Tunisian Revolution and the Middle East

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8AS02U20121129

U.N. chief recommends "offensive military operation" in Mali

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday recommended that the Security Council approve an African Union peace enforcement mission be deployed to combat Islamist extremists in northern Mali, but did not offer financial support from the world body.

Diplomats and U.N. officials say that peace enforcement missions allow the use of lethal force in serious combat situations, while peacekeeping operations are intended to support and monitor an already existing ceasefire.

The last U.N.-led peace enforcement mission approved by the 15-nation Security Council was in Somalia in the early 1990s when 18 U.S. troops were killed in the "Black Hawk Down" incident, an event that led to U.S. withdrawal of combat troops from U.N.-commanded peacekeeping operations.

Ban's cautiously worded recommendation made clear that the world body is still wary of getting back into the peace-enforcement business. He said that the council should ensure that political, human rights, training and operational benchmarks be met before any military offensive commences.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/Reuters

FLASH: Egypt's constituent assembly votes to limit presidents' term of office to two 4-year terms | Live coverage http://bit.ly/Y1tfEj
2:43 PM

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/egypt...-readying-vote

Egypt Islamists hurriedly approve new constitution

An Islamist-dominated panel has approved a draft constitution for Egypt without the participation of liberal and Christian members.

Members finished voting on all 234 articles individually, passing all largely by consensus, in a marathon 16-hour session that ended just after sunrise Friday.

The panel's rushed passage of the charter before a court ruling Sunday that could dissolve their panel is likely to further inflame a clash between Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and he largely secular opposition. The draft now goes to Morsi, who is expected to call for a referendum within 30 days.

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/

Iraqi state television says security forces have arrested the top al-Qaeda leader in Iraq.

I'm always a bit suspicious of the government in Iraq these days though.
There's constant bombings going on over there and yet I've never seen any news about them arresting or taking out anyone behind the bombings...at least until now.

[terpfan44]

http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/syrias-ci...cat_orig=world

Syria's civil war a cover for killing Christians?
'Claims the government does this to eradicate rebels are ludicrous'
Published: 20 hours ago
author-image by Michael Carl Email | Archive
Michael Carl is a veteran journalist with overseas military experience and experience as a political consultant. He also has two Master's Degrees, is a bi-vocational pastor and lives with his family in the Northeast United States.

A pair of car bombs that killed 38 people and reportedly injured 83 more in the mostly Christian and Druze town of Jaramana, Syria, has led some to allege the rebels are using the civil war to cover a more sinister campaign of slaughtering Christians.

The Christian group Open Doors USA reports the Syrian government is placing the blame for the attack on “terrorists” although residents of the Damascus suburb haven’t joined the fighting on either side.

Although the rebels have denied involvement in the attacks on Christian neighborhoods, Open Doors believes the attacks are aimed at Christians, rather than supporters of Assad’s government.

For some, however, this attack was personal.

A Syrian-American who has asked not to be named to protect relatives still living in Syria says the twin car bombings claimed the lives of family members.

“The explosions in Jaramana killed my uncle’s father in-law and another uncle’s wife’s cousin,” the Syrian-American said.

He says the intended targets of the attacks are obvious.

“Why can’t the facts be acknowledged here? Isn’t it obvious these bombing acts are disproportionately against Christians? The claims that the government does this to eradicate support for rebels, labeling them as extremists, are ludicrous,” the Syrian-American said.

He has some harsh words for U. S. foreign policy makers.

“It’s a cop out,” he said. “We simply allow the Gulf nations and Turkey to dictate our policy and altogether ignore the real elements behind this supposed uprising.

“This is the Muslim Brotherhood taking control like in Egypt, and they are certainly willing to use extremists. Their ideology isn’t all that far apart. This is the path now taken,” the Syrian-American said.

He has a grim forecast for Christians in the Middle East: “We can expect that few Christians will remain in the Holy Land in the coming years.

Open Doors USA says in a press release it has confirmed that Christians are the targets of the “ethnic cleansing” campaign.

“Before, Christians were caught up in the war in the same way as Kurds, Druze and all other ethnic groups. Also, a part of the Christian community in Syria has been actively supporting President Assad, thus being an actor in the civil war,” the Open Doors statement said. “But some Syrian Christians say a series of incidents recently points to a trend of violence against Christian civilians, including priests. Particularly worrying, they say, is the growing presence of foreign radical Islamic fighters in the country and the many Islamist brigades within the opposition Free Syrian Army.

“Yet there is fear of government forces as well,” the statement continued. “On Nov. 14, four missiles struck the Christian village of Tel Nasri in northeast Syria. St. Mary’s Church was severely damaged, as were many houses. As the Assyrian International News Agency reports, a 14-year old boy was killed, and many were wounded, apparently by Assad’s fighter planes, though that is not confirmed.”

