and other news from the Arab uprisings:
Qadhafi’s Advances/Crimes
Gaddafi forces hit Libya’s Zintan with rockets – TV
CAIRO, March 28 (Reuters) – A rebel spokesman in Zintan said Muammar Gaddafi’s forces bombarded the western Libyan town with rockets early on Monday, Al Jazeera television reported. Ali Saleh, spokesman of the rebel movement in Zintan, said Gaddafi’s forces fired the rockets from positions north of the city. “The city of Zintan was bombarded this morning by Gaddafi’s forces from the north with Grad rockets,” he said. Saleh added that the rebels have received aid from the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-forces-hit-libyas-zintan-with-rockets-tv
Gaddafi forces gain part of western city Misrata
TRIPOLI, March 28 (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces gained control of part of the western city of Misrata, a rebel spokesman said on Monday, while the government claimed to have “liberated” the rebel stronghold. “Part of the city is under rebel control and the other part is under the control of forces loyal to Gaddafi,” the spokesman, who did not want to give his name, said about Libya’s third largest city.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-forces-gain-part-of-western-city-misrata
Gaddafi forces resume attacks on Misrata -resident
BEIRUT, March 27 (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have resumed attacks on the rebel-held city of Misrata, ending a brief lull in fighting that followed Western air strikes, a resident told Reuters. “Misrata is under attack, the city and the port area where thousands of workers are. We don’t know whether it’s artillery or mortars,” the resident, called Saadoun, told Reuters by telephone from the city.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-forces-resume-attacks-on-misrata–resident
Video: Teen Boy Shot in Head in Soug Al Jummah, Tripoli (Very Graphic)
This is shocking and graphic video of a young teen boy shot in the head by Gaddafi police in Soug Al Jummah, Tripoli during protests. (We were told it was from today, but we received information it is not, we cannot independently verify the date)
http://feb17.info/media/video-teen-boy-shot-in-head-in-soug-al-jummah-tripoli-today-very-graphic/
Amnesty International: Thorough investigation urged over Libya rape case
Libyan authorities must investigate Iman al-Obeidi’s rape allegations, reveal her whereabouts and guarantee her safety. The Libyan authorities must thoroughly investigate the case of a woman who said she had been raped by forces loyal to Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, Amnesty International said today.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/thorough-investigation-urged-over-libya-rape-case-2011-03-28
Libyan woman who alleged rape remains missing
The whereabouts of a woman who was taken away by security officials while making allegations of rape to Western journalists are unknown. A government official says she is a prostitute and that an inquiry is underway. A woman who was beaten and carted away by plainclothes security officials after she told journalists she had been brutally gang-raped by Moammar Kadafi’s militiamen remained missing Sunday even as she became a worldwide symbol of defiance against the regime.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/BF9lQgAcsnM/la-fg-libya-woman-20110328,0,4234642.story
Parents say attacked Libyan woman at Gaddafi house
CAIRO, (AP) – Al-Jazeera TV has aired interviews with the parents of a Libyan woman who rushed into a Tripoli hotel to tell foreign reporters that Muammar Gaddafi’s troops detained her at a checkpoint and later gang raped her. Iman al-Obeidi was tackled by waitresses and government minders, and dragged out of the hotel as she tried to tell her story on Saturday. The Associated Press only identifies rape victims who volunteer their names. In the interviews, broadcast on Monday, the parents say al-Obeidi is a lawyer and is now being held at Gaddafi’s compound in Bab Al-Aziziya in the capital. It’s unclear where the parents spoke from. With the opposition flag draped over her shoulders, the footage shows the teary-eyed mother saying al-Obeidi is “a hostage, taken by the tyrants.”
