Salon.com > Brian Whitaker

“No to the rat of Bab al-Sha’riyya”

Wed, 11 May 2005 13:58:00 +0000

The street is decked out with banners. "We are for Mubarak," they say. "Yes to Mubarak, no to the rat of Bab al-Sha'riyya." Normally, anyone who posted political messages in the streets of Cairo would be in trouble, but these are an expression of gratitude for 24 years of authoritarian rule under Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak.

The banners are strategically located opposite the building where the rat of Bab al-Sha'riyya himself -- better known as Ayman Nour, member of Parliament, founder of the opposition Al-Ghad ("Tomorrow") Party and would-be presidential challenger -- is meeting constituents. Four dark-green riot police vans are on standby across the road, and plainclothes members of the not-very-secret police form a loose picket line around the building. Everyone is watched, and people entering or merely hanging around outside are liable to be asked who they are and what their business is.

A man from Al-Ghad films the meeting. It's a precaution, a party official explains -- in case agents provocateurs stage an incident or the government accuses Nour of saying things he has not said. "This is the only place in the constituency where we are allowed to meet," said Nour's wife, Gamila. "And we are having so many problems with infiltrators."

Welcome departure

Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:00:00 +0000

Syria declared a formal end to its 29-year military involvement in Lebanon Tuesday with a "farewell" ceremony in the Bekaa Valley -- four days earlier than expected. Hundreds of Syrian troops left the country over the weekend after burning documents, demolishing walls and filling bunkers. Monday, Syrian intelligence abandoned Anjar, the headquarters of Rustum Ghazaleh, the intelligence chief who was once the most feared man in Lebanon. He was reported to have left for Damascus Monday night but was due to return for Tuesday's ceremony.

As the withdrawal neared completion, Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, the powerful Lebanese security chief, announced his resignation after local press reports said he was about to be reprimanded for insubordination by the newly appointed interior minister. Gen. Sayyed stepped aside last week, supposedly temporarily, to "facilitate" a U.N. investigation into the assassination of the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He has denied claims that he was involved in the killing.

Out of Lebanon

Mon, 04 Apr 2005 15:42:00 +0000

Syria will withdraw all its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon by April 30, U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen announced Sunday after talks with President Bashar Assad in the Syrian capital. This means that Damascus intends to meet the unofficial deadline for withdrawal set by Washington.

Roed-Larsen said the Syrian foreign minister, Farouq al-Shara, had informed him that "all Syrian troops, military assets and the intelligence apparatus" would be withdrawn fully and completely by the end of the month at the latest. "Syria has agreed that, subject to the acceptance of the Lebanese authorities, a U.N. team will be dispatched to verify the withdrawal," he said. The foreign minister said that "by its full withdrawal from Lebanon," Syria would have implemented its obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559. He praised Roed-Larsen "for his excellent achievement," saying it would improve the political climate in the Middle East.

Syrian influence helped to bring stability to Lebanon in the aftermath of the 15-year civil war but has become increasingly unpopular with many Lebanese. Last year, when Damascus forced the Lebanese Parliament to extend the term of Emile Lahoud, the Syrian-backed president, the Security Council approved Resolution 1559, calling for all foreign forces to leave the country.

Who killed Hariri?

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 14:22:00 +0000

Even now, there is a daily trickle of sightseers who come to gaze at the scene of devastation. Behind metal barriers, guarded by security forces, lines of cars that happened to be parked at the time of the explosion remain in place, some battered, some unscathed, some covered in plastic sheeting, others covered in grime. Five weeks after the Valentine's Day explosion that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 17 others, the spot where he died is cordoned off.

The scene has become the focal point for two competing inquiries seeking clues that may identify the killers who unwittingly stirred mass protests that have astonished the Arab world. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will present the findings of United Nations investigators later this week, and they are likely to challenge the initial theory that Hariri was killed by a suicide car bomber.

The balance of evidence appears to point to the explosion having been caused by a bomb under the road -- a method that some analysts are suggesting points conclusively to Syrian involvement. In Beirut, though, the pro-Syrian authorities prefer to focus on a possible Islamist connection, in particular a white van that was captured on the closed-circuit television cameras of a nearby bank. Another camera, at the Phoenicia Hotel, which might have had a better view of what happened, went out of service a couple of weeks before the blast and repairing it proved unusually difficult.

