How long before the dominoes fall?

Robert Fisk / The Independent

August 25, 2011

The remaining Arab potentates and tyrants have spent a second sleepless night. How soon will the liberators of Tripoli metamorphose into the liberators of Damascus and Aleppo and Homs? Or of Amman? Or Jerusalem? Or of Bahrain or Riyadh? It's not the same, of course.

The Arab Spring-Summer-Autumn has proved not just that the old colonial frontiers remain inviolate – an awful tribute to imperialism, I suppose – but that every revolution has its own characteristics. If all Arab uprisings have their clutch of martyrs, some rebellions are more violent than others.

As Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said at the start of his own eventual downfall, "Libya is not Tunisia, it's not Egypt...It will become civil war. There will be bloodshed on the streets." And there was.

And so we gaze into the crystal ball. Libya will be a Middle East superpower – unless we impose an economic occupation as the price of Nato's "liberating" bombardment – and a less African, more Arab country now that Gaddafi's obsession with central and southern Africa has disappeared. It may infect Algeria and Morocco with its freedoms. The Gulf states will be happy – up to a point – since most regarded Gaddafi as mentally unstable as well as mischievous.

Already, the West is offering lessons in democracy to New Libya, indulgently telling its unelected leadership how to avoid the chaos which we ourselves inflicted on the Iraqis when we "liberated" them eight years ago. Who will get the backhanders in the new regime – democratic or not – once it is in place?

But unseating tyrannical Arab rulers is a dangerous game when unelected Arab rulers join in. Who now remembers the forgotten 1977 war in which Anwar Sadat sent his bombers to pulverise Gaddafi's airbases – the very same airbases Nato has been attacking these past months – after Israel warned the Egyptian president that Gaddafi was planning his assassination? But Gaddafi's dictatorship outlived Sadat by 30 years.

Yet like all the others, Libya suffered from the cancer of the Arab world: financial – and moral – corruption. Will the future be any different? We have spent far too much time honouring the courage of Libyan "freedom fighters" as they scurried across the desert floor, far too little time examining the nature of the beast, the glutinous Transitional National Council whose supposed leader, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, has still been unable to explain if his own chums connived in the murder of their own army commander last month.

Already, the West is offering lessons in democracy to New Libya, indulgently telling its unelected leadership how to avoid the chaos which we ourselves inflicted on the Iraqis when we "liberated" them eight years ago. Who will get the backhanders in the new regime – democratic or not – once it is in place?

And just as all new regimes contain dark figures from the past – Adenauer's Germany as much as Maliki's Iraq – so Libya will have to accomodate Gaddafi's tribes. The scenes in Green Square yesterday were painfully similar to the crazed adoration on display at the same location for Gaddafi just a few weeks ago. Recall, then, the day De Gaulle was asked by an aide how the crowds greeting him after the 1944 liberation of France were as large as the crowds applauding Pétain a few weeks earlier. "Ils sont les mêmes," De Gaulle is said to have replied. "They are the same."

Not all. How soon will the world be knocking on the door of the supposedly dying Abdulbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber – if indeed he was guilty of the crime – to discover the secret of his longevity and of his activities within Gaddafi's secret service? How soon will the liberators of Tripoli get their hands on the files of Gaddafi's oil and foreign ministries to find out the secrets of the Blair-Sarkozy-Berlusconi love affairs with the author of the Green Book? Or will British and French spooks beat them to it?

And how soon, we must ask, before the people of Europe demand to know why, if Nato has been so successful in Libya – as Cameron and his mates now claim – it cannot be used against Assad's legions in Syria, using Cyprus as a territorial aircraft-carrier, devastating the regime's 8,000 tanks and armoured vehicles as they besiege the country's cities. Or must we heed the neighbours; Israel still secretly hopes (as it shamefully did in the case of Egypt) that the dictator will survive to be a friend and make an ultimate peace over Golan.

Israel, which has been so skewed and immature in its response to the Arab awakening – why on earth did its leaders not welcome the Egyptian revolution, opening their arms to a people who showed they wanted the democracy which Israel always boasts of, instead of shooting dead five Egyptian soldiers in the latest Gaza shoot-out? – has much to ponder.

Ben Ali gone, Mubarak gone, Saleh more or less gone, Gaddafi overthrown, Assad in danger, Abdullah of Jordan still facing opposition, Bahrain's minority Sunni monarchy still suicidally hoping to rule for eternity. These are massive historical events to which the Israelis have responded with a kind of appalled, hostile apathy. At the very moment when Israel might be able to claim that its Arab neighbours are only seeking the freedoms that Israelis already possess – that there is a brotherhood of democracy that might go beyond frontiers – it sulks and builds more colonies on Arab land and continues to delegitimise itself while accusing the world of trying to destroy it.

But the Ottoman empire cannot be forgotten at so critical an hour. At the height of its power, you could travel from Morocco to Constantinople without papers. With freedom in Syria and Jordan, we could travel from Algeria to Turkey and onwards into Europe without so much as a visa. The Ottoman Empire reborn! Except for the Arabs, of course. Be sure they will still need visas.

We are not there yet. How soon will the Shiites of Bahrain and the listless Saudi masses, sitting atop so much wealth, ask why they cannot control their own countries and press on to overthrow their effete rulers? How gloomily Maher al-Assad, brother of Bashar and commander of Syria's infamous 4th Brigade, must have listened to al-Jazeera's last phone call to Mohammed Gaddafi. "We lacked wisdom and foresight," Mohammed complained to the world before gunfire broke across his voice. "They are in the house!". Then: "God is great." And the line went dead.

Every unelected Arab leader – or any Muslim leader "elected" through fraud – will have pondered that voice. Wisdom is certainly a quality much lacking in the Middle East, foresight a skill which the Arabs and the West have both neglected. East and West – if they can be divided so crudely – have both lost the ability to think of the future.

The next 24 hours is all that matters. Will there be protests in Hama tomorrow? What is Obama to say on prime time? What is Cameron to say to the world? Domino theories are a fraud. The Arab Spring is going to last for years. We better think about that. There is no "end of history".

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php/articles/analysis-a-opinion/3400-how-long-before-the-dominoes-fall.html

Activist: Syrian troops snatch, beat up cartoonist

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY - Associated Press | AP – 58 mins ago

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian security forces attacked a renowned anti-regime cartoonist early Thursday in Damascus and left him bleeding along the side of a road, human rights activists said.

Ali Farzat, who is in his 60s, was hospitalized after passers-by found him "heavily beaten and physically abused," said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group that helps organize and track the 5-month-old uprising in Syria.

Farzat has said he had great hopes for President Bashar Assad when he became president in 2000, but in recent years he has become a vehement critic of the regime, particularly as the military launches a brutal crackdown on the country's protest movement.

Human rights groups said Assad's forces have killed more than 2,000 people since the uprising against his autocratic rule erupted in mid-March, touched off by the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

Assad has shrugged off international condemnation and calls for him to step down, insisting that armed gang and thugs are driving the violence, not true reform-seekers.

The crackdown has led to broad international condemnation and sanctions, although French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ruled out intervening in Syria without international backing.

