The inability of pro-Qaddafi forces on Monday to retake Misrata and Ras Lanuf appears to have impelled Muammar Qaddafi to begin back-channel talks with the provisional government in Benghazi about circumstances under which he might step down. Reuters said that he is seeking immunity from prosecution for himself and his family. The National Libyan Council […]
Top Ten Achievements of Mideast Democracy Protests this Weekend
10. In the Sunni-ruled monarchy of Bahrain, which has practiced employment discrimination against the Shiite majority of citizens, the Ministry of Interior has announced it will create 20,000 security-related jobs, apparently intended to be filled mainly by Shiite Bahrainis with college degrees. The protest movement, however, is unlikely to be satisfied unless there are political, […]
Rebels Take, Hold Key Oil Cities in Fierce Libyan Civil War
Libyan rebels advancing from the east along the Mediterranean coast, having taken the oil refinery city of Ras Lanuf on Saturday in fierce fighting, advanced further west and briefly took the small town of Ben Jawad. Early Sunday morning there were reports of pro-Qaddafi resistance in Ben Jawad, and by mid-morning Sunday, AFP was saying […]
Ras Lanuf Falls to Rebels
In a major push west, rebel forces in Libya are said by Reuters to have taken the major petroleum and refining town of Ras Lanuf on the Mediterranean coast east of the capital of Libya, consolidating their control over the east of the country and its resources. While there continue to be Qaddafi regime attacks […]
Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution: PM Shafiq Ousted
The threat of further massive protests today at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo forced the resignation of Egyptian prime minister Ahmad Shafiq, a close associate of deposed president Hosni Mubarak and, like him, a former air force general. Shafiq was recently on television defending the secret police, which the protest movement wants abolished. The Egyptian […]
Hatred against do-gooder American Muslims in Orange County
Despite the US first amendment, which guarantees freedom of religion, the US has a long history of religious bigotry. Native Americans were forbidden to practice their religions for long decades. Catholic churches were burned by the militant Protestant ‘Know-Nothings.’ Buddhists and Hindus were disadvantaged. Jews were discriminated against. The latest paroxysm of religious hatred is […]
The Battle of Brega: Qaddafi Compared to Netanyahu in Arab Press
Aljazeera English reported on the Battle of Brega just as it was concluding on Wednesday afternoon, describing relatively ineffectual bombing raids by Tripoli even as partisans of the liberation movement pushed pro-Qaddafi troops out of the city. The BBC is reporting that Qaddafi’s forces were numerous and well-armed, and had intended to take Brega first […]
Libya Skirmishes as Saudi Quivers and Iran, Iraq under Pressure
Aljazeera reports that by Wednesday morning pro-Qaddafi forces had retaken Gharyan and Sabratha in the northwest, and had tried and failed to take the oil town of Brega in the east. Qaddafi’s jets also bombed arms depots in rebel-held Ajdabiya. Pro-Qaddafi forces had secured the country’s Western border with Tunisia on Tuesday and then attacked […]
Qaddafi Son Incites Massacre of Protesters
Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of the besieged dictator, has been caught on a smart phone video whipping up a crowd of ‘police’ and other supporters last Saturday to massacre protesters (he asks them ‘do you need guns?’ They shout, ‘yes.’) Saif al-Islam Qaddafi had earlier given interviews in which he told Western reporters that there […]
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