Saturday night's televised address of Burhan Ghalioun, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council, to the Syrian people:
The great people of Syria,
I address you today on the eve of Eid al-Adha, as our country reels from the violent actions of an unjust regime which has transformed our country over the decades into a kingdom where power is inherited, where rights are deprived and where dignity and freedom are beyond reach of its people.
1445 GMT: Hype Watch. Yet another spin effort by unnamed "diplomats" to international media ahead of next week's release of a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's nuclear programme....
The Associated Press is the chosen outlet to declare findings of "computer models of a nuclear warhead and other previously undisclosed details on alleged secret work", including "satellite imagery of...a large steel container used for nuclear arms-related high explosives tests".
AP reports, without critique, that "the newest compilation of suspected weapons-related work is significant in substance and scope".
1434 GMT: The Plot. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has again denounced the US claim of an Iran-backed plan to kill the Saudi Ambassador to Washington. He reiterated that Gholam Shakuri, the Iranian military official who is at the heart of the allegations, is actually a member of the insurgent group Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO).
2030 GMT: An anti-regime demonstration in the Midan district of the Syrian capital Damascus tonight:
1910 GMT: Burhan Ghalioun, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council, has addressed the Syrian people in a televised address tonight. A summary, provided on Twitter:
This crisis has unified efforts of all Syrians....Syria will no longer be like a farm owned by a single family....A new constitution will give rights to minorities, especially Kurds....Power will be in the hands of people, they decide who rule them.
Every drop of blood is one more step on the way to freedom....Those who use violence against their own people are traitors who will fall and lose.
The Syrian National Council is your way to make your voices heard around the world. We are honored by your support....We will not negotiate or compromise.
Regime attempts to buy time will not help them....We have asked the Arab League and UN to protect civilians in Syria....We salute the Free Syrian Army who defended their brothers and their peaceful protests....Syrians will not forget the sacrifices of those who defended the uprising.
We tell people who are undecided, this revolution is yours....Syrians will not forget those who supported their revolutions....The regime of tyranny has fallen, but they are still trying to cling to power.
New Syria is being built today....The future Syria will be coming soon, free, democratic, and without slavery....Long live free Syria.
I have let down my colleagues of the Maspero detention [those arrested after the 9 October clashes in which 28 people died]....I have let down the convicts who were moved by the commotion that was created for me and decided to tell me about the atrocities of the Ministry of Interior so I can tell the people. They were happy that someone could tell of the baltagiya (thugs) and the organized gangs, and yet I fled for the toilets.
I have exchanged the youthful company of the convicts who were filled with happiness and joy with [the company at Tora] of ones accused of embezzling public funds. [The jail] is full of geezers, depression and boredom.
A big Saturday morning hello to our readers at the CIA, who are not shy about following EA --- no "Anonymous Proxy" or "Unknown" in our StatCounter, just the straightforward "Central Intelligence Agency".
If you are a "captive of universal Zionist media propaganda", liberate yourself. You may have missed the Arab Spring, but you can have your Wall Street Fall, courtesy of the Iranian regime's commitment to openness and dissent.
The impact of social media on revolutionary movements like Egypt’s has been hashed out to the precipice of cliché, with scholars still puzzling over how networks online and off contributed to the ousting of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. As Egypt’s transitional period drags on, staggering obstacles lay ahead for the architects of the post-Mubarak Egypt, with Twitter laying bare divisions both within the activists’ ranks and between the relatively small number of activists using the Internet to organize and the “silent majority” on the street. Some of Egypt’s young revolutionaries are still trying to find a way to merge their online presences with street level politics and outreach in time for the approaching parliamentary elections.
A short while ago, Israel Navy soldiers boarded the vessels which were en-route to the Gaza Strip, attempting to break the maritime security blockade that is in accordance with international law.
The boarding was carried out following numerous calls to the activists onboard and during different points at sea. Following their unwillingness to cooperate, and after ignoring calls to divert to the port of Ashdod, the decision was made to board the vessels and lead them there.
The Israel Navy soldiers operated as planned, and took every precaution necessary to ensure the safety of the activists onboard the vessels as well as themselves.
Upon arrival of the vessels at the Ashdod port, the activists will be transferred to the custody of the Israel Police and immigration authorities in the Ministry of Interior.
But, in the end, today's message came back to America: "The US administration has never seen such days of humiliation."
2050 GMT: Economy Watch. Gholam-Reza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, a leading MP on economic affairs, has warned that people will spend part of their support payments for subsidy cuts to buy foreign currencies, which are rising in value against the Iranian currency.
An EA correspondent analyses, "There is much chatter about people buying dollars because of fear of more sanctions and a worsening economy."
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 6:21
