Tunisian Revolution and the Middle East

[visionary]

http://world.time.com/2012/11/20/can...-and-al-qaeda/

Can Mauritania’s President Survive Both Coup-Plotters and al-Qaeda?

For presidents, one rule of thumb for political survival is not to leave your country for too long, especially if you are thinking of waging a regional war against al-Qaeda militants. That seemed to be the thinking for Mauritania’s leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, when he emerged on Tuesday, nearly six weeks after being shot in the stomach back home and airlifted to France for surgery—complicating the West’s plans for a military assault against Islamic hardliners across Mauritania’s border in northern Mali.

Having vanished from sight since Oct. 14, Aziz, looking somewhat drawn and thin, met French President François Hollande at the Elysée Palace. “I am fine, I am starting to recover,” he told reporters afterwards. “I have the intention to return quickly, in the next days.”

Aziz had better hope he returns in time. During his long recuperation in Paris, his rivals have begun to plot their future without the president, who came to power himself in a political coup in 2008. Officials from within the ruling circle recently met with opposition parties, in an attempt to piece together a post-Aziz plan. And the biggest opposition party has called a national day of protest for Wednesday, in a move to declare Aziz’s four-year rule over. The official government version of Aziz’s shooting on Oct. 13 was that a soldier had fired at the presidential convoy by accident, while Aziz was traveling on a country road.

But many Mauritanians are incredulous, speculating instead that the shooting involved a dispute between the president and another man over a woman. No matter the cause, Aziz’s absence has provided his foes with a chance to try to remove him. “The people have been preparing to get him out of power,” says Hacen Ould Lebatt, a French-Mauritanian journalist in Marseille, who keeps close contact with politicians in his country. “If people had not seen him today it would be very easy for them to meet tomorrow and say, ‘he’s not coming back,’” Lebatt says. “President Hollande has saved him.”

http://www.channel4.com/news/congo-r...-tensions-rise

Congo rebels claim control of city as Rwanda tensions rise

Hundreds of fighters from the M23 group entered Goma after days of clashes with UN-backed Congolese soldiers that forced tens of thousands of residents to flee. A senior UN source told Reuters that international peacekeepers had given up defending the city after the Congolese troops evacuated.

The rebellion has aggravated tensions between Congo and its neighbour Rwanda, which Kinshasa's government says is orchestrating the insurgency as a means of grabbing the chaotic region's mineral wealth.

Rwanda denies the assertion. However, Congolese information minister Lambert Mende ruled out talks with the rebels, suggesting they were proxies of the Rwandan government.

We will continue (resisting) until Rwanda has been pushed out of our country ... There will be absolutely no negotiations with M23," Mende said, adding that Kinshasa would talk only directly with Rwanda.

Hundreds of M23 fighters accompanied their leader Sultani Makenga into Goma, where they were greeted by cheering crowds shouting "welcome" and "thank you".

"We've taken the town, it's under control," said Colonel Vianney Kazarama, a spokesman for the rebels. "We're very tired, we're going to greet our friends now." On Monday, Kazarama had denied the rebels would take the city.

The U.N. has about 6,700 peacekeeping troops in North Kivu, including some 1,400 troops in and around Goma, and the mission had previously promised to defend the town.

On Tuesday afternoon, armoured U.N. vehicles continued to circulate in the town offering help to residents, but troops did not try to block the rebels. No government troops were to be seen.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...830842641.html

Egypt president sacks prosecutor general

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi has issued a declaration dismissing the country's prosecutor general and ordering new investigations into the deaths of protesters killed during last year's popular revolt.

Thursday's development came one month after a deal was struck that saw Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud continue in office after a failed attempt by Morsi to have him replaced.

The agreement, sealed after a meeting between Morsi and Mahmoud, stipulated that the prosecutor general would remain in office until retirement age.

Al Jazeera's Peter Greste, reporting from Cairo on Thursday, said the new declaration means that Mahmoud is now retroactively dismissed as he has already been in office for six years.

"What they've done is to make an administrative change. The prosecutor general, under the old law, was appointed for life. What the president has done is change the tenure to a four-year term," he said.

"This is important because here's a man that a lot of people, including the president, held responsible for the failure of prosecution of the people who were charged with the attempted murder of protesters who were behind the revolution that overthrew [former President] Hosni Mubarak."

Morsi's statement also indicated that there would be a re-trial of all who were acquitted of the murder and attempted of protesters, because, according to Morsi's spokesman, they were acquitted based on flawed evidence.

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15727/cont...tguid=LvOowaFE

Egypt's Morsi grants himself far-reaching powers

Egypt's president on Thursday issued constitutional amendments granting himself far-reaching powers and ordering the retrial of leaders of Hosni Mubarak's regime for the killing of protesters in last year's uprising.

Mohammed Morsi decreed immunity for the panel drafting a new constitution from any possible court decisions to dissolve it. He granted the same protection to the upper chamber of parliament, which is largely toothless. Both bodies are dominated by Morsi's Islamist allies.

