Occupy Wall Street: 20,000 To Gather On September 17th

Huffington Post
September 15, 2011

Labor-Community Coalition activists march down Wall Street, during a protest against budget cuts and bank practices, in New York, May 12, 2011. Thousands of activists protested around the New York Stock Exchange to call on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to close alledged loopholes and stop destructive bank practices that destroy communities and cost taxpayers billions instead of enacting layoffs and budget cuts that hurt working families and low-income New Yorkers. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand (Photo cred

On Saturday, September 17th, organizers for the event Occupy Wall Street are calling for 20,000 individuals to join their cause for government and corporate change by way of peaceful, non-violent protests.

The large-scale event, originally published back in July by Adbusters, a not-for-profit magazine aimed to "topple existing power structures," was inspired by the revolutionary events that swept through the Middle East earlier this year. The group's site reveals their hopes to transform Lower Manhattan into an "American Tahrir Square."

How exactly will the group invoke such radical change? Details have yet to be revealed but Occupy Wall Street organizer, Will Russell, a grad student at Hunter College, explains to the Village Voice, that yoga, pitched tents, and dancing to 'Thriller' will be sure to take place.

The hacker group, Anonymous, also announced their participation in a video released below.



Saturday's events have garnered traction through various social media outlets, including Twitter, which has seen the use of the hasthtag, #OccupyWallStreet. The group's Facebook event directs protestors to meet at Bowling Green Park at noon and then at 3pm to move to One Chase Manhattan Plaza for a people's assembly.

Violent Protest in London

March 30, 2011

London at the TUC rally when the violence started.

Unrest in Syria and Jordan Poses New Test for U.S. Policy

The New York Times
March 27, 2011

WASHINGTON — Even as the Obama administration defends the NATO-led air war in Libya, the latest violent clashes in Syria and Jordan are raising new alarm among senior officials who view those countries, in the heartland of the Arab world, as far more vital to American interests.

Deepening chaos in Syria, in particular, could dash any remaining hopes for a Middle East peace agreement, several analysts said. It could also alter the American rivalry with Iran for influence in the region and pose challenges to the United States’ greatest ally in the region, Israel.

 

In interviews, administration officials said the uprising appeared to be widespread, involving different religious groups in southern and coastal regions of Syria, including Sunni Muslims usually loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The new American ambassador in Damascus, Robert Ford, has been quietly reaching out to Mr. Assad to urge him to stop firing on his people.

As American officials confront the upheaval in Syria, a country with which the United States has icy relations, they say they are pulled between fears that its problems could destabilize neighbors like Lebanon and Israel, and the hope that it could weaken one of Iran’s key allies.

The Syrian unrest continued on Saturday, with government troops reported to have killed more protesters.
With 61 people confirmed killed by security forces, the country’s status as an island of stability amid the Middle East storm seemed irretrievably lost.

For two years, the United States has tried to coax Damascus into negotiating a peace deal with Israel and to moving away from Iran — a fruitless effort that has left President Obama open to criticism on Capitol Hill that he is bolstering one of the most repressive regimes in the Arab world.

Officials fear the unrest there and in Jordan could leave Israel further isolated. The Israeli government was already rattled by the overthrow of Egypt’s leader, Hosni Mubarak, worrying that a new government might not be as committed to Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

While Israel has largely managed to avoid being drawn into the region’s turmoil, last week’s bombing of a bus in Jerusalem, which killed one person and wounded 30, and a rain of rocket attacks from Gaza, have fanned fears that the militant group Hamas is trying to exploit the uncertainty.

The unrest in Jordan, which has its own peace treaty with Israel, is also extremely worrying, a senior administration official said. The United States does not believe Jordan is close to a tipping point, this official said. But the clashes, which left one person dead and more than a hundred wounded, pose the gravest challenge yet to King Abdullah II, a close American ally.

Syria, however, is the more urgent crisis — one that could pose a thorny dilemma for the administration if Mr. Assad carries out a crackdown like that of his father and predecessor, Hafez al-Assad, who ordered a bombardment in 1982 that killed at least 10,000 people in the northern city of Hama. Having intervened in Libya to prevent a wholesale slaughter in Benghazi, some analysts asked, how could the administration not do the same in Syria?

Though no one is yet talking about a no-fly zone over Syria, Obama administration officials acknowledge the parallels to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. Some analysts predicted the administration would be cautious in pressing Mr. Assad, not because of any allegiance to him but out of a fear of what could follow him — a Sunni-led government potentially more radical and Islamist than his Alawite minority regime.

Still, after the violence, administration officials said Mr. Assad’s future was unclear. “Whatever credibility the government had, they shot it today — literally,” said a senior official about Syria, speaking on the condition that he not be named.

