date to launch the ‘week of martyrdom’ in commemoration of the youth killed during food protests in February 2008.

The country is plunged in a climate of fear as anti-government flyers have been filling the streets of major cities in the past few weeks. They call for the end of Paul Biya’s 28-years rule. Two days ago officials in one of the capital’s public schools argue for hours to remove a graffiti saying “Let’s get rid of Biya” from their walls.

Calming the public
The graffiti, which made the headline of the daily newspaper Le jour, triggered comments among the public. “Cameroon will be like Tunisia”, said a man sitting in a bar in Yaoundé. “If people want to get rid of Paul Biya they shouldn’t vote for him in the next elections”, said another sitting next to him. “Who is going to vote since people are not registering? Elections are rigged” the newspaper vendor added.

Terror
Yesterday was marked by public appearances by government officials. The Communications Minister held a press conference to calm the population. Talking about the North-African protests, which seem to inspire Wednesday’s events, Issa Tchiroma insisted that “what is happening there, has already happened here”. He referring to the socio-political unrest that shook Cameroon in the early 1990’s.

Comment on facebook
Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of Higher Education and Communication Official for the ruling party, used the national radio to reassure people. “I am sure that on Wednesday everyone will go about their daily routine”, he said. He invited opposition leaders to challenge President Biya through the polls, saying that “democracy is not in the streets”.

The Governor of the Littoral province, home to the economic capital Douala, was also on the radio. During his speech during the one o’clock news flash, he stressed that necessary security steps were taken to ensure the normal flow of business. “Anarchy is not the solution”, he concluded.

Meanwhile, many like writer Partice Nganang, are calling for a popular uprising. Nganang wrote on Facebook: “It is the morning of our future because this February 23rd. We fight for the future of our country! [...] Let’s show him that we are citizens not slaves! Let’s all bring Biya down!”

Iraq EA liveblog Quote: 0907

Iraq

0907 GMT: CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq reports that, in Hawija, north of Baghdad, angry protesters attacked the city council's offices and set the building on fire.

0840 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting two killed and 10 injured in the protests in Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

There is an unconfirmed claim that security forces have opened fire on protests in Mosul.

0830 GMT: Reports from Iraq now streaming in, including demonstrations of 1000 in Baghdad, amidst a heavy military presence, chanting, "[Prime Minister] Nouri al Maliki is a liar!", and 2000 people in rally in Basra. There are claims that the Governor of Basra has resigned and three protesters have killed in Kirkuk.

CNN

Five people were killed after clashes erupted between demonstrators and security forces in at least two Iraqi cities Friday, police said.

Two people were killed and 20 people were wounded Friday morning when Iraqi security forces opened fire on demonstrators who tried to force their way into a provincial council building in central Mosul, police said.

In the town of Hawijah -- located about 60 kilometers west of Kirkuk, Iraq -- three protesters was killed and 12 others were wounded Friday morning when Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters after hundreds threw stones at police and troops there, Iraqi Army Capt. Mohammed al-Angood said.

Demonstrators also amassed in other cities around the country Friday.

Helicopters hovered and security forces stepped up their presence in Baghdad as nearly 1,000 demonstrators gathered in the city's Tahrir Square to protest corruption and poor government services.

Iraqi security forces opened fire to disperse crowds after protesters tried to enter the provincial council building in Anbar province. Security forces also opened fire to disperse crowds in two small towns in Salaheddin province, wounding eight protesters, police said.

In Basra, about 550 kilometers south of Baghdad, the governor submitted his resignation just a few hours after hundreds gathered outside his office demanding that he step down. In Falluja, about 60 kilometers west of the country's capital, hundreds demonstrated outside a city council building...

Socialist Worker (UK) on strikes in Saudi-Arabia

Hundreds of Iraqis have converged on Baghdad's Liberation Square as part of an anti-government rally named the Day of Rage, organised mainly through the social networking site Facebook.  

About 600 protesters are said to have already gathered on Friday, which comes after weeks of scattered protests around the country calling for an end to corruption, shortages of jobs, food, power and water.  

More people are expected to join the demonstrations after Friday prayers.

