عبد الحفيظ غوقة المتحدث الرسمي باسم المجلس الوطني الانتقالي Abad al-Hafiz Ruqa Official speaker of the national assembly of transition.
Photos from Benghazi military air base:
كاميرا الجزيرة تدخل قاعدة بنينة الجوية في بنغازي بعد انحيازها إلى الثورة الشعبية [Photos taken] by Al-Jazeera on the arrival at the air base of Benghazi after [its staff] joined the people's uprising.
Benghazi runway protected by anti-aircraft gun:
Palace of the Gadafi family taken:
صور لكاميرا الجزيرة في قصر للقذافي بمدينة البيضاء تظهر سردابا محصنا ضد هجمات نووية Pictures taken by Al-Jazeera in Gadafi's palace in the town of al- Baida are showing a fortified atomic bunker in the souterrain.
Bunker facility for the control of electricity and water supply, the ventilation system and a particle filter, installed by a Swiss company that is using parts provided by a U.S. company in Michigan. The controlling facility has been tested only some weeks ago:
Gadafi's swimming pool:
..........
Who Makes The Machinery ?
Visitor to "blueprint news" who found this site on May 23, 2012.
An extraordinary week in the Arabic world, characterized by mass rallies, bloodshed and the fear of national leaders. The following news items have been taken from an Arabic language special published by Al-Jazeera on February 25. UPDATES for the following days have been embedded !
المنطقة العربية على صفيح ساخن
The Arabic Region on a Hot Iron Plate
LIBYA ليبيا
الخناق يضيق على القذافي Suffocation is hampering Gadafi.
المتظاهرون يسيطرون على معظم ليبيا Protesters controlling major part of Libya.
مقتل و إصابا العشرات في طرابلس Fierce fighting and dozens wounded in Tripolis.
Gadafi speaking to a few followers from above a fortified town gate.
Excited group of Libyan soldiers ap- proaching protesters near Benghazi.
UPDATE from February 27, 2011: صور لكاميرا الجزيرة في قصر للقذافي بمدينة البيضاء تظهر سردابا محصنا ضد هجمات نووية Pictures taken by Al-Jazeera in Gadafi's palace in the town of al-Baida are showing a fortified atomic bunker in the souterrain.
Ventilation and particle filter only recently tested:
UPDATE from February 26, 2011
تشييع قتلى الاشتباكات في مدينة مصراتة الليبية Public funeral of those killed in [an armed] conflict in the Libyan town of Misurata ["Masrata"]. [For further information on the cited armed conflict, please, refer to the February 25 blogspot.]
مظاهرة احتجاجية في العاصمة عمان Demonstration of protest in the capital of Amman.
مطالب بإصلاحات سياسية و اقتصادية Calls for political and economic reforms.
اتهام الحكومة بالاستبداد و الفساد The government is being accused of dictatorship and corruption.
IRAQ العراق
مقتل شخصين و إصابا 5 في الموصل People died, five were wounded in Mosul.
مظاهرات في بغداد و كركوك و مدن أخرى Demonstrations in Baghdad, Kirkuk and other towns.
BAHRAIN البحرين
الألاف في دوار اللؤلؤة للتظاهر ضد الحكومة Thousands on Pearl Square demonstrating against the government.
وزير الخارجية البحريني: يمكن طرح كافة القضايا على المائدة According to the foreign minister of Bahrain, it is possible to get rid of all problems at a [negotiating] table.
TUNISIA تونس
اعتصام يطالب بسقوط الحكومة الأنتقالية The government of transition needs to be saved from failure.
اتهام حكومة محمد الغنوشي بأنها امتداد للنظام السابق The government of Mahmud al-Ranushi is being accused of prolonging the former system.
UPDATE from February 27, 2011: الغنوشي يعلن استقالته من الحكومة التونسية و اتجاه لتكليف باجي قائد السيسي لخلافته Al-Ranushi declares his resignation from the Tunisian government [amidst] controversial tendencies [for the] political leader to follow.
EGYPT مصر
المتظاهرون يتمسكون بمطالب الثورة Protesters stick to their demands [made during] the uprising.
المتظاهرون يطالبون بمحاكمة مبارك و إقالة شفيق Protesters demanding the punishment of Mubarak and a pitiless treatment.