"As for Syria, the conditions for a military intervention are not in place ... France will not intervene without an international resolution. That's the basis," Sarkozy said during a news conference in Paris with Mahmoud Jibril, the head of Libya's opposition government.

"That doesn't mean that we can let the Syrian people get massacred by a regime that disqualifies itself from one day to the next," he said.

Also Wednesday, the European Union imposed sanctions against an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, saying the Quds Force is providing equipment and other support to help Assad crush the revolt.

The sanctions broadened the international pressure against Syria by directly targeting its key ally Iran, which the U.S. and other nations have accused of aiding the crackdown.

The EU's official journal, which published the statement, said the Quds Force "has provided technical assistance, equipment and support to the Syrian security services to repress civilian protest movements."

Other new targets of the sanctions include several Syrian generals and close associates of Assad's younger brother, Maher, who is believed to be in command of much of the crackdown. Hassan Turkmani, a former defense minister and special envoy for Bashar Assad, also was named.

The EU blacklist on Syria now contains 50 people and nine entities who face asset freezes and travel bans as punishment for one of the deadliest government crackdowns of the Arab Spring. Syria already is under broad sanctions from the U.S. and European countries, but calls for stricter measures have been on the rise.

Despite the harsh words, the Syrian crackdown continued.

Tanks stormed the eastern city of Deir el-Zour and made sweeping arrests there Wednesday, according to Syrian activists. Deir el-Zour is an oil-rich but impoverished region known for its well-armed clans and tribes whose ties extend across eastern Syria and into Iraq.

On Tuesday, European nations and the U.S. circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution seeking an arms embargo and other sanctions.

Syria has banned foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to independently confirm events on the ground. While widespread witness accounts and amateur video footage describe a brutal crackdown by security forces, Syria's state-run news agency says security forces are the real victims of gunmen and extremists.

Assad has exploited fears of chaos in Syria, with the regime portraying him as the only man who can guarantee peace in a country with a potentially volatile mix of religious groups.

The opposition, however, says the protest movement is free of sectarian overtones and is simply demanding freedom and democracy. The opposition took steps toward forming a national council Tuesday, but serious divisions have prevented them from presenting a unified front.

Related Content

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  Syrians shop in Hamidiyeh market in the old city of Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Aug. …

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  http://news.yahoo.com/activist-syrian-troops-snatch-beat-cartoonist-073300862.html

Another Lockerbie trial? Gadhafi’s downfall spurs new calls for bomber’s extradition

By Laura Rozen | The Envoy – 13 hrs ago

With the fall of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi regime widely anticipated, some American lawmakers are calling anew on Libyan opposition leaders to agree to turn over the Libyan official who was convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, 59, a reported former Libyan intelligence officer, was convicted by a Scottish court in 2001 for the bombing and sentenced to life in prison.

Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdulbaset al-Megrahi appears at pro-Gadhafi rally on July …

Scottish authorities released Megrahi two years ago and allowed him to return to Libya, citing compassion because Megrahi supposedly was dying within weeks of cancer. Megrahi received a hero's welcome upon his return to Libya. The United States government as well as some of the Lockerbie victims' families denounced the deal; several American lawmakers have since raised concerns that it was done less on any medical-legal basis than to benefit British business interests in Libya, including those of British Petroleum. The British government has of course denied that to be the case. (The 2009 return of Megrahi to Libya occurred under then British prime minister Tony Blair and was opposed at the time by David Cameron, the current Conservative Party British prime minister who was then serving as an opposition member of Parliament.)

Not only has Megrahi not died in the two years since he was returned to Libya, but last year a British doctor involved in the medical recommendation said that Megrahi probably had a 50 percent chance of living several more months, maybe even years.

Last month, Megrahi--apparently very much alive--was seen on video attending a pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli (see the photo on the top right)."The release of al-Megrahi was a total miscarriage of justice," said Kristin Gillibrand, a Democratic senator from New York, in a statement Monday. "Seeing him participate in good health at a pro-Gadhafi rally recently was another slap in the face not just for the families of the Lockerbie victims, but for all Americans and all nations of the world who are committed to bringing terrorists to justice."

Libya's transitional government "should immediately seek justice and hold this terrorist accountable by sending him back to prison," Gillibrand continued.

Her call was echoed by other lawmakers from the New York and New Jersey delegations. (Many of those killed in the 1988 terrorist act were study abroad students originally from the New York and New Jersey area.)

Libya's opposition National Transition Council "should begin to engage responsibly with the world community by extraditing Abdel Baset al-Megrahi to the United States to face justice for the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am Flight 103," Nita Lowey, a Democratic representative from New York, said in a statement Monday.

Joel Rubin, a former Senate and State Department staffer who has worked on Libya and the Lockerbie case in the past, said it's understandable that members of Congress with constituencies that include the families of Lockerbie victims are demanding Megrahi face justice. But he said there should be a formal legal process set in motion in the countries where there were victims from the Lockerbie bombing--likely the U.S. or the UK--before extradition requests.

"It's an issue best directed to the countries whose citizens were killed in the Lockerbie attack ... and to whether or not they'd be willing to charge Megrahi for that crime," Rubin, who is now director of government affairs for the Ploughshares Fund, told The Envoy by email Tuesday. "If so, then they should do it, and then seek extradition. I don't think that we can skip that step and just plain call for him to be returned. After all, the Brits released him ... meaning that they'd be the logical ones to re-indict him."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/another-lockerbie-trial-fall-gadhafi-leads-politicians-call-211120538.html

Some rebel claims in doubt as Gadhafi son appears at Tripoli hotel

By Laura Rozen | The Envoy – 18 hrs ago

Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam waves to troops loyal to his father in Tripoli Tuesday. (Dario …

The Libyan rebels' heady claims to have seized most of the capital of Tripoli and to have detained three of Moammar Gadhafi's sons were cast in doubt Tuesday when Gadhafi's son and heir apparent Seif al-Islam pulled up in a limousine at Tripoli's Rixos hotel. He proceeded to take foreign journalists staying there on a tour of neighborhoods he claimed were still under the control of the Gadhafi regime.

An apparently embarrassed National Transition Council--the Libyan opposition body--offered a confusing explanation Tuesday for its claim on Sunday to have detained Seif as well as two other Gadhafi brothers, blaming the misinformation on a "fifth column" of traitors posing as rebels.

"There was misinformation intentionally put out by fifth column people to discredit the NTC and they were successful," NTC spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah said Tuesday, Reuters reported. "They should not have come out with an announcement until they had seen him in handcuffs in front of them. They came out with it based on someone's misinformation and took it at face value."

Astonished foreign journalists including CNN's Matthew Chance posted photos to Twitter of Seif coming into the Rixos hotel. (You can see Seif's triumphal appearance in the video below.)

"We broke the backbone of the rebels," Seif boasted to reporters, according to the Washington Post. "We gave them a hard time. And so we are winning." He then proceeded to invite reporters "to accompany him 'to the hottest places in Tripoli,'" the Post report continued.

Western diplomats said that this was not the first time that rebel claims had been found to be exaggerated. But they suggested that in the "fog of war" such things are not entirely unexpected. They also expressed confidence in the accuracy of the judgment President Barack Obama offered Monday that the Gadhafi regime is coming to an end.