…

Unlike recent uprisings across the Arab world, Iraqi protesters have not called for the ouster of al-Maliki's  Shia-led coalition government.

Instead they have demanded an end to corruption, replacement of local officials and an end to shortages of food, electricity, and other basic amenities in a country still trying to get back on its feet eight years after the US-led invasion.

Edit: 'Seven killed' in Iraqi 'day of rage' (AFP)

EA liveblog 1440 GMT: EA has

EA liveblog

1440 GMT: EA has learned that in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, approximately 1000 people protested in Qatif demanding the release of all Shia prisoners. Qatif is on east coast of the peninsula and has the greatest concentration of Shia in the country.

Socialist Worker (UK) on

Mauritania Guardian Quote: 8.

Mauritania

The Moor Next Door: Some Mauritanian responses to the Libyan crisis

8.09pm GMT: The waves of protests have even spread to the impoverished state of Mauritania, where hundreds of people took to the streets of the capital Nouakchott.

Reuters has a correspondent there:

A handful in the crowd of 1,000-1,500 mostly young people who took part in the peaceful protest demanded the departure of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, but they were in the minority and there was only a light security presence.

"The president has to respect his people. Aziz has always said he's the president of the poor; now the poor are in front of you asking for dialogue," said Mocktar Mohammed Mahmoud, a social worker who said he had got involved through Facebook.

According to Reuters, a number of protesters "said they had heard about the march through Facebook and other social networking sites".

Edited to add

Global Voices: Pro-democracy protests break out in Nouakchott

Reuters

BBC: African

BBC: African revolt?

Economist: The spectre of Sudan's popular uprisings

New Republic: Egypt's revolts could unravel Sudan

Morocco, from CGT North

Morocco, from CGT North Africa

Proceso abierto en Marruecos. A pesar de la represión, nueva convocatoria de movilizaciones el 26 y el 27 de febrero

Cameroon plans “Egypt-like” protests

Cameroon Cameroon plans

Cameroon

Protest bubbles in Cameroon

Brutalization of protesters in Cameroon

Facebook page

Reports on Twitter that

Reports on Twitter that protests are planned in Qatar on 16 March. It will be interesting to see what Al Jazeera makes of them.

Edit: Facebook page calls for Qatar emir's ouster

Saudi Shi'ites stage another

Saudi Shi'ites stage another protest in oil province

Dozens of Shi'ites gathered on Thursday night in Qatif, the main Shi'ite town in the Eastern province, to demand the release of fellow prisoners held for long periods without trial, resident Shi'ite sources said on Saturday.

There was no official confirmation of the demonstration which was also reported by Shi'ite website Rasid.com. It said protesters had carried pictures of prisoners whose release they demand.

Last week, Saudi authorities released three prisoners after Shi'ites in Qatif's neighbouring town Awwamiya staged a small protest, according to resident Shi'ites.
 Analysts say top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia would be worried if protests in Bahrain, where majority Shi'ites have been demonstrating against the Saudi-allied Sunni government, spread to its Shi'ite minority who mostly live in the Eastern province, the source of Saudi oil wealth...

Saudi Arabia: First signs of

Saudi Arabia: First signs of uprising in world’s top oil exporter

The popular uprisings across the Middle East are sparking similar unrest in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with youth groups and workers in that country now calling for a “Day of Rage” demonstration in the capital, Riyadh, on March 11.

Already there have been protests last week in the city of Qatif and other towns in the country’s oil-rich Eastern Province demanding, among things, the release of political prisoners and a raft of social reforms. There are also reports of prominent Shia clerics being detained by the Saudi Sunni authorities, and security forces mobilizing in anticipation of further protests.

Sadek al-Ramadan, a human rights activist in Al Asha, Eastern Province, said: “People here are watching closely the protest movements across the region, which are tapping into long-held demands for reforms in Saudi Arabia.”

Al-Ramadan said that there are “deep frustrations” in Saudi society over high levels of poverty, unemployment, poor housing and perceived widespread corruption among the rulers of the world’s top oil exporter whose Gross Domestic Product last year is estimated at $622 billion.