Several courts are currently looking into cases demanding the dissolution of both bodies. Parliament's lower chamber, also dominated by Islamists, was dissolved in June by a court decision on the grounds that the rules governing its election were illegal.

The Egyptian leader also decreed that all decisions he has made since taking office in June and until a new constitution is adopted are not subject to appeal in court or by any other authority, a move that places Morsi above oversight of any kind. He already has legislative powers after the powerful lower chamber was dissolved days before he took office June 30.

[visionary]

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/con...tguid=M4pag90Y

Blogger's death in Iran window onto cyber patrols

In his last blog entry, activist Sattar Beheshti wrote that Iranian authorities had given him an ultimatum: Either stop posting his "big mouth" attacks against the ruling system or tell his mother that she will soon be in mourning.

"We will tear down your cruel cage," Beheshti typed on Oct. 29 before signing off.

A day later he was arrested. Within a week, his family had collected his body. They began calls for an investigation that have been echoed by Washington, European allies and rights groups.

Arrests of activists and claims of abuse in detention are commonplace in Iran, but deaths behind bars are much rarer. Iran's judiciary responded to the growing pressure and authorized an investigation. It claims three of Beheshti's interrogators have been arrested while post-mortem reports are studied.

But while the specific circumstances of Beheshti's death may be given a public reckoning, the more far-reaching aspect of the case - Iran's rapidly growing corps of Web watchers - may remain in the shadows, as well as their motives in targeting an obscure blogger whose site was actively followed by more than a few dozen viewers.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/rhreid

(AP) Egypt's state TV says President Morsi opponents set fire to the offices in the Suez Canal cities of Suez, Port Said and Ismailia.
7:42 AM

https://twitter.com/BreakingNews

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Alexandria headquarters torched by protesters - @AlArabiya_Eng
7:41 AM

https://twitter.com/Alaabayoumi

AlJazeera: Morsi’s presidential aide, Sameer Morqous, a Copt, resigns
7:38 AM

[twa]

"Morsi today usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh," ElBaradei said on Twitter. "A major blow to the revolution that could have dire consequences."
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2...lite=obnetwork

Tahrir square is flooding with protesters. Street battles on at least two streets. #egypt pic.twitter.com/cEozlmnf

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AN0AI20121124

Egyptian judges announce strike in protest at Mursi decree

The body representing Egypt's judges called on Saturday for an immediate strike in all courts and prosecutors offices in protest against President Mohamed Mursi's decree expanding his powers.

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/egypt-155

about 9 hours ago
Reuters reports that opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has called for President Mohamed Morsi to recind his decree:

'There is no room for dialogue when a dictator imposes the most oppressive, abhorrent measures and then says 'let us split the difference'," ElBaradei said after talks with opposition figures.

ElBaradei, who said he expected to be coordinator of a new opposition National Salvation Front, said Morsi's declaration threatened Egypt's troubled transition to democracy and actions were needed to stop a 'cycle of violence'.

'How are we going to do that? I do not see any other way other than through Mr. Mursi rescinding his dictatorial declaration,' he said, adding the decree created a 'new pharaoh'.

[Larry]

Is it possible that a precedent is being established? That governments are accountable to the people?

(Crossing fingers.)

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain

President Morsi should renounce his power grab before things get out of hand
3:06 PM 24 Nov

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi reiterates "temporary nature" of his decrees saying he wants dialogue with political forces
10:35 AM

https://twitter.com/HodaAH

McCain calls on Obama to condemn Morsy's power grab. Don't think he can after the role Egypt played in the Gaza ceasefire
10:38 AM

I think he could do that, but he would have to compliment Morsi and his efforts on the Gaza deal, while pointing out that he may be taking a step in the wrong direction now. And that he believes Morsi will listen to his people and make the right decision.


http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCont...cises-Mor.aspx

Brotherhood's Shura Council chairman criticises Morsi declaration

Ahmed Fahmi, chairman of the Islamist-dominated Shura Council (the upper, consultative house of Egypt's parliament), seized on Thursday's council session to criticise the constitutional declaration issued by President Mohamed Morsi on 22 November.

"We had hopes that President Morsi would put the constitutional declaration before a national referendum," Fahmi said. He also argued that the declaration "has severely divided the nation into Islamists and civilians." Fahmi urged Morsi to conduct a national dialogue with all forces to put an end to the crisis triggered by the declaration.

Fahmi’s comments came as a surprise to many, given that not only is the chairman of the Shura Council a leading member of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – the political arm of Muslim Brotherhood from which Morsi hails – but he is also a relative of Morsi himself.

In its brief debate over Morsi’s declaration, the council itself was divided into supporters and opponents. Islamists, led by FJP and the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party, hailed Morsi’s declaration.