Visitor statistics for the current blogspot, registered 24 hours after its creation. As visitors will be registered only, if their web address is containing a country denominator which is rather rarely the case, the real number of visitors within 24 hours has to be estimated based on further statistical material of my main site. Therefore, a number of 50+ visitors within 24 hours can be regarded as a realistic estimation.
Here are the daily news from Libya as they appeared in the late evening news program on Al-Jazeera Arabic TV, February 24, 2011, posted by Ulysses at 11:28 pm GMT:
مصادر للجزيرة في الزاوية:عناصر من الجيش يلتحقون بالمتظاهرين و يفتحون مخازن الذخيرة
Al-Jazeera's sources at al-Zaouia (*) are saying that essential elements of the army are joining the protesters and are opening the army depots. * al-Zaouia = Small town west of Tripolis.
الرابطة الليبية لحقوق الإنسان: لدى مجلس حقوق الإنسان ملفات كاملة لإدانة نظام القذافي
The Libyan association for human rights says their organisation is keeping complete dossiers to accuse the Gadafi regime.
أ.ف.ب عن مصدر رسمي : سويسرا تجمد أرصدة محتملة للقذافي و المقربين منه
AFP [= Agence France Press] is the official source [of the following]: Switzerland will freeze the eventual assets of Gadafi and his family.
قتيلا 16 على الأقل في مواجهات متواصلة في الزاوية غرب طرابلس
At least 16 died in enduring confrontations in al-Zaouia west of Tripolis.
أحمد قذاف الدم الممثل الشخصي للقذافي يقدم استقالته
Ahmed Gadaf al-Dam, personal representative of Gadafi, has resigned.
رائد بسلاح الجو الليبي يدعو الطيارين الليبين للنزول في مطار مصراته بعد سيطرة الثوار عليه
A commander of the Libyan air force calls for Libyan pilots to land on the airstrip of Misurata (*) to get the rebels there under control. * Misurata = Town of the coastal region, east of Homs and Tripolis.
صحفي للجزيرة: كتائب القذافي تشن عمليات كر و فر على الزاوية و أسرنا العديد من عناصرها
Reported by Al-Jazeera: Units [loyal to] Gadafi are launching operations of attack and retreat on al-Zaouia and [ethnic] families [or: tribal clans] with their numerous members. Comment: By the way, after having read the Arabic writing of the dictator's name, I came to think that the accurate transcription to be used in Western media should be GADAFI rather than Gaddafi (Al-Jazeera) or anything else. Nevertheless, I don't intend to correct the writing I used in my older blogspots or in my videos. He isn't worth such additional work any longer.
Screenshot from Al-Jazeera Arabic TV on February 23
Ghaddafi's son trying to warn and intimidate the people of Libya on behalf of his father only a few days ago. [Photo]
"The Italian minister of foreign affairs says that Eastern Libya is not any longer under the control of the Libyan government." [Arabic footnote white on red]
"Libyan military units of the Green Mountain region openly announce their participation in the revolt of the people." [Arabic footnote white on blue]
Summary of News on February 23, 2011:
- Benghazi folks celebrating their victory while shooting is going on.
- Commanding Libyan general in Tobruk declares he has broken with the regime.
- The country seems to be split between regions where the army is taking sides in favour of protesters and such parts where private militias are chasing enemies of the system on behalf of Ghaddafi who cannot trust his own army any longer.
- There are rumours that Ghaddafi might intend to blow up Libyan oil wells.
- Former minister of justice says there is evidence that Ghaddafi was directly involved in the Lockerbie incident.
And whoso defendeth himself after he hath suffered wrong - for such, there is no way (of blame) against them. (41) The way (of blame) is only against those who oppress mankind, and wrongfully rebel in the earth. For such there is a painful doom. (42)
Defiant Gaddafi speech shows he would rather die "a martyr" than leave the country while blaming drugged and drunken youths as well as foreign spies to be behind what he calls an "international conspiracy" to damage the Libyan revolution which he is decided to defend by any means that is needed. He aggressively insists that "these rats" will "beg for mercy but not receive it". Gaddafi is now said trying to open talks with tribal leaders who are considered to be very influential among the people.
Closed door meeting of UN Security Council on Libya. Disturbing differences between statements of Libya's UN ambassador who is still pro-government and his deputy who openly demanded Gaddafi's resign the day before when several Libyan diplomats all over the world resigned from their posts.
