Syria Uprising Deaths Exceed 2,900, U.N. Says. Arabloggers 2011: Tunisian Voices. Tunisian bloggers & Politics, featuring Riadh Guerfali (@Astrubaal), Amira Yahyaoui (@mira404), Tarek Kahlaoui (@t_kahlaoui), Mehdi Lamloum (@MehdiLamloum) and Slim Amamou (@Slim404), moderated by Malek Khadraoui.
The panelists spoke in French and Arabic, so all quotes below are an approximation. Some background: Tunisia is preparing to write its constitution, and both political parties and independent “lists” (made up of groups of candidates) are vying to be part of the constitutional assembly. Everyone on this panel is either running themselves, or working with the various constituents to ensure diverse representation. Riadh Guerfali begins: “Our objectives as bloggers included changing the world around us, pushing for democratic institutions…With these new opportunities, our values are the same, and can be supported from different angles and perspectives,” says Riadh Guerfali, opening the panel.
Bahrain Hands Down Harsh Sentences to Doctors and Protesters. Homs, Syria, Spirals Down Toward Civil War. Homs Quarters Union, via Associated Press In Homs on Friday, an antigovernment protester held a sign reading, “Freedom.”
The image was taken with a cellphone. HOMS, Syria — The semblance of a civil war has erupted in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, where armed protesters now call themselves revolutionaries, gun battles erupt as often as every few hours, security forces and opponents carry out assassinations, and rifles costing as much as $2,000 apiece flood the city from abroad, residents say. Since the start of the uprising in March, Homs has stood as one of Syria’s most contested cities, its youth among the best organized and most tenacious. Syrian Opposition Groups Create National Council to 'Overthrow' Assad. Syria's main opposition groups have joined to create a broad-based national council aimed at unifying their efforts to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's government, which they accuse of pushing the country to the brink of civil war.
A prominent secular dissident, Bourhan Ghalioun, announced the Syrian National Council's formation Sunday in the Turkish city of Istanbul. While he said the group rejects foreign intervention that "compromises Syria's sovereignty," Ghalioun appealed to the international community to protect civilians from what he called a government "war" against them. The Syrian opposition consists of a variety of groups with differing ideologies. The newly formed council includes Syria's pro-democracy Damascus Declaration, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, various Christian and Kurdish factions and the grass-roots Local Coordination Committees, which have led nationwide street protests.
After Beheading, Indonesia Bans Maids from Work in Saudi Arabia. Saudi, Syria fail to forge deal over Lebanon court.
News - World - Yemen group vows small-scale attacks. Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based wing is reported to have what it calls a "strategy of a thousand cuts" to hurt the U.S. economy with frequent small-scale attacks.
In an online magazine, the group al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said such methods against U.S. targets would be a cheap way to "bring down America. " The group said it can play on what it calls the "security phobia that is sweeping America. " The strategy, also referred to as Operation Hemorrhage, could further weaken the U.S. economy by increasing security costs, the group said. The new threat was published Saturday in a special edition of Inspire magazine, an English-language propaganda publication produced by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The article also said it had cost just $4,200 US to work out the plot to mail two parcel bombs to the United States from Yemen late last month.
Yemen’s Drive on Al Qaeda Faces Internal Skepticism. Arab Elections: Free, Sort of Fair... and Meaningless. A certain Arab country recently held parliamentary elections.
The vote was reasonably free and fair. Turnout was 67 percent, and the opposition won a near majority of the seats -- 45 percent to be exact. Sounds like a model democracy. Yet, rather than suggesting a bold, if unlikely, democratic experiment, Saturday's elections in Bahrain instead reflected a new and troubling trend in the Arab world: the free but unfair -- and rather meaningless -- election.
Something similar will happen on Nov. 9 in Jordan. Govt offers $100,000 reward for arrest of al Qaeda suspects. Al-Jazeera World Cup broadcasts were jammed from Jordan. Football fans cheer Jordan against Kuwait at a match in Amman – Jordanians have a love of sport 'in their blood' according to one official.
Photograph: Muhammad Hamed/Reuters Mysterious jamming of TV broadcasts of the summer's World Cup by the Arabic satellite channel al-Jazeera has been traced to Jordan, which appears to have retaliated angrily after the collapse of a deal that would have allowed football fans there free access to the matches. Millions of al-Jazeera Sports subscribers across the Middle East and North Africa cried foul on 12 June when the opening game between South Africa and Mexico was hit by interference which produced blank screens, pixelated images and commentary in the wrong languages. It occurred seven more times during the tournament's biggest games.