"The story is that these are the final days of the Gadhafi regime," a western diplomat told a Reuters' reporter in the eastern Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi Tuesday, Robert Birsel. "The NTC is still the authoritative body; this [Seif's appearance in Tripoli] doesn't change anything about that."

"The situation is still very fluid, there remains a degree of uncertainty, and there are still regime elements who pose a threat," Obama cautioned in his remarks Monday from Martha's Vineyard. "But this much is clear: the Gadhafi regime is coming to an end and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people."

Nevertheless, the unraveling of the opposition's claim to have detained Gadhafi's one-time heir apparent left some international officials and journalists increasingly mistrustful of Libya's would-be democratic rulers.

The International Criminal Court had to admit Tuesday that its chief prosecutor's statement Monday that Seif could now face possible war crime charges in the Hague was based on news reports citing the NTC's claim to have Seif in custody. A spokesman for the court, Fadi El Abdallah, said Tuesday "that the rebels never officially confirmed Seif's arrest," the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/rebel-claims-doubt-gadhafi-son-appears-tripoli-hotel-155849273.html

Libyan rebel leader to meet Sarkozy in Paris

AP – 1 hr 21 mins ago

Mahmoud Jibril, the number two in the National Transitional Council of Libya, speaks …

PARIS (AP) — The head of Libya's opposition government is traveling to France and will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has championed the drive to oust Moammar Gadhafi.

Sarkozy's office says in a statement that the French leader will meet Wednesday evening with Mahmoud Jibril, head of the rebels' acting Cabinet.

The statement said talks will focus on "the situation in Libya and the international community's actions to support the political transition to a free and democratic Libya."

France was the first country to recognize Jibril's government and has been a driver of the NATO airstrike campaign against Gadhafi's forces.

A defiant Gadhafi vowed Wednesday to fight on after hundreds of Libyan rebels stormed his compound in Tripoli but did not find the longtime leader.

http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-rebel-leader-meet-sarkozy-paris-082903793.html

From hiding, Gadhafi tells Libyans to free Tripoli

By BEN HUBBARD - Associated Press,KARIN LAUB - Associated Press | AP – 1 hr 52 mins ago

CORRECTS SPELLING OF MOAMMAR - Libyans holding a huge flag celebrate overrunning …

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed Wednesday to fight on "until victory or martyrdom" and called on residents of the Libyan capital and loyal tribesmen across his North African nation to free Tripoli from the "devils and traitors" who have overrun it.

The broadcast came a day after hundreds of Libyan rebels stormed Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya fortress-like compound in the capital but found no sign of the longtime leader. On Monday, the rebels entered Tripoli, a metropolis of some 2 million people on the Mediterranean coast, pouring into the city in their thousands in a stunning breakthrough. They claim to control 80 percent of Tripoli.

In an address given from an unknown location and broadcast on the local Al-Ouroba TV, Gadhafi asked: "Why are you letting them wreak havoc?"

Sounding subdued and without his usually fiery rhetoric, Gadhafi said he would fight "the aggression with all strength until either victory or death."

The pro-Gadhafi TV channel earlier quoted the Libyan leader as saying he had left the Bab al-Aziziya compound in a "tactical move" after 64 NATO airstrikes reduced it to rubble.

Tuesday's ransacking of Bab al-Aziziya, long the nexus of Gadhafi's power, marked the effective collapse of his 42-year-old regime. But with Gadhafi and his powerful sons still unaccounted for — and gunbattles flaring across the nervous city — the fighters cannot declare victory.

Gadhafi's chief government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, also managed to get word out in a phone interview with the same station, promising "we will be back to take Tripoli back."

Gadhafi has routinely addressed his supporters from state Libyan television, but the rebels have taken the channel off the air on Tuesday.

The rebel force entered the compound Tuesday after fighting for five hours with Gadhafi loyalists, using mortars, heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. They killed some of those who defended the compound and hauled off thousands of rifles, crates of weapons and trucks with guns mounted on the back in a frenzy of looting.

Tripoli's new rebel military chief, Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, said at nightfall that a small area of the vast compound was still under the control of regime fighters and heavy shooting was heard across Tripoli toward midnight.

The atmosphere in the compound was a mix of joyful celebration and tension. The air was thick with smoke from the battles, and the boom of mortars and the crackle of gunfire was constant. Rebels chanted "Allahu akbar" or "God is great" and on loudspeakers they cried: "Al-Hamdullilah," or "Thank God."

Rebel fighters trample on a head of Moammar Gadhafi inside the main compound in Bab …

http://news.yahoo.com/hiding-gadhafi-tells-libyans-free-tripoli-065132342.html

Rejim Gaddafi akhirnya tumbang

Ogos 22, 11 11:51am

Selepas lebih enam bulan berlaku pemberontakan di Libya, rejim Muammar Gaddafi akhirnya tumbang setelah kumpulan pemberontak berjaya menawan hampir seluruh bandar Tripoli.

Bagaimanapun nasib pemimpin Libya itu masih menjadi tanda tanya.

Menurut AFP, anak lelaki bongsu Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam ditangkap oleh pemberontak, manakala anak lelaki sulungnya, Mohammed Al-Gaddafi yang diwawancara oleh televisyen Al-Jazeera di kediamannya dilaporkan menyerah diri, tetapi nasib anak-anaknya yang lain masih tidak diketahui.

Awal pagi ini, Sky News melaporkan pemberontak Libya tiba di Dataran Hijau di tengah Tripoli.

Ramai pemuda mengibarkan bendera merah, hitam dan hijau milik pasukan anti-kerajaan dan bersorak dan menari sambil bertakbir dan melepaskan tembakan ke udara.

Ramai yang menunjuk isyarat jari keamanan sambil menjerit "beritahu Muammar dan anak lelakinya bahawa Libya mempunyai anak jantan".

Sementara itu, Reuters yang memetik televisyen al-Jazeera melaporkan anak lelaki sulung pemimpin Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, Mohammad, memberitahu awal hari ini bahawa beliau ditahan pemberontak dan dikenakan tahanan di rumah di Tripoli.

“Anggota bersenjata mengepung rumah saya dan saya masih berada di dalam dan mereka di luar. Mereka berkata akan menjamin keselamatan saya. Mereka mengepung rumah saya," katanya menerusi panggilan telefon dari Tripoli.

Bunyi tembakan boleh didengar semasa perbualan itu.

"Ya, tembakan itu dalam rumah saya," katanya sebelum talian tiba-tiba terputus.

AP pula melaporkan harga minyak global dijangka mula mencatatkan penurunan sekiranya pemberontak Libya berjaya menggulingkan Gaddafi; namun kesan keseluruhannya tidak akan dirasai untuk tempoh beberapa bulan.

Malam Ahad (waktu tempatan), pasukan pemberontak bergerak ke Tripoli tanpa berdepan dengan tentangan, ia selepas beberapa jam pangkalan tentera yang mempertahankan ibu kota negara itu dimusnahkan.

Penganalisis bebas, Lipow Andrew, berkata pasaran minyak dijangka akan bertindak balas hari ini dengan mengunjurkan harga yang lebih rendah dalam "tanda lega selepas konflik semakin berakhir."