In the process, he said, Mr. Assad had also probably disqualified himself as a peace partner for Israel. Such a prospect had seemed a long shot in any event — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown no inclination to talk to Mr. Assad — but the administration kept working at it, sending its special envoy, George J. Mitchell, on several visits to Damascus.

Mr. Assad has said that he wants to negotiate a peace agreement with Israel. But with his population up in arms, analysts said, he might actually have an incentive to pick a fight with its neighbor, if only to deflect attention from the festering problems at home.

“You can’t have a comprehensive peace without Syria,” the administration official said. “It’s definitely in our interest to pursue an agreement, but you can’t do it with a government that has no credibility with its population.”

Indeed, the crackdown calls into question the entire American engagement with Syria. Last June, the State Department organized a delegation from Microsoft, Dell and Cisco Systems to visit Mr. Assad with the message that he could attract more investment if he stopped censoring Facebook and Twitter. While the administration renewed economic sanctions against Syria, it approved export licenses for some civilian aircraft parts.

The Bush administration, by contrast, largely shunned Damascus, recalling its ambassador in February 2005 after the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Many Lebanese accuse Syria of involvement in the assassination, a charge it denies.

When Mr. Obama named Mr. Ford as his envoy last year, Republicans in the Senate held up the appointment for months, arguing that the United States should not reward Syria with closer ties. The administration said it would have more influence by restoring an ambassador.

But officials also concede that Mr. Assad has been an endless source of frustration — deepening ties with Iran and the Islamic militant group, Hezbollah; undermining the government of Saad Hariri in Lebanon; pursuing a nuclear program; and failing to deliver on promises of reform.

Some analysts said that the United States was so eager to use Syria to break the deadlock on Middle East peace negotiations that it had failed to push Mr. Assad harder on political reforms.

“He’s given us nothing, even though we’ve engaged him on the peace process,” said Andrew J. Tabler, who lived in Syria for a decade and is now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “I’m not saying we should give up on peace talks with Israel, but we cannot base our strategy on that.”

The United States does not have the leverage with Syria it had with Egypt. But Mr. Tabler said the administration could stiffen sanctions to press Mr. Assad to make reforms.

Other analysts, however, point to a positive effect of the unrest: it could deprive Iran of a reliable ally in extending its influence over Lebanon, Hezbollah and the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

That is not a small thing, they said, given that Iran is likely to benefit from the fall of Mr. Mubarak in Egypt, the upheaval in Bahrain, and the resulting chill between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

“There’s much more upside than downside for the U.S.,” said Martin S. Indyk, the vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. “We have an interest in counterbalancing the advantages Iran has gained in the rest of the region. That makes it an unusual confluence of our values and interests.”

South Sudan Says North Bombs its Territory

The Star
23 March 2011

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - South Sudan's army (SPLA) on Wednesday accused the north of bombing its territory, violating a 2005 peace deal ahead of the oil-producing region's independence.

Sudan's north-south conflict raged for all but a few years since 1955 and claimed 2 million lives in Africa's longest running civil war.

The south voted this year to secede and will become the world's newest nation on July 9.

SPLA spokesman Philip Aguer said the north dropped bombs on March 21 between a village and an SPLA base causing no casualties in Raja County in Western Bahr al-Ghazal, which borders the north's war-torn Darfur region.

Sudan's northern army denied it had carried out any bombing raids near the area.

"Strategically it does not make military sense for us to bomb an empty area," spokesman al-Sawarmi Khaled said.

The north-south U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNMIS) said it had reports from the SPLA of bombing raids and had sent a patrol to investigate.

Last year the north bombed the south while chasing Darfur rebels they said were being supported by the semi-autonomous southern government.

The south accused the north of arming rebels in its territory with clashes killing hundreds of people this year alone.

While both sides cannot afford a return to all-out war, arming proxy militias was a tactic used during the conflict, fought over religion, ethnicity, oil and ideology.

On Wednesday, the Satellite Sentinel Project, set up by actor George Clooney and other activists to monitor troop movements, released satellite images of Abyei -- a central region claimed by both north and south -- which they said showed the north had sent further troops into the flashpoint region.

Sudan's Interior Ministry denied reports by the south that it had sent 1,500 extra police to Abyei but the group said it had images confirming otherwise.

"Satellite imagery confirms reports of the deployment of large numbers of northern forces as well as newly fortified encampments," Charlie Clements, director of human rights documentation of the project, said in a statement.

China Urges Quick End to Airstrikes in Libya

The New York Times
March 23, 2011

BEIJING - China escalated its opposition to American-led airstrikes on Libya on Tuesday, joining Russia and India in calls for an immediate cease-fire and suggesting that coalition forces were imperiling civilians by exceeding the United Nations-mandated no-fly zone.

