February 22, 2011 - No. 24
Tahrir Square in Cairo,
February 18, 2011.
Some 1.3 million people filled Tahrir Square in Cairo on
February
18 to hold Victory Day celebrations, marking one week since
former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted and to affirm their demands
for profound political change. 200,000 residents of the port city of
Alexandria also came out to celebrate Victory Day. Similar mass actions
were held across the country to mark the occasion.
Egyptian workers were well-represented in actions across
the
country. Despite intimidation by the new military regime, they continue
mass actions
including strikes to press their demands for better working
conditions and wages and to
oppose corrupt management.
Tens of thousands of workers in the textile sector are on strike, such
as in the cities of Al Mahalla Al Koubra, Mansoura, and Dakalia. In the
public sector, the
military regime instituted a series of "holidays" for the banks to try
and quell the protests
by employees, who, besides protesting for better working conditions are
raising questions about corrupt
management of the National Bank.
The outstanding demands of the Egyptian people include
dissolution of the government of Ahmed Shafiq, viewed as illegitimate
because it was appointed by Mubarak just before his resignation,
lifting of the emergency law
and the immediate release of all political prisoners.
Tahrir Square in Cairo,
February 18, 2011
Alexandria, February 18,
2011
Striking textile workers at weaving factories in Al Mahalla Al
Koubra (top row) Mansoura
(bottom left) and Dakalia (bottom right).
Workers of the Suez Canal
Company in
the city of Ismailia joined the nation-wide actions to oppose the
Mubarak
regime and put forward their demands for better working
conditions and wages. The Suez Canal, which provides
maritime passage
between the Red and Mediterranean Seas, linking Asia and Europe by sea,
is an important trade
and military route. The file photo above shows
a U.S. warship using the canal.
Medical students in Cairo
demand the resignation of Mubarak on February 11, 2011 (top left).
Pharmacists
hold a banner that reads "Pharmacists of Egypt demand the downfall
of the regime" (top right). Teachers with a
banner that
reads in part "Reform begins with educational reform. Egypt's teachers
support the youth's demands
for
freedom, justice, and equality" (bottom left). Public health workers
demonstrate in
Cairo (bottom right).
Strking bus drivers
(left) and state employees at the National Bank of Egypt in Cairo.
Bahrain
Thousands of people have
been gathering in Pearl Square, in central Manama since February 15,
2011.
The
uprising in Bahrain
continued for the 10th day today, as tens of thousands of
people poured into the
streets of Manama and converged on Pearl Square calling for the
government's
downfall in the largest rally since the protests broke out. "No
dialogue before the downfall of the ruling regime," read an
English-language banner hung over a bridge. Bahrain serves as the base
for the U.S. Fifth
Fleet and receives $19.5 million in U.S. military aid, which, on a per
capita basis, equates to greater than that delivered to Egypt.
After brutal repression by the military and police last
week, masses
of people began retaking Pearl Square on the weekend, setting up tents,
holding prayers and chanting slogans calling for the collapse of
the regime, news agencies report.
Sheikh Muhammad Ali
Mahfouz, who leads the opposition party the Islamic Action
Society, reiterated the opposition's refusal to enter any
dialogue with the government, Al Manar reports. The parties "have
agreed that if dialogue is
to happen, then it should include all opposition parties in
addition to other factions on the ground," Mahfouz said in an
interview with Press TV. Such talks should include Al Wefaq, the
largest opposition faction, and the Haq Movement, he insisted. He
also called for the inclusion of "the popular youth movement,
which is out there in Pearl Square." Bahrain's King
Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa has tasked the Crown Prince Sheikh
Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to hold talks with the opposition.
Mahfouz also called on the United States not to stand
with the
ruling family in Manama. He also criticized the
administration of U.S. President Barack Obama for failing to
condemn the violence against protesters in Bahrain.
News agencies report that at least eight people have
been killed and
hundreds
injured in the attacks by Bahraini security forces. According to
western news agencies,
the troops who used live ammunition on protesters are
foreign nationals granted Bahraini citizenship by the
government. Bahrain's military violently attacked an encampment of
protestors in
Pearl Square at 3:00 am on Thursday, February 17, during which several
people
were killed.