Namun, Lipow berkata, ia akan mengambil masa untuk pasaran kembali stabil selepas kenaikan harga yang besar terhasil dari penggantungan eksport minyak Libya sejak pemberontakan bermula pada Februari lalu.

Susulan pemberontakan itu, minyak diniagakan pada sekitar AS$84 setong dan menokok di atas AS$93 dan terus meningkat tinggi melebihi AS$110 pada akhir April. Permintaan dari pasaran baru muncul termasuk China juga mendorong harga yang semakin meningkat.

Harga minyak jatuh baru-baru ini bersama stok susulan kebimbangan mengenai ekonomi global.

http://malaysiakini.com/news/173721

Doctor says Mubarak has refused to eat for 4 days

By YASSER IMAM - Associated Press | AP – 1 hr 4 mins ago

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has refused to eat for four days, has lost weight and is weak, his chief doctor said Tuesday, increasing speculation that the ousted leader won't stand trial next week as scheduled.

Any delay in Mubarak's trial would likely further enflame tensions between the military council ruling Egypt since Mubarak's fall and protesters frustrated with the pace of change. Many Egyptians already accuse the army of dragging its feet in prosecuting former regime figures and officials accused of killing protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak on Feb. 11.

Clashes erupted last week in Cairo after thousands of protesters tried to march on the military's headquarters and were met by men with knives, stick and clubs. Hundreds were injured before security forces dispersed the crowds with clouds of tear gas.

On Tuesday, Assam Azzam, the head of Mubarak's medical team, said the former leader was weak and had lost weight after refusing to eat for four days.

Doctors at the hospital in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh where Mubarak has been under house arrest since April said the former president consumes liquids, but only when pressured by the medical team or his wife.

"Mubarak gives in to pressure from the doctors more than he does to pressure from Suzanne Mubarak," Azzam said.

The doctors could feed him intravenously if his condition deteriorates, Azzam said. He added that the biggest threat to Mubarak's health is severe depression.

"We worry that his bad psychological state will affect his physical state," Azzam said.

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt unchallenged for 29 years, is set to stand trial on Aug. 3 for charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters during the uprising, during which nearly 850 people were killed.

Mubarak's sons — one-time heir apparent Gamal and wealthy businessman Alaa — are also to stand trial that day, along with former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of his aides.

Rumors about Mubarak's health have been rife. Critics suspect they are a ruse to prevent Mubarak from standing trial, or even to sway public opinion toward granting him amnesty.

While there has been no official declaration, local media have reported that a courtroom has been prepared in Sharm el-Sheikh — a town usually known for its beaches and snorkeling — to hold the trial.

On Tuesday, Mohammed Nagib, security chief for south Sinai, said he had received no request from the Interior Ministry to begin planning security for the trial, which is likely to attract huge attention from the media and public alike.

Nagib said that if the trials were to be held in the resort town, the ministry would have to send security from elsewhere "so that we can ensure security for this historic trial."

http://news.yahoo.com/doctor-says-mubarak-refused-eat-4-days-205240287.html

Protest marches converge on Spain's capital

By HAROLD HECKLE - Associated Press | AP – 35 mins ago

MADRID (AP) — Several hundred Spaniards angry about their country's economic crisis protested on the outskirts of Madrid Saturday after spending about a month marching to the capital from their hometowns.

The marchers set off from Barcelona and Bilbao in the north, Valencia in the east and Cadiz in the southwest on June 25. En route, they were joined by other people angry about Spain's economic woes, including high unemployment, and what they see as their government's inept handling of the crisis.

Five columns of marchers are due to converge on downtown Sol square, adjacent to Madrid's town hall, for a large rally on Sunday.

"Every morning we were up early at 6 a.m. to respect the march's starting time," said Abdel Latif, 67, who described himself as an illegal immigrant from Tunisia.

Several dozen demonstrators stopped outside Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's official residence just north of Madrid to wave banners and chant slogans.

Another group halted traffic on a highway entering Madrid from the north.

On May 15, many young demonstrators began camping out at Sol, one of Madrid's busiest squares, in a protest that lasted three weeks and struck a chord with sympathizers across Spain and elsewhere in Europe where similar camps were set up.

Two years of recession have left Spain with 21 percent unemployment — the highest in the 17-nation eurozone — and burdened with debt. Joblessness for those aged 16 to 29 stands at about 35 percent.

During the marches to Madrid, physiotherapists traveling in support vehicles helped the protesters keep their leg muscles in shape, while sympathetic paramedics treated blistered feet, said participant Beatriz Puerta, 24.

"Many volunteers offered to act as cooks for us, preparing marvelous dishes which enabled us to keep up our strength. It's been a very positive experience," said Puerta, who hails from the northern port city of Bilbao.

Puerta said many of the young unemployed people who have marched on Madrid plan to continue on to Brussels.

"We want to arrive there in early October, to keep our cause in the public eye," she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/protest-marches-converge-spains-capital-174209111.html

Mubarak denies responsibility for protester deaths

By HAMZA HENDAWI - Associated Press | AP – 59 mins ago

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2008 file photo, then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak speaks …

CAIRO (AP) — Ousted President Hosni Mubarak has denied any responsibility for his security forces killing nearly 900 protesters during Egypt's uprising, according to a transcript of his interrogation published on Thursday.

Asked to explain the killings, Mubarak dismissed the lethal crackdown by saying:

"Our people and our security are like that."

Mubarak, 83, is in custody in an Egyptian hospital. He faces charges of ordering the use of deadly force against demonstrators during the 18-day revolt that swept him from power in February. He has rarely been heard from since and the transcript offers the public his most extensive comments yet about the final days of his three-decade rule.

Judicial officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the transcript is authentic. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Mubarak's chief defense lawyer, Farid el-Deeb, told the AP that part of what was published had been fabricated, but declined to elaborate.

The transcript was leaked in the midst of a new wave of protests across the country, one of them a week-old sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where protesters camped night and day for almost the entire uprising.

Justice for the uprising's victims is among the hottest issues in Egypt's bumpy transition to democracy. And the protesters camping out in Tahrir are demanding that those behind the killings be swiftly tried. They accuse the military generals who took over from Mubarak of stalling on the prosecutions.

Mubarak comes across in the transcript as aloof and totally out of touch with the fury his regime created.

Asked to explain why he thought protesters were killed and wounded, he said: "I cannot say exactly." He later added that there was chaos, with the security forces and the protesters attacking each other.

"No one would have paid any attention to me or my orders," he said when asked why he did not stop the violence. He claimed he gave clear orders that no force be used against the protesters.

The transcript was published Thursday by two independent newspapers, Al-Youm al-Sabea and Al-Dustour. Al-Youm al-Sabea published photographs of what it said were the original handwritten notes of the interrogators on its website.

Mubarak is under arrest at a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. He faces trial next month over the protesters' deaths. He also faces charges of corruption along with his two sons, businessman Alaa and one-time heir apparent Gamal. If convicted, Mubarak could face a maximum sentence of death.

