Arab Protest Unleashed In Libya And Bahrain

4:09pm UK, Wednesday February 16, 2011

Pete Norman, Sky News Online

Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets of Libya and Bahrain as Arab unrest spreads through the Gulf region and North Africa.

Witnesses say protesters in the Libya's second largest city of Benghazi chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi.

The rioting was a rare show of unrest in Libya, which has been tightly controlled by leader Muammar Gaddafi for over 40 years but has also felt the ripples from revolts in its neighbours Egypt and Tunisia.

Overnight protesters armed with stones and petrol bombs had set fire to vehicles and fought with police in Benghazi and later posted videos on YouTube.

The funeral procession of protester Fadel al-Matrook, killed in Bahrain

Libyan activists are using Twitter and Facebook to call for “a day of rage” protests on Thursday after 14 people were injured in clashes between security forces and demonstrators in Benghazi.

In what is seen as an attempt to ease popular dissent, the government is set to free 110 Islamist militants of the banned Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, according to a local human rights activist.

Meanwhile, increasingly large protests in the Gulf state of Bahrain, urging political reform, have shaken its rulers as a sit-in of the capital's landmark square in an Egypt-style occupation continues.

We believe that governments who have erected barriers to internet freedom - whether they're technical filters or censorship regimes or attacks on those who exercise their rights to expression and assembly online - will eventually find themselves boxed in

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Security forces armed with tear gas pulled back sharply - apparently on orders to ease tensions - after clashes left at least two people dead and dozens injured.

Thousands of people spent the night in a makeshift tent camp in Manama's Pearl Square, which was swarming with demonstrators a day earlier.

The protests began on Monday as a cry for the country's Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip, including hand-picking most top government posts, and give more opportunities for the country's majority Shiites, who have long complained of being blocked from decision-making roles.

Increasingly large crowds have thronged Manama's Pearl Square

Protesters turned increasingly angry on Wednesday as a funeral was held for demonstrator Fadel al-Matrook, who had been killed during Tuesday's protests.

Bahraini internet access was thwarted in the wake of protests, affecting some public and banking sectors, and forcing foreign correspondents to use satellite phones.

The UN has spoken out against state violence towards Bahraini protesters

US foreign policy is increasingly embroiled in popular uprisings, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging greater internet freedom for restrictive societies like China and Iran, but ignoring those in strategic allies like Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain is the home port of the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

"We believe that governments who have erected barriers to internet freedom - whether they're technical filters or censorship regimes or attacks on those who exercise their rights to expression and assembly online - will eventually find themselves boxed in," Mrs Clinton said.

Bahraini protesters have staged a three-day sit-in at Pearl Square

"They will face a dictator's dilemma, and will have to choose between letting the walls fall or paying the price to keep them standing," she said.

:: The US has announced it will spend $45m (£28m) this year on projects to help people evade government internet limits and break down barriers imposed by repressive governments.

Sex Teen: 'Berlusconi Knew My Real Age'

3:36pm UK, Wednesday February 16, 2011

Nick Pisa, in Milan

A teenage belly dancer at the centre of the Silvio Berlusconi sex scandal told prosecutors he knew she was a minor - a claim denied by the Italian PM.

Miss Mahroug's claims will be at the heart of Berlusconi's coming trial

Karima El Mahroug also said it was his idea to say she was the grand daughter of Egypt's now ousted president to get her released from police custody.

Berlusconi, 74, has been at the centre of lurid allegations involving Moroccan-born El Mahroug and is due to stand trial accused of paying her for sex and abuse of office.

El Mahroug, then 17, and Berlusconi have insisted that no sex took place but damning details of their liaison have emerged which could prove to be the final nail in his coffin.

Berlusconi took me to one side and to a room where we were alone. He said that my life would change and even if he didn't say it, it was not hard for me to see he was suggesting sex with him.