An indication of the concern among the Saudi monarchy about growing unrest in the country was a closed meeting this week between King Abdullah and King Hamad al-Khalifa of Bahrain. The latter travelled to Riyadh to greet his 87-year-old Saudi counterpart on his return from the US and Morocco, where the ailing ruler had been receiving medical treatment. On the same day, Wednesday, the Saudi government unveiled a $37 billion social fund aimed at tackling youth unemployment and chronic shortages in affordable housing. A 15 per cent hike in salaries for government employees was also announced.

Al-Ramadan said that while the country’s minority Shia communities have “felt discrimination and repression most keenly over many decades, their grievances are also being shared increasingly by the majority of Sunni people”. Saudi Arabia’s population is estimated at around 19 million, with an expatriate workforce of some eight million.

“Unemployment is as high as 50 per cent among Saudi youth, whether Shia or Sunni, and there is a serious shortfall in housing and education facilities,” said Al-Ramadan. “People want more transparent governance, an end to corruption, and better distribution of wealth and welfare.”

He said that there was widespread recognition that reform in Saudi Arabia is badly needed. “The question is: how far will the call for reforms go?”

The Saudi authorities are undoubtedly mindful of the rapid escalation of anti-government protests in the neighbouring Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain, which is only an hour’s drive away from the Eastern Province across a 25-kilometre causeway. Noticeably, the last two weeks have seen a big fall in the numbers of Saudis who usually come to Bahrain for a weekend getaway, with reports that Saudi officials have been turning away would-be visitors trying to cross the causeway.

Before the recent rallies began in Bahrain on February 14, small groups of Bahraini protesters were calling for relatively mild constitutional reforms. But after a week of heavy-handed repression resulting in seven civilian deaths and hundreds of injured, the protest movement in Bahrain is now bringing up to 200,000 people on to the streets every night demanding the overthrow of the al-Khalifa monarchy.

In the coming weeks, the Saudi rulers face a difficult balancing act. Too little reform or too much repression by the authorities could set off the kind of full-blown uprisings sweeping the Middle East. And there is a lot at stake for the kingdom’s rulers. Up to 90 of the country’s oil production and processing is located in its restive Eastern Province, where the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has its headquarters in Dhahran. Some 80 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s national income is due to its oil and gas sectors.

Middle East analyst Ralph Schoenman said: The oil wealth of Saudi Arabia is concentrated almost entirely in the Shia-dominated Eastern Province - that sector of Arabia where popular disaffection is as profound and political alienation as explosive as it is in Bahrain.”

Schoenman added: “Beneath the appearance of calm, the Saudi royal family and King Abdullah have been consulting frantically with the other Gulf Sunni feudal sheikhdoms - from Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates to Qatar and Oman.”

Oman Quote: A raft of minor

Oman

A raft of minor reforms have been floated "in the public's interest" by the sultan of Oman, as protesters stopped traffic and broke street lights in the country's largest industrial city.

A crowd of 500 protesters, demanding democracy and jobs, gathered on Saturday outside a shopping mall in the city of Sohar, barricading vehicles and shoppers.

"It has been going on for hours now,' said resident Mohammed Sumri.
"They are at the Globe roundabout blocking traffic."

Though protests are rare in the country on the south-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula, the police did not intervene, witnesses said...

Protest fever reaches Vietnam

EA Liveblog: Quote: 1620

EA Liveblog:

1620 GMT: Amidst continuing demonstrations, Bahrain’s General Federation for Trade Unions has called for the Government to be dissolved, a day after Bahrain’s king swore in five new Cabinet ministers.

The unionists said that the new appointments do not reflect “the ambitions and popular voices” of Bahrainis, and they called for a transitional government that will meet the “demands of the people” and bring about “real political change”.

1125 GMT: Two people have been killed and at least five injured in the protests in Sohar in Oman (see 1040 GMT). Tear gas and rubber bullets were used on about 1000 demonstrators who were throwing stones.

A police station and Government were reportedly set on fire.

On Saturday Oman's ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, changed six ministers in his cabinet in "the public's interest" and announced that social benefits for students would be boosted.

Trouble in Oman

Trouble in Oman (al-bab.com)

With Gaddafi on the way out, the mantle of longest-surviving Arab autocrat will shortly pass to Sultan Qaboos, the British-backed ruler of Oman. Or perhaps not, since his regime is now coming under popular pressure too.