The former president also denied corruption allegations, seeking to explain why a bank account in his name held millions of dollars in foreign donations intended for the construction and upkeep of a massive library in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

He said he had secretly kept the money from the library's management so they could not claim it or use it for purposes not related to the facility.

He also denied he was a friend of businessman Hussein Salem, whose extradition from Spain is demanded by Egypt. Salem is wanted for trial on corruption charges, mostly arising from his alleged use of Mubarak's name to buy state land cheaply.

Mubarak tried to fend off charges that he ordered, knew of, or condoned the use of deadly force against protesters. He said he was kept in the dark by top aides as to the gravity of the situation during the uprising.

He said he did not know of the protesters' demand until the uprising began on Jan. 25. And he appeared to criticize the army he called out to the streets on Jan. 28 after a day of deadly clashes between protesters and police.

"I asked the armed forces to intervene to bring discipline back to the streets and assume a security role ... but, because of the nature of their job, they could not handle it and did not carry out the job as required."

He made light of the events on Feb. 2 when pro-regime thugs on camels and horses and armed with swords and whips waded into the crowds at Tahrir Square. Some of the worst and deadliest clashes of the entire uprising ensued and the fighting lasted for two days.

"I was surprised to see on TV demonstrations with a camel running in the middle. I later found out that people call it the camel battle," Mubarak said.

Prosecutors last week referred 25 people, including the former speakers of parliament's two chambers and lawmakers loyal to Mubarak, to trial for their part in dispatching the armed men on camels and horses.

Egypt's military authorities have taken a number of other measures as well in the past few days to calm the public fury rising anew on the streets.

Interior Minister Mansour el-Issawi on Wednesday fired nearly 700 senior police officers to cleanse the deeply unpopular force, but protesters remained unsatisfied, arguing that a complete restructuring of the force is needed to change its culture of abuse and corruption.

The country's judicial authorities announced this week that Mubarak's trial, and that of regime figures accused of corruption or officers charged with killing protesters, would be shown live on giant screens outside courthouses for people to watch.

http://news.yahoo.com/mubarak-denies-responsibility-protester-deaths-175140475.html

Veiled protesters pose unique challenge to Saudi rule

Yusuf Dhia-Allah / Crescent

Almost everything about Saudi Arabia is different from neighboring countries, starting with its opaque politics and secretive decision-making and the manner in which it treats people, especially women and foreigners.

The desert kingdom, the largest producer of oil in the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC), claims that the Qur’an and the Sunnah are its constitution — but this constitution stipulates that the form of government would be a monarchy and kingship would pass to the next brother in line.

Critics have asked, where in the Qur’an does it say that monarchy is permissible or that the brother (or even the son) can succeed brother or father to the throne? Such arguments, however, are discouraged by Saudi court ‘ulama insisting any opposition to the ruler, regardless of how low his character or policies, amounts to “sedition” and is not permitted. Again, no evidence is offered from the Qur’an for such assertions.

In recent weeks, however, the Islamic awakening sweeping the region has also affected the desert kingdom but in its own peculiar ways. There were attempts in mid-March to organize protests demanding reforms and more say in the political process.

Unlike other countries, these were quickly put down. Suppression of dissent was accompanied by bribes to people amounting to $37 billion. The aged and ailing king, Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz (left), upon his return last February after back surgery in the US announced the package to “help” people.

The handout package has since been increased by several billion. This is a huge sum but when the kingdom’s earnings from oil at $200 billion annually are taken into account, this does not appear extraordinary.

Even so, these billions can buy a lot of loyalty. And they have, although compared to the hundreds of billions handed out to the army of princes, according to WikiLeaks cables from the US Embassy in Riyadh (Reuters, February 28, 2011), the bakhsheesh for people is chicken feed.

Protests against the regime have been sporadic and largely tame affairs in comparison with other countries. There is no public gathering place like Tahrir Square in Egypt or the now demolished Pearl Square in Bahrain.

The central square outside the main mosque in Riyadh is often used for public beheadings of foreign workers — mainly Pakistani, Indian or Sri Lankan — accused of petty crimes. The royal thieves get away scot free with their multi-billion dollar grand larcenies or habitual dalliances.
Saudi Arabia also carries another, self-imposed burden: as guarantor of regional stability.

With Hosni Mubarak driven from power, not without strong protests from the Saudi rulers, the House of Saud is left alone to carry the burden. This is a role it is not familiar with. While Riyadh rushed 1,000 heavily armed troops to Bahrain to prop up the corrupt Al-Khalifa family in power, it is having a much harder time controlling events in neighboring Yemen.

Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in a bomb blast on June 3 had faced months of protests that had descended into tribal warfare. Uncertainty on Saudi Arabia’s southern border greatly worries the Saudi rulers. They pushed a plan through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to try and ease Saleh out of power but he proved a slippery customer. Badly injured in the blast, he is now being treated in a Riyadh hospital.

Reports about his condition vary; some say he suffered burns to 40% of his body and there is shrapnel lodged in his body just below the heart. Others insist he is making speedy recovery and will soon return to Sana‘a.

The Saudis are caught on the horns of a dilemma: they fear instability in Yemen will spill over into the kingdom and it has no capacity to curb such protests but at the same time, they do not wish to dictate to Saleh who is not only stubborn but his family — son, nephew, etc. — still exercise considerable control in the country by virtue of controlling elite troops.

While these external problems give the Saudi rulers sleepless nights, they are facing a challenge from an unlikely source within the kingdom: veiled female drivers. Barred from driving cars, a group of Saudi women used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to organize a mass mobile protest on June 17 defying the kingdom’s ban on women drivers.

They argued, with impeccable logic, that if women could ride camels at the time of the Prophet, why could they not drive cars today? The regime understands the gravity of the challenge. It is even more acute in the case of the muttawwas, the ubiquitous religious police, whose views are so extreme that they make most Muslims cringe. Despite this, the overwhelming majority of Muslims appear powerless in the face of Saudi petrodollars that are dished out to buy loyalty globally.

There is basically a symbiotic relationship between the religious establishment and the regime. By allowing the religious establishment a free hand to preach and implement their extremist interpretations on social mores, the regime gets a stamp of approval for its rule that acts as a deterrent for most Saudis to stage an uprising.

The women of Saudi Arabia are the victims of such narrow obscurantist interpretations. In the face of such restrictions, how do Saudi women get around? Their blood relatives — husband, son, brother or other close relative — must drive them around. This is not always possible and often unlikely. Saudi men are busy elsewhere — in their offices where they do little or no work, chasing business deals or even women in foreign countries, mostly Europe and Southeast Asia.

The irony is that while Saudi women are locked up in their homes or behind the veil (portable house, according to one commentator), they must be chauffeur-driven or ride in a taxi driven by a complete stranger if they have to go out.

Chauffeur driven cars are the most common means of transportation for Saudi women. There are 750,000 chauffeurs in the kingdom; most are employed by rich Saudis to drive their wives and daughters around. This practice itself is contrary to Islamic injunctions because a Muslim woman cannot be alone with a stranger to whom she is not related by blood or marriage.

This has resulted in illicit relations between Saudi women and their chauffeurs, leading the poor chauffeurs, often poor Pakistanis or Indians, to the public beheading square. There are no known instances of Saudi men being beheaded much less any members of the royal family.