Belly Dancer, Karima El Mahroug

Besides the sex allegation, prosecutors say he used his position to secure her release, calling a police station after she had been arrested for theft asking for her to be freed, wrongly claiming she was the grand daughter of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

In statements given to prosecutors last August El Mahroug, now 18, recalled how she attended a party at Berlusconi's home on Valentine's Day last year. She said: ''He gave me an envelope with 50,000 Euro in it.

''Berlusconi took me to one side and to a room where we were alone. He said that my life would change and even if he didn't say it, it was not hard for me to see he was suggesting sex with him.''

She added she had told him she was 24 years old and Egyptian but when she returned the following month for another party she got talking to other female guests.

Protesters gather at Rome's Piazza del Popolo to demonstrate against Berlusconi

They told her that Berlusconi had put them up rent free in apartments on the outskirts of Milan and she then set her sights on getting one herself so she could move in as well.

She told prosecutors:''I had falsely told Berlusconi I was 24 years old and Egyptian. When he suggested a flat I had to put him straight and tell him how things really were.

''I couldn't lie anymore so I told him I was a minor and that I was not Egyptian and I had no documents (therefore in Italy illegally).''

El Mahroug added that Berlusconi then told her to say she was Mubarak's grand daughter, adding: "That way you can justify the resources that I will make available.''

Berlusconi insists he called police after El Mahroug was arrested because he genuinely believed her to be related to President Mubarak and wanted to avoid an ''embarrassing diplomatic incident.''

Prosecutors say he made the call so as to cover up the so called ''bunga bunga'' parties he was holding in his home - the phrase is said to refer to a crude after dinner sex game.

The case is based on 782 pages of wire taps, intercepted text messages and bank details - which Berlusconi insists are a gross intrusion of his private life.

Arab Unrest: What Next For Gaddafi's Libya?

3:52pm UK, Wednesday February 16, 2011

Lisa Holland, foreign affairs correspondent

The real test of whether the world is witnessing historic social change the scale of which hasn’t been seen since the fall of the Berlin wall may well have arrived.

This week protests have begun in Libya - ruled since 1969 by Africa’s longest serving leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. If he goes all bets are off.

In the wake of the collapse of the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, the internet is buzzing with attempts to galvanise a day of protest across Libya on Thursday.

Already rubber bullets and tear gas have been fired in the second city of Benghazi as several thousand demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the arrest of a prominent human rights lawyer.

And just to muddy the thinking Colonel Gaddafi has announced he may join the protests

Sky's world affairs correspondent Lisa Holland

To counter those fairly small-scale demonstrations we’ve seen pro-Gaddafi crowds gather in the capitol, Tripoli.

It is hard to imagine that Mr Gaddafi’s security forces will allow large scale numbers to gather in Tripoli’s Green Square, in an attempt to emulate the masses of Tahrir Square in Cairo.

And just to muddy the thinking Colonel Gaddafi has announced he may join the protests - odd you might think since he runs the country and it's his rule against which the people are protesting.

The UN has spoken out against state violence towards Bahraini protesters

This is perhaps Mr Gaddafi’s card of cleverness.

To position himself like leaders of other Arab world countries such as Jordan and Bahrain, suggesting change should come under him. The thinking is that Jordanians will accept reform under their King Abdullah.

There’s no evidence they want the King out - unlike the movement for change in Egypt which wouldn’t rest until Mr Mubarak himself was ousted from power.

Rarely seen image: A Libyan protest near a police station in Benghazi

Colonel Gaddafi has always insisted that the country is run by a series of people's committees though most outside observers says Libya is a police state with him firmly in control.

Yet it’s widely expected that his son is being positioned to take over when the time comes. And that is a key plank of discontent across the Arab world - they are fed up with nepotism.

Mr Gaddafi's has been welcomed back cautiously by the West

And Mr Gaddafi has another card to play - his country’s oil wealth.

There is criticism the gains from the lucrative oil reserves are not being distributed to the people. Mr Gaddafi will have seen other panicked leaders - such as Bahrain’s - announce one-off payments to all its citizens of several thousand dollars. He is easily able to do this.

Colonel Gaddafi is so much more than an ordinary Arab leader. In from the cold diplomatically he also agreed to give up his country’s nuclear weapons in return for a place in the international club.

