The Tunisia Effect - Continuing Coverage of the Revolutions of 2011

[Tee Kay]

Bahrain

Soldiers near the Pearl roundabout in Manama, the Bahraini capital, have fired upon pro-democracy protesters, and opposition political leaders have rejected the royal family's call for a "national dialogue".

Abdul Jalil Khalil Ibrahim, the head of the main opposition Wefaq bloc, said on Saturday that the government must resign and the army must withdraw in order for any talks with the ruling family to take place.

Ibrahim Mattar, a member of the group, which quit parliament on Thursday, said his party did not believe there was a "serious will for dialogue because the military is in the streets".

Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain, had earlier asked Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the crown prince, to start a national dialogue "with all parties".

Yemen

ens of thousands of Yemenis have taken part in anti-government demonstrations across the country, with pro-government supporters also rallying in several cities.

At least six people have been killed in the demonstrations with one of the deaths taking place after a hand grenade was thrown at anti-government protesters in the city of Taiz on Friday.

Riots also flared overnight in the southern port city of Aden with protesters setting fire to a local government building and security forces killing one demonstrator, local officials said. Seventeen people were also confirmed to have been injured in those clashes.

Protesters across the country are calling for president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after 32 years in power, in a movement that has now entered its eighth day in Yemen.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out in the cities of Sanaa, Taiz and Aden for a "Friday of Fury', as it was termed by protest organisers.

In the capital, Sanaa, the crowd marched towards the presidential palace, chanting anti-government slogans, despite riot police attempting to stop them from doing so.

Libya

Security forces in Libya have killed scores of pro-democracy protesters in demonstrations demanding the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, the country's long time ruler.

Human Rights Watch said on Saturday that 84 people had died over the past three days.

A doctor in Benghazi told Al Jazeera that he had seen 70 bodies at the city's hospital on Friday in one of the harshest crackdowns against peaceful protesters thus far.

"I have seen it on my own eyes: At least 70 bodies at the hospital," said Wuwufaq al-Zuwail, a physician.

Al-Zuwail said that security forces had also prevented ambulances reaching the site of the protests.

The Libyan government has also blocked Al Jazeera TV signal in the country and people have also reported that the network's website is inaccessible from there.

Jordan

At least eight people have been injured in clashes that broke out in Jordan’s capital between government supporters and opponents at a protest calling for more freedom and lower food prices.

The protest was the seventh straight Friday that Jordanians took to the streets demanding constitutional reform and more say in decision-making.

Djibouti

Thousands of demonstrators have rallied in the East African nation of Djibouti to demand that president Ismail Omar Guelleh resign, the latest in a series of demonstrations spurred on by political protests across Africa and the Middle East.

Amid a tight police deployment, the demonstrators gathered at a stadium on Friday with the intention of staying there until their demands were met.

But the demonstration escalated into clashes after dusk, as authorities used batons and tear gas against stone-throwing protesters.

Meanwhile violence and protests continues in Tunisia

A Polish priest was found dead with his throat slit in a private school outside of Tunis, the interior ministry said Friday, blaming the murder on a "group of fascist extremists".

Marek Rybinski, 34, whose body had also multiple stab wounds, was found dead on Friday in the garage of the religious school in Manouba region, where he was responsible for the accounting, a source close to the ministry told AFP news agency.

Meanwhile, at least three people were injured on Friday when Tunisian security forces fired in the air to disperse hundreds of people who staged a rally against a brothel in the capital Tunis, two witnesses have told the Reuters news agency.

"Almost 500 Islamists, many wearing beards, were demonstrating in Old Medina to demand the closure of a brothel,"said Mourad Barhoumi, a Tunis resident who witnessed the demonstration."There were several dozen riot police who shut off entry to the neighbourhood. They fired in the air to break up the crowd,which didn't want to go until the brothel was shut," he added.

And the Algerian opposition remains defiant

Algerians are planning an anti-government protest in the capital, Algiers, a week after thousands of demonstrators were confronted by 30,000 riot police at the same venue.

The protest, scheduled to take place on Saturday around May 1 Square, the site of last week's rally, has been organised by the National Co-ordination for Change and Democracy (CNCD).

The month-old umbrella group is made up of the political opposition, the Algerian human rights league and trade unions.

As is the Iranian opposition, even as the regime detains its most prominent leader.