Arab League holds emergency meeting in Kairo.
At a State Department press conference, U.S. spokesman Crowley gave moderate comments about Libya while stating that repatriation of U.S. citizens from the airports controlled by Libyan government had first priority in the current state of urgency. At the same time, Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry expressed his opinion on violence in Libya as follows: "The Qadhafi government's use of deadly force against its own people should mean the end of the regime itself. It's beyond depictable, and I hope we are wit- nessing its last hours in power. Libyans should have the opportunity to choose leaders who respect their basic rights." The White House like the Department of State offer condolences for the victims of "appalling violence".
Libyan naval ship floating in the waters of Malta, possibly intending to defect like the pilots of two military jets the day before. Pilots said they refused to bomb protesting citizens at Benghazi.
Recent reports say that foreign pilots and other mercenaries are deployed by the government to bomb or shoot protesting citizens. Some people are said to have been burnt alive by mercenaries.
Libyan soldiers in Tobruk announced that Libyan government is not in control of the region any longer.
According to Italy, marine oil terminals in Libya hold operations.
Lots of foreigners are leaving the country. Rescue operations are being prepared in the United States, in Egypt, Korea and in the Netherlands. Egyptian citizens in Libya are under pressure as the Libyan government is blaming Egypt for inciting unrest in its country.
Ghaddafi speech on February 22, 2011:
Comment by Ulysses: Such must have behaved the German "Fuehrer" Adolf Hitler in his bunker during his very last days in 1945.
Britain's Tony Blair and Libya's Ghadafi shaking hands.
While Tripolis and Benghazi are facing a bloody revolt against Libya's president Ghadafi, there is still Libyan oil flowing to the European Union. As 79% of Libyan crude oil is being delivered to Europe, such making Libya the No. 3 oil supplier for the EU after Norway and Russia, Europe's politicians are interested in good relations with Muhamar El-Ghadafi. The former godfather of Arabic terrorism, once punished by an international boycott on behalf of the U.S., since then turned into an "honourable" business partner whose "oily handshake" pleased many European politicians until now.
Percentage of total Libyan oil export to European countries:
Shortened video of Al-Jazeera's latest evening news: - Another day of unrest in Yemen, Bahrain and Libya. - The Libyan oil connection (see above). - Iranian naval ships passing the Egyptian Suez canal on their way to Syria for a purported arms delivery. Israel protesting.
UPDATE from Feb. 19, 2011: Evening News on Al-Jazeera ( Shortened Arabic version with English subtitles; الثورات في ليبيا و اليمن )
Historic Unrest in the Arab world
Today, it seems that rebellion in Bahrain, Libya and Yemen reached a point of no return, a final breach of the dyke, that will sooner or later lead to replacement of the actual leadership. Whatever time it might take to achieve the peoples' goal of freedom, democracy and an end to corruption, now, the predicted development received its final impulse in all of those countries: Huge numbers of dead and wounded civilians from the streets of Manama can't be forgotten quickly enough to enable Bahrain's ruling family a return to "business as usual". As to Libya and Yemen, the rebellion has already lasted too long and required too many victims that a kind of status quo could be reached again.
One hour ago, I recorded a news special on the Arabic channel of Al-Jazeera which has everything in it to describe how the Arabic world is driving into a chaos that, we hope, might finally generate a new era of freedom and democracy.
When traditional structures of power finally broke away in Tunisia and Egypt, opposition groups of other Arabic nations took the initiative to give vent to their anger.
The Algerian opposition had already taken to the streets when the Tunisian revolution just began and nobody even imagined that Egypt's citizens, by starting their own revolution from scratch, would bring about enough manpower on the streets of Kairo, Alexandria and Suez as to overtake the Algerians in their fight for freedom and democracy.
And now, the virus of protest has even infected the people of Bahrain, that tiny Arabic nation living on an island which has already become known as the "biggest U.S. aircraft carrier" because of its U.S. naval base. A deeply rooted mistrust against the ruling family has now driven the people into an open resistance. Public unrest first showed up only three days ago. Latest news: The Bahrain military deployed lots of tanks to support police forces. Then, both, police and military obviously succeeded in cracking down on the demonstrators to restore "silence and order" once again, but who knows for how long that fragile peace will last while problems still remain unsolved....