The large Shia population of Bahrain has voiced discontent

Just like Mr Mubarak he sees himself as an embodiment of his country and believes he has nurtured the once isolated North African nation to its newly elevated status of importance.

In the end Mr Mubarak was told by the army he had to go.

The template of factors for a perfect storm of change in Libya is different but if the brewing storm leaves Colonel Gaddafi beached from politics too then the domino effect really does show no signs of stopping.

Egypt Islamists 'won't seek' parliament majority

Muslim Brotherhood says will not contest every parliamentary seat in upcoming election set to be held later this year.

Middle East Online

By Samer al-Atrush - CAIRO

Staying away from the spotlight Senior leaders of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Wednesday that the influential Islamist movement would not seek a majority in parliament when elections are held later this year. The opposition group, which says it wants to build an Islamic state through peaceful means, was seen as the government's most powerful foe until a popular revolt forced president Hosni Mubarak to resign on February 11. "We do not aspire for a majority in the upcoming parliament, and this is a message to all political parties," said Essam al-Erian, a member of the group's politburo. "This is not the time for competition." Mahmud Ezzat, the group's second in command, said the group would not contest every parliamentary seat in an election set to take place later this year before the military hands power to a civilian government. "We will not try," he said, when asked if the group would run candidates for each and every seat. The Brotherhood had previously also said it would not field a candidate in the subsequent presidential election. The Islamists have contested about 30 percent of parliamentary seats in past elections, which were rigged to favour the ruling National Democratic Party. They won a fifth of seats in the 2005 election but boycotted run-offs in the poll in November last year after failing to win a single seat in the first round. Rights groups widely denounced the election as fraudulent. Some in the West had feared that the revolt that brought down Mubarak, despite being spearheaded by secular youths, would empower the Islamists, who oppose Israel and are critical of US policies in the region. But Ezzat insists that the Islamists are not seeking power. "People can't imagine that maybe someone would trade power for the general interest. We used to get jailed and were denied seeing our children, only for the general interest. We did not do this for power," he said. The group has a representative -- a lawyer and former lawmaker -- on an eight-member panel appointed by the military, which assumed power after Mubarak's resignation, to revise the constitution ahead of the elections. The current constitution bans parties based on religion and class, but the Islamists have said they are interested in creating an official political party affiliated with their movement.

ordan tribesmen block airport road in land protest

Bani Sakhr tribesmen stage sit-in on main road leading to Amman’s airport to urge government to restore lands which it acquired for development projects.

Middle East Online

The tribes say they have been excluded from the government projects AMMAN - Jordanian tribesmen blocked the road to Amman's airport during a demonstration calling on the government to restore lands which it acquired for development projects, one of the protesters said on Wednesday. The demonstration on Tuesday night saw more than 500 people of the Bani Sakhr tribe, one of the largest in Jordan, staging a sit-in on the main road leading to the international airport, south of the capital, he said. "We demand the government return thousands of hectares (acres) we have been authorised to use for decades for agriculture," the tribal member said. "For example, the government took from us 2,200 hectares (5,436 acres) to build the airport," in the early 1980s, he said, adding that police later dispersed the sit-in without incident. In 1952, the government authorised the tribes, the backbone of the kingdom, to use lands for agriculture and housing, but they were not registered in their names. Successive governments had to acquire these lands for investment and development, but the tribes say they have been excluded from the projects. On Sunday, at least two people were reported wounded after around 3,000 protesters from the Zawahrah and Khalailah tribes blocked a main road in the capital to demand the government return lands to them. They say they have been authorised to use 2,500 hectares (6,177 acres) in southeast Jordan. A government committee headed by the interior minister is currently examining their requests.

Teen killed as private Iraq guards fire into demo

2,000 demonstrators call for Iraqi provincial governor to resign over poor basic services.