WND reported in early November that a video report indicated Syrian rebels were actually shooting Christians, even though the rebels claimed to be executing Syrian soldiers.

A video of a Nov. 1 attack in which black-clad Syrian rebels reportedly killed 28 men has been posted on YouTube. An Agence France-Presse story on the attack identified the victims as Syrian soldiers, but Religious Freedom Coalition President William Murray said two of the victims were associated with his cooperating organization in Syria, which distributes aid.

The victims were not soldiers, he said, but civilians from the same neighborhood, “So they were all probably Christians.”

He argued that even a brief review of photos of the attack indicates the victims were civilians.

“They were not armed and never were combatants,” Murray said.

The week before, WND reported that rebels were purposefully capturing Christian neighborhoods to ensure that the neighborhoods would be shelled by artillery when the army attempted to retake them.

The Religious Freedom Coalition’s Murray said there’s a reason the Free Syrian Army chose to fight over the Christian neighborhoods.

“The Islamist rebels invaded Christian neighbors to force government troops to destroy homes there,” Murray said. “They want the government troops to shell the neighborhoods in an effort to recapture it.”

Murray said this is a familiar strategy.

“I have seen this tactic in the so-called West Bank during the Intifada,” he said. “Muslims would fire mortars from a Christian neighborhood to draw Israeli fire there. This is a win-win for the Islamist rebels supplied by Turkey. Syrian government troops can be fired on, and Christian homes get destroyed.”

---------- Post added December-3rd-2012 at 03:30 PM ----------

If al"Qaeda is Assad's opposition---who is Hillary actually sending the 30 Million$
that she has said she will be sending them?

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B400H20121205

Mali government, Islamists and separatists agree on peace talks

Mali's government and the two rebel groups that took control of the northern half of the country in April, have met for the first time and agreed to negotiate an end to the crisis, a minister from mediator Burkina Faso said on Tuesday.

A delegation of Malian government officials met representatives of the separatist Tuareg MNLA, whose initial rebellion was hijacked by al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine. The Islamist militant group was also represented in the meeting in the Burkina Faso capital of Ouagadougou.

"The three delegations agreed on the need to create a framework for inter-Malian dialogue, which will be inclusive, and would involve representatives of the different communities living in northern Mali," Burkina Faso foreign minister Djibril Bassole, told journalists after the meeting.

A statement from the three parties after the meeting said the representatives agreed to end hostilities.

They also made a "commitment to (Mali's) national unity, territorial integrity, and a republican form of secularism as a prerequisite for the opening of the dialogue," it said.

Huh? That doesn't make any sense.
The main rebel groups in Mali are seperatist groups, and the islamists definitely haven't shown much interest in secularism in areas they control there...pretty much the opposite in fact.

[visionary]

Huge clashes today outside the presidential palace in Cairo Egypt between Morsi supporters and those opposing him.
Molotovs, stones, tear gas, beatings, and some gunfire.
Elbaradei and Moussa gave speeches calling for Morsi to act now to take back his declarations.
The protesters have been a bit more harsh and have called for the end of his rule.
It's just about getting to the point that compromise and taking things back will be unsatisfactory to most.
Also new reports of two more advisors to Morsi resigning.




https://twitter.com/Reem_Abdellatif

All eyewitnesses and reporters at the presidential palace say no sign of police, where are the security forces as violence rages?
12:13 PM

BREAKING: Egypt's Former prez candidate Hamdeen Sabahy says the National Salvation Front will fight under leadership of @ElBaradei
12:39 PM

@ElBaradei: We will only seriously negotiate after the decree is revoked & the constitutional referendum is postponed.
12:42 PM

One of Morsi's advisers Seif Abdelfatah just confirmed his resignation on a phone call to AJMisr.
1:00 PM

Ayman Al Sayaad, another adviser to Morsi, just announced his resignation via twitter.
1:03 PM

https://twitter.com/SherineT

Amr Moussa and Baradei in presser vow to continue protesting and civil disobedience. Never seen either men speak like this
12:26 PM

We are fast approaching the point where withdrawing the constitution or the decree won't be enough
12:32 PM

Police rushing through the crowds getting to the frontline. MOI say they are trying to form barrier between protesters
12:58 PM

Saddest day I've ever seen in Egypt
1:03 PM

https://twitter.com/Reem_Abdellatif

So far 3 prez advisers resigned tonight: Sayyad, Amr Elleithy, Seif Abdelfatah all citing "narrow" mindedness of MB or Morsi.
1:25 PM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B41L520121205

Tunisia calls protest strike against Islamic government

Tunisia's largest union called on Wednesday for a general protest strike next week against the Islamist-led government in an escalation of protests that resulted in violent clashes in the capital this week.

On Tuesday, several hundred Islamists armed with knives and sticks charged a gathering of members of the UGTT union in the capital and broke office windows with stones. Police had to intervene to separate the two groups.