Protests have been reported this weekend in two Omani cities at opposite ends of the country – Suhar in the north-east and Salalah in the south-west – as well as in the capital, Muscat.

The disturbances in Suhar (or Sohar) were met with plastic bullets and at least two people are reported to have been killed. Vehicles were set alight and there seems to have been an attempt to storm a police station...

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

A source who does not want to be identified sent me this:

Oman is on fire and al-Jazeera is quiet, and so is al-Arabiyya who only reported on points lost in Oman stock market. And of course Omani channels are not saying a word. Reuters reported this yesterday: but the number of protesters was higher, around 3000; the police used tear gas and the protesters reacted by attacking the police injuring a high ranking one and sending him to hospital. The road to al-`Ayn in the Emirates was temporarily closed. And this is what is not being reported:

Yesterday there was a demonstration in Sour and a police center was burned. Today: more protests in Sohar and the police used live ammunition killing a 15 year old boy. Banks are closed in Sohar now. The Wali of Sohar came out with other tribal leaders to calm people down but they were attacked and ran away. A police station was put on fire. It seems tanks are deployed there now. There are protests in Salala too. I don’t know if you know this, but Omani police and mukhabarat get much of their training in Jordan. How did I get this info?... is sending me updates. info is reliable (my ... People are spreading he news there be telephoning each other). If you report this, please don’t mention my name and try not to provide all the details.

Omani protesters block road to port after 6 die

Syria clamps down on dissent

Syria clamps down on dissent with beatings and arrests

Tensions are mounting in the Syrian capital, Damascus, after the third peaceful demonstration in three weeks was violently dispersed on Wednesday. There are increasing reports of intimidation and blocking of communications by secret services in the wake of violent unrest in neighbouring Arab countries.

Fourteen people were arrested and several people beaten by uniformed and plainclothes police on Tuesday after about 200 staged a peaceful sit-in outside the Libyan embassy to show support for Libya's protesters…

'Facebook Generation'

'Facebook Generation' continues Mauritania protests

Young Mauritanians pushing for social and political reforms continued a sit-in Saturday in the capital a day after a street protest demanding change.

Police dispersed hundreds of protesters early Saturday, but after a few hours the crowd returned to spend the night at Blocat Square in Nouakchott's city center, despite one earlier arrest and the possibility of forces returning.

"The purpose of the youth demonstrations that we are leading (is) aimed at pushing the ruling regime to make urgent social, economic and political reforms for the sake of better life conditions," said protester Mohamed Ould Sidie. "We don't belong to any one of the political parties, and we don't want to.

"Mauritania is a very rich country, but unfortunately the huge riches of the country, including gold, oil, minerals, fish, are mismanaged by the corrupt, political regimes," said Sidi. "It's time to make a change."

Protesters carried banners calling for job creation, economic and political changes and an end to corruption.

The organizers declared the birth of what they called "Youth Coordination" and promised to continue the protests over the next days...

Thoughts re: Mauritania’s protests (The Moor Next Door)

Opinion piece in the

Opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post

I would prefer that the occupation ended in orderly fashion, without chaos, with the settlers living near the Green Line feeling unthreatened and the others having plenty of time to relocate. Unfortunately, this is not happening; I’d hoped the Obama administration would pressure Israel out of the West Bank, but nobody’s pressuring it out of anything. The 43-year status quo becomes more entrenched each day.

Still, the bad blood has been rising – among the Palestinians, the Arabs, Europe, liberal America, and the bad blood in Israel has been rising in kind. Something’s going to blow, I figured, and my guess was that Israel would start one war too many, maybe against Iran, or Lebanon, or Gaza, and masses of Israelis as well as foreigners would die, and when the smoke cleared it would be recalled that we started it, and the world would finally run out of patience with us and we would get out of the West Bank in a lather to avoid being ostracized, to save ourselves from becoming a Jewish North Korea.

Again, not my preferred way of ending the occupation. But no “good” way was presenting itself.

And then came Tunisia. And Egypt. And Iran, and Yemen, and Bahrain, and Libya, and no one knows where this is going to stop.