Middle East Online

By Ali al-Alak - KUT, Iraq

'All we need is services' A teenager was killed Wednesday when private guards shot at protesters who set fire to several Iraqi government offices, in the country's most violent demonstrations since uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. The protests, which also left 27 people wounded, took place in the southern city of Kut, capital of Wasit province, with more than 2,000 demonstrators calling for the provincial governor to resign over poor basic services. The demonstration began at 9:00 am (0600 GMT) and saw protesters set fire to three buildings -- the offices of Wasit provincial council, the governorate's main administrative building and the governor's official residence. Policemen and soldiers fired their weapons into the air in a bid to dissuade protesters, while private security guards employed by Wasit council opened fire directly into the crowd, for which a senior policeman pledged punishment. Majid Mohammed Hassan from Kut hospital's administrative unit put the toll at one dead and 27 wounded. He said the fatality had been a 16-year-old boy who suffered a bullet to the chest. None of the wounded were as a result of the fires because all the buildings had emptied of staff who fled the scene, fearful of the demonstrations. "Those were private guards, only they fired at the protesters. They were outside the law," police Brigadier General Hussein Jassim told AFP. "Our forces only fired into the air." Major Mohammed Saleh, the top police intelligence officer in Kut, said: "Measures will be taken against the private guards but after the situation has calmed down." Illiteracy, poverty and access to clean water in Wasit are all worse than the Iraqi national average, according to United Nations figures. Earlier, the demonstrators had chanted slogans calling on Tarfa to resign, and held up placards that sarcastically said, "To all citizens: Electricity is only for officials", a reference to Iraq's dramatic shortfall in power provision. "We demand that our rights be met, that we have better services and that the authorities fight corruption," said 54-year-old Ali Mohsen, a professor at Wasit university. "We demand that the governor resign ... all we need is services." Wednesday's protest was the most violent to hit Iraq since mass uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt led to the fall of both countries' dictators. A February 3 demonstration near the southern city of Diwaniyah left four people wounded when police fired into the air to disperse the crowd. In the southern port city of Basra, meanwhile, more than 200 unemployed demonstrators gathered in front of the provincial government headquarters, while clerics in the holy Shiite city of Najaf called on officials to listen to the protesters. "We must respect the demonstrations, we must support them and they must be listened to," said Sadr al-Din al-Qubanchi, a senior cleric and member of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council.

Exiled Assad cousin warns Syria: 'change or be changed'

Ribal al-Assad: 'we don't want a revolution in Syria, we want the government to start changing'.

Middle East Online

'It could be a disaster as we saw in Iraq' BERLIN - A cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad living in exile warned Wednesday that the Syrian government must enact democratic reforms or face the "chaos" sweeping other Arab countries. "Change or be changed," said Ribal al-Assad, head of the London-based Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria. "Now I think they have to listen. It is not their choice anymore, because they are feeling the heat, they are feeling what has been happening all around the Middle East," he told reporters in Berlin. "We would prefer that the government does it and listens to their senses, listen to the people, to the voices of the people in the Middle East, and they start seeing that they need to change as soon as possible." Assad, 35, is the son of Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of late president Hafiz al-Assad and the uncle of the current head of state. He went into exile in 1984. The younger Assad said he had not been in Syria since 1999, a year before his cousin took power. "We don't want a revolution in Syria, we want the government to start changing, we want a peaceful change and transitional change," he told reporters at a European police congress in the German capital. "Revolution leads to chaos and we don't want to see that in Syria so we always press on the regime to make changes, to call for national reconciliation, to form a national unity government. "They have to start by ending the state of emergency, they have to release all political prisoners because the situation is becoming impossible. "As you have seen how things have happened in Tunisia and Egypt, they have to allow freedom of expression and association." He added: "Syria is a bit different from Tunisia and Egypt. In Syria you have many religions and many peoples ... It is a beautiful mosaic if you know how to put it together, and it could be a disaster as we saw in Iraq. "We have to be very careful when we call for change. We don't want a revolution."

Swedish police arrest protestors, deport Iraqi refugees

150 protestors demonstrate against 'horrible and unacceptable deportation' of Iraqis by Swedish government.