The army used lived fire on people going to the mosque
the
following day, as well as
on people trying to take the injured to hospital. The military withdrew
from Pearl Square on Saturday following a televised appeal by the crown
prince. Police also withdrew later in the day, having run out of
bullets and tear gas, news agencies reported. Eighteen members of
Bahrain's parliament resigned from their posts on Thursday in a show of
protest against the repression. The Health Minister stepped
down following the assault
on protestors and medical workers on February 17.
Demonstration and
funerals for fallen protestors in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on
February 18, 2011.
A convoy of tanks being
deployed against unarmed
protestors in Manama's Pearl Square, February 17, 2011.
Doctors and other medical
staff at the Salmaniya Hospital hold a spontaneous protest upon
learning that ambulances
are being blocked by the military from reaching injured protestors at
Pearl Square, February 17, 2011. Paramedics
attempting to reach the wounded were also assaulted.
Libya
According to news
agences, protests against the regime of Libyan President Muammar
Gaddafi are taking place in various cities, particularly in the eastern
part of the country. It is also reported that at least 61 people died
in Tripoli during clashes between those opposed to
the regime and security forces and supporters of the Libyan
government. The Hall of the People in the Libyan parliament was
also burned along with other facilities.
The largest demonstrations are reported to be taking
place in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city after the capital
Tripoli, where more than 100 fatalities were
reported. Intensified repression was reported in Benghazi and
Al Bayda in the east, and in Zaouia to the west. An unconfirmed report
from
Al Jazeera said that the Libyan cities that border with Egypt are now
in the hands of the protesters, whose leaders say they
also control Benghazi, Al Bayda and Sabha. A doctor from Al Jalaa
hospital in
Benghazi told Al Jazeera that members of
the military had sided with the protesters.
It is also reported that two colonels with the Libyan
Air Force
defected with their Mirage fighter planes to the island of Malta.
It is said the officers passed on "classified information" to
authorities, however news agencies do not inform to whom they reported
on their arrival in Malta.
In related news, both Turkey and China expressed concern
for the safety of their nationals.
There are some some 200 Turkish companies are
involved in construction projects in Libya. Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a speech to that country's parliament, stated,
"Our priority at the moment is the safe repatriation of Turkish
nationals."
"I would like to remind the Libyan authorities and the opposition
in Libya that they must display maximum care to ensure the safety
of foreigners in their country," he added.
Out of some 25,000 Turks based in Libya, about 1,000
have been
repatriated so far.
Chinese firms had been attacked and Chinese nationals
injured, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reported. Foreign
Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu at a regular news briefing, stated, "China
hopes the country can restore social stability and
political order as soon as possible."
The spokesman said the Foreign Ministry has undertaken
emergency
measures including sending messages to the Libyan government demanding
an
immediate probe into the attacks and punishment against the
perpetrators. The Ministry said that along with other related
departments, it will spare no effort to evacuate Chinese
nationals in Libya.
A total of 83 Chinese nationals have arrived at the Egyptian
border crossing of Sallum after leaving Tobruk in eastern Libya
late today, sources with the Ministry said. All these Chinese
nationals belong to the China Building Technique Group
Company.
The latest reports say a construction site run by Huafeng
Construction Co., Ltd. from China's Zhejiang Province was looted
by a group of armed men Sunday afternoon in the eastern city of
Agedabia, forcing nearly 1,000 Chinese workers from their
on site living quarters.
For its part, Russia said it is ready to evacuate 563 of
its nationals from Libya and four airplanes are
waiting for orders to take-off.
In other related news, it is reported that diplomats at
Libyan
embassies in the U.S., the United Nations, the Arab League,
Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, India and Bangladesh,
among others, have either resigned from their posts or disavowed
links to the Gaddafi government because of
the violence attributed to it. News agencies report that
many of the diplomats say that they stand with the protesters and
have called for international intervention.