And it became pretty clear to me that this is how Israeli rule in the West Bank is going to end – through Palestinian people power. Masses of Palestinians, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, marching to IDF checkpoints and outposts, marching to Israeli-only roads, to settlements, to the security fence – to the nearest Israeli presence and screaming, “Out! Out!”

And refusing to leave.

WHAT THE hell is the IDF going to do then? Shoot them? Arrest them? With the whole world not only watching but, for the first time, already won over by other unarmed Arab masses facing down their oppressors? What will the IDF do under the eyes of a world that, for the first time, is seeing Arabs as people like themselves who want freedom, who deserve it and who are earning it, to say the least, with their courage?

How will the IDF and the Palestinian Authority police – those who don’t defect – get all these people to go back home and stay there?

I don’t see it. I think we’re going to have grand-scale anarchy on our hands – and we won’t be able to solve it by force, and the world will be on the side of the anarchists.

Impossible? If you say this is impossible, you’ve been on Mars for the last month. If you’ve been on Earth, the idea of the Arab revolt not reaching the West Bank is what seems impossible. To me, it’s inevitable. I’m only surprised it hasn’t started already.

…

It’s a matter of time. Maybe it’ll start Friday with the Palestinians’ “Day of Rage” against the US veto of the UN resolution against settlements. If not Friday, it’ll start soon. Something will set it off...

Lebanon Quote: About 500

Lebanon

About 500 people waving flags and chanting for national unity have gathered in Beirut in a protest inspired by the wave of demonstrations across the Middle East.

…

Organizers used Facebook to publicize the demonstration, which was peaceful and dispersed by midday. Protesters called for a secular government…

Why I can't say Saudi Arabia

Why I can't say Saudi Arabia is a haven of peace

I'm in Qatar for a couple of days for a workshop on the Egyptian revolution at the Qatar Foundation, but surprises have followed me all the way. First there was the news that a group of Qataris are calling for a Day of Rage on March 18, and a group of Saudis for a similar day on March 11. Then I heard the news of the protests in Oman on Saturday and Sunday…

Saudi Quote: Democracy

Saudi

Democracy activists in Saudi Arabia say the government is closely monitoring social media to nip in the bud any protests inspired by uprisings that swept Arab countries, toppling leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.

Activists have set up Facebook pages calling for protests on March 11 and 20, with over 17,000 supporters combined, but police managed to stymie two attempts to stage protests in the Red Sea city of Jeddah last month, highlighting the difficulties of such mobilisation in the conservative kingdom.

In one case around 30 to 50 people were detained by police when they gathered on the street, eyewitnesses said. In the second, security forces flooded the location of a protest that had been advertised on Facebook, scaring protesters away.

"They are watching closely what people are saying on Facebook and Twitter," said Saudi blogger Ahmed al-Omran. "Obviously they are anxious as they are surrounded with unrest and want to make sure we don't catch the bug."…

Oman Quote: Protesters have

Oman

Protesters have taken to the streets in the Gulf state of Oman for a third day to call for political reforms.

Hundreds of people blocked roads in Sohar, Oman's main industrial centre, while others maintained a vigil at a central roundabout.

A supermarket was set on fire by protesters and looted, and state property was damaged…

There have been reports of protests in other cities. Reuters said two demonstrations were held in the capital Muscat…

Protests in Salalah: What do we want?

Residents in the northeastern Omani city of Sohar have reportedly looted a supermarket damaged in protests, as demonstrations over economic woes carried on into a third day.

Security forces sealed off main roads to the city on Monday and hundreds of protesters reportedly stormed a police station, while protests spread throughout the city.

Sohar, a city about 200km northwest of the capital of Muscat, was the scene of protests over the weekend, as demonstrators demanded higher salaries, jobs for the unemployed and the removal of some government ministers.

But police did not respond to Monday's protests, witnesses said, and appeared to have withdrawn from the scene of the looting.

"It's a free for all," said one man who watched while people grabbed food and other goods, piling their hauls into stolen trolleys and heading away from the burnt Lulu Hypermarket, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.

"There's no security ... I want to live," said a 28-year-old Omani, who identified himself as Youssef, walking away with 10 bottles of juice.