Middle East Online

Swedish authorities had ignored the UNHCR warnings STOCKHOLM - Swedish police said Wednesday they arrested 16 people overnight protesting the deportation of a group of Iraqis but that the plane carrying the failed asylum-seekers left for Bagdad as planned. "Some 150 protestors opposed the deportation and blocked the way in and out" of the detention centre where the migrants were staying, police in the western region of Vaestra Goetaland said in a statement. Officers had ordered the group to leave the area but "unfortunately a large number of the protestors refused to follow police orders". "Around 90 people were removed ... 16 were arrested," the statement added. Some 15 protestors had also gathered at Gothenburg's Landvetter airport, but "the plane to Bagdad left according to plan," police said, explaining the decision to deport the Iraqis was taken by the Swedish Migration Board. According to the local Goeteborgs Posten newspaper, some 15 Iraqis were onboard the plane. At the airport, protestors yelled that no one was illegal and defended the right to asylum in Sweden. "We are protesting against this horrible and unacceptable deportation," a protestor identified only as Kim told the newspaper. Sweden has come under fire from rights groups and the United Nations refugee agency for deporting Iraqis back to their homeland. Last month, 26 people -- 20 from Sweden and six from Denmark -- were sent back to Iraq despite protests in both Vaestra Goetaland and near Stockholm. Ahead of those deportations, human rights groups and the UN refugee agency UNHCR had called on the countries to rethink the move, insisting it was too dangerous to send the rejected asylum-seekers -- reportedly some of them Christians and gays who risk persecution -- back to Iraq. Swedish authorities tightened asylum regulations in 2007, ruling that it was acceptable to return Iraqi citizens to their country. The decision meant that Iraqis were no longer automatically granted asylum and each case has since then been determined on an individual basis. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have fled the war in their country to resettle in Sweden, with official statistics showing 117,900 people born in Iraq lived in the Scandinavian country in 2009, up from 49,400 in 2000.

French FM suffers fresh Tunisia revelations

Alliot-Marie fends off new calls to resign following revelations on her family business interests in Tunisia, contact with dictator.

Middle East Online

By Roland Lloyd Parry - PARIS

'She has not stopped lying to the French people' France's foreign minister fended off fresh calls to resign on Wednesday over her links to Tunisia, with revelations of her family business interests there and contact with its deposed dictator. The investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine said Michele Alliot-Marie's father Bernard Marie and his wife Renee, both in their 90s, bought a stake in a property company from a Tunisian businessman allegedly close to the regime. Bernard Marie acknowledged making the transaction but insisted it was a private affair and the minister denounced what she said was an attack on her parents' private life. "You may well repeat lies, that will not make them true," she told parliament, responding to calls for her to resign by opponents accusing her of inappropriate conduct in Tunisia. "I regret that you are so petty and abject as to use my parents to attack me politically," she said. Separately an aide to Alliot-Marie admitted on Wednesday that the minister had spoken by telephone to Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali while she was on holiday in Tunisia during the uprising that eventually deposed him. "It is simply the job of the foreign minister to have daily telephone contact or meetings with foreign governments," the aide, who asked not to be named, said. But the revelation raised doubts about Alliot-Marie's earlier account of her visit, which she had insisted was a private affair not related to her job as minister. She had made no previous mention of her conversation with Ben Ali. President Nicolas Sarkozy and his government backed her on Wednesday, but the revelations fuelled allegations by opponents and the media of a conflict of interest that they said made her position untenable. "She has not stopped lying to the French people," said Jean-Marc Ayrault, the opposition Socialist who has led the charge against her, on France Info radio. He said that if Alliot-Marie and her husband, junior government minister Patrick Ollier, "had a sense of the state and the interests of France, they would themselves explain all the accusations against them, and resign." The daily Le Monde asked in a fierce editorial: "How low must you go in triviality and indignity before the French foreign minister understands that she is harming the authority of her position?" Sarkozy presented a written "message of support" to Alliot-Marie at a cabinet meeting, two ministers present said. "The gist of the message was that there is no question of giving in to an outburst, no question of letting Michele Alliot-Marie go," said one of the ministers, who asked not to be named. Spokesman Francois Baroin told reporters that Alliot-Marie "has the total support of the government team." Sarkozy defended Alliot-Marie last week after the last round of revelations but observed that "it wasn't the best idea to go to Tunisia" in December. He also defended his Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who admitted holidaying in Egypt at the expense of its now-deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. France had warm relations with Ben Ali's authoritarian regime for 23 years but turned its back on him after he was driven out in January by the popular uprising. Le Canard Enchaine last month broke the initial story that Alliot-Marie accepted free rides in a plane owned by Miled, also during her December holiday, while the uprising that drove out Ben Ali was under way. The minister also caused an uproar by suggesting in January that France could help train Tunisia's police to keep order, as reports were already emerging of security forces killing unarmed protestors.