The rising criticism among the so-called BRIC group - Brazil, Russia, India and China - came amid allegations by the Libyan government that allied bombings had killed or wounded scores of civilians, a claim rejected by American military officials.

On Monday, hours after the departure of President Obama, Brazil issued a statement condemning the attacks and urging “the start of dialogue.”

China’s response to the campaign has been the most forceful, warning that the assault could bring about a “humanitarian disaster.” In a news briefing Tuesday, Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called for an end to hostilities. “We’ve seen reports that the use of armed force is causing civilian casualties, and we oppose the wanton use of armed force leading to more civilian casualties,” she said.

China was one of five countries to abstain from the United Nations resolution that authorized the allied airstrikes against the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, which have been seeking to crush a rebellion against his four-decade rule. Russia, Brazil, India and Germany also abstained, while South Africa joined nine other Security Council members in supporting the resolution approved last week.

In its decision to abstain rather than block the resolution through its veto power, China said it was heeding the wishes of the Arab League and the African Union.

During a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Tuesday, Russia’s defense minister, Anatoly Serdyukov, added his voice to those calling for a cease-fire, saying it was the best way to avoid civilian casualties, according to The Associated Press. On Monday, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin was unsparing in his criticism, comparing the allied campaign against Libya to the invasion of Iraq and likening it to a “medieval call for a crusade.” In a rare expression of dissent between the country’s two leaders, President Dmitri A. Medvedev later criticized the remarks as unacceptable.

On Tuesday, Indian officials joined those calling for a cease-fire. Pranab Mukherjee, the country’s finance minister and a leader of the lower house of Parliament, told lawmakers that the coalition had no right to oust the ruler of a sovereign nation.

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Tuesday that Turkey supported providing humanitarian aid to Libya but that it would “never be the party that points weapons at the Libyan people.” Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO, had opposed an alliance plan for the no-fly zone.

The Chinese news media, meanwhile, have been vociferous in expressing opposition to the military campaign against the Libyan government, with articles and commentaries depicting the assault as an attempt to grab that country’s oil resources and expand American influence in the region.

A front-page article in People’s Daily on Tuesday said the United Nations resolution characterizing the Libyan army’s attack on civilians as a possible “crime against humanity” was simply cover for what it called the West’s hegemonic intentions.

“Historical experience has shown that humanitarian intervention is only an excuse for military intervention into other countries’ domestic affairs,” wrote the author, Tang Zhichao, a scholar at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations. “They claim to be motivated by morality but in fact they are driven by narrow political and economic interests.”

An editorial in Global Times, owned by People’s Daily, went further, saying that Western nations should be penalized for “abusing” the Security Council resolution that paved the way for the attack. “Just let them agonize there in Libya,” the paper said, referring to the United States and its partners. “No matter what happens to Qaddafi, a chaotic Libya will become an unshakable burden for the West forever.”

Six Protesters Killed in Syria

The New York Times
March 23, 2011

DAMASCUS, Syria - At least six people were killed early Wednesday when Syrian security forces attacked protesters who had taken refuge in a mosque in the center of the southern city of Dara’a, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, antigovernment protests had continued for a fifth day in Dara’a, before hundreds of demonstrators sought protection from the army in the Omari mosque. The protesters were calling for political freedoms and an end to corruption, and they had said they would remain in the mosque until their demands were met, Reuters reported.

 

“They are shooting,” a person at the mosque said by telephone, referring to the soldiers and other security forces. “Killing and killing and more killing.”

A doctor at the city’s main hospital, Ali Nassab al-Mahameed, was shot and killed as he was trying to rescue others, the witness said. It was not known how many people were wounded in the attack.

“It seems that security forces may be trying to storm the complex,” a resident told Reuters. “It is not clear because electricity has been cut off. Tear gas is also being used.”

The mosque’s preacher, Ahmad Siasneh, told Al Arabiya television on Tuesday that Syrian forces were close to the building’s grounds, where protesters had erected tents.

UN Civilian Protection Officials Voice Alarm over Violence in Abyei

United Nations Press Release
March 18, 2011

Displaced people fleeing fighting in Abyei, in Agok, Sudan. Two United Nations civilian protection officials today voiced grave concern over rising tension in the disputed Sudanese territory of Abyei, where recent clashes between rival communities have claimed the lives of more than 100 people and caused the displacement of at least 20,000 others.

The Secretary-General's Special Advisers on the Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect, Francis Deng and Edward Luck, said in a joint statement that there are reports that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and allied fighters of the Popular Defense Forces, as well as the Sudan People's Liberation Army of the southern Government, have deployed forces in Abyei.

