Protesters gather in Egypt to back Libyans

Reuters

Sun, 20/02/2011 - 19:17

Protest staged in solidarity with Libyan people, Libyan embassy, Cairo, 19 February, 2011. Dozens of Egyptians demonstrated in solidarity with Libyan protests staged against President al-Qaddafi's regime. Many protests have been staged across Libya for more than a week calling on al-Qaddafi to step down. Clashes erupted among protesters and police leaving dozens killed, scores of others injured.

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Photographed by Mohamed Abdel Ghany

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Alexandria--At least 100 people gathered on Sunday in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in solidarity with the Libyan people after witnesses said Libya's security forces shot anti-government protesters.

The Egyptian and Libyan protesters in the northern port city marched towards the Libyan consulate, burning pictures of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and tearing copies of his "Green Book" which outlines his views on how countries should be governed.

"I want a free Libya, down with Gaddafi," read the banner of a Libyan family who said they had fled to Alexandria from Libya to escape what they described as Gaddafi's unjust rule.

Libya's unrest, the worst in Gaddafi's four decades in power, started out as a series of protests inspired by popular revolts in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, which led to the toppling of both countries' presidents.

But Libya's protests were met with a fierce security crackdown. Witnesses in the eastern city of Benghazi said security forces had pulled back to a fortified compound in the centre of the town from where they were shooting at people returning from burying protesters killed on previous days.

The death toll from four days of violence in Benghazi has passed 170, Human Rights Warch said on Sunday.

"One Arab revolution against the powers that slaughter us," chanted some of the demonstrators in Egypt, while others chanted "Freedom for the Libyan people. Gaddafi is a killer of his people."

An Alexandria-based group that said it was an alliance of Libyan youths said in a statement they were demonstrating against the violence that had taken place in Benghazi and listed various demands which included that Gaddafi step down.

They also demanded the prosecution of those involved in the killings in Benghazi, release of all political prisoners in Libya, promotion of free speech and the establishment of a constitution.

"I am participating in solidarity with all the Arab nations to bring down the oppressive and backward regimes that are controlling these nations and plundering their wealth," said Abdel Rahman Gohary, a 55-year-old lawyer in Alexandria.

Hani Emeish, a 31-year-old Libyan lawyer, said: "I saw my compatriots die at the hands of mercenaries ... I am demanding Gaddafi's execution and freedom in Libya."

Muslim Brotherhood: Copts and women unsuitable for presidency

Mounir Adib

Mohamed Talaat Dawod

Hany ElWaziry

Sun, 20/02/2011 - 19:29

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood representative Essam el-Arian speaks during a press conference after talks with the government,Cairo, February 6, 2011. Opponents of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's embattled regime dismissed as insufficient an offer to include them in political reform plans, and renewed their demands that he step down.

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Photographed by AFP

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“Political parties have the right to nominate women or Copts for the presidency,” said Muslim Brotherhood leading figure Mohsen Radi. “But we find it unsuitable. Perhaps they should be nominated only for ministerial positions.”

Radi also said the group would not play any role in the caretaker government. “The government went down with the fall of the previous president,” he said.

The group had welcomed the establishment of the moderate Al-Wasat Party and expressed its willingness to cooperate with its leaders, adding that it would file for establishing its own party once the relevant law has been amended.

In related news, Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat, founder of the Reform and Development Party, said the new trend now is to give a chance to all parties that were rejected by the Party Affairs Commission of the previous government.

Heikal calls ousted president's presence in Sharm El-Sheikh 'wrong'

Sara Sanad

Sun, 20/02/2011 - 19:37

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In his first interview on state television since the 1970s, veteran journalist and political commentator Mohamed Hassanein Heikal warned that ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s continued presence in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh following Egypt's 25 January Revolution was “wrong."

Heikal said it was time for Mubarak to remove his “shadow” from the Red Sea tourist city.

Heikal went on to say that the Egyptian public had every right to fear a US-Israeli “counter-revolution” run out of Sharm, especially given that both countries had "benefited greatly" from Mubarak’s 30-year-long rule.

“Let's not forget that Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Bin Eliezer once described President Mubarak as a 'strategic treasure',” said Haikal.