ome tweets are more equal than others

As Clinton pays lip service to internet freedom, US pressures Twitter to give info on WikiLeaks supporters.

Middle East Online

By Karin Zeitvogel - ALEXANDRIA

Cyber hypocrisy Lawyers for three Twitter users asked a US judge Tuesday to overturn a court order directing the microblogging site to disclose clients' data to US authorities for a probe into WikiLeaks. The order calling on Twitter to release data about the accounts of Icelandic lawmaker Birgitta Jonsdottir, US computer researcher Jacob Appelbaum and Rop Gonggrijp, a Dutch volunteer for WikiLeaks, was handed down in December by Judge Theresa Buchanan. Buchanan, who also heard Tuesday's challenge, ordered Twitter in December to hand over to the US government information on the three subscribers and any other clients linked to WikiLeaks, the organization led by Julian Assange that last year released a slew of US diplomatic cables. Among the information Twitter was ordered to give to the government were Internet Protocol addresses and the names and addresses of "tweet" recipients. The December court order was sealed -- or secret -- until last week, when the details were made public to allow Jonsdottir, Appelbaum and Gonggrijp the right to reply. In a tweet sent to AFP, Jonsdottir said she was determined to fight for her right and the right of "other social media users" to privacy. "I don't have much choice, do I -- nor other social media users," she said when asked if she would hand over her Twitter account details to the US authorities. "That's why this has to be fought and discussed." American Civil Liberties Union senior lawyer Aden Fine, who was part of the team representing Jonsdottir, slammed the government for "attempting to obtain information about individual Internet communications and doing it in secret." "That's not how our system works," Fine said. In his arguments to Bunchanan, he added: "The government shouldn't be able to get this information in the first place, and shouldn't be able to get it in secret." Fine later said that "once the government gets the information, there's no un-ringing of that bell." None of the Twitter users was in court for the hearing, but their lawyers also asked Buchanan to unseal, or make public, other still secret documents related to the December order. Those documents are widely believed to contain information about more companies -- including Google, Facebook and Skype -- from which the US government has tried to collect client data for its WikiLeaks probe. Asking for the data is "a standard investigative measure that is used in criminal investigations every day of the year all over the country," said Assistant US Attorney John Davis, who argued the case for the government. And Peter Carr, a Department of Justice spokesman, said that because the documents are sealed, it was "speculation that other companies were involved." The hearing was held as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech on Internet freedom at George Washington University in Washington, saying the United States is "committed to continuing our conversation with people around the world." "The demand for access to platforms of expression cannot be satisfied when using them lands you in prison," Clinton said in the speech, referring to crackdowns on bloggers and Twitter users in countries like Syria or Iran. Cindy Cohn of the Electronic Frontier Foundation noted that as Clinton spoke, "the US Department of Justice was trying to keep secret many of the facts of its investigation into the very mechanism that inspired the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia." In Jonsdottir's case, actions by the court and US government are "especially troubling" because they show a disregard for Icelandic law, which gives lawmakers in the Nordic country broad immunity, according to Cohn. "Courts usually try to honor another country's laws," she said. In a statement issued Monday, Assange called the US court order "an outrageous attack by the Obama administration on the privacy and free speech rights of Twitter's customers -- many of them American citizens." It is "more shocking, at this time, (as) it amounts to an attack on the right to freedom of association, a freedom that the people of Tunisia and Egypt, for example, spurred on by the information released by WikiLeaks, have found so valuable," he added. According to the whistleblower website, Washington is in fact demanding that Twitter, a popular microblogging site, "disclose the names, dates and locations of all persons who have used its services to receive messages from WikiLeaks or Mr. Assange." The judge did not indicate when she would make her decision.