The Missireya Arabs, a nomadic herder community, are pitted against members of the Ngok-Dinka ethnic group in a conflict exacerbated by the controversy over a referendum that would give residents of Abyei a chance to decide whether to remain part of the north or join the south, which voted in January to secede.

The inhabitants of Abyei were due to hold a separate referendum simultaneously with the rest of Southern Sudan in January, but attempts to create a referendum commission remain deadlocked, amid feuds between communities in the area over the right to vote.

"Given the perception that the SAF supports the Missireya Arabs and the SPLA supports the Ngok-Dinka, a standoff between the two armies is very dangerous," said Mr. Deng and Mr. Luck, adding that the animosity "could easily trigger further ethnic-based violence in Abyei."

"We urge both parties to refrain from any actions that could put the lives of civilians in danger and risk a return to full scale hostilities," they said.

According to the Abyei Protocol of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the war between the North and the South in 2005, the Ngok-Dinka are dual citizens of the North and the South during the interim period before the referendum in the area.

Mr. Deng and Mr. Luck reminded the Government of Sudan and the Government of Southern Sudan of their responsibility to protect all people in Abyei, irrespective of their ethnicity or religion.

"The parties have a shared responsibility towards these populations and must protect them. We call on both parties to initiate a thorough and impartial investigation into the recent incidents of violence in Abyei and to hold those responsible accountable in order to discourage further acts of violence, including forced displacement, which is a crime against humanity," they said.

They urged both parties to ensure the free, unhindered and expeditious movement of the peacekeepers and staff of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in Abyei to carry out its mandate, which include protecting civilians, internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups.

Meanwhile, the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) today dispatched a human rights team to the South Darfur village of Amar Jadeed to investigate recent allegations of widespread rape.

UNAMID also announced that its gender advisors will on Friday begin a series of workshops for community leaders and police officers in South and West Darfur on the impact of sexual and gender-based violence.

Participants will also learn the proper procedures for reporting cases of rape and for caring for victims of the crime.

Bahrain's King Declares 3-month State of Emergency

The New York Times
March 16, 2011

Bahrain's king imposed a three-month state of emergency today and gave the country's military chief wide authority to battle a pro-democracy uprising that has threatened the ruling monarchy and drawn in forces from around the Gulf.

The martial law-style order — read on Bahrain state TV — comes a day after more than 1,000 Saudi-led troops arrived to help prop up the U.S.-backed regime in the first major cross-border action against the revolts that have erupted across the Arab world.

A security official in Saudi Arabia said a Saudi sergeant was shot and killed by a protester today in Bahrain's capital, Manama. No other details were immediately given on the death of the soldier, identified as Sgt. Ahmed al-Raddadi.

But, if true, it would mark a dramatic shift in the tactics by the opposition, which has displayed no weapons and has adopted the chant of “peaceful” as a main slogan. The Saudi official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The dispatch of troops from Gulf allies on Monday highlighted the regional worries about possible spillover from Bahrain, where members of a majority Shiite population have led a month of relentless protests against the Western-backed Sunni dynasty to try to break its monopoly on power.

Other Gulf leaders fear that concessions by Bahrain's rulers could embolden more protests against their own regimes, which have already confronted pro-reform cries in Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. There are also fears that gains by Bahrain's Shiite Muslims could offer a window for Shiite power Iran to expand its influence on the Arab side of the Gulf.

The emergency law statement said the head of Bahrain's armed forces has been authorized “to take necessary steps to restore national security.”

Hours before the announcement, Bahrain's capital was in lockdown mode with stores and schools shuttered and main highways blocked by police.

In Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, denounced the presence of foreign troops in Bahrain as “unacceptable” and predicted it would complicate the kingdom's political crisis. Iran holds no deep political ties to Bahrain's Shiite groups, but some Iranian hard-liners in the past have hailed their efforts for greater rights.

Bahraini opposition groups also have strongly condemned the military move, calling it an occupation that pushes Bahrain dangerously close to a state of “undeclared war.”

The United States — which relies on Bahrain as a pillar of its military framework in the Gulf — has urged Americans to avoid travel to the island nation due to “the potential for ongoing political and civil unrest.” The State Department statement also advised Americans currently to consider leaving Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Thousands of protesters held their ground in Manama's Pearl Square, the symbolic center of their revolt. But opposition leaders have not yet announced their next move.

Mansoor al-Jamri, editor of the main opposition newspaper, Al-Wasat, said pro-government mobs stormed the paper's printing facilities early Tuesday and smashed equipment with metal pipes, clubs and axes. The paper is now using presses from other papers to publish.