When the issue of female drivers came to a head last year, one Saudi court preacher came up with a strange solution to the problem: that Saudi women should breast-feed their chauffeurs; they would then be considered their sons and could go around with them without arousing concern.

This scandalous suggestion led to heated debate in the kingdom and much derision everywhere. Such questions as to whether a woman had to milk her breasts before the chauffeur would consume it or he would draw milk directly from her breasts were asked. While this appalling suggestion made rounds in the media and on talk shows (naturally not in the desert kingdom), one Saudi woman asked: why women cannot be allowed to drive rather than going through such convoluted arguments? The religious establishment had no answer to this simple question but it did little to end the archaic practice of ban on female drivers.

This episode, by no means rare, is at the heart of Saudi men’s anxiety over women’s unrestrained mobility. The muttawwas insist that public space — streets, cars, malls etc. — and the right to enter and leave them at will — belong exclusively to men. A woman can only enter accompanied by a male relative. Women that trespass are regarded either as sinful “street-walkers” or expected to cover themselves completely in an abaya including their face.

Interestingly, many Saudi women, whether accompanied or not, discard such dress when they go abroad. Perhaps, once they are out of reach of the muttawwas’ glaring eyes they can do what they like. How ludicrous — and dangerous — the muttawwas can get, can be gleaned from an incident in March 1992. A fire broke out in a girls’ school in Makkah. When the girls tried to escape the burning inferno, the muttawwas prevented them from doing so on the grounds that they were “not properly covered.” They even prevented firefighters from entering the school building because it would have violated the muttawwas’ insistence on separating men and women that are unrelated. At least 14 girls were burned alive and some 50 others suffered serious burns to their bodies.

While the Saudi rulers and their muttawwas have made their society the most gender-segregated in the world, it has created other problems as well.

For instance, stores that sell women’s clothing and lingerie are staffed exclusively by men. How does one advertise women’s products, whether for clothing or hygiene using men is a question the Saudis do not wish to address. Under pressure from women’s groups, King Abdullah announced on June 12 that such stores should have female staff to serve female customers.

The muttawwa-imposed practices have even affected Hajj pilgrims and how they are dealt with. Upon arrival at Jeddah’s Hajj terminal, men and women are separated from each other even if they are related by blood — mothers, sisters or daughters — or by marriage — wives. Saudi officials insist on separating them for immigration processing. In many instances, the women may not even be able to fill out forms that are handed out to them by male Saudi officials. Similarly, only male officials handle passport and visa formalities for women pilgrims but insist these women cannot stand in the same line with their male relatives!

The gender apartheid policy apart, Saudi Arabia is now facing a new challenge: jobs even for men. Traditionally lazy and unaccustomed to work, they are brought up to believe that they can have whatever they want because expatriate workers are there to serve them. There are an estimated eight million foreign workers who are poorly paid and often mistreated.

The mistreatment of domestic workers, mostly Filipino, Indonesian or Sri Lankan women, is well documented. A 22-year-old Sri Lankan maid, Rizana Nafeek, was sentenced to death, allegedly for strangling a four-month old infant while she was taking care of him in Dawadmi city.

The incident occurred five years ago when Nafeek, barely 17 and just arrived from Sri Lanka, was assigned to look after the infant son of Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al-Otaibi, in addition to her other daily chores — cleaning the house, washing dishes and clothes and be available on demand for ladies of the house to give them water or whatever else they needed.

While bottle-feeding him milk, the baby started to choke. Nafeek shouted for help but on the way to hospital, the baby died. She was accused of murder and sentenced to death by the court that finally ended with appeal to King Abdullah for mercy.

What kind of justice system would condemn a poor frightened girl — and that is what Nafeek was at the time — to death because an infant choked on his milk bottle? And why would a system force her to plead for mercy from a mere mortal even if he calls himself king, when only Allah is the Mercy-Giving and Merciful?

On June 18, Ruyati binti Sapubi (in photo carried by relative, left), a 54-year old Indonesian maid, was beheaded without notifying her relatives or the Indonesian government after she was sentenced to death for killing her abusive employer.

Amid such scandalous mistreatment of domestic workers whose plight is seldom mentioned in Western media outlets or by other Western do-gooders, such as the myriad human rights organizations that are quick to point fingers at governments or rulers they do not approve of, the regime in Riyadh is now faced with a growing list of unemployed Saudis, many of them university graduates.

The regime has embarked on a policy of 'nitaqat' or zones. This applies to companies that are graded based on what percentage of Saudis they must employ. Companies whose employees’ list consists of 70% Saudis are placed in the green zone. Those under this percentage are placed in the yellow zone and companies with less than 30% Saudi employees are categorized in the red zone. The yellow and red zone companies cannot hire foreign workers until they meet the 70% quota.

Saudi unemployment stands officially at 6.9% but this is deceptive. In the critical 15 to 25-year age group, unemployment is 39%. The number of unemployed currently stands at 448,000. Concerned by these high figures, King Abdullah announced on June 12 that 66,000 new jobs should be created in the health and education sectors.

He also said that 39,000 jobs in health sector should be reserved for Saudi women and 13,000 for men. For the 8 million foreign workers, the regime has announced that those employed for six years cannot get their visa extended. Foreigners are not granted citizenship so the regime is trying to blame them for mismanaging the economy where corruption is so widespread, especially among the hordes of princes. Despite the hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenues, there are millions of people living in poverty.

The Saudis’ abysmal human rights record was also brought up in the British House of Lords by Lord Nazir Ahmed on March 30 when he asked the British Foreign Office minister, Lord Howell of Guildford whether he was “aware that thousands of detainees are held in Saudi prisons, without any charge, trial or representation — some for more than seven years, and a few for more than 13 years?”

Lord Ahmed (left) also asked if the government had made sure that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia were not being used for internal repression. The minister’s reply was less than satisfactory. He merely stated that the policy was under review but such tactics have not resulted in any restrictions on arms sales to the Saudis.

In fact, only weeks after this question was raised in the House of Lords, Britain announced an arms deal worth $40 billion. This is in addition to the Yamamah project under which $80 billion worth of arms were sold to the Saudi regime, weapons systems that the Saudi armed forces appear incompetent to use against any external aggressor but will willingly use against peaceful protesters in the kingdom.

Interestingly, the Saudis’ propensity to get fatwas from court ‘ulama to denounce anything they disapprove of was also brought up in the House of Lords by Baroness Falkner of Margravine. Addressing Lord Howell she said “my noble friend will no doubt be aware that the Saudi rulers have requested their clergy to issue a fatwa, stating that all democratic peaceful protests are un-Islamic.

Does he agree that turning democracy into a religious issue sends a message to 1.5 billion Muslims that democracy is not an option open to them if they wish to adhere to their religion? Does he think that Saudi Arabia, given that attitude towards freedom, can any longer be trusted to pursue peace and stability in the Middle East?” This question was also deflected by the good lord on behalf of her majesty’s government because billions in arms sales were involved.