Bahrain's foreign minister, a member of the ruling Khalifa family. Protesters in Manama.
A similar situation emerged in Yemen where protests against the Yemenite president are already lasting six days. Lots of protesting students and other demonstrators meet with pro-government protesters.
The Yemenite president and protesters on the streets of Aden in Southern Yemen.
Protesters on the streets of Yemen's capital Sanaa. From here, the uprising spread to all over Yemen.
Even Libya under the rule of its notorious president Ghadafi and Sudan, ruled by its despotic president Basher, are on the list of ideal candidates for the next revolutions to come.
Libyan opposition volunteers and pro-government groups fighting each other on the streets of Benghasi and elsewhere. Some of them tearing down pictures of president Ghadafi while others are showing their support for the "leader of the Libyan revolution". We already knew that such pro- government groups existed, ready to interfere in case that ordinary people might take to the streets. How else, Ghadafi could have politically survived during all those years when he was either marked as one of those grey figures behind Arabic terrorism in the so-called Lockerbie incident, or when he surprised his Arabic fellow-statesmen once and again with his peculiar statements on how to solve regional problems ? During all those years of economic boycott on behalf of the U.S. that temporarily drove his oil producing country into poverty, people in Libya had already been fed up with their leader's style of ruling the country and the way of life led by Ghadafi's family clan.
The below picture is showing organized pro-government protesters.
During yesterday's uprising, heavy shooting has been reported that left demonstrators severely wounded or dead. Hours later, the flames of revolution reached other important towns of Libya according to Al-Jazeera. Up to now, it is still difficult to get enough and reliable pictures out of Libya.
Al-Jazeera's Arabic subtitle to the above picture: "Two died and tens were wounded in Benghazi when Libyan security clashed with protesters the day before demonstrations (took place) against the (political) system in Libya."
Not to speak of Iraq and Jordan, both countries being closely linked together because of a common history under the rule of the Hashemite dynasty. By the way, the border between Egypt and the Gaza strip is still closed. That might change within the days to come, such enabling Palestinian habitants of Gaza to get in some aid.
قيادات الثورة طالبت المجلس العسكري بوضع دستور جديد يمهد لجمهورية برلمانية Leaders of the revolution demanding from the military council the establishment of a new constitution intended to prepare for a parliamentary republic.
خطوات أولى لتنظيم الانتقال بمصر
First Steps on the Way to Transition in Egypt
عين المجلس العسكري الأعلى الذي يدير مصر مؤقتا مساء أمس رئيسا للجنة صياغة التعديلات الدستورية التي يتوقع استفتاء الشعب عليها خلال شهرين، بما يمهد لإرساء حكم مدني ديمقراطي, وأقال مسؤولين أمنيين بارزين على خلفية إطلاق النار على المتظاهرين
The supreme military council for the administration of Egypt yesterday evening determined the president of the commission (in charge) to provide constitutional reforms (within a certain time) that should be subject to a plebiscite within two months, such facilitating the firm establishment of civil and democratic administration. The dismissal of former security (officers) responsible for the shooting of protesters (was announced as well).
Yemen: Students taking to the streets on February 12, 2011.
Today, the resignation of the Egyptian president Mubarak finally took place after almost 30 years of despotic rule and many days of nationwide uprise. In the end, it was the military that put an end to the presidency of Mubarak in order to keep the Republic of Egypt together amidst of turmoil.
Whatever political currents within the Egyptian people might now begin to compete for legal power after the revolution, all foreign nations regarded as partners of Egypt, even though for different reasons, will have to face an independent country that will be less likely to follow the route of appeasement, a feature that made Egypt under the Mubarak administration such a valuable ally when it came to close all eyes on Israel's militant policy towards the Palestinians and their wish to establish an independent state of Palestine.
And if the flame of revolution was spreading from Tunis and Cairo to other nations of the Arabic world, the behaviour of Israel, seen by the Arabs (and not only by them) as the top aggressor in the Middle East, might finally lead to an anti- Israeli alliance based on the common will of the Arabic peoples and tribes and powerful enough to reduce Israel in its regional influence and perhaps in its borders as well...