Shiites account for 70 percent of Bahrain's population of some 525,000, but are widely excluded from high-level political or security posts. The protesters also demand the repeal of a government policy to offset the Shiite demographic advantage by giving citizenship and jobs to Sunnis from other Arab nations and South Asia.

The protests began last month with calls for the monarchy to give up most of its powers to the elected parliament. But as violence has deepened, many protesters now say they want to topple the entire royal family.

A statement Monday on the state-run Bahrain News Agency said troops from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council's Peninsula Shield Force have been deployed “in line with the principle of common destiny bonding.” The bloc is made up of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have announced roles in the Bahrain force, but the contributions from the other countries were not immediately clear.

The reason for the mission was “the common responsibility of the GCC countries in maintaining security and stability,” the statement said.

The Peninsula Shield Force was created in the 1980s. Military units under a GCC command have been sent to Kuwait, including during the 1991 U.S.-led campaign to oust Saddam Hussein's force and in 2003 before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The current action marks a significant shift to help a government quell internal unrest.

Jane Kinninmont, a senior research fellow and Bahrain expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said Monday's operation “changes the role of the GCC,” which has always had collective defense pacts.

“The idea of gathering together to protect a government against its own people seems to be quite another thing,” Kinninmont said.

Gaddafi Tells West to Stay Out of Libya

Al Jazeera
March 16, 2011

Muammar Gaddafi has denounced backers of plans for a no-fly zone over his country and urged Libyans to take up arms and prepare to confront a possible invasion by Western powers.

Addressing selected supporters late on Tuesday, Gaddafi called the rebels "rats" and denounced Western nations. "They want Libyan oil," he said.

"France now raises its head and says that it will strike Libya," Gaddafi told the gathering at his Bab al-Azizia fortified compound in central Tripoli.

"Strike Libya?" he asked. "We'll be the one who strikes you! We struck you in Algeria, in Vietnam. You want to strike us? Come and give it a try."

His speech came as world powers wrangled over a draft resolution on imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Gaddafi's advancing forces from using their air superiority to take the rebel capital, Benghazi, in the east.

The draft was distributed by Britain and Lebanon at a closed-door UN security Council meeting, on Tuesday, after the Arab League called on Saturday for the Council to set up the no-fly zone.

Nawaf Salam, Lebanese ambassador and Arab League representative, said a no-fly zone would not qualify as foreign intervention in Libya.

However, the military action faced resistance from other nations, including Russia and China.

"Some members have questions and they need clarifications before a decision is made," Li Baodong, China's ambassador, told reporters. But he added: "We are very concerned about the deteriorating situation in Libya".

Concerns Raised

The United States was also being cautious about implementing the no-fly zone. However, Mansour El Kikhia, a political analyst from the University of Texas, told Al Jazeera that the US and president Barack Obama needed to assume more responsibility as a world power.

"[Obama] heightened expectations and didn't follow through ... [this situation] requires an American leader who can actually follow up his words with actions," El Kikhia said.

Opponents of the no-fly zone want to know who will take part in it and how it will be patrolled. Hardeep Singh Puri, India's envoy, raised questions about the ban on "all flights".

Portugal, Germany and South Africa have also raised doubts about the idea of a no-fly zone for Libya.

New "paragraph by paragraph" talks on the draft resolution are to be held on Wednesday, Mark Lyall Grant, Britain's envoy, said. But diplomats said no vote was likely before Thursday.

In his short, emotional speech on Tuesday, Gaddafi attacked Britain for calling for a no-fly zone. "What right do you have? Do we share borders? Are you our tutor?" he said.

Libyans would fight to the death to defend their country, he said.

He criticised the Arab League, which has backed a no-fly zone, saying it was "finished", and the Gulf Co-operation Council, which he said had lost its legitimacy.

"The Arab League is finished. There is no such thing as the Arab League," Gaddafi said.

"The Gulf Co-operation Council is finished. It's actually the 'Gulf Unco-operative Council' ... The Arab  people [however] remain."

Regaining Control

During his appearance, a crowd watching on a TV projection on a wall in Benghazi shouted curses and threw shoes at the image.

As before, Gaddafi played down the scope of the conflict in his country. "They said thousands have died, but only 150 have died," he said.

Libyan state television aired calls for the opposition to stop fighting, apparently hoping to sway populations in the east away from support of the rebels.

"Those who are asking you to put down your arms want peace for you, so please help them and stop shedding blood," the broadcaster said.

"Libya is for everyone and by everyone. So let God's word be the highest and the word of evil be the lowest."

Meanwhile, a Libyan official said the government hoped to regain control over all rebel-held territories soon.