Saudi women demonstrating for the right to drive are beginning to challenge long-entrenched views of their role in society. By their protest, they have forced the establishment on the defensive. While the women may not succeed immediately, the issue has been thrust into the public domain even if Western media outlets refuse to give them the coverage they deserve.

Had this been a women’s protest in Iran, it is certain, there would be screaming headlines in the newspapers and hours of air time allocated on television to berate the Islamic government in Iran. When it comes to the rulers of Saudi Arabia, they are treated with kid gloves. In the infamous words of one presidential advisor to Dwight Eisenhower, “Mr. President, they are our SoBs.”

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php/articles/analysis-a-opinion/3122-veiled-protesters-pose-unique-challenge-to-saudi-rule.html

What Islam says about public demonstrations

Abu Zaynab

July 1, 2011

On the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) say:
When any one of you sees anything that is disapproved (of by Allah), let him change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his tongue. And if he is not able to do so, then let him change it with his heart, though that is the weakest (kind of) faith.

Allah designated for this Ummah (Muslim community) people who will protect His din (Divine Authority), and who will facilitate their affairs and make them on a level of sincerity and understanding. Among them Allah raised the ulama, people of understanding, people trustworthy working day and night around the world, people who whenever they see fitnah (vices), they fight it, whenever they see taghut (those who fight God), they will call for jihad to fight it.

Allah established this din by the Companions and their Followers. He designated this Ummah with ulama like Sufyan Al Thawri, Sufyan Al Uyayna, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Al Uza'i, Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Ahmad and many other later scholars.

Seeking knowledge is fard (obligatory) but seeking knowledge is of two types; one is Fard 'ayn (individual obligation) and one is Fard kifayah (collective obligation). The knowledge that is obligatory to seek is Ilm al Dharuri, the knowledge that one cannot fulfill one's obligation if not understood or studies. The other knowledge is Fard Kifayah, to understand or study it and it does not take priority over other duties.

We have to understand the foundation of the din (Religion of God). People usually ask for a particular solution to a problem, but in any topic concerning ibadah (Worship), you have to study the pillars of it, the wajibat (necessities) of it, the foundations, prohibitions, the recommendations etc.

Similarly if we want to study about Al Mudhaharah (demonstration) we have to know about its objective, its means, because it is not just a matter of saying it is 'allowed' or 'not allowed'.

If we study this topic, we find that the Shari’ah terms are very important. Nobody will dispute or disagree that to help Muslims is fard and to cooperate with Muslims is fard, that it is fard to support our Muslim Ummah.

Mudhaharah in the Arabic language is “support”, it is narrated in Sunan al-Darimi that Ali ibn Talib said: "I fought on the day of Badr and supported (dhaharah) the Muslims."

Allah asks us to have wala (loyalty) to the believers, part of that is to support them. Allah says:
Allah forbids you to have relationship with those who fight you because of your Din ... and those who support them.

When we mention demonstrations, we are speaking about support and this is one of the best forms of support for the one who is far away from us and we cannot reach them. Demonstrations are a means to support our Din (Way of Life chosen by God).

We need to understand the term Mudhaharah (demonstrations). Imam Al-Khattabi defined the term demonstration and he understood from it that the support in demonstrations must be in relation to the jihad and battlefield, Allah says:
If they seek help from you in the Din, support them,

Meaning if they ask you to fight, you must fight and the demonstration is boosting the morale of the Muslims in a time of weakness, it is a form of creating a high profile for Islam; it is a form of support. It is a noble thing not something evil.

Demonstration motivates the Muslims and it makes them aware about their Muslim brothers. The demonstration is a form of rejecting the evil, a form of commanding good and forbidding evil.

That is exactly what the Prophet (peace and blessings upon him) did. Demonstration is not something Bid’ah (innovated outside Islamic Shariah) and it does have evidences and anybody who speaks about demonstrations must understand the reality of the demonstration.

Demonstrations in early Muslim history

We find it in Kitab Al Hulya Al Awliya (vol 1), Ibn Abbas narrated, he asked:

"O Messenger of God, are we not on Haq (Truth) whether we die or stay alive?" The Prophet said, "Indeed, by the one whose hand is my soul, you are on the Haq whether dead or alive". So Ibn Abbas said, "So why are we hiding? By the one who sent you with the truth, we should come out!”.

And they went out in two lines, Hamzah in one and Umar al-Khattab with the other. They came out until they went to the Ka'bah and the Quraysh looked to Hamzah and Umar and they were so depressed. The Prophet called Umar that day ‘Al Farouq’.

It is mentioned in Al Isabah that Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Abi Shybah narrated from Ibn Abbas the story about how Umar came to Islam and that, “He went out with Hamzah in two lines with the Muslims”.

So the Prophet gave consent and went out with them in a demonstration, so is that haram? That is the danger of the one who speaks without ilm (knowledge) about the evidences.

We find further evidence in the incident when the verses on treatment of women were revealed, some men started to beat their wives and the women came out in a huge demonstration and complained that some men took advantage and beat their wives.

Moreover, Prophet Nuh (Noah) used to call the people day and night and go door to door, Muslims went to Abyssinia and they took a stand publicly in front of the King and the Prophet consented.

Moreover there was a huge gathering and demonstration in the Bay'ah (pledge of loyalty) to the Prophet under the tree. Demonstration is not a new phenomenon.

EGYPTIAN UPRISING ... Muslim women in Egypt at the forefront of the protests against Mubarak's dictatorship

Some people may complain "What is the benefit?" They should realise that the demonstration is not dispraised. So if there are people who do not like it, they should remain silent and should not attack those who do it. These people only want to cover up the fact that they are cowards. They never command good or forbid evil at all, but are afraid that they will be arrested or will be called 'terrorists'.

All Muslim scholars encourage demonstrations against evil

In fact we do not come across any scholars claiming that demonstrations are haram, rather the fatwas (decrees) for demonstrations are everywhere. Shaykh Abu Muhammad Al Maqdisi said that it is allowed and praised those who do them.

Even Salman al Awdah (Saudi Islamic scholar) said, "We find nothing wrong with it; it is a form of condemning the evil ."

As long as it is free from anything haram , the original rules for these kinds of things is that it is permissible and the incident of the Prophet and the Companions in Makkah is well documented.

Shaykh Ali Al-Khudr also said: "Demonstrations are to come out collectively in an organised way for a particular objective; the original rules are that it is permissible. The Muslims are to other Muslims like a block, they support each other, it is a form of jihad, to call for jihad, to command good and forbid evil. That gathering is a demonstration and it is the Sunnah of the Prophets.”

And he also called it the means leading to the wajib (the obligatory acts).

A PROTEST IN THE US ... Islam condones any acts to mobilise the masses for something noble

If we go to all the ulama, even those who we disagree with, they say that it is permitted. It is only some scholars of the Saudi dynasty, whom it suits them to shout "haram!" if there is a demonstration against the Saudi dynasty, and to say that it is "halal" or even fard if it is in favour of their dynasty.

Those who say it is permissible, they are all found in prison like Shaykh Sulayman Al-Alwan, who said publicly: “It is permissible by the evidence that our Imam, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, was put in prison, and the ulama and their disciples came outside and that was the biggest demonstration, it was the uprising of the Hanabilah (followers of Imam Ahmad Hanbal) to release him.”