Battle of the street protests

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:50:00 +0000

The battle for the streets of Lebanon reached new heights Monday when hundreds of thousands of anti-Syria protesters, some with Lebanese flags painted on their faces, swamped the center of Beirut. Few had any doubt that it was the biggest demonstration the city had ever seen, or was likely ever to see, easily outstripping last week's pro-Syria rally, which drew a crowd of about half a million.

The Lebanese opposition had been stunned by the size of Hezbollah's rally last week and spared no effort to outdo it Monday. Buses were chartered to bring demonstrators to the capital from around the country, and many arrived in convoys of cars from the Bekaa Valley and the south. Some schools closed for the day, and groups of schoolchildren and students were in evidence on the streets.

Two hours before the official start of the protest -- called to mark the moment a month earlier when former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was assassinated -- Martyrs Square was packed with people and Lebanese flags.

Many of the flags were attached to broom handles, others rose above the crowds on the ends of fishing rods, and one demonstrator flew a kite with a flag attached. Among the placards were many that read: "100 Percent Lebanese" or "United Colors of Lebanon."

Falling short

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 14:52:00 +0000

Prospects for an early withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon faded Monday when the countries' presidents agreed only to a partial timetable that appeared to fall well short of international demands. A pullback to the eastern part of Lebanon will be completed by the end of this month, according to Monday's agreement, but no date has been set for all the 14,000 Syrian troops to leave.

As Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, met Emile Lahoud, the Syrian-backed Lebanese president, in Damascus, Syria, tens of thousands of anti-Syrian demonstrators took to the streets of Beirut, chanting: "Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!"

Syria and its allies in Lebanon argue that a redeployment to the Bekaa Valley complies with the 1989 Taif Accord that gave Syria a role in helping to stabilize the country after its 15-year civil war. Under the accord, an eventual full withdrawal is a matter to be agreed to between Syria and Lebanon.

This is the route that Syria is attempting, belatedly, to follow, though it faces intense international pressure for a full and immediate withdrawal in compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, which was approved last year. The United States wants all Syrian forces out of Lebanon before May, when the country is due to hold elections.

Stepping into the fray

Mon, 07 Mar 2005 14:44:00 +0000

Hezbollah stepped dramatically into the Lebanese-Syrian crisis Sunday by calling for a demonstration in support of Syria and raising the fear that a withdrawal of Syrian troops might not go smoothly. The militant Lebanese Shiite organization, which is backed by Syria and Iran, said it planned to hold a mass demonstration Monday near the square where anti-Syrian protesters have been camped since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last month.

Until now, Lebanon's Shiite minority and their political organizations have stayed on the sidelines of arguments about the presence of 14,000 Syrian troops and intelligence officers. Some observers had argued that Hezbollah's political interests would be best served by keeping quiet because of the widespread unpopularity of Syrian influence in the country, but Sunday its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, joined the fray. He called on all Lebanese to attend a "peaceful popular gathering" in support of Syria and against "foreign intervention that is contrary to our independence, sovereignty and freedom." He rejected any move to disband Hezbollah's militia. "The resistance will not give up its arms ... because Lebanon needs the resistance to defend it," he said.

Just for show?

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 13:54:00 +0000

Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most traditional absolute monarchies, will take a tentative step toward democracy Thursday when male citizens go to the polls in the first municipal elections in 40 years. Candidates have splashed out money on advertising and laid on feasts for potential voters, but the authorities' "progressive step" has left reformers disappointed.

"I call it a quarter-election," said Ali al-Ahmad, of the Saudi Institute, a pro-reform organization based in Washington. "It excludes women voters -- that's 50 percent -- and then only 50 percent of the council seats will be decided by the voting."

The elections are one of the first tangible parts of a reform program urged by Crown Prince Abdullah, the country's day-to-day ruler, in the face of stiff resistance from ultra-conservatives, especially among the clergy. With all key ministerial posts in the hands of senior princes and an unelected parliament whose role is consultative, power is concentrated in the hands of the royal family. But the kingdom faces pressure to allow greater public participation.

America’s gentler ally?

Thu, 20 Jan 2005 15:29:00 +0000

British diplomats in the Middle East were anxiously monitoring Arab reactions yesterday to the photographs that allegedly show British soldiers humiliating Iraqi prisoners. So far the response has been muted, but Dean McLoughlin, head of the Foreign Office's Islamic media unit, said: "My guess is that it will grow." The pictures were released too late on Tuesday to meet the deadlines of most newspapers in the Middle East, he said.