"The UGTT decided to go on strike on December 13, after the attack on the central trade unions and trade unionists on Tuesday," the union said in a statement on Wednesday.

The announcement came as Tunisia prepared to mark the second anniversary of a street peddler's self-immolation on December 17, 2010, that led to a revolution in Tunisia and set the region on the path to uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B30GP20121206

Tanks outside Mursi's palace, streets calmer

Egyptian army tanks deployed outside the presidential palace on Thursday in streets where supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Mursi had clashed into the early hours of the morning in violence that killed five people.

Armored troop carriers also moved into the roads around the palace, in what Egypt's state news agency said was a measure to secure the palace. The area had become a chaotic battleground between Mursi's Islamist backers and their opponents.

The soldiers' badges identified them as members of the Presidential Guard and Republican Guard, whose duties include guarding the presidency. At least five tanks and nine armored personnel carriers were seen near or around the palace.

The health ministry said five people had been killed and 350 wounded in bloodshed that has exacerbated the worst crisis since Mursi took office as Egypt's first president since a popular uprising overthrew Hosni Mubarak in February, 2011.

https://twitter.com/Reuters

FLASH: Supporters, opponents of Mursi throw rocks at each other despite military deployment at presidency - Reuters witness
4:35 AM

https://twitter.com/BreakingNews

Egyptian soldiers urge Morsi's supporters to retreat in a bid to end confrontation at presidential palace, witnesses say - @Reuters
4:49 AM

[visionary]

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2...si-151322.html

Obama voices 'deep concern' to Egypt's Morsi

President Obama called Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday to voice his "deep concern" about the deaths and injuries of protesters challenging his government.

Obama "emphasized that all political leaders in Egypt should make clear to their supporters that violence is unacceptable,"

Obama welcomed Morsi’s call for talks with his opposition "but stressed that such a dialogue should occur without preconditions" and said the Obama administration is conveying the same message to the opposition, which has said it would not enter into dialogue with Morsi unless he rescinds decrees that give him nearly unlimited powers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B30GP20121207

Egypt demonstrators reject Mursi call for dialogue

Demonstrators rejected a call from Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi for a national dialogue after deadly clashes around his palace, demanding the "downfall of the regime" - the chant that brought down Hosni Mubarak.

Mursi said in a televised speech late on Thursday that plans were on track for a referendum on a new constitution on December 15 despite clashes that killed seven people. He proposed a meeting on Saturday with political leaders, "revolutionary youth" and legal figures to discuss the way forward after that.

But a leading activist group rejected the offer, and fresh demonstrations were called for Friday.

The "April 6" movement, which played a prominent role in igniting the revolt against Mubarak said on its Facebook page that Friday's protests would deliver a "red card" to Mursi.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/SultanAlQassemi

Breaking - Al Jazeera correspondent: Egypt: Morsy's decree cancelled, constitutional referendum to take place on time
5:00 PM

[visionary]

http://turtlebay.foreignpolicy.com/p...n_plan_is_crap

Rice: French plan for Mali intervention is 'crap'

Key U.N. powers said today that Mali's military's arrest and ouster of the country's transitional leader, Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra, would not deter the U.N. Security Council from forging ahead with plans to intervene in Mali to confront Islamists militants in the north of the country. But it did little to paper over differences between the United States and France on how to get the job done.

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, offered a decidedly uncharitable assessment of a French- and African-backed plan to retake control of northern Mali from a coalition of Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda. "It's crap," the U.S. envoy told a gathering of U.N.-based officials, according to one of the officials. Rice's office declined to comment.

The American envoy's assessment reflected deep misgivings that the Malian army, supported by a Nigerian-led coalition of 3,300 troops from 15 Western African countries has the manpower or the skills required to contend with a battle-tested insurgency with experience fighting in the Sahel's unforgiving desert. Rice's candor also deals a setback to a long, drawn-out effort by France and West African countries to secure U.N. Security Council mandate for a regional intervention force in Mali.

Despite these concerns -- and Rice's frank remark -- the United States supports military action in Mali to confront Islamist militants. Just not yet. And not without a role for some of America's most important counterterrorism allies (principally Algeria) that are not members of the West African peacekeeping coalition, and which have so far proven reluctant to sign on to a risky fight with Mali's Islamists that could provoke the group's allies inside Algeria.

The predicament has contributed to the impression of American policymaking as confused in confronting the spread of terrorism and militant Islam in Mali, where insurgents have benefited from an influx of weapons from Libya in the wake of Muammar al-Qaddafi's downfall. But some officials believe the muddled picture is more a reflection of the fact that America's counterinsurgency strategy in the region remains a work in progress.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8BA03V20121211

Mali PM forced to quit as army strengthens grip

Mali's prime minister was forced to resign on Tuesday by the soldiers who staged a coup in March, underscoring the military's continuing grip and complicating international efforts to help push Islamists from the north.