"We hope [it will be done] as soon as possible. I hope it will be in a matter of days," Khaled Kaim, the deputy foreign minister,  told Reuters in Tripoli.

Police in Azerbaijan Arrest Antigovernment Protesters

The New York Times / Asia Pacific
12 March, 2011

MOSCOW — The police in Azerbaijan arrested 50 protesters on Saturday, the second day of demonstrations in Baku, the capital, calling for the resignation of President Ilham Aliyev, whose family has been ruling the oil-rich state since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Police officers cordoned off the site of an antigovernment protest that drew hundreds Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital.

 

Several hundred protesters gathered Saturday for a rally organized by an opposition party, Musavat, which intended to ride the wave of revolts in the Middle East and North Africa. On Friday, about 60 people showed up to protest, following instructions on a Facebook page to wear red and find one another on the streets.

On both days, the police were waiting for the demonstrators, arresting them as soon as they began to gather.

They had a harder time controlling the fluid crowd on Saturday, filling a series of vans with detainees and calling in reinforcements.

“It is impossible to live under an authoritarian regime,” said one protester, Elkhan Alnagiyev, who was promptly arrested by undercover police officers who had seen him speaking to a journalist.

Another protester, Rashad Aliyev, said he had come because he was unemployed.

“It’s not that there are no jobs; it’s that I don’t know anyone who will put me in a job,” Mr. Aliyev said.

“They are oppressing us.”

Azerbaijan, a major producer of oil and natural gas with a population of nine million, was ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world last year by Transparency International.

The authorities have begun a campaign to crack down on graft, with high-profile firings of university administrators and other officials.

Mr. Aliyev has also been criticized for restricting the press and for failing to create meaningful democratic institutions.

Over the past week, the authorities warned university students that they could be expelled if they missed classes during the protests. Mubariz Qurbanli, a member of the governing New Azerbaijan Party, said the low turnout on Friday proved that the people of Azerbaijan did not support the opposition.

“Everyone understands that confrontation and chaos harm each member of society,” Mr. Qurbanli said in comments that were carried by the Interfax news service on Friday. “All such attempts will meet the same fate because there is no support for more radical politics in Azerbaijan.”

The Interior Ministry reported that 43 people had been detained on Friday and 50 on Saturday, and said that about 40 of those were likely to be prosecuted, according to Interfax.

Among those detained before the protest were Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, the only organizer of the Friday protests who is living inside the country; he was taken into custody on March 4.

The United States Embassy said in a statement that it was following reports of Mr. Hajiyev’s detention “and, in particular, allegations that he may have suffered abuse and been denied legal counsel.”

The police also detained Etibar Salmanli, who was shown on a YouTube video distributing pink leaflets about the protests. On Thursday, the Justice Ministry closed the Azerbaijan Human Rights House, which that assists activists and defenders of human rights.

The protest on Friday was among the first to be organized online in Azerbaijan, where the number of Facebook users has jumped in recent months.

According to Socialbakers.com, a Facebook traffic-tracking Web site, Azerbaijan’s Facebook use grew by about 5 percent in February to reach 324,880 people, more than three-quarters of whom are 18 to 34 years old.

“Facebook is a huge asset for us,” said Turgut Gambar, who was arrested and released Friday after the police spotted him with a group of young people dressed in red.

“I hear people talking about the 11th of March without us making a huge, huge effort.”

Youth Groups to Protest in Kuwait

Al Jazeera

8 March, 2011

 

Protesters urging the prime minister to step down plan to hold unauthorised action in oil-rich Gulf state.

 

Youth groups in Kuwait are planning to hold demonstrations calling for the resignation of the prime minister, and for greater political freedoms.

A group called the Fifth Fence has urged followers on the social networking site Twitter to take to the streets on Tuesday as parliament holds its first session in six weeks.

They are urging Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the prime minister, to step down, after five years in power.

The al-Sabah family has ruled the small Gulf state for more than 250 years, and political parties are banned.

"The first step toward reform is forming a new government under a new prime minister that should be capable of running the country and reforming imbalances," the nationalist Popular Action Bloc said in a statement last week.

However demonstrations are banned in Kuwait without prior approval, which has not been gained for Tuesday's action.

The demonstration comes as protests across the Middle East and Arab states continue.

Kuwait has already seen some protests from stateless Arabs, known as bidoon, who are demanding citizenship.

Politicians have promised to discuss a draft law in parliament on Tuesday that would grant them basic civil rights

Calls for Protest Across the Middle East

The New York Times
February 25, 2011

CAIRO — Opposition movements across the Middle East called for huge demonstrations on Friday to protest corruption and unaccountability in the governments that rule them and to express solidarity with the uprising in Libya that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is trying to suppress with force.