Tarek El-Sehari, a Salafist and the deputy Shura Council chairman, said the declaration "is a necessity, with a view to the fact that the Mubarak-appointed judges and prosecutors failed to refer the diehards of the former regime to trial or put a stop to their attempts to dissolve the Shura Council and the constitution-drafting assembly, and have indulged in thuggery and hooliganism under the banner of commemorating the revolution."

"These criminals can never be branded as 'revolutionary forces' and should rather be sent to trial as required by the constitutional declaration," said El-Sehary. "Everyone has the right to criticise the president, but nobody – especially those who failed to secure seats in the last parliamentary elections – has the right to attack public property or incite violence."

El-Sehary sharply directed attacks against those who "resorted to insults" when criticising Morsi’s declaration. He argued that the building of a new Egypt should not come at the expense of putting obstacles in the way of a democratically-elected president.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AO06J20121125

Egypt's justice minister seeks to end rift with judges

Egyptian Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky has started mediation efforts to try to end a crisis between Egypt's executive and judicial authorities, state TV reported on Sunday.

It was the first public sign of a government attempt to resolve a crisis ignited by President Mohamed Mursi's decision to expand his powers and protect his decisions from judicial review.

Mekky, who has said he has "some reservations" about Mursi's decree, convened a meeting at the Supreme Court headquarters in Cairo, state TV reported, without giving further details.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AO07P20121125

Egypt decree should have limited use: judicial council

Egypt's highest judicial authority said a decree issued by President Mohamed Mursi and which shields his decisions from judicial review must only be applied to decisions or laws relating to "sovereign matters".

The Supreme Judicial Council in a statement read on state TV also called on judges to keep courts and prosecution offices functioning after the influential Judges' Club called on Saturday for a countrywide strike in protest at Mursi's decree.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AM0DO20121125

Mursi to meet judges over power grab

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will meet senior judges on Monday to try to ease a crisis over his seizure of new powers which has set off violent protests reminiscent of last year's revolution which brought him to power.

Egypt's stock market plunged on Sunday in its first day open since Mursi issued a decree late on Thursday temporarily widening his powers and shielding his decisions from judicial review, drawing accusations he was behaving like a new dictator.

More than 500 people have been injured in clashes between police and protesters worried Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood aims to dominate the post-Hosni Mubarak era after winning Egypt's first democratic parliamentary and presidential elections this year.

The country's highest judicial authority hinted at compromise to avert a further escalation, though Mursi's opponents want nothing less than the complete cancellation of a decree they see as a danger to democracy.

[Larry]

deleted post. Didn't notice the dates.

[visionary]

deleted post. Didn't notice the dates.

It predates the Israel thread.

[Hubbs]

I think Mubarak's powers were "temporary" as well.

For about four decades.

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/wo...?smid=tw-share

Egypt’s Leader Said to Agree to Limit Scope of Judicial Decree

President Mohamed Morsi agreed on Monday to limit the scope of a sweeping decree he had issued last week that raised his edicts above any judicial review, according to a report by a television network allied with his party. The agreement, reached with top judicial authorities, would leave most of Mr. Morsi’s actions subject to review by the courts, but preserve a crucial power: protecting the country’s constitutional council from being dissolved by the courts before it finishes its work.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that sponsored Mr. Morsi and his party, announced that it was canceling a major demonstration in support of the president that had been planned for Tuesday.

Mr. Morsi’s deal with the judges follows four days of rising tensions and flashes of violence across the country set off by his decree, which removed the last check on his power to rule Egypt.

Mr. Morsi said he was forced to issue the decree in order to protect the constitutional assembly from the courts, which had shuttered Egypt’s first freely elected parliament and disbanded an earlier constituent assembly, both dominated by Mr. Morsi’s Islamist allies. But the scope of the new powers claimed by the president galvanized his political opposition. Vandals attacked more than a dozen offices of his political party, and thousands of people demonstrated in the streets to vent their fears of a new autocracy in a country that had just shaken one off.

The agreement announced on Monday could be a watershed moment for Egypt’s new order: a triumph of respect for the rule of law and the independence of the courts, and a demonstration that Egypt’s new leaders are capable of the kind of compromise in the national interest that often eludes the party leaders in even the most practiced democracies.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...medium=twitter

Egypt constitution draft to be finished Wednesday

The head of the assembly drafting Egypt's new constitution said the final draft would be finished on Wednesday, and three other members of the assembly told Reuters the document would be put to a vote on Thursday.

"We will start now and finish today, God willing," Hossam el-Gheriyani, the assembly speaker, said at the start of a meeting of the constitutional assembly in Cairo. He said Thursday would be a "great day", without elaborating, and called on the members who had withdrawn from the body to return.

Speaking to Reuters, assembly members Younes Makhyoun and Salah Abdel Maboud, both Salafi Islamists, said a vote on the final draft was planned for Thursday. Amr Abdel Hadi, one of the few remaining liberal members, said the same.