Once a beacon of democracy in West Africa, Mali has been mired in crisis since the coup, when ethnic Tuareg rebels and al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters took advantage of the chaos to seize the northern two-thirds of the arid nation.

Although the soldiers gave way to a civilian president and prime minister in April under international pressure, they have never been far from power and have shown their readiness to stamp their authority on divided and weak politicians.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...-for-dialogue/

Egypt defense spokesman denies call for dialogue

Egypt's official news agency is quoting an armed forces spokesman who is denying that the defense minister has invited politicians to hold talks on how to resolve the nation's worsening political crisis.

The brief MENA report Tuesday did not name the military spokesman.

Earlier, the news agency reported that Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had called for a national dialogue on Wednesday, three days ahead of a referendum on the draft constitution that is at the heart of the crisis.

Egypt's powerful military warned earlier this week of disastrous consequences if the dispute over the draft constitution is not resolved.

Also, the head of Egypt's key association of judges says 90 percent of its members have voted not to oversee Saturday's nationwide referendum. Ahmed el-Zind, the chairman of the Judges' Club, announced the decision on Tuesday.

The move is unlikely to stop the referendum from taking place, but it casts further doubt on the legitimacy of the constitutional drafting process.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/RawyaRageh

National Salvation Front urges Egyptians to vote 'No' for Constitution. Oppstn decides not to boycott
7:03 AM

National Salvation Front says if full judicial supervision is not made available, they will pull out from referendum
7:04 AM

National Salvation Front says constitution referendum must be held in one day, not staggered stages
7:06 AM

https://twitter.com/HodaAH

other condition from NSF: Judicial oversight, security, local & international monitoring.
7:12 AM

Ironically NSF was holding presser announcing it will attend meeting convened by Def. Min.at same time that latter announced postponment
7:18 AM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/...6A700220101108

U.S. offers Sudan quicker route off terror list

The United States will drop Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as early as July 2011 if Khartoum ensures two key referendums take place on schedule in January and the results are respected, senior U.S. officials said Sunday.

President Barack Obama made the offer through Senator John Kerry, who recently told Sudan's leaders the United States was ready to "decouple" the issue of Darfur from Khartoum's terror designation to win cooperation on the January polls, the officials said.

"We like to consider this a pay-for-performance operation," one official said.

The U.S. officials, speaking on background about Kerry's mission to the region, emphasized that separate U.S. sanctions imposed on Sudan over Darfur would remain until Khartoum makes progress in resolving the humanitarian situation in its troubled western region.

But they also held out hope that the offer to end the isolation imposed on Khartoum by its inclusion on the U.S. state terror list would persuade the Sudanese government to begin making the necessary concessions to allow the January votes to proceed as scheduled.

Sudan's two parallel referendums on January 9 could see southern Sudan secede to become Africa's newest state and decide whether the disputed oil-rich territory of Abyei joins the north or the south.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/AJELive

BREAKING NEWS: Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman says he he will resign from office following his recent indictment
9:15 AM

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8BD0CO20121216

Egyptians narrowly back Islamist-shaped constitution, say rival camps

Egyptians voted narrowly in favor of a constitution shaped by Islamists and which opponents said was a recipe for deepening divisions in the nation, officials in rival camps said on Sunday after the first round of a two-stage referendum.

The result based on unofficial tallies, if confirmed for this round and repeated in Saturday's second stage, may give Islamist President Mohamed Mursi limited cause for celebration as it shows the wide rift in Egypt at a time when he needs to build consensus on tough measures to heal a fragile economy.

Official results are not expected till after the next round.

Mursi and his backers say the constitution is vital to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the basic law is too Islamist and tramples on minority rights, including those of Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...ce=twitterfeed

After chaos, Egyptians narrowly support controversial draft constitution

Egyptians on Saturday voted narrowly in favor of a contentious draft constitution that has become a referendum on whether President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist backers are trustworthy guardians of the diverse revolution that ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.

“The referendum was 56.5 percent for the ‘yes’ vote,” a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party operations room told Reuters, citing its unofficial tally.

The party had representatives at almost all polling stations across the 10 areas, including Cairo, where the first round of voting was held. He said the tally was based on counts from more than 99 percent of polling stations.

Despite weeks of protests that have at times turned into bloody, rock-throwing brawls, voting appeared to be largely peaceful on the first of two Saturdays the balloting will be held. Morsi had empowered the military to protect polling sites and arrest civilians if necessary, but across Cairo, soldiers seemed more relaxed than tense as they mingled with police, smoked cigarettes or helped elderly voters up stairs. Official results will not be announced until after voting ends Dec. 22.

Saturday seemed to be a day for debate and, to some extent, reveling in disagreements rather than coming to blows over them.