As can already been seen in Algeria where public turmoil began at about the same time as in Tunisia, this point of view is not too far from reality. Even influential jews within the U.S.A. might then be unable to stop the predicted development under a President Obama who is decided to accept the spreading of democracy whereever it appears.
Al-Jazeera reporting live from Cairo after the resignation of president Mubarak:
When Algerian citizens took to the streets in December 2010, at a time when the Tunisian people already demanded an end to the long- lasting dictatorship of their president Ben Ali, the Egyptian revolution was not yet in sight:
According to the political bureau of the ruling National- Democratic Party (المكتب السياسي للحزب الوطني الديمقراطي الحاكم), its leadership has stepped down (February 5, 2011).
صفوت الشريف وعن يمينه جمال مبارك Picture showing Safut Sharif and, at his right, Djamal Mubarak, both leaders of the ruling National-Democratic Party in Egypt.
Mubarak - Private Assets Abroad
ذكرت صحيفة غارديان البريطانية أن ثروة الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك وعائلته تتراوح بين 40 و70 مليار دولار، وفقًا لتحليل خبراء في الشرق الأوسط
The British Journal Guardian remembers that private assets of the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his family comprise about 40-70 million Dollar and are allegedly deposited in the Middle East (February 5, 2011).
On Feb. 1, 2011, the end of Mubarak's 30-year-presidency is finally in sight. This seems to prove the truth delivered by Al-Jazeera's recent opinion poll (below).
Online opinion poll of Al-Jazeera published on their Arabic website for the period from January 28 till January 31, 2011 :
Do you consider that (all these) protestations of the Egyptian people are having an effect on the realization of their demands ?
voting YES : 177.267 (85,9%)
voting NO : 29.117 (14,1%)
total number of participants in this enquiry: 206.384
"In almost every successful social movement of the last century, from Gandhi's campaign against British rule to the Solidarity movement in Poland to the antiapartheid movement in South Africa, democracy was the result of a local awakening." [Barack Obama, "The Audacity of Hope"]
By the way, such numbers remind me of the early days of Al-Jazeera opinion polls, at the beginning of the war against Iraq and when thousands and thousands of Arabic speaking voters on Al-Jazeera already gave an idea of what would happen in the years to follow. The increasing number of participants finally began to annoy U.S. friendly elements who then tried to manipulate the outcome of one important poll. Without success, as Al-Jazeera quickly blocked the attack and made it the news subject of the day. Since then, I haven't heard of further incidents of the kind, maybe because times and opinions have changed even in the U.S.A.. [Ulysses]
Suite of videos covering the development of the current situation:
Some years ago, I recorded the above video on the Egyptian National TV. Together with an add I produced myself, it is now showing how different the art of Arabic writing is being practised by military forces under the guidance of Hosni Mubarak and by the ordinary people of Egypt.
The following two videos have been recorded on Al-Jazeera during the last days (January 29/30, 2011):
A terrible increase of violence took place after Mubarak's speech. Street fighting between protesters on one side and followers of Mubarak as well as police agents on the other side (Feb. 2, 2011):
In order to fully understand how recent turmoil came into being, you should watch the following video. It is about the rigged parliamentary election in December 2010 where opposition candidates lost almost all of their seats even though enjoying broad public support.
While Western media are just about to remember the notorious attempt on behalf of the former Soviet Union to install some of their nuclear missiles on Cuba, CUBAVISION, the satellite channel of Cuba, has just broadcast a documentary showing how the U.S. tried to kill Fidel Castro and such destabilize his government in early 1961.
Of course, U.S. President Kennedy's harsh response in October 1962 to the installation of nukes in the neighbourhood of his country was a mere necessity and could not be praised enough for the sake of worldwide peace.
Nevertheless, it should not be ignored that U.S. efforts to kill Cuba's revolutionary leader and overthrow his young government from the very beginning left no real choice for the Cubans than to make friends with the Soviet Union. The economic blockade that followed and held for many decades until now made things even more difficult for Fidel Castro and drove him into a far-reaching dependency on Moscow.
I can't guarantee that every single fact included in the following documentary has its truth, but the proven facts are sufficient enough to blame the U.S. for their policy of intolerance which earned them many enemies during the last decades, not only from within such countries behind the Iron Curtain that once separated Cold War enemies, but from independent countries as well. Even today, U.S. treatment of the Cuban people and their government is enraging Cuba's Latin American friends. Maybe it's time now for the United States to come to terms with their old enemy Cuba which they are still treating like a Caribbean ship of pirates whose legendary captain refuses to die.