Libya's Deputy Ambassador to the UN Ibrahim Dabbashi and other staff
from the UN
mission called on the UN Security Council to
declare Libyan airspace a no-fly zone, as did Libya's ambassador to
India. Dabbashi and his colleagues called on the International Criminal
Court in the Hague to start an immediate inquiry into
war crimes and crimes against humanity they said Gaddafi, his
sons and others had committed. They called on employees of
Libyan embassies all over the world to "stand with their people,"
especially the mission at the UN European headquarters in Geneva,
which they said should seek action by the UN Human Rights Council
there.
Abdel Moneim al-Houni, Libya's Ambassador to the Arab League resigned
on
Sunday, demanding that Gaddafi and his commanders and aides be
put on trial. The Arab League and the UN Security Council meet today
regarding the
situation in Libya.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay,
referring to
the events in Libya, stated that "widespread and systematic
attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes
against humanity."
On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said he had urged
restraint in a 40-minute conversation with President Gaddafi. "I urged
him that the human rights and freedom of
assembly and freedom of speech must be fully protected," Ban
said. "I forcefully urged him to stop the violence against
demonstrators and I again strongly underlined the importance of
respecting human rights of those demonstrators."
Ban also issued a statement saying he was "outraged" over reports
that Libyan security forces fired on demonstrators from the air.
"Such attacks against civilians, if confirmed, would constitute a
serious violation of international humanitarian law and would be
condemned by the secretary general in the strongest terms," UN
spokesman Martin Nesirky said. Notably, no such meetings or
condemnation has been issued regarding the
massacre of civilians by the military in Bahrain.
Libyan authorities have warned about the paralysis in
the oil
sector and explosions in some installations of the country's main
source of income. Libya exports 1.7 million barrels of oil a day to
Western European countries which are very dependent on Libyan oil.
Italy alone acquires 32 per cent of its oil requirements from Libya.
Overall, more than 80 per cent of Libya's oil is exported to Europe.
Top: Benghazi; below: Al
Bayda.
Tunisia
Despite a ban on protest
rallies following the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali in January,
on February 19 and 20, 2011, thousands protested in the capital Tunis
to call on Prime Minister Mohamed
Ghannouchi to resign. News agencies report that demonstrators oppose
the new government as it still
includes figures from the ousted regime. Protesters say they do not
want any members of the ruling party
in the post-revolution government.
Algeria
Several hundred
protestors protested in the capital Algiers on February 19, 2011 in a
rally organized by National
Coordination for Change and Democracy. They chanted slogans such
as "People want to overthrow the
regime" and "Free and Democratic Algeria." Thousands of police were
deployed against them.
Morocco
Demonstrations are taking place across Morocco, with thousands of
people joining in to call for political
reforms and limits on the powers of the monarch, King Mohammed VI, and
to oppose corruption.
Pictured above are demonstrations in the capital Rabat (left) and Marrakech.
Palestinians are gathering at the Rafah border crossing
with Egypt
in the south of the Gaza Strip in anticipation of the border being
opened
today. On Friday, February 18, Egypt temporarily reopened the
crossing for those stranded
in Egypt after it had been closed for more than three weeks
during the Egyptian people's
uprising. Travel is
prioritized for people with
medical referrals, foreign passport holders, people with visas to other
countries going straight to the airport
and students with proof of enrollment in their universities. Officials
report that negotiations with Egypt to
fully open the border crossing are ongoing.
The Rafah crossing, the only one which bypasses Israel,
has been
mostly closed since 2007. In June 2010, following worldwide
condemnation of Israel's attack on a humanitarian
flotilla bound for Gaza, it was opened more regularly. The Mubarak
government was known for its
collaboration with the U.S. and Israel in enforcing the criminal siege
of Gaza by
closing its borders with the territory.
In related
news, Hamas is preparing to launch a comprehensive Palestinian dialogue
aimed at achieving national
reconciliation, an official stated on Monday. "We are currently
preparing our vision for the reconciliation on a new
basis to secure a partnership," Ismail Radwan, a Hamas spokesman, told
Xinhua. For its part, on Sunday,
Fatah, which has control of the West Bank, said it wants to resume
meetings with Hamas to end the
split in accordance with an Egyptian proposal that Hamas rejected in
2009.
