KAYLA DURYEA

CHANGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

TUNISIA• Currently in Tunisia, the government is facing

a Democratic change. The Tunisian President's televised speech to the nation may go down in history either as the beginning of genuine democratic change in the country. Tunisia has recently faced high levels of corruption and riots. Many people were especially angry over high level corruption and the belief that the family are enriching themselves through corruption. Some began to call the protests 'The Jasmine Revolution' after Tunisia's national flower but to date there has not been a revolution and a real upheaval on the scale of the Iranian or Czechoslovakian revolutions. Tunisia has better education and living standards than many of its neighbors, but it still a poor country effectively ruled by one man. Ben Ali introduced a form of free market economics, but, with many officials using that as an opportunity to enrich themselves, it has been a poor advertisement for any system supporters.

ALGERIA• Protesters in Martyr’s Square

chanted, “Yesterday Egypt, today Algeria” during demonstrations in the Algerian capital Algiers. The Algerian government’s response to the protesters was reminiscent of Egypt's ex-President Hosni Mubarak during the last five days of the 18-day protest in Cairo. The recent collapse of Egypt’s and Tunisia’s autocratic regimes offers several key lessons for Algeria. In order to achieve political change in Algeria, the opposition must take into account the overreaction of the riot police. Spontaneous protests should observe the rules of the game by being nonviolent.

EGYPT• Any fears that the revolution could be reversed by

Egypt's military rulers began to recede yesterday. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, now the official ruler in Egypt, dissolved parliament, suspended the constitution and confirmed that an election would be called in six months' time. It did not directly address the third demand, that emergency rule would be lifted, but a committee will be formed to amend the constitution, which includes the hated emergency law. Egypt will be preoccupied with its own affairs for some time to come, but it is clear that the shockwave of last week's events is already being felt throughout the region. The first to feel its effects was the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank – for whom the former Egyptian president was a trusted ally in the fight to contain and control Fatah's rival, Hamas. Mahmoud Abbas, whose own term as president has expired and whose legitimacy has been questioned, announced that general elections would be held by September. His aide, Yasser Abed-Rabbo, called upon all parties to participate, a plea that Hamas rejected. With up to 1,000 of their members in Palestinian Authority prisons, it is not difficult to see why. Their ability to contest an election in the West Bank is in doubt and in those circumstances conciliation talks should precede, not follow.

LIBYA• Libya currently is in need of humanitarian aid and not military interventions by certain powers, including the United States, which are based on their own interests,” a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said in a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “We believe that the objective of such ideas is not based on defending the Libyan people but is a bid to change the strategic situation in this North African country,” he added, ISNA reported. He pointed to the ongoing

bloody events in Libya and expressed regret that the United Nations and its affiliated bodies failed to play their role within the framework of the UN Charter. The Iranian lawmaker said the current developments in Libya and the savage killings of the country's people have created a fresh wave of concern in the world, particularly in the Islamic Republic. He warned that certain powers are making efforts to prepare ground for military intervention in Libya and called on the chief of the United Nations to require responsible bodies to defend the rights of the Libyan people and condemn and bring the country's dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his allies to trial. Falahatpisheh also asked Ban to pave the way for the Libyan people to determine their own fate without the interference of other countries. The remarks came after media reports suggested that the United States and its allies may be preparing the ground for a military intervention in Libya. The US Senate has unanimously passed a resolution calling for a no-fly zone over Libya.

SAUDI ARABIA• Saudi King Abdullah has instituted the first Cabinet shake-up since

ascending to the throne in 2005. Changes in the Saudi cabinet mark major developments for the Saudi government. Information is still developing, but according to this Times of India Report. Donna Abu-Nasr, reporting for Associated Press, also has filed a story that is now being picked up by international media.

• • Norah al-Faiz is appointed as a Deputy Minister for Girls’ Education, a new position, and the first senior female government official;

• • Saleh bin Humaid, head of the Shoura Council, replaces Sheikh Salah al-Luhaidan, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Council;

• • Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Humain replaces Sheikh Ibrahim al-Ghaith as head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice;

• • Mohammed al Jasser, the former vice governor, replaces Hamad Saud al-Sayyari as governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA)

• • Prince Faisal bin Abdullah replaces Abdullah Al-Obaid as Minister of Education;

• • Abdullah al-Rabia replaces Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Mane as Minister of Health;

• • Abdul-Aziz al-Khoja, former Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, replaces Iyad bin Ameen Madani as Minister of Culture & Information;

• • Abdullah al-Sheikh, former Minister of Justice, replaced Humaid who moved up to the Supreme Judicial Council;

• • The King also announced the reestablishment of the Grand Ulema Commission, pulling together all Sunni Muslim factions to offer scholarly advice on issues.

JORDAN• A large demonstration in downtown Amman

on Friday ended peacefully a week after clashes erupted between pro-government and anti-government demonstrators near the Al Husseini Mosque. On Friday, rows of police officers separated pro-government supporters from anti-government protesters. Some in the pro-government march carried a large Jordanian flag and posters of the king. Many in the large group of anti-government protesters, which spanned several blocks, waved Jordanian flags, banners and signs. police say a group of anti-government protesters, who had regrouped in front of Al Husseini Mosque following an earlier scuffle, were attacked by a group of men with sticks. Some of the protesters say police failed to protect the demonstrators from the attack. Police say four activists were injured during the attack.

YEMEN• Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh ruled out

meeting all the demands of protesters who took to the streets for an 11th day of demonstrations calling for an end to his government. “We have responded positively to them but their demands have increased and they are now demanding the departure of the regime,” he said at a press conference in Sana’a today. “Some of the demands are not logical.” Saleh yesterday offered to open talks with the opposition as thousands of protesters gathered in the capital insisting on an immediate end to his three-decade rule. He said the government is willing to listen to “legitimate” demands and that political change should come though the ballot box and not protests. Yemen’s main opposition coalition rejected Saleh’s offer for dialogue, saying it won’t hold talks as long as security forces are attacking protesters. At least five people have been killed in 11 days of protests inspired by the popular uprisings that overthrew the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

SYRIA• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should take steps to

liberalize the country’s political system and allow more freedom to prevent the regional turmoil spreading to Syria, his cousin said. Assad should “end the state of emergency, which would be a symbolic and tangible step,” Ribal al-Assad, head of the London-based Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria, said in a March 4 telephone interview. “Second, I would tell him to call on all political players to come to the table and discuss how to move forward and to form a national unity government,” said Assad, 35, who is one of 8 sons and 8 daughters of Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of the Syrian president who was forced into exile by his brother, Hafez al- Assad, in 1984 after an attempted coup. A Libyan revolt that began in mid-February and threatens the rule of Muammar Qaddafi is the bloodiest in a wave of popular uprisings in the Middle East in the past two months that have toppled Tunisia’s former leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Syria must “allow all independent political parties who genuinely believe in democracy to be established,” Assad said. “They have to release all political prisoners, allow peaceful freedom of expression and association, and end media and Internet censorship. Also, they must start processes to end state corruption. They have to do it, and they have to do it right away.