One woman was seen stacking up slightly burned cartons of eggs, powdered milk, orange juice and cream cheese on her trolley and calmly leaving the supermarket.

Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters blocked access to an industrial area that includes the port, a refinery and aluminium factory...

On most days my office windows look out onto beautiful mountains, palm trees, pretty government buildings, and quiet Salalah traffic. This week, however, the view is a little more interesting. It includes protesters, banners, tents and police vehicles.

A few weeks ago I would have laughed off the mere thought of an uprising in Oman, let alone the peaceful town where I live. Nonetheless, on Friday hundreds of protesters marched from the Grand Mosque in Salalah to the central area of town where most government offices are.

Banners with clear demands were plastered to the gates of the Minister of State's headquarters and the protesters set up camp for the night opposite the gates. It has been four days already and from what I can see it doesn't look like they're going anywhere soon. Not only have they increased in numbers, but they've actually set up one of the most organized protest camps I have ever seen. The quiet collection of donations and the distribution system for food and water is something to be admired. When I drove by last night, the protesters were sitting in groups, talking quietly.

So what is it that they want? Well, some of the demands seem perfectly realistic and feasible to me, whereas others may seem a little ambitious for the time being (canceling all personal and housing loans?). First and foremost, protesters are demanding an end to administrative and financial corruption in the government and private sector. Believe it or not, Omanis finally want to crack down on wasta (influence). I never thought I'd see the day…

Morocco Quote: Almost 1,000

Morocco

Almost 1,000 people rallied amid a heavy police presence in Morocco's biggest city Casablanca on Saturday to demand political reforms and a new constitution, a witness told AFP...

Continuing in

Continuing in Oman...

Tuesday, March 1, 2011
International
Oman Unrest
Protesters block road to port
Death toll tops 6
Reuters, Sohar

Omani protesters demanding political reforms blocked roads to a main export port and refinery yesterday and a doctor said the death toll from clashes with police in the Gulf Arab sultanate had risen to six.

Hundreds of protesters blocked the entrance to the industrial area of the northern coastal town of Sohar, which includes a port, refinery and aluminum factory. They pushed back four army vehicles that had been observing the scene.

"We want to see the benefit of our oil wealth distributed evenly to the population," one protester yelled over a loudhailer near the port. "We want to see a scale-down of expatriates in Oman so more jobs can be created for Omanis."

The unrest in Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare outbreak of discontent in the normally sleepy sultanate ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said for four decades, and follows a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.

Oman's government, trying to calm tensions, promised on Sunday to create more jobs and give benefits to job seekers.

A main supermarket in Sohar was burning yesterday after being looted, witnesses said. Protesters stormed the town's police station on Sunday to try to free detainees before burning it. They had also set two state offices alight.

As well as those demonstrating outside the industrial area, hundreds more were at the main Globe Roundabout, angry after police opened fire on Sunday at stone-throwing protesters demanding political reforms, jobs and better pay.

Graffiti scrawled on a statue said: "The people are hungry." Another message read: "No to oppression of the people."

Nearby, sidewalks were smashed and office windows broken. Troops deployed around the town but were not intervening to disperse protesters.

"There are no jobs, there's no freedom of opinion. The people are tired and people want money. People want to end corruption," said Ali al-Mazroui, 30, who is unemployed.

Marine traffic and exports of refined oil products from Sohar's port, which ships 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) of a range of products, were continuing although the flow of trucks into the port was blocked, a port spokeswoman said.

"It is true the protesters are making a very non-violent protest," the spokeswoman told Reuters. "Marine traffic in and out is not affected at the moment."

A doctor at Sohar's main hospital said the death toll had risen to six. Witnesses had earlier put it at two, some saying police had fired live ammunition, while others said they had used rubber bullets.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=175911

An updated map of these

An updated map of these disturbances would be good.

Guardian, Whitaker: Saudi

Guardian, Whitaker: Saudi Arabia's subtle protests are serious

Protests in Qatif on Friday

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Videos from Paul Mason The

Videos from Paul Mason

The dynamics of a modern revolution

Uprisings have already inspired change in Egypt and Tunisia and revolutionary contagion is a well-established phenomenon, but could places such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and China really be next?