 

In Baghdad, defying attempts by Iraq’s government to curtail a day of nationwide protests, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets on Friday. Most of the gatherings around the country appeared to proceed peacefully, though were reports of sporadic violence in the Sunni Muslim areas north of Baghdad, where Iraqi Army troops opened fire, wounding five protesters. It was unclear what provoked the shooting.

In a nationally televised address on Thursday night, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had tried to convince Iraqis to call off the protests, saying that loyalists of Saddam Hussein were behind them, and that insurgents would try to exploit them to sow unrest. He banned vehicles from Baghdad streets as a security precaution.

“They are attempting to crack down on everything you have achieved, all the democratic gains, the free elections, the peaceful exchanges of power and freedom,” he said. “So I call on you, from a place of compassion, to thwart the enemy plans by not participating in the demonstrations tomorrow, because it’s suspicious and it will give rise to the voice of those who destroyed Iraq.”

In Egypt, tens of thousands of people were expected to turn out in Tahrir Square in central Cairo to mark the one-month anniversary of the start of the popular revolution. On Feb. 11, Hosni Mubarak resigned as president , leading to the imposition of military rule and an interim cabinet.

Calling it the “Friday of Cleansing,” the coalition of youth groups that spearheaded the uprising said that they would call for resignation of the prime minister and other cabinet members who remain in place from Mr. Mubarak’s government, and underscore the need to move quickly toward a new Constitution, the dismantling of the state’s repressive security apparatus, and true multiparty elections.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement that was banned for decades but is playing an active role in politics here, also pledged to hold protests in Cairo and across the country with similar demands.

Large protests were also planned in Yemen. After an escalation in violence between supporters and opponents of the Yemeni government in Sana, the capital, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose hold on power has grown increasingly fragile, instructed security forces on Wednesday to protect demonstrators and thwart clashes between the two sides.

In Sana, tens of thousands of people were pouring into a square near the main gates of Sana University to call for the resignation of the president amid a tight security presence, The Associated Press reported.

In the morning, tens of thousands of people gathered to listen to Islamic preaching on the subject of freedom in the city of Taiz, 130 miles south of the capital, where antigovernment protesters and supporters of the regime clashed last week. On Tuesday night, two protesters were shot dead by government supporters during a sit-in in front of Sana University. At least 10 others were injured.

In Bahrain, religious leaders have for the first time called for people to take to the streets, which could change the dynamic. More than 100,000 demonstrators packed central Pearl Square on Tuesday in what organizers called the largest pro-democracy demonstration this tiny Persian Gulf nation had ever seen, as the monarchy struggled to hold on to power.

Yet the eyes of the region were on Libya, where the government has been waging a brutal crackdown against protesters, whose efforts over the past week have developed into a full-scale rebellion. Much of the east of the country is now in the hands of antigovernment rebels and clashes continue in the west. In Tripoli, which is under the control of mercenaries and militias as Col. Qaddafi’s attempts to preserve the capital, protesters pledged to brave threats of violence to take to the streets.

Opposition leaders had also pledged to march to Tripoli from other cities, though the roads were reported to be thick with checkpoints and heavily armed forces that remain loyal to Col. Qaddafi’s 40-year rule.

Calls for a ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in China Persist

The New York Times
February 23, 2011

BEIJING — A small but stubborn protest movement is continuing calls for demonstrations despite a campaign of arrests and censorship that underscores China’s concern over unrest and revolts in authoritarian countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, three people were detained for “inciting subversion of state power” after they reposted calls for protests last weekend. The detentions could not be confirmed independently, but they follow roundups of scores of dissidents and rights lawyers. Some well-known lawyers who handle sensitive cases were placed under house arrest and some were beaten badly, according to human rights activists.

Activists, possibly from outside China, have called on citizens in China to express their displeasure at the country’s lack of reforms and officials’ corruption by silently meeting in front of department stores or other public areas for a “Jasmine Revolution,” a named borrowed from the Tunisian revolt that set off the Middle East unrest.

Organizers have now called for the protests to continue each Sunday, and gave a list of spots in a dozen major cities where people could “go for a stroll” this coming Sunday at 2 p.m. Because the calls are made via Twitter and other services widely blocked in China, they circulate only to those who know how to bypass Internet censors. But Chinese authorities have been responding with their customary zeal. On Sunday, a protest in Beijing was overwhelmed by police officers.

And the word “jasmine” has been blocked on popular social networking sites and chat rooms. The authorities might have a hard time eradicating the word completely. Jasmine is also the name of a popular Chinese folk song.  It was supposedly the favorite of China’s previous leader, Jiang Zemin, who asked it to be played at the 1997 transfer of Hong Kong, the former British colony, to China. In addition, videos exist of China’s current leader, Hu Jintao singing the song while on a trip in Africa.