Protesters call for million-man demos to topple caretaker govt

Arabic Edition

Sun, 20/02/2011 - 19:45

A group of Egypt Railways workers in protest against low pay and inadequate management, Cairo, February 17, 2011. The sign reads: 'Fed up with promises. Fed up wih threats. We want a real railways company.' As life seems to fluctuate between normal and unrest all over Egypt after massive protests that led to President Hosni Mubarak ouster, grievances - including pay equality, workplace rights, just representations in boards of state-owned companies, etc - piled up over years re-surface nationwide, prompting Armed Forces Supreme Council's calls to stop protests and to resume daily work.

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Photographed by Staff

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In a statement on Sunday, the Coalition of the Revolution called for staging a million-man demonstration on Tuesday requesting the caretaker government of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to resign. Protesters will march from Tahrir Square to the Council of Ministers.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in a meeting with a number of intellectuals on Sunday, confirmed that it was not seeking power beyond a six-month transitional period.

Also, a military source said the council has released 55 detainees that were arrested during the demonstrations, and that it is currently investigating 23 others in preparation for their release.

Iran opposition warns govt of crushing protests

Scholars support rallies, slam regime

Sunday, 20 February 2011

Iran’s opposition issued posters that warn of violence

DUBAI (Najah Mohamed Ali)

The Iranian Reform Movement denied official reports of cancelling protests scheduled for Sunday and warned the government of any attempts at using violence with the protestors.

The Iranian government sent mobile text messages to citizens claiming they are the reformist Green Movement, said Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand, senior advisor to reformist and presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Let those who organized the February 14 protests know that the Interior Ministry will confront leaders of sedition in accordance with the law

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar

“The messages said that the opposition decided to cancel Sunday protests in order to avoid bloodshed,” he said in a statement broadcast by Rasa T.V., the mouthpiece of the Green Movement.

Members of Iran’s opposition distributed flyers encouraging people to take part in the protests and warning the regime that violence is bound to breed violence and that they will respond in the same way if protests are crushed by the Basij, the paramilitary volunteer forces affiliated to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Reformists wrote on the flyers a message to the regime: “We are the children of war. Stop that fight so we won’t fight.” The message came in response to a statement by Iran’s Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar in which he warned of organizing any “illegitimate” protests and threatened that security forces will react harshly to protestors.

“Let those who organized the February 14 protests know that the Interior Ministry will confront leaders of sedition in accordance with the law,” he told the press Saturday.

Najjar accused protestors of being supported by hypocrites, by which he meant Mujahedin Khalq, the most prominent armed organization that calls for the fall of the Iranian regime.

“They are also supported by barbarians and spreaders of chaos,” he added.

Scholars slam regime

We call upon security forces to join the peaceful rallies and to learn from what happened in the region

Qom and Najaf scholars union statement

The union of religious scholars at the seminaries of Qom in Iran and Najaf in Iraq called upon all Iranians to take part in the demonstrations that aim at honoring the martyrs killed by security forces on the February 14 rally.

“Taking part in a demonstration that honors martyrs reminds us of the Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah in 1979 and exposes those who claim to be representatives of Islam and the values of the evolution,” said the statement issued by the union and of which AlArabiya.net obtained a copy.

The statement added that Iranians are pioneers as far as revolutions are concerned and that the 1979 revolution has inspired many countries in the region.

“Unfortunately, the revolution is now being deformed by hypocrites who claim to protect its principles.”

The statement stressed that peaceful demonstrations have to continue until the suppressive regime is toppled and constitutional legitimacy is restored.

“We call upon security forces to join the peaceful rallies and to learn from what happened in the region.”

(Translated from the Arabic by Sonia Farid)

Hundreds protest in Iraq, TV station torched

Gunmen raid TV station offices, shut down broadcasts

Sunday, 20 February 2011

A group of masked, armed men attacked the Nalia TV station, according to its owner

Arbil, IRAQ (Reuters)

Gunmen raided and set fire to a television station in northern Iraq on Sunday, shutting down broadcasts of protests inspired by unrest around the Arab world, station and government officials said.

At least four people were wounded in the city of Sulaimaniya as hundreds of protesters took to the streets. Rallies seeking better public services, the ouster of local officials and other demands also took place in Falluja and other locations.

In Baghdad, the cabinet decided to have ministers visit demonstrators to soothe anger over corruption, shortages of food and electricity and other issues behind a series of protests that have triggered skirmishes with security forces.