Some people like to speak about it from the angle of benefit and interest, so they always speak about bringing benefit to the Muslim community; we can say, Allah says,
If they ask you for help, help them

And the Prophet said: "Support your Muslim brother (verbally, financially, physically) whether oppressor or oppressed"

So supporting your Muslim brothers collectively, openly and publicly is allowed and that is why ibn Taymiyyah in his time saw the people demonstrate for his release from captivity and he wrote that it reminded him of the demonstration of the Hanbali followers.

Even Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab with his students demonstrated publicly and gathered together ending with fighting, it is a form of jihad, a form carrying da’wah (spreading the word of God), a form of commanding good and forbidding evil; it is not bid’ah. It was done by the Prophet and by his Companions.

'Not haram just because non-Muslims do it'

It is not the case that “whatever the non-Muslims do, then it becomes haram in our religion”. Rather it is only the haram acts which are forbidden. For example, demonstrations involving swearing are not allowed.

UNISLAMIC ... Demonstrations using swear words are prohibited in Islam

It creates awareness about the current situation because there is no other media, it is an alternative media; it reminds them about what they should do, it motivates those people who do nothing, it boosts the morale, it has a strategic outcome, it puts pressure in order for people to interact; that support in the form of demonstrations will put pressure on the government; it is an opportunity as well for the ulama to meet the masses and the masses to meet the ulama, it is a form of demonstrating the knowledge and there is no single qualified scholar that forbade it.

We need to forget about those fake ‘salafis’, they are people who are muqallid (those who blindly imitate).

The benefit in demonstrations is a lot; the ulama on the street is different than seeing them on satellite, it will send signals to those oppressed that there is an Ummah that will not leave them, an Ummah that supports them.

* This article is an adaptation from a reply given by the author to the question "Is demonstration/protest allowed in Islam" on the forum Ummah.com

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php/berita-utama/3055-what-islam-says-about-public-demonstrations.html

Bahrain bans main opposition newspaper

AP – In this photo dated March 25, 2011, women work in a basement workshop in central Baghdad, Iraq, making …

– 1 hr 34 mins ago

MANAMA, Bahrain – Bahraini authorities have banned the country's main opposition newspaper in a widening effort to muzzle anti-government media.

The newspaper Al-Wasat did not publish Sunday after a message on state TV saying Bahrain's Information Ministry has ordered the paper to shut down. The state-run Bahrain News Agency says officials accuse Al-Wasat of "unethical" coverage of the Shiite-led uprising against the country's Sunni rulers.

Bahrain has sharply tightened Internet and media controls under military rule imposed last month after weeks of protests and clashes by groups seeking to break the monarchy's grip on power in the strategic Gulf nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Al-Wasat's online edition also was blocked.

Slideshow:Protests in Bahrain

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110403/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain_protests

Yemen's leader drops offer to leave by year's end

AP – A Yemeni boy, wearing a helmet and a gas mask, slautes along with anti-government protestors during a …

By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press Ahmed Al-haj, Associated Press – Sun Mar 27, 1:56 pm ET

SANAA, Yemen – Yemen's president, clinging to power despite weeks of protests, scrapped an offer to step down by year's end on Sunday, as Islamic militants taking advantage of the deteriorating security took control of another southern town.

Opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh — a group that started with university students and has expanded to include defecting military commanders, politicians, diplomats and even Saleh's own tribe — had immediately rejected his offer a week ago to leave by the end of this year. Its formal withdrawal by the president indicates an attempt by both sides to negotiate a transfer of power to end the crisis has failed.

In a sign of what is at stake in Yemen if security further unwinds, Islamic militants seized control of a small weapons factory, a strategic mountain and a nearby town in the southern province of Abyan, said a witness and security officials.

A day earlier, militants believed to belong to Yemen's active al-Qaida offshoot swept into another small town in the area called Jaar. In both cases, the militants moved in with no resistance because police had withdrawn weeks earlier — as they did in several other parts of the country — in the face of challenges by anti-government protesters.

Saleh is a key ally of the United States in battling al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which the Obama administration considers the top terrorist threat to the U.S.

Washington is concerned that the cooperation could be imperiled if Saleh departs, and U.S. diplomats sat in on the political talks last week that failed to make progress on a possible transition of power.

"We have had a lot of counterterrorism cooperation from President Saleh and Yemeni security services. So if that government collapses or is replaced by one that is dramatically more weak, then I think we'll face some additional challenges out of Yemen," said U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on ABC TV's "This Week." "There's no question about it. It's a real problem."

Saleh himself warned that "Yemen is a ticking bomb" in a TV interview on Saturday night and said that without him in power, the country would descend into civil war.

The protesters behind weeks of demonstrations are demanding Saleh step down immediately and want a ban on future government positions for him and his family. For 32 years he has ruled over Yemen, an impoverished and deeply divided country stitched together by fragile tribal alliances.

Yemen is the poorest nation in the Arab world, is rapidly running out of water resources and oil and is buffeted by conflicts that include an on-and-off rebellion in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.

The protesters complain of corruption and the lack of jobs and political freedom. Their ranks swelled as many of the president's allies abandoned him over an escalating crackdown that has killed 92 protesters, according to the Shiqayiq Forum for Human Rights.

More than 40 of them were killed in a single day, as snipers firing from rooftops methodically picked off people in the main protest square in the capital, Sanaa, on March 18.

Increasingly isolated, Saleh convened a meeting Sunday of hundreds of members of his Congress Party's leadership committee.

A party statement released afterward said the meeting affirmed that "President Ali Abdullah Saleh should remain in his position until he finishes his constitutional term" in 2013.

The delegates also reasserted that dialogue is the only way to end the crisis and ensure a peaceful transition of power.

Just days earlier, Saleh had pledged in a meeting with senior officials, military commanders and tribal leaders that he would step down by the end of the year. But that offer was quickly rejected by opposition leaders who dismissed it as a political maneuver.

In the south, Islamic militants who have battled Saleh's government were trying to make gains on the turmoil. On Sunday, militants set up checkpoints around an old factory making bullets for Kalashnikov assault rifles and did the same in the town of al-Husn, where they patrolled the streets and searched cars, said resident Wahib Abdul-Qader.

The fighters were not from the al-Qaida offshoot, but one of the many other militant groups roaming southern Yemen called the Salafi Jihad.

They also seized control of the nearby Khanfar Mountain, where a radio station and a presidential guest house are located, said Ali Dahmash, an expert on Islamic militant groups who lives nearby.

A day earlier, residents in the nearby small town of Jaar said militants suspected of belonging to the al-Qaida offshoot seized that area.

Al-Qaida has seized control of towns in southern Yemen before, but in the past was vigorously confronted by Saleh's security forces.

In the central Marib province, suspected al-Qaida gunmen killed seven soldiers and wounded seven others in an attack on a military post on Sunday, security officials said. Marib is one of several provinces where the militant group is active and only under nominal government control.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media, said the attackers set fire to a pickup truck mounted with a machine gun and made off with an armored vehicle belonging to the post.

Slideshow:Yemenis rally against government

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110327/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen