Immediately after Mubarak's demise
NYT:
Across the Arab world on Friday, thousands of people poured into the streets to celebrate the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt after nearly three weeks of demonstrations against his almost 30-year rule.
In Beirut, gunfire broke out and crowds of people waved Egyptian flags. In Yemen, they gathered in front of the Egyptian Embassy chanting, “Wake up rulers, Mubarak fell today.” In Gaza, they fired shots in the air and set off fireworks.
But in a telling sign of the divide between the rulers and the ruled, the region’s leaders, presidents and monarchs remained largely silentIn Yemen, after protests that drew thousands into the streets of the capital, Sana, on Friday, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was expected to announce more concessions soon, opposition leaders said. Last week, he declared that he would suspend constitutional amendments allowing him to remain in power for life, a longstanding demand of the Islamist-led opposition, and promised that his son would not inherit his rule.
He has also raised salaries for the military and civil servants, cut income taxes in half and ordered price controls.
In Iraq, officials have reduced their salaries, and in Algeria, the government has promised to lift the state of emergency that has been the law since 1992.
Syrian officials lifted a ban on Facebook and Youtube this week, tools Egyptian protesters used to great effect. Human rights advocates warned that the move could make it easier for the government to monitor its opponents. Still, residents of a Damascus suburb celebrated Mr. Mubarak’s ouster with fireworks on Friday, Reuters reported, a bold stance in a country ruled by emergency law for nearly five decades.
The only governments in the region that seemed to have embraced the protests without reservation were those led by Islamists. In Lebanon, a Hezbollah statement said, “Hezbollah congratulates the great people of Egypt on this historic and honorable victory which is a direct result of their pioneering revolution.”
In Gaza, the Palestinian militant group Hamas went further, calling on the new Egyptian leadership to open the borders with Gaza and reconsider its ties with Israel.
plus Algeria's manifestations
During the protests:
Jordan's King Abdullah has fired his cabinet and appointed a new one in response to demonstrations there.
Iran's hard-line authorities won't approve a permit for the march, especially at the same site where up to 3 million anti-government protesters staged a rally on June 15, 2009. These days, only rallies by supporters of the Iranian government, often bused in and handed free food, are allowed. But the audacity of the request suggests how the political contagion wending its way through the Arab world may affect Iran, a non-Arab Muslim country that nonetheless maintains strong connections to its neighbors.
NYT:
Across the Arab world on Friday, thousands of people poured into the streets to celebrate the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt after nearly three weeks of demonstrations against his almost 30-year rule.
In Beirut, gunfire broke out and crowds of people waved Egyptian flags. In Yemen, they gathered in front of the Egyptian Embassy chanting, “Wake up rulers, Mubarak fell today.” In Gaza, they fired shots in the air and set off fireworks.
But in a telling sign of the divide between the rulers and the ruled, the region’s leaders, presidents and monarchs remained largely silentIn Yemen, after protests that drew thousands into the streets of the capital, Sana, on Friday, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was expected to announce more concessions soon, opposition leaders said. Last week, he declared that he would suspend constitutional amendments allowing him to remain in power for life, a longstanding demand of the Islamist-led opposition, and promised that his son would not inherit his rule.
He has also raised salaries for the military and civil servants, cut income taxes in half and ordered price controls.
In Iraq, officials have reduced their salaries, and in Algeria, the government has promised to lift the state of emergency that has been the law since 1992.
Syrian officials lifted a ban on Facebook and Youtube this week, tools Egyptian protesters used to great effect. Human rights advocates warned that the move could make it easier for the government to monitor its opponents. Still, residents of a Damascus suburb celebrated Mr. Mubarak’s ouster with fireworks on Friday, Reuters reported, a bold stance in a country ruled by emergency law for nearly five decades.
The only governments in the region that seemed to have embraced the protests without reservation were those led by Islamists. In Lebanon, a Hezbollah statement said, “Hezbollah congratulates the great people of Egypt on this historic and honorable victory which is a direct result of their pioneering revolution.”
In Gaza, the Palestinian militant group Hamas went further, calling on the new Egyptian leadership to open the borders with Gaza and reconsider its ties with Israel.
plus Algeria's manifestations
During the protests:
Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have asked the Interior Ministry, which is controlled by an acolyte of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, to allow for a march at Tehran's Azadi Square on Feb. 14 in support of the Egyptian uprising and the Tunisian revolution
In order to show solidarity with the popular movements in the region and specifically the freedom-seeking movement embarked on by Tunisian and Egyptian people against their autocratic governments," says a letter addressed to the Interior Ministry, "we hereby request permit to call for a rally –- as Article 27 of the constitution authorizes – on Monday, Feb 14, 2011, at 3 p.m. from Imam Hossein to Azadi Square."Iran's hard-line authorities won't approve a permit for the march, especially at the same site where up to 3 million anti-government protesters staged a rally on June 15, 2009. These days, only rallies by supporters of the Iranian government, often bused in and handed free food, are allowed. But the audacity of the request suggests how the political contagion wending its way through the Arab world may affect Iran, a non-Arab Muslim country that nonetheless maintains strong connections to its neighbors.
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