Muslims and Christians together in a new Egypt

Online initiative - launched by preacher Amr Khaled – seeks harmony between Muslims and Christians in Egypt.

Middle East Online

By Yasser Khalil – CAIRO

'An Internet Free of Sectarian Strife' The recent protests in Egypt that led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, and their political ramifications, have been covered extensively in the media. But stories of Christian-Muslim solidarity have not been broadcast as widely, and they deserve to be. During the protests, Christians stood in a circle around Muslims during their Friday prayers to protect them from police. And last Monday, Muslims stood around Christians in Tahrir Square as they conducted mass, and joined them in prayer for those who were injured or died in the protests. Prior to the demonstrations, there was a growing fear in Egypt that tensions between Muslims and Christians would escalate and culminate in violence, especially in light of recent attacks that targeted Christians in the region, the latest of which was the bombing of a church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve that killed 23 people. To prevent such violence from reoccurring, Egyptians began to mobilise through a new online initiative called “An Internet Free of Sectarian Strife”, launched by Amr Khaled, who is described by The New York Times as “the world's most famous and influential Muslim television preacher.” He began the initiative in January after he saw how the Internet was being used to disseminate rumors and agitate tensions between Muslims and Christians in the country. Word of the initiative spread quickly, and it has proven very popular among Egyptian youth primarily because of Khaled’s huge following in the country. The roots of this initiative began with his lectures in 1998, after years of terrorist incidents claimed the lives of innocent people and religious bigotry began spreading among groups that were adopting extremist interpretations of Islam. Many have found messages of balance and harmony in the young, dynamic preacher’s rhetoric, which are all too rare in other speakers’ lectures. Between 2000 and 2002, his lectures – mainly about tolerance in Islam – were being attended by audiences of 35,000. Today, his Facebook page has around two million friends and his lectures are watched by millions across the Muslim world. It is clear that youth are playing a key role in the initiative’s implementation and development. The “Internet Free of Sectarian Strife” initiative features prominently on Khaled’s website (amrkhaled.net), which receives around two million visitors every month. Many Egyptian youth have replaced their Facebook profile photo with the initiative’s logo, a cross within a crescent. Other websites and forums from around the region have also included the logo on their websites to promote the campaign. The initiative’s main partners are influential media outlets in Egypt and the Arab world, including the Egyptian OTV television station and the news outlet Seventh Day, both owned by a leading Copt businessman, Naguib Sawiris; the United Copts website, which is managed by a group of Copts living in the United States and has an influential presence in Egypt; and the OnIslam.net website, which is managed by IslamOnline.net, a well-known Islam-focused outlet; as well as many youth-oriented Egyptian websites. These partners identified ten basic items that they hope will become “rules for internet users and a code of honour for Internet media outlets to abide by.” The rules are to not use the following: blanket generalisations, foul language; rumours without credible sources, sarcasm, videos that could enflame tensions and violent or hateful fatwas (non-binding legal opinions). The rules also encourage words of peace and compassion, respect for others’ faith and disagreement with ideas, but respect for individuals. Finally, partners have agreed that users should never post their opinions while angry. This initiative is promising and could lead to improved Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt. However, the core solution lies in addressing the problems that create such tension in the first place. Some solutions that can be enacted on the national level include: allowing all citizens the right to build houses of worship, amending school curricula to promote religious freedom, ensuring that authorities handle conflicts between members of different religions according to the law as opposed to bias based on political alliances and ensuring equal opportunity in the workplace regardless of a person’s religious beliefs. Khaled’s positive initiative is an important first step to address the core causes of extremism that lead to sectarian tension. The solidarity amongst Muslims and Christians during the recent protests shows that both groups can overcome divisions, and offers new hope that coexistence and religious equality can be the foundation of a new Egypt. Yasser Khalil is an Egyptian researcher and journalist. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

A game changer: Bahrain opposition wants constitutional monarchy

Bahrainis press on with regime change protest as opposition reiterates call for democracy.