Some of these videos were posted on social networking sites, forcing censors to have to decide if they should take down videos of senior leaders that could be explained as an expression of patriotism.  “The real story is the indirect ways that Chinese citizens can use music and historical meaning to make this incredibly subversive statement, to take a most popular folk song and post it,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of New York-based Human Rights in China. “The point is there is an information crack and it is growing.”

'Rivers of Blood' to Run in Libya as Gaddafi Clings to Power

The Australian
22, Feb., 2011

COLONEL Muammar Gaddafi's son warned yesterday that "rivers of blood" would run through Libya if protests continued and the regime would fight to "the last man standing".

As fighting reached the capital and mainstays of the regime were torched in Tripoli, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi warned Libyans to "be prepared for civil war" as his 68-year-old father fought to avoid the fate of Egypt's leader Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.

"Forget oil, forget gas, forget these resources -- get ready for chaos," Saif Gaddafi said on television before the station that broadcast the address was stormed by protesters.

"Our spirits are high and the leader Muammar Gaddafi is leading the battle in Tripoli and we are behind him, as is the Libyan army.

"We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to the last woman standing . . . we will not leave Libya to the Italians or the Turks."

Using the same argument that Mr Mubarak had used in neighbouring Egypt before he fell, Saif Gaddafi said chaos would result if the regime fell. "Libya is not Egypt, it is not Tunisia," he said.

But despite the tough talk, Saif Gaddafi also made some concessions -- pledging a new constitution and new liberal laws.

In the first acknowledgment by the regime that it was losing control, he said: "At this moment in time, tanks are driven about by civilians."

Portugal last night sent a military plane to pick up its citizens and other EU nationals.

Turkey sent two ferries to fetch construction workers stranded by the country's bloody unrest, as oil and gas companies said they were putting together plans to evacuate some of their employees.

Protesters yesterday took control of the eastern cities of Benghazi and Baida, while in Tripoli the interior ministry and police stations were torched and hundreds of protesters were reported to be near the Bab al-Aziziya military camp where Colonel Gaddafi lives.

The government shut down phone lines and the internet to prevent communication and coverage of the uprising, but Human Rights Watch said at least 233 people had been killed in the five days of protest against the 42-year rule of Colonel Gaddafi.

Sixty of the deaths occurred in a single day in Benghazi as the Libyan regime unleashed the harshest crackdown by any government since the uprising gripping the Middle East started in Tunisia late last year.

"We're seeing massacres in broad daylight," Shadi Hamid from the Brookings Doha Centre told French TV. "We're seeing a spiralling out of control."

Reports said the regime had flown mercenaries into Tripoli from African countries -- mainly Chad and Zimbabwe -- and then taken them by bus to outlying cities to attack protesters.

It appeared that security forces had opened fire with machine guns on protesters. Divisions began appearing at government level. A diplomat in China and Libya's representative to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, resigned in protest at his government's crackdown on protesters.

"I am joining the ranks of the revolution," Mr Honi said.

Police and the army appeared to have abandoned Benghazi and retreated to their compounds. This followed reports of sections of the security forces defecting to back the protesters and other army and police officers refusing to engage in confrontations.

Mass Anti-Government Rally in Serbia

Associated Press
Sun February 6, 2011

Tens of thousands of nationalist supporters rallied against Serbia’s pro-Western government on Saturday, demanding early elections amid the Balkan country’s deepening economic crisis.

About 10,000 police officers gathered near the rally in front of the state parliament in downtown Belgrade to prevent it from turning violent, as similar protests by right-wing protesters have in the past.

The former allies of the late autocratic leader Slobodan Milosevic want early elections because of the country’s rising poverty, unemployment and falling living standards. They also accuse the government of corruption.

The nationalists promise economic recovery, higher salaries and new jobs, if they come to power. They have risen in popularity amid Serbia’s economic turmoil triggered by the global recession and the slow pace of the country’s integration into the European Union — the government’s main political goal.

 “For 10 years, Serbia has lived under a corrupt and incapable government,” Serbian Progressive Party leader Tomislav Nikolic told the rally, as the crowd chanted “Thieves! Thieves!” and “Changes! Changes!”

“We will save Serbia when we take over,” he said.

Opposition leaders addressing the crowd — estimated by police at about 55,000 — threatened to blockade the capital if their demands to move parliamentary elections forward from 2012 are not met within the next two months.

“This is the last warning,” said an opposition leader. “We don’t want to do it like in Egypt or Tunisia. We just want elections.”