What role has social media played in the Middle East revolutions?

Iraq Sami Ramadani wrote: As

Iraq

Sami Ramadani

As the walls of fear are being knocked down in one Arab country after another, the ugly concrete walls "of separation and intimidation" erected by the US-led forces in Iraqi cities have become a target of protesters. During last Friday's "day of rage", 29 people were killed by security forces. Another day of protest is planned for this Friday (4 March) "to honour the 29 martyrs". The regime's tactics – which include the shooting of peaceful demonstrators – show that the post-occupation edifice built by the US is not much different from the assortment of American-backed dictatorships across north Africa and the Middle East.

...

Extraordinary measures were taken to prevent people converging on the capital's Tahrir Square. All of Baghdad's many bridges over the Tigris – linking the two halves of the city – were closed, all vehicles and bicycles banned. New concrete blast walls sealed off Jamahiriya bridge, which leads to the hated Green Zone. A city of over 6 million people had been turned into a massive site for police and army encampments and fortifications.

…

For its part, the world's biggest US embassy – the power behind the throne – took the unprecedented step of broadcasting in Arabic, on state TV, a thinly veiled threat to protesters not to go too far in their demands. The US, it stressed, fully backed the "democratically elected" regime, while supporting the right to peaceful protest. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama must be pretty confused as to which dictatorship they should now abandon and which to prop up...

Updates on Syria:

Updates on Syria: http://syriaintransition.com/about/

http://www.spsrasd.info/en/de

http://www.spsrasd.info/en/detail.php?id=16742

OCCUPIED TERRITORIES / REPRESSION
Dozens of Sahrawis injured or arrested in clashes in occupied El Aaiun

El Aaiun (Occupied Territories), March 2, 2011 (SPS) - Dozens of Sahrawi citizens were injured or arrested in the occupied city of El Aaiun, after the forceful intervention of the Moroccan forces to disperse a sit-in, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all Saharawi political prisoners languishing in Moroccan prisons.

The clashes resulted in injuries including: Deidi Yazid (elderly), his daughter Degna, Soulmani Mohamed Ali, Ahmed Deya, Houssein Soueilem, Habib Salhi, Albouhmadi Mouloud, Mahmoud Houssein, Ahmed Salem al-Khalil, Nafii Deya, Vala, Sarakh Zeina and Zubair Hassana, according to a preliminary assessment released by the Ministry of Occupied Territories and Saharawi Communities Abroad.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing plainclothes elements, suspected of belonging to the police forces, brutally tortured the Saharawi, the source indicated. (SPS)

062/090/TRA 021 600 MARCH 11 SPS

Saudi Facebook activist

Saudi Facebook activist planning protest shot dead (unconfirmed report?)

Saudi activists alleged Wednesday that state security shot dead a leading online activist, who was calling for a 'Day of Rage' on March 11 in the oil-rich kingdom.

Faisal Ahmed Abdul-Ahadwas, 27, was believed to be one of the main administrators of a Facebook group that is calling for protests similar to that have swept North Africa and the Middle East.

The Facebook group, which has over 17,000 members, is calling for nationwide protests and reforms, including that governors and members of the upper house of parliament be elected, the release of political prisoners, greater employment, and greater freedoms.

Online activists said they believe Abdul-Ahadwas was killed by state security and that his body was taken by authorities to 'hide evidence of the crime.'

They argued he was killed because of 'his commitment to a better future for his country.'

Although these allegations could not independently verified, the religiously and socially-conservative kingdom has moved in recent days to quell a possible uprising similar to those in nearby Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen…

Reuters

Around 100 Saudi Shi'ites staged a protest in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province on Thursday, demanding the release of prisoners they say are being held without trial, witnesses said.

Mostly young men marched through the small town of Awwamiya, near the Shi'ite centre of Qatif on the Gulf coast...

Oleada represiva en Marruecos

1127 GMT: Eyewitnesses tell a CNN reporter that a protest is happening now in Saudi Arabia in the Eastern Province town of Al-Hassa, calling for the release of Shi'ite prisoners.

Report on Morocco from CGT

Report on Morocco from CGT North Africa