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=24667
Tripoli woman was in anti-Gaddafi protest –cousin
BENGHAZI, Libya, March 27 (Reuters) – A Libyan woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel to show journalists injuries she blamed on Muammar Gaddafi’s militia was first targeted by the authorities after a protest, her cousin said on Sunday. Eman al-Obaidi entered a hotel where foreign journalists were staying on Saturday to show bruises and scars she said were caused by militiamen. She was hurried out of the hotel by security men and hotel staff and bundled into a car.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/tripoli-woman-was-in-anti-gaddafi-protest—cousin
Libyan government offered money to appease woman in rape-claim case, mother says
BENGHAZI, LIBYA — The mother of a woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel and said that she had been raped by government militiamen hailed her daughter as a hero Sunday and said government officials offered her money and a house to change her story. Aisha Ahmed, contacted by telephone at her home in Tobruk, in the rebel-held eastern part of the country, said she was proud of the courage displayed by her daughter, Iman al-Obaidi, whose outburst Saturday was broadcast worldwide. “I am very happy, very proud,” said Ahmed, who described her daughter as a 26-year-old law student in Tripoli. She denied a claim by Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim on Sunday night that Obaidi had been freed from government custody and was at home in Tripoli with her sister and brother-in-law.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/libyan-woman-offers-glimpse-into-workings-of-gaddafi-government/2011/03/26/AFNppLkB_story.html
Video: Eman El-Obeidi’s cousin speaks out (Translated)
http://feb17.info/general/video-eman-el-obeidis-cousin-speaks-out-translated/
Libyan National Transitional Council Statement Demanding Release of Eman Al-Obeidi
The Libyan National Transitional Council released a statement today, March 27, 2011, regarding the situation in which Eman Al-Obeidi was taken away from a hotel in Tripoli. The council demands the immediate release of Eman Al-Obaidi as well as all other women, children, journalists, and civilians. Click to read or you can download the PDF of the statement in the link below.
http://feb17.info/official-documents/libyan-national-transitional-council-statement-demanding-release-of-eman-al-obeidi/
Women’s Rallies in Libya Protest Rape
CNN reports that Libyan women in Benghazi staged a demonstration on Sunday to protest the alleged rape of Iman al-Obeidi by Libyan government officials in Tripoli. Al-Obeidi made headlines on Saturday by bursting into a Qaddafi government press conference and telling her story to the reporters. She was bundled away and disappeared, but on Sunday the government announced that she had been freed (this allegation could not be verified). ITN has video…
http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/womens-rallies-in-libya-protest-rape.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Libya Civilians Return To Decimated Cities, Bury Dead, Search For Loved Ones
The smell of decaying bodies hangs over the rows of loosely packed sand as the caretaker moves through the cemetery on Ajdabiyah’s southern edge. Embarak Hamid has buried 81 people in recent days. A group of volunteers from the town — working quickly beneath the searing sunlight — have already cleared a new row. By nightfall, they say they will likely fill it with dozens more bodies, as they search the corners of a city laid waste in some places by a government bombardment that lasted for 11 days straight.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/27/libya-civilians-dead-missing_n_841140.html
Gaddafi Soldiers Abusing Prisoners (Translated)
March 27, 2011: This is a video of Gaddafi troops slapping and beating prisoners, heckling them, making them say ridiculous statements.
http://feb17.info/media/gaddafi-soldiers-abusing-prisoners-translated/
Gaddafi in Tripoli compound — Libyan state TV
TUNIS, March 27 (Reuters) – Libyan state television broadcast on Sunday what it said was live footage of Muammar Gaddafi in a car in his Tripoli compound where hundreds of supporters waved green flags and chanted slogans. Gaddafi could not be seen in the white car but the television said the Libyan leader was in it. The short footage showed bodyguards pushing away supporters to prevent them from getting too close to the car. Gaddafi has not been shown on television since he made a speech on Tuesday. Libya’s ramshackle rebel army pushed west on Sunday to retake a series of towns from pro-Gaddafi forces as they pulled back under pressure from Western air strikes.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/gaddafi-in-tripoli-compound—-libyan-state-tv
Libyan Resistance Makes Gains
Supply lines stretched as Libyan rebels race west
RAS LANUF, Libya, March 28 (Reuters) – Libyan rebels advancing towards Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte scooped petrol with bottles tied on strings from depleted gas stations on Monday as a push west stretched their supply lines.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/supply-lines-stretched-as-libyan-rebels-race-west
Libyan rebel push towards Tripoli gathers momentum
BIN JAWAD, Libya – Libyan rebels’ push westwards towards Tripoli gathered momentum on Sunday as their pursuit of Moamer Kadhafi’s forces saw them wrest back control of key oil town Ras Lanuf. Their next target is Kadhafi’s hometown of Sirte, a central coastal city, and on the way they captured Bin Jawad, a hamlet 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Ras Lanuf, AFP correspondents reported.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/27/libyan-rebel-push-towards-tripoli-gathers-momentum/