Arab satellite channels reported the story Wednesday, but not as the main item. It was overshadowed by the climax of the hajj -- the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca -- and the continuing violence in Iraq and Gaza. Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the London daily al-Quds al-Arabi, said the story arrived about 8 p.m. and he immediately decided to splash it on the front page. Some of the other papers could have done the same, he said, but "sometimes they don't evaluate the importance of things as they should."

Arab news organizations have also held back the most graphic pictures of simulated sexual acts for reasons of decency and religious sensitivity. "We can't publish that," Atwan said. "People would say it's tasteless and accuse us of encouraging pornography. It's really awful because the pictures are very scandalous."

“A cause no one can argue with”

Mon, 03 Jan 2005 15:36:00 +0000

With promises of aid in the tsunami disaster touching $2 billion, relief workers focused Sunday on how to get help to those who most need it. About 1.8 million survivors, mainly in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, are in need of food, the United Nations said. Help is likely to reach those in Sri Lanka within three days, but an estimated 1 million Indonesians may have to wait much longer, officials warned.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to arrive in Indonesia on Thursday to coordinate efforts at an international donors' conference that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and the Japanese and Australian prime ministers will also attend.

Although bickering over the leadership of relief operations has subsided a little, with U.N. officials now praising Americans for their help, Annan disclosed Sunday that he had not spoken to President Bush since the disaster. "I've spoken to other leaders around the world, including the Chinese, and they all want to accept the U.N. leadership and they want to work with us," he said in an interview with ABC television. On Saturday, Bush said in a radio broadcast that the U.S. was "leading an international coalition" to help with relief and reconstruction.

Violent run-up to elections

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:28:00 +0000

Iraqi Shiite leaders appealed to their supporters to show restraint Sunday after two deadly blasts targeted their religious centers in an apparent attempt to trigger civil war. The attacks in the sacred Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala came just over an hour apart and left more than 60 people dead and more than 120 wounded.

In Najaf, a car bomb exploded in the central square, where a crowd had gathered for the funeral of a tribal sheik, about 100 meters from where the governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, and police chief, Ghalib al-Jazaari, were standing. Both men were unhurt, but 48 people were killed and 90 wounded. It was the deadliest single bombing in Iraq in five months. Jazaari said he believed that he and Zurufi were the intended targets.

The blast, about a quarter of a mile from the Imam Ali shrine, the holiest Shiite site in Iraq, demolished part of a two-story building and tore off the facades of surrounding shops and other premises in the square, exposing the rooms inside. Dozens of locals scrambled in the rubble, digging for survivors amid clouds of dust and smoke.

Timing is everything

Fri, 06 Aug 2004 14:22:00 +0000

The arrests in Pakistan which appear to have sparked security alerts in Britain and the US followed months of work against al-Qaida suspects in the region activity that has been urged upon the president, General Pervez Musharraf, by the Bush administration.

So far, Pakistani officials say they have arrested more than 450 al-Qaida or Taliban suspects since the Afghan regime was toppled. And they say they are holding a newly captured "high-value target" as yet unnamed. Though Pakistan has trumpeted such work, there has been speculation about Gen Musharraf's motives.

One British observer of Pakistani affairs, who declined to be named, said the president had a remarkable knack of "producing suspects out of a hat whenever he has reasons to do so".

The arrest of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani on July 25 days before the Democratic convention in the US was Pakistan's biggest success since last year, when it seized Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, seen as the al-Qaida No 3. Mr Ghailani had been indicted for murder over the 1998 US embassy bombings in east Africa. America had offered up to $25m (#13.7m) reward for his capture.

Saudi textbooks demonize “infidels”

Wed, 14 Jul 2004 13:12:00 +0000

Saudi schoolchildren are being taught to disparage Christianity and Judaism in a textbook issued by the education ministry, a report said yesterday.

The book forms part of the kingdom's revised curriculum supposedly cleaned up after complaints that demonising the west had become endemic in Saudi schools.

A lesson for six-year-olds reads: "All religions other than Islam are false." A note for teachers says they should "ensure to explain" this point.

The Saudi Institute, a Washington-based pro-reform group, said yesterday the book, Monotheism and Fiqh, con-tradicted the Koran.

"The Saudi contention that Judaism and Christianity are false religions is clearly refuted by the Koran," it says in a report, quoting a verse.

The kingdom reviewed its textbooks after revelations that 15 of the September 11 hijackers had been Saudi-educated.

One textbook had urged teen-agers not to befriend Christians or Jews: "Emulation of the infidels leads to loving them, glorifying them and raising their status in the eyes of the Muslim, and that is forbidden."