Iran's opposition called for another nationwide demonstration on Sunday, and raised the stakes by openly labeling the struggle as a fight against "a religious dictatorship."

The statement, endorsed by leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, appears to lay out the opposition's goal more clearly after tens of thousands of supporters took to the streets Monday calling for regime change.

And while Egyptians continue to celebrate, the Junta tries to get the country moving again.

Egypt's ruling military council says it will not tolerate any more strikes which disrupt the country's economy.

State television carried a statement in which the military said strikers would be "confronted".

Egypt's huge public sector has been hit by stoppages by groups including policemen and factory workers.

The army statement came at the end of a day in which millions of Egyptians had celebrated the victory of their revolution one week ago.

Cairo's Tahrir Square was again at the centre of events, with an estimated two million people gathering there to celebrate the removal of Hosni Mubarak and to pay tribute to the 365 people who died in the uprising.

The demonstration was also intended as a show of strength - a reminder to the current military rulers to keep their promise of a swift transition to democracy

By evening, the gathering had become a huge party, with music, singing, dancing, fireworks and food.

Who will stay? Who will go? Who will come in their place? What will really change?

 

[amadeus]

Well, I've got to admit I was surprised by protests in Libya. I was not at all surprised by Gadhafi stamping them out immediately.

 

[RedRalph]

Well, I've got to admit I was surprised by protests in Libya. I was not at all surprised by Gadhafi stamping them out immediately.

That hasn't happened. Unfortunately, it probably will. Seems like the Bahraini king is willing to negotiate

 

[Tee Kay]

That hasn't happened. Unfortunately, it probably will. Seems like the Bahraini king is willing to negotiate

Yeah, well, shouldn't have shot the protesters then.

 

[RedRalph]

Yeah, well, shouldn't have shot the protesters then.

Agreed. Might have left it too late. Plus there's a religious dimension there too.

 

[Cutlass]

Be joyful to see Libya fall. Not holding my breath though.

 

[Joecoolyo]

This has spread much faster and farther than I thought it ever would.

 

[asbestos]

Don't forget about Iraq.

Two people have been killed and 40 wounded after police shot at a crowd of protesters in Kurdistan, northern Iraq.

Amidst protests in other parts of the country.

 

[Kozmos]

Oh well it's just the Kurds.

 

[asbestos]

Oh well it's just the Kurds.

It's more than just the Kurds. Basra and Kut both had demonstrations.

 

[GamezRule]

 

[Tani Coyote]

Hope Iran and Libya fall. I trust Mousavi and his followers - who are more openminded, at least the students - than the current regime.

Libya's just an old dictatorship that needs to go.

Would be nice to see some liberal concessions AND avoiding anti-American sentiment, but I don't know if both can happen at this point.

This has spread much faster and farther than I thought it ever would.

Those who feared the domino effect in the 60s should be proud; it has been proven. Not for totalitarianism, but for liberalism and democracy.

...heavily flawed democracies possibly, but democracy!

 

[Newbunkle]

Libyan protesters risk 'suicide' by army hands

Uh... interesting way of putting it.

 

[amadeus]

We should have finished the job in '86.

 

[Silurian]

Heavy fighting in Libya

From BBC

"Please, please tell the world that [Gaddafi] is killing the people for no reason. They're very peaceful protesters," he said. "He's bringing foreigners from nowhere, Africans, black African snipers shooting the people in the streets of Benghazi, now he's attacking Benghazi itself with rocket missiles."

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...68G9CQ&usg=AFQjCNH3nnsxbnGc8BcygOQ5FKMHaMyI8Q

There have aslo been reports of fighting between the army and special forces.

 

[Karalysia]

Snipers are gunning down protesters in Libya. 15 have been killed.

 

[Incodcito]

Snipers are gunning down protesters in Libya. 15 have been killed.

May the revolutionaries not let these martyrs die in vain.

 

[RedRalph]

If the Libyan army deserts the government Qadaffi is fiddlesticksed.

 

[W|M]

Current status of Protests:

Spoiler :

Revolution
Governmental Changes
Major Protests
Minor Protests
Other Arab League Nations
Other Nations

 

[Defiant47]

So many people in the world that deserve to be killed in cold blood... so little time...

I want to see Gaddafi leave Libya. With a bullet in the head.