Libya rebels take another town on advance west-TV
BIN JAWAD, Libya, March 28 (Reuters) – Rebels in east Libya have seized the town of Nawfaliyah from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, extending their advance westwards towards the Libyan leader’s hometown of Sirte, Al Jazeera reported on Monday.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libya-rebels-take-another-town-on-advance-west-tv
Libya raids hit Gaddafi hometown
Coalition air raids hit the town of Sirte, Col Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown and the next target of rebel forces advancing westwards.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12877319
Libyan rebel spokesman says Gaddafi town seized
BENGHAZI, Libya, March 28 (Reuters) – A Libyan rebel spokesman said Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte had been captured by the rebels on Monday. No independent verification of the rebel statement was immediately available.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libyan-rebel-spokesman-says-gaddafi-town-seized
Libyan rebels reclaim two oil centers in sweep west
Rebels regain Ras Lanouf and Brega after international airstrikes push Kadafi’s military out. “There was no resistance. Kadafi’s forces just melted away,” one witness said. Libyan rebels seized back two key oil complexes and pushed west toward Tripoli on Sunday, gaining momentum after international airstrikes that tipped the balance away from Moammar Kadafi’s military. The U.S. defense secretary said the air campaign could last months.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/URRq6KqDwQ4/la-fgw-libya-rebels-ras-lanouf-20110327,0,4709363.story
Rebels take Back Oil Centers as Tripoli suffers Gasoline Crisis
Irregulars of the Libyan liberation movement rapidly advanced along the coastal road going West on Sunday, reestablishing control over Brega, Ra’s Lanuf, Ben Jawad and, they say, going all the way to Sirt (no independent source confirms that they actually reached the latter by mid-morning Monday). The path was paved by British Tornado fighter jets that took out armor and artillery all along the road from Ajdabiya going west to Sirt. Though there were some military encounters, for the most part the rebel forces did not so much reconquer the cities as just drive unopposed into them, since allied bombing raids had softened them up, pro-Qaddafi forces had fled, and local people appear to have accepted the liberation movement soldiers without resisting them.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/rebels-take-back-oil-centers-as-tripoli-suffers-gasoline-crisis.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Libyan Unrest: Soldiers in the Kufra region have joined opposition forces
http://feb17.info/general/live-libya-unrest-march-28-2011/
NATO Operations
NATO to take over Libya operations
Alliance announces it will assume overall responsibility for enforcing UN-mandated mission.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2011/03/201132720844213695.html
Libya air raids target Gaddafi hometown of Sirte
Coalition forces heavily bombarding Gaddafi’s main support base. At least nine loud explosions heard in Tripoli after nightfall.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4048544,00.html
Six explosions, anti-aircraft rounds in Tripoli
TRIPOLI, March 27 (Reuters) – At least six explosions resonated in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday, possibly signalling renewed air strikes by Western coalition forces. The explosions were followed by sustained bursts of anti-aircraft gunfire by Libyan forces.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/six-explosions-anti-aircraft-rounds-in-tripoli
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan on NATO command of operations in Libya
Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan at NATO headquarters in Brussels reports on the implications of NATO saying that it will take full operational command of the international military intervention in Libya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOM64zJvjXA&feature=youtube_gdata
Other Developments
Rome to propose joint plan with Berlin on Libya
ROME: Italy will propose that it and Germany back a joint plan on Libya that involves a cease-fire, a humanitarian corridor and exile for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Sunday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=126468
Qatar recognises Libyan rebel body as legitimate
DOHA, March 28 (Reuters) – Qatar became the first Arab country on Monday to recognise Libya’s rebels as the people’s sole legitimate representative, in a move that may presage similar moves from other Gulf states. Word of the decision came a day after a senior Libyan rebel official said Qatar had agreed to market crude oil produced from east Libyan fields no longer under the control of leader Muammar Gaddafi.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/qatar-recognises-libyan-rebel-body-as-legitimate
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi seeking immunity
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – Independent Arab and Libyan sources have informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi is seeking to convince the coalition forces to accept a deal that is being secretly discussed between Gaddafi delegates and a number of Arab and American parties. This deal would see Gaddafi stepping down from power, only to be replaced by his son Saif al-Islam, with a deadline being put in place for a peaceful transition of power.