Middle East Online

'The government should be elected by the people' MANAMA - Shiite opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman on Wednesday called for measures to establish a real constitutional monarchy in Bahrain with the prime minister elected rather than appointed by the king. The Islamic National Accord Association (INAA) head said his MPs would not end a boycott of parliament until demands were met to transform Bahrain "into a constitutional monarchy where the people would be the main source of power." "The government should be elected by the people who would have the right to hold it accountable," he told a press conference, as angry demonstrators calling for regime change occupied a Manama square for a second day. The 18 deputies of the INAA opposition bloc walked out of Bahrain's 40-member parliament on Tuesday in protest at the killing of two Shiite demonstrators in clashes with police since Monday. To appease concerns that Bahrain's Shiite majority aimed to establish an Islamic regime like in neighbouring Iran across the Gulf, Salman said there was "no place for a Vilayat-e Faqih," or supreme religious leader, in his country. "People do not demand a religious state. They demand a civic and democratic state like in other places of the world," he said. Salman welcomed King Hamad's address on Tuesday in which he expressed sorrow for the killing of the two demonstrators, announced a ministerial probe and pledged to press ahead with reforms launched in 2001. But the televised speech had not addressed people's demands "for political reforms concerning the transfer of power," the INAA chief said. A 2001 referendum transformed Bahrain from an emirate into a constitutional monarchy and led to elections in 2002 for the first time since parliament was scrapped in 1975. Meanwhile, thousands of Bahrainis took part in the funeral of a Shiite protester killed in clashes with police on Wednesday as angry demonstrators occupied a Manama square demanding regime change. Fadel Salman Matrouk was shot dead in front of a hospital on Tuesday where mourners gathered for the funeral of Ali Msheymah who died of his wounds after police dispersed a protest east of Manama the previous day. Echoing slogans which have become popular across the Arab world following uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, mourners chanted "the people want to overthrow the regime." Washington said it was "very concerned" over the violence in Bahrain, a staunch ally, and called for restraint in a country ruled by the Sunni Al-Khalifa family that was the scene of deadly unrest in the 1990s. "This is your only and last chance to change the regime," read a banner carried by protesters who descended on Pearl Square after the funeral of Msheymah. On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters were camped in Pearl Square, while thousands more were expected to arrive after Matrouk's funeral. "I slept here. I will sleep here today until our demands are met," said Hussein Attiyah, 29. Washington, which uses Bahrain as home base for its Fifth Fleet, said it was urging its allies in the Middle East to open up to their peoples' demands. "We have sent a strong message to our allies in the region saying let's look at Egypt's example, as opposed to Iran's example," President Barack Obama said on Tuesday. The protesters appeared unimpressed by King Hamad's televised address to the nation on Tuesday in which he expressed sorrow for the deaths and announced a ministerial investigation. He also vowed to press on with a reform process that saw the restoration in 2002 of the parliament dissolved in 1975. "Reform is going ahead. It will not stop," the king said. A 2001 referendum transformed Bahrain from an emirate into a constitutional monarchy and led to elections in 2002 for the first time since parliament was scrapped in 1975. But the Shiite-led opposition has long complained that the elected chamber's legislative authority is shared with an appointed upper house. Interior Minister Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa also apologised for the killings, announcing that the policemen behind the two demonstrators' deaths have been taken into custody pending investigation. And the interior ministry said it was allowing demonstrators to stay in Pearl Square "taking in consideration the feelings" of the people. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay accused the Bahraini authorities of having used "disproportionate force against peaceful protesters" and called for the release of demonstrators. US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley urged all sides "to exercise restraint and refrain from violence." Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director Malcolm Smart condemned the killings and called on Bahraini authorities to listen to the calls for change.