As to the documentary itself, it recalls the killing attempt of the Cuban leader with the help of some insiders, a former military commander who served under Fidel and a member of cabinet of his first government after the Cuban revolution. The plannings on behalf of the CIA became known to Cuban authorities, 16 participants were arrested with 5 CIA agents among them, and lots of weapons, ammunition, explosives and communication material were confiscated.
Historic pictures are showing how enemies of the revolution used bombs to destroy a building in Havana. The bombing of Cuban airports that left many civilian losses and, finally, the CIA invasion that failed are documented as well. All these incidents took place in 1961 and within a short time. Apparently there should have been another incident when Fidel was to be infected with anthrax, a biological weapon.
Other attempts to kill Castro on behalf of the CIA are not included. There's for instance the mysterious case of that German girl Marita Lorenz who came to Cuba, fell in love with Fidel and became pregnant, was abducted and dragged to the U.S.A. where she was brainwashed and sent back in order to kill the Cuban leader. I think that was the case with the poisoned cigars, the only point I'm unable to remember any longer. Marita Lorenz obviously failed as well. Even though being brainwashed, she seemed to be unable to kill her ex-lover. She then returned to the U.S.A. where she worked for the CIA in different secondary positions. According to her, she belonged to a kind of "hitting squad", following the traces of people who were on a CIA black list. One day when she was in Dallas, together with her group, a certain Lee Harvey Oswald was with them. Nobody objected when he disappeared for some hours: It was the day he shot President Kennedy from a nearby building. Later, Mrs. Lorenz was interrogated by a commission of the U.S. Congress that had to explore the Kennedy murder, and she told them all she new about L.H. Oswald. Nevertheless, her statement was regarded as of less importance, maybe because of her earlier brainwashing background. As L.H. Oswald was shot himself immediately after his arrest, nobody remained to relate the Kennedy murder with the CIA any longer. Instead, another theory came into being, relating Fidel Castro with the Dallas incident. Postscript: Many years later, a pitiful elderly lady arrived in Havana, together with her son who had to care for her and a West-German television team. Marita Lorenz was unable to see her ex-lover but was warmly received by Fidel Castro's private secretary who spoke to her behind closed doors. ...
As Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez has become the inofficial speaker of a Latin American Alliance (*) that comprises some of the continent's most important countries ruled by socialist governments and in the frame of Venezuela holding the greatest reserves of crude oil worldwide, it should be interesting to hear what Chavez says about the latest development of his country's economy. Here are some quotations from his speech held before the National Assembly of Venezuela [TELESUR, Caracas, Jan. 18, 2011; Translation Spanish- English by Ulysses]
"It is necessary to achieve control over [national] expenses in order to fight speculation." This is hinting at, both, the market prices of food stuff and, as well, all expenses on behalf of the government.
"Venezuela must turn into a power of agriculture [ and such enlarge its power as a country that is providing crude oil ]." As to the planned development of agriculture, livestock breeding and the fishing industry have been particularly named.
Referring to the decay of economy during the last two years 2009 and 2010, Chavez said:
"We finally regained the path of economic growth."
"I did not forget the four years of 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 when Venezuela was the number one place of economic growth in Latin America if not one of the first places worldwide. What came then, was the impact of dropping prices for crude oil, the dropping of oil production, the climatic effect. - And facing such situation, now, some are saying that the reason of economic decay is nationalization or rather socialism. - No, this is not the reason !" When hinting at the climatic effect, he was referring to latest enormous floodings and earlier consequences of the notorious climate effect called El Niño.
Finally, Chavez pointed out that minimum wages of workers in his country have risen for about 20% this year.
The following video contains additional information on Venezuela's recent economic development in the frame of an interview TELESUR held with Orangel Rivas, an expert of Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics. It's about consumption and employment during the last two years.
(*) At present, that alliance of Latin American states is including Argentine, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, all countries being ruled by left- wing governments.
Pictures above: "Ben Ali, you killed (y)our people !" - "Ben Ali, get out !"
Tonight, Tunisia's president Ben Ali fled the country after days of uprising in the capital of Tunis. As he was expected to seek asylum in France, the international press was surprised when Ben Ali's plane headed for the Arabian peninsula where he finally landed in Djedda in the middle of the night.