http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=24660
Libyan regime could collapse from within, U.S. officials say
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton say they have received hints that some officials close to Moammar Kadafi may be ready to abandon him. Top Obama administration officials predicted that Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi’s regime may crack from within, as allied warplanes, resurgent rebels and the international community put more pressure on Tripoli.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/DIb1oaz7E9o/la-fg-libya-gates-20110327,0,5226869.story
Businessman says Gaddafi entourage keen to stop fighting
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) – Senior figures close to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are keen to agree a ceasefire and peace deal with rebels trying to oust him, according to a businessman who says he has talked to Gaddafi’s entourage. Middle Eastern financier Roger Tamraz told Reuters on Sunday that Gaddafi representatives have told him in recent days that they are ready to make a deal with the rebels and their Western backers.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/businessman-says-gaddafi-entourage-keen-to-stop-fighting
Analysis/Op-ed
Inside Gaddafi’s brutal prison: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad’s Libyan ordeal
While reporting the war in western Libya, award-winning Guardian correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad was seized by Gaddafi’s militia. Here he describes two weeks inside the regime’s brutal prison system
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/25/inside-gaddafis-brutal-prison?CMP=twt_gu
Qaddafi regime’s canopy of lies obscures the glints of truth
The constant manipulation of information by Muammar Qaddafi’s regime makes convincing the outside world of any fact that helps its cause an uphill battle.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/4SXk2l6jiPw/Qaddafi-regime-s-canopy-of-lies-obscures-the-glints-of-truth
Dark past
History of Western involvement through Libyan eyes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12882213
Syria
Turkish PM urges Syria to announce reforms soon
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had not given him “a negative answer” when he urged him to listen to his people in two telephone calls over the last three days.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/28/143314.html
Syria’s Assad to announce decisions in 2 days – VP
BEIRUT, March 28 (Reuters) – Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara said on Monday President Bashar al-Assad would announce important decisions that will “please the Syrian people” in the next two days. Shara was speaking to Lebanese Hezbollah’s al-Manar television. The station did not give further details. Assad has been facing the biggest challenge to his 11-year rule after two weeks of anti-government protests spread across the country.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/syrias-assad-to-announce-decisions-in-2-days-vp
Syria ‘to lift emergency law’
Syrian government adviser confirms to Al Jazeera that the country’s emergency law is to be lifted but fails to say when.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201132711553545999.html
Al Jazeera speaks to Syrian presidential adviser
Al Jazeera’s Cal Perry spoke with Bouthaina Shaaban – a senior adviser to the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on continued unrest in the country and the decison to lift a decades-old emergency law.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjleYAA3dKs&feature=youtube_gdata
Clinton Calls Bashar al-Assad a “Reformer” -Syria Lifts Emergency Law
My guess is that Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel have all asked the US not to push on Syria. They fear instability. This has little to do with congress. Syria has announced that it has lifted emergency rule. What this actually means is unclear. There are many laws on the books to limit constitutional freedoms of assembly and freedom of expression.
http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=8822&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Syriacomment+%28Syria+Comment%29
“Syria: Who Backs Bashar?” (Videos)
Bashar al-Assad, unlike other Arab heads of state, appears to have masses of supporters, who took to the streets on 26 March 2011, as shown in the videos below. (Search YouTube for تأييد بشار الأسد, and you’ll find many more lovingly uploaded by his fans.) However, “God, Syria, only Bashar” and “With our soul and blood, we’ll defend Bashar” (the slogans shouted by his supporters again and again in the videos, as if there is nothing else to say) won’t do. They need an ideology larger than Bashar.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/syria270311.html
Great leaps forward in Syria and Jordan, Rami G. Khouri
Events in Jordan and Syria last week marked perhaps the most significant leap forward in the continuing Arab citizens’ revolt against the modern Arab security state since the overthrow of the Tunisian and Egyptian regimes.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=126464
Inside Story – Syria: The price of revolution
Unrest in Syria continues. In a country where the regime is known for its iron grip on security, the growing number of casualties may come as no surprise, in what is quickly becoming an increasingly unstable Syria.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCraX4ihHnU&feature=youtube_gdata
Saudi Arabia
Saudi group raps authorities over recent arrests
DUBAI: A Saudi human rights organization has urged authorities to release two people who were arrested last week after raising questions about imprisoned family members. Mubarak bin Saeed al-Zuair, 45, was arrested last Sunday when he went to the Interior Ministry to inquire about his father Saeed, and brother Saad, who have been in prison for over five years.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=126469
Saudi Arabia: Arrests for Peaceful Protest on the Rise
(New York) – Saudi Arabia should immediately release protesters and critics arrested and detained without charge over the past weeks, Human Rights Watch said today. More than 100 people have been arrested in the Qatif district, and about 45 in the al-Ahsa’ district, both Shia population centers in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. A smaller number of people have been arrested in Riyadh and Qasim governorates.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/27/saudi-arabia-arrests-peaceful-protest-rise
Bahrain
Kuwait to mediate Bahrain talks
Opposition says it will set no conditions for talks but the presence of foreign troops would be a thorny issue.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201132711146179309.html
Bahrain denies Kuwait to mediate in political crisis
MANAMA, March 28 (Reuters) – Bahrain’s foreign minister said on Monday it was “completely untrue” that Kuwait would mediate to resolve the country’s political crisis, a reaction leading opposition group Wefaq said augured badly for any resolution.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bahrain-denies-kuwait-to-mediate-in-political-crisis
Is Bahrain Back to Normal?
