Greater Middle East
Nobel peace laureate urges ICC investigation into former Yemen regime
Nobel peace laureate Tawakkul Karman on Nov. 28 uged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct an investigation into the violent crackdown on dissent and alleged human rights violations by the country's former president, Ali Abdullah Sakeh. Although Karman presented ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo with a file on crimes she believes were committed by Saleh's regime, the Nobel laureate was also quick to acknowledge that her plea will likely fail due to the fact that Yemen has not signed the court's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, and is therefore not a member of the ICC. Consequently, the only way the prosecutor can begin such an investigation is if the UN Security Council instructs him to do so. While the Security Council has yet to make such an order, it has issued a statement on Yemen reiterating that "all those responsible for violence, human rights violations and abuses should be held accountable." Saleh stepped down as president last week in a deal that would grant immunity to the country's former leader.
Egypt: Suez port workers refuse to let pass US tear gas shipment
Customs employees at Adabiya Seaport in the Suez Canal Zone refused to allow a seven-ton shipment of tear gas to pass Nov. 28, and were detained for questioning by security officials. Documents released by the customs workers indicate the first of three such shipments ordered by the Interior Ministry. Remaining shipments apparently remain en route from Wilmington, Del. Documents indicate the tear gas was manufactured by Pennsylvania-based Combined Systems.
Egypt: sit-in at cabinet building launched to demand "national salvation government"
New street clashes broke out in Cairo Nov. 26, the day after a young protester was killed when he was run over by a police truck. The incident occurred when protesters attempted to march on the Interior Ministry, which oversees the security forces, to oppose repression that has now left 40 dead in a week of demonstrations. Police erected a concrete barricade on the street connecting Tahrir Square and the Interior Ministry, which protesters have sprayed with graffiti reading, "Freedom is coming." Protesters remain in control of Tahrir Square, and have extended their sit-in to the nearby building that houses the cabinet, demanding the formation of a civilian-led "national salvation government."
Protests turn deadly in Saudi Arabia; regime capitulates in Yemen —sort of
Four men have been killed in protests this week by the Shi'ite minority in Saudi Arabia's east—the most serious violence in the kingdom since the start of the Arab Spring. Street clashes began after a youth was killed at a checkpoint near Qatif. On Nov. 24, security forces fired on the funeral of a slain protester, leaving two more dead. Police said they exchanged fire with gunmen who "infiltrated" the mourners. The Interior Ministry said that "a number of security checkpoints and vehicles have since Monday been increasingly coming under gunfire attacks in the Qatif region by assailants motivated by foreign orders." (The Independent, Middle East Online, Nov. 25)
Israeli security forces: Turkey preparing military intervention in Syria
Anonymous Israeli security officials told Haaretz newspaper Nov. 23 that they believe Turkey is preparing a military intervention in Syria, seeking to create a secure buffer zone on the border for armed opposition forces. Ankara has already given shelter to some 20,000 refugees fleeing repression by Syrian President Bashar Assad's security forces, and also hosts Syrian opposition groups. Unnamed Israeli officials said that Ankara is expected to set up bases that would be protected by the Turkish army from which Syrian opposition forces can operate. (Haaretz, Nov. 23)
Egypt: regime in crisis as Tahrir Square protesters hang on
Protests rocked Cairo for a sixth day Nov. 23, as security forces again used tear gas in another effort to clear Tahrir Square. Clashes raged in surrounding streets, and the square was illuminated by floodlights mounted on armored personnel carriers. Health officials say 32 are now dead in the six days of unrest. Protests also broke out in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria, the canal city of Suez, the central city of Qena, the northern city of Port Said, Assiut and Aswan in the south, in the Nile Delta province of Daqahliya, and the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Kuwait: king orders crackdown after protesters storm parliament
Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, has ordered authorities to tighten security in the Persian Gulf mini-state after the parliament building was stormed by dozens of protesters on Nov. 16, as hundreds more demonstrated outside. Hundreds, including opposition lawmakers, have been protesting weekly outside parliament, demanding an investigation into corruption charges. "The Kuwaiti constitution can no longer accommodate the movement on the street," said Islamist lawmaker Jamaan al-Harbash, calling for an end to Kuwait's ban on political parties. "There must be a system of political parties in Kuwait so that it becomes a democracy that fosters state institutions rather than a clannish, tribal state. At a time when other Arab states are progressing, there is a dangerous regression taking place in Kuwait."
Egypt: protesters vow not to leave Tahrir Square until new government formed
Up to 20,000 people remain in Cairo's Tahrir Square, with thousands more in surrounding streets, despite ongoing efforts by security forces to remove them in a third consecutive day of protests Nov. 21. "The people want the fall of the marshal," demonstrators chanted, referring to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi—Mubarak's defense minister for two decades and now head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Egypt's military-appointed interim prime minister Essam Sharaf and his cabinet offered to resign in a bid to defuse the protests, but the SCAF has not indicated it will accept the resignations. Over 20 have now been killed and more than 1,500 wounded in the three days of street fighting. Doctors at a field clinic near Tahrir Square reported seeing as many as 10 bodies killed by live ammunition, an escalation from the tear gas and rubber bullets the security forces have previously used. Leaders across the spectrum—secularists and Islamists alike—have endorsed a call for a "million man march" on the 22nd to demand a new civilian government.

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