Unlike their regional counterparts, Iraqi protesters generally have not been calling for the removal of their elected government, installed just two months ago after months of tense negotiations between political factions. Dictator Saddam Hussein was swept away by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The overnight raid on NRT satellite channel in Sulaimaniya was carried out by 50 masked gunmen wearing security force uniforms who sprayed the station with gunfire, smashed equipment, wounded a guard and lit fires, Twana Othman, the station's manager, said.

NRT aired coverage of violent protests in Sulaimaniya last week.

Bahrouz Mohammed, the local governor, condemned the attack and promised to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"Those saboteurs who attacked the TV station are trying undermine stability in Sulaimaniya," he said in a statement.

More clashes

We can't prevent people from demonstrating but we will not allow them to sabotage public properties

A police official

In central Sulaimaniya, a police official said security forces fired in the air when demonstrators chanting against corruption tried to approach the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, where clashes on Thursday killed two people and wounded dozens.

"We can't prevent people from demonstrating but we will not allow them to sabotage public properties," the official said.

Hazar Hasan, head of a hospital in Sulaimaniya, said the facility received four wounded from the rally.

In the western city of Falluja, about 300 protesters demanded the firing of the governor and provincial council members in Anbar province. Dozens of people rallied for jobs in the southern province of Nassiriya, Abdul Hadi Mohan, deputy head of the provincial council, said.

The cabinet decision to reach out to protesters underscored politicians' concerns over growing unrest.

"The general secretary of the council of ministers has called for immediate action to improve the food ration card system and to work on reforming the social benefits system," said a statement issued by the cabinet's media office.

"The finance minister has been ordered to request parliament to start launching job opportunities to reduce unemployment."

In recent days Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has moved to soothe anger by cutting his pay, reducing electricity bills, buying more sugar for the national food ration program and diverting money from fighter jets to food.

Sudan's Bashir to fight graft, hints at retirement

Bashir proposes retirement at 60 for politicians

Sunday, 20 February 2011

Khartoum fears contagion from protests in Arab world

KHARTOUM (Reuters)

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has pledged to form an anti-corruption commission and hinted he may retire, a party official said, a move critics said aimed to quiet dissent with the Arab world awash in pro-democracy unrest.

Bashir suggested to the youth membership of his party a retirement age of 60 for politicians, which he said would include himself if the leadership of his National Congress Party, which dominates government, adopted the measure.

The president talked about placing a limit on the political retirement age to 60 years

Hamid Momtaz, political secretary of the NCP's youth sector

"The president talked about placing a limit on the political retirement age to 60 years," said Hamid Momtaz, political secretary of the NCP's youth sector who was at the meeting.

"He said if these political changes happened within the party as he suggested then they would include him (Bashir)," Momtaz told Reuters on Sunday.

Bashir, 67, who came to power in a bloodless military coup in 1989, is the only head of state to be indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide in the war-torn region of Darfur, charges he denies.

He won a decisive victory in 2010 elections, which many opposition parties boycotted, crying fraud.

Other witnesses from the meeting earlier this week who declined to be named said young NCP members berated the president over the level of corruption which had blighted the economy, and talks continued late into the night.

Momtaz said Bashir promised to form an anti-corruption commission, an organ to help graduates find jobs and to increase the participation of youth in the party and government.

"(These policies) would be a positive step along the right path and would help develop solutions to the current problems," Momtaz said.

Sudanese security forces violently dispersed dozens of small protests throughout northern Sudan this year, as an economic crisis took hold and university students took inspiration from pro-democracy uprisings which ousted two regional strongmen including neighbouring Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

Protests throughout the Middle East have threatened long- term rulers and opened the way to far-reaching political reforms. But young demonstrators have failed to garner wider support in Sudan and the movement has fizzled with many of its leaders still detained.

A senior opposition Communist Party official belittled the proposed reforms, saying Khartoum was running scared watching popular protests throughout the Middle East.

"All the leaders of the Arab region at looking at what is happening in Egypt and Tunisia and this is just an attempt to quiet the people so as not to protest," said Siddig Youssef, who said more than 40 opposition party officials were still being detained without charge.

"If they were serious, they would release the political prisoners and allow people to hold peaceful protests."

Sudan's ruling party has made conciliatory offers since the uprisings, including inviting the opposition for talks to form a national government.