“Your remarkable and unflinching efforts have protected the lives of innocent people, restored order and maintained security and stability across Bahrain,” Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa praised security forces on Friday March 25th for bringing life in Bahrain back to “normal.” As he thanked his dedicated forces for “creating conditions that are favorable for a national dialogue,” riot police were being deployed to put down some twenty-five small, peaceful protests that took place across the country on what may be the last Bahraini “day of rage.” One man, 71-year old Issa Mohamed, was killed inside his home due to asphyxiation caused by teargas fumes being used to disperse unarmed protesters outside. Telling of the general mood in large parts of Bahrain, the protesters in one of the demonstrations were chanting: “baltagiyya baltagiyya ya hukuma ya gabiyya” [you are thugs, you are thugs, oh government oh fools].
Jordan
Jordanians mourn first death in demonstrations
AMMAN: Jordanians mourned Sunday the death of a 55-year-old man who died in the anti-government protests rocking the country for the past three months. Khairi Saad was the first person to die in the Jordan’s protests, inspired by democracy uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. He was killed Friday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=126470
Jordan’s king calls for national unity
Amid rare calls for change in the kingdom, Abdullah tells supporters that reforms are on track.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/2011327203224334931.html
Other Mideast
Yemen leader scraps offer to quit
Yemen’s president, clinging to power despite weeks of protests, has scrapped his offer to step down by the end of the year.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-leader-scraps-offer-to-quit-2255048.html
Morocco’s youth movement slams official media
Members of Morocco’s February 20 reformist movement lashed out at official media for their perceived bias in covering the pro-democracy rallies that took place on March 20 throughout the country.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/27/143209.html
Analysis/Op-ed
A slap that restored to the Arabs their dignity
Cherchez La Femme in the Arab revolution Tsunami and here I am not speaking Laila Ben Ali and Suzanne Mubarak played a dangerous role in the end of their husbands’ presidential career with no doubt.I am speaking about that policewoman who slapped and spat a simple vegetables street vendor without knowing that that slap would awake the dignity of not less 100 million Arab from the Gulf to ocean. No one would have imagined that this slap would result in changing geopolitics of a whole region like that bringing down regimes that stayed for decades and decades !!
http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/03/slap-that-restored-to-arabs-their.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EgyptianChronicles+%28Egyptian+chronicles%29
The Egyptian Elite and the Egyptian Revolt: Video Interview with Hossam El-Hamalawy
Jadaliyya is hereby presenting the third installment in a interactive (see below) series called “A Portrait of a Revolutionary,” featuring interviews with an Egyptian journalist and activist who was at the forefront of the Egyptian protest movement. Hossam’s vantage point is quite unique, and his broad knowledge of the Egyptian political landscape as well as history positions him to provide an unparalleled account of the the context and developments that have led to the resignation of former Egyptian President, Husni Mubarak, and the aftermath.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/1022/the-egyptian-elite-and-the-egyptian-revolt_video-i
A sweet Saudi river, As’ad AbuKhalil
I have since my teens believe that a major obstacle toward liberation of Palestine and the overthrow of Arab regimes (and the relationship between the two goals is dialectical) is represented by the House of Saud. Saudi media offers of the most vulgar, crude, and repugnant propaganda of any country in the world, and that includes Anver Hoxa’s Albanian phase. I am so irritated these days to read Saudi propagandists (and not all of them are Saudi nationals–many Arab Lebanese, of course–damn those Lebanese are good at prostrations before Gulf princes) who are offering advice about democracy to Arab governments. I kid you not. And they are not joking, and many offer the Saudi model as an example. This is an actual headline in the mouthpiece of Prince Salman and his sons, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat: ”The Statement by Servitor of The Two Holy Sites to his people, and his royal decrees are a sweet river...”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/03/sweet-saudi-river.html