It is considered that French authorities were unable to arrange something for Ben Ali because of his urgent flight that made any preparations impossible. Nevertheless, France should still be seen as the dictator's first choice because of manifold relations between Tunisia and its former colonial power. Furthermore, personal relations between French president Sarkozy and Ben Ali have always been regarded as fine.
After the president's retreat, the Tunisian prime minister immediately declared his intention to serve as an interim president. He promised to stick to the constitution and prepare for general elections in the very next future. Some hours later, another politician, the president of parliament, was definitely installed as the interim president of Tunisia.
Meanwhile, fierce fighting is taking place between Tunisian riot police and civilian protesters while at least parts of the military are tending to take sides in favor of the people. For example, military vehicles have been observed that accompanied protesters who were engaged in clashes with the police.
Pictures below: - The true purpose of police in a totalitarian state. - Military sympathizing with the people.
Certainly you will find the most violent of people in enmity for those who believe (to be) the Jews and those who are polytheists, and you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians; this is because there are priests and monks among them and because they do not behave proudly.
Today, CNN revealed that, both, U.S. and Canadian military are tracking Santa Claus on his way to America. Using satellite, GPS and jet fighters they are now ensuring Santa's safe arrival. Barbara Starr, CNN political correspondent reporting from Washington DC while NORAD is feeding in life pictures from Santa Claus.
Two hours ago, a new era in space travel began when, for the first time, a commercial space launch took place. The Falcon 9 carrier and the attached Dragon capsule are intended to provide the International Space Station ISS with all goods needed and then return safely to earth. On later flights, the Dragon capsule should carry astronauts as well. One single mission is expected to last about two days, two orbits before landing included. This comes at a time when the U.S. national space shuttle program is expected to end.
Yesterday, U.S. President Obama unexpectedly appeared in Afghanistan where he held an encouraging speech in front of U.S. troops. One year after his announcement of an increase in U.S. military presence, he said that Afghanistan had become more safe and that U.S. troops controlled more Afghan regions than before such that a handing-over of power to the Afghan security forces had already come in sight.
UPDATE from Dec. 6, 2010:
German Troops in Afghanistan as Evaluated by the Afghan People
The following polls have been carried out in Afghanistan and published by German National TV Channel 1 (ARD). They are showing a significant drop of trust into German military presence as seen by Afghan civilians:
"Your estimation of the German Federal Republic ?" The 2007 poll showed an overwhelming positive estimation of Germany of 75% that turned into a mere 46% in the December 2010 poll.
"Do you consider any attack on foreign troops to be justified ?" While in January 2010 an overwhelming 87% said "no" to this option with only 2% answering "yes", the December 2010 poll showed only 57% "no" votes in comparison with 39% "yes" votes.
Increasing mistrust into German military presence in Afghanistan
Personal Remark by Ulysses: As Obama stated in his speech at Bagram Airbase, the alliance of nations cooperating with the U.S. in Afghanistan (ISAF) has risen to 49 members (*). Unfortunately, this fact doesn't necessarily imply an improved military efficiency in the fight against their common enemy, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Indeed, we are now being confronted with an increasing mistrust of the Afghan people into all ISAF operations and even more into the presence of any foreign troops in Afghanistan.
(*) = This passage at the beginning of Obama's speech was not recorded because of technical reasons (restriction to 15 min. of duration).
The Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt (الزاوية الإسلامية في المصر), representing the most powerful opposition group in Egypt's General Elections, is now launching their candidates. As the Brotherhood is officially forbidden and, therefore, excluded from the elections, their members are acting as "independent" candidates who, nevertheless, don't hide their real origin. An interesting feature by Al-Jazeera [Nov. 26, 2010].
Another video: Two days before the 2010 General Elections, a spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt describes the situation of Egypt's most powerful opposition group. Its all about how to resist the dictatorship of President Mubarak's National Democratic Party that is expected to sweep parliament with the help of ruling power and secret police, ignoring, both, the basic rules of democracy and the outcome of earlier lawsuits on election fraud [Nov. 26, 2010].
UPDATE after General Elections: Outcome of the first round of elections in Egypt. "Independent" candidates related to the Muslim Brotherhood lost all their seats in parliament. As the Brotherhood is known to enjoy broad public support in Egypt, the elections should be considered as rigged. Al-Jazeera report from December 1, 2010.
موقع ويكيــــليكس يعتزم نشر وثائـــــق جديدة يقول إنها أكبر سبع مرات من الوثائق السابقة
الـسفـيـر الأمريكــي في بغداد يقول إن نشر وثائق سرية جديدة أمرسيئ للغاية
Wikileaks announced its decision to publish a new set of documents that should include seven times more documents than those earlier published.
U.S. ambassador in Baghdad is considering the latest Wikileaks publication as extremely serious.
Yesterday, November 26, and in its feature "Behind the News", the Arabic channel of Al-Jazeera broadcast a discussion including two correspondents from Washington and Beirut on the impact which latest publications by Wikileaks, expected to come this weekend, might have on diplomatic relations between the U.S. and their international partners like Russia and China. Above all, regional relations have been discussed that are considered to be extremely difficult. As to the Iraqi subject, for instance, U.S. relations with Turkey and Iraqi Kurds might be affected. The same problem might arise for the negotiations between Israel and Palestine, now being pushed forward by the Obama administration at a very critical state.
The British daily "The Guardian" which is among the few papers of international repute that got an exclusive taste of Wikileaks' upcoming release, already wrote about an expected publication of secret cables from U.S. diplomats in their November 27 edition.
To get an idea of the range of subjects Wikileaks is dealing with, here a screenshot of Wikileaks' table of contents extracted from an earlier release, dating back to October 22, 2010. Click to the image and load the attached pdf file !
UPDATE from December 2, 2010: Further news from the WikiLeaks release of U.S. diplomatic cables. This time it's about Russia. Different U.S. sources hold Russia as a Mafia state where organised criminals and parts of the government are working "hand in hand".
UPDATE from December 3, 2010:
ويكيليكس و المخطط الحرب ضد الايران من العربية السعودية
The famous Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has been surprisingly extradited from Thailand to the U.S.A. on behalf of the Thai government.
After two years in a Bangkok prison, he is now facing charges of supporting terrorism by selling all kinds of arms to Africa, Central Asia and Central America. It is namely his arms delivery to the Latin American rebels of FARC organization that makes him wanted by U.S. authorities. He had been captured by Thai troops under the guidance of U.S. specialists in March 2008.
Despite accusations against the Thai prime minister made by Bout's wife Ala and angry comments from the Russian government, Viktor Bout has already been flewn out on a U.S. military plane and accompanied by several U.S. agents. Nevertheless, it seems that some Thai laws have been "bended" in this case.
By the way, it's the same Viktor Bout that served as a model for the 2005 motion picture "Master of War" or "El Señor de la Guerra", starring Nicholas Cage as the main character.
[Source: RUSSIA TODAY TV, Spanish service]
UPDATE, November 18, 2010: [Source: Al-Jazeera TV, English service]
President Karzai recently urged the reduction of foreign troops in his country. As well, he demanded that foreign units should refrain from military activity at night. Source: Al-Jazeera.
Yesterday, a huge blast hit the center of Karachi, Pakistan's most important center of commerce and industry. An enormous crater has been formed by the detonation of a truck loaded with about 1.000 kilograms of explosives. This happened on a police compound housing a crime investigation unit of the Pakistani anti-terror squad. The building itself has been totally ruined and about one square kilometer of the town has been affected as well. Even in distant houses lots of windows have been knocked out by an enormous wave of pressure. The incident left at least 15 dead and 100 wounded, most of the victims being security personnel.
U.S. President Obama's speech at the end of the actual G20 Summit in Seoul has two crucial points: How to restore U.S. trade balance and urging China to allow their currency being driven by the laws of the market. In fact, there are dark clouds in the sky when it comes to the relation between western markets and eastern expansion.
In his 481-page memoirs "Points of Decision", former U.S. president George Bush jun. now justifies the use of a special torture called "waterboarding" when it comes to harvest information from detained suspects of terrorism. Seen in the frame of widespread international mistrust against the U.S. way of dealing with that matter and of fruitless efforts by the Obama administration to imme- diately close the detainee camp at Guantánamo, such stances are not really helpful to restore U.S. credibility in the world. But what else did you expect from the Bush league ?
