Iran Election Guide

Donate to EAWV





Or, click to learn more

Search

Entries in Bashar al-Assad (267)

Thursday
Mar312011

Syria Video: Woman Disrupts Assad's Post-Speech Celebrations

An interesting incident, captured on Syrian State TV: after President Bashar al-Assad enjoys some post-speech glory on Wednesday, waving to regime supporters and then getting into his car, a woman approaches the automobile and tries to shout at him through the window. A mass of security agents surround her, while State TV cuts away to long-distance shots of Damascus:

See also Syria Transcript: President Assad's Speech "An Unprecedented National Unity"

Wednesday
Mar302011

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Rallying

1930 GMT: Our live blog coverage ends here. We will be back tomorrow morning.

1920 GMT: Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, a former foreign minister of Nicaragua, has been named by Qaddafi as Libya’s ambassador to the UN.

1900 GMT: CNN reports a rebel spokesman in Benghazi, Libya saying that fighters are executing a "tactical withdrawal" from territory they previously controlled. It is reported that rebels withdrew towards Brega, prepared to defend Ajdabiya. Other sources report that rebels are leaving their places in Ajdabiya to defend Benghazi!

Click to read more ...

Wednesday
Mar302011

The Latest from Iran (30 March): Life After the Party

1452 GMT: Three Kuwaiti soldiers, two Iranians and one Kuwaiti national, have been sentenced to death for spying for the Iranian regime. The three soldiers, and several other civilians, were arrested in May 2010 and accused of passing information about Kuwaiti and U.S. military operations to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

Two civilians, a Syrian and another Arab, were given life sentences, and two Iranians were aquitted. 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehman Parast, has denied any Iranian involvement with a spy network in Kuwait.

1444 GMT: Human Rights - Mohsen Dogmechi, political prisoner incarcerated at Rajai Shahr prison, has died from cancer and "lack of medical care. According to A Street Journalist, Dogmechi was refused medical help despite the urging of several doctors that Dogmechi be transferred to a hospital for chemotherapy. 

1434 GMT: Bahrain's opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, sends a clear message to the Iranian regime today. "We urge Iran not to meddle in Bahraini internal affairs." 

1415 GMT: James Miller reports for duty, and finds many interesting developments in Iran.

GVF is reporting that Mir Esmail Mousavi, father of Presidential Candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, has died after a long illness. He was 97. 

This is a death that will likely have political repercussions. Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rashnavard have been held under house arrest since February 14, without formal charges, and was not at his fathers side during his death. It is also unknown whether or not the Iranian security forces will allow Mousavi or his wife to attend funeral services.

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Mar292011

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Not So Fast

2100 GMT: Tonight's take-away from the 40-nation gathering in London to discuss Libya is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's indication that arms supplies to the opposition may be under consideration: "It is our interpretation that [United Nations resolution] 1973 [authorising the no-fly one and measures to protect civilians] amended or overrode the absolute prohibition of arms to anyone in Libya so that there could be legitimate transfer of arms if a country were to choose to do that. We have not made that decision at this time."

2025 GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman quotes an eyewitness that residents of Brega are fleeing east after the Libyan army regained control of Ras Lanuf, the next town to the west, tonight.

Click to read more ...

Monday
Mar282011

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Breakthrough?

1820 GMT: The Egyptian stock market has rised for a second day in a row, after almost two months of suspension and then a sharp fall on re-opening last week.

The EGX 30 Index rose 0.8% to 5,251.3 at the close. It has fallen 26% this year amidst the uprising against the Mubarak regime.

1715 GMT: British Tornado jets attacked and destroyed regime ammunition bunkers in the Sabha area of the southern desert early Monday.

Click to read more ...

Saturday
Mar262011

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Serious is This?

2045 GMT: Reuters reports that French warplanes have destroyed five Libyan jets and two helicopters at Misurata airport.

2035 GMT: Video from Misurata in Libya of residents surrounding regime tanks:

2010 GMT: Syria's official news agency SANA has claimed that several people who were arrested by security forces during current protests are foreigners. One allegedly has US citizenship and is of Egyptian descent: “[The arrested man] admitted that he had secretly visited Israel and confessed to being funded from abroad in exchange for sending photos and videos about [the current events in] Syria.”

Click to read more ...

Saturday
Mar262011

Syria Feature: 20 Things You Need to Know (Whitaker)

Photo: AP9. Religion and the Alawites: The Alawites are a secretive religious sect usually regarded as an offshoot of Shia Islam. In Syria they are a tiny minority but, through the president's family and others in senior positions, they are dominant within the regime. About 74% of Syria's inhabitants are Sunni Muslims; Shia Muslims (including the Alawites and Ismailis) account for 13%, various Christian groups 10%, and Druze 3%. Jewish communities have existed in Syria for centuries but today their number is extremely small – probably no more than a few dozen people.

Click to read more ...

Friday
Mar252011

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: NATO Comes to the Rescue?

2015 GMT: Graffiti in Syria, "Your turn has come, doctor", referring to President (and ophthalmologist) Bashar Al-Assad:

2005 GMT: Video of the protest by about 2000 people in front of State TV in Cairo today (see 1615 GMT):

Click to read more ...

Friday
Mar252011

Turkey Special: A Hard Look at Ankara's Policy of "Romantic Realism"

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote for The Guardian of London about his approach to foreign policy.

The context, Davutoglu explained, was a “natural” history, “flowing” from “abnormalities”  --- such as the division of peoples of the region by colonialism and Cold War --- to democracies spreading in the Middle East. In the course of time, he says, an ordinary Turk or Arab can change the history but you are bound to lose if you resist the “momentum of the history” which is giving the “dignity” of this region back.

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Mar242011

Syria: The Necessary Spark of the Daraa Protests (Arar)

Ethnic divisions make it extremely challenging to have a unified popular voice, but what is encouraging is the fact that the Syrian youth who are leading this nonviolent reform movement have made it clear that it is purely secular in nature and they will not allow it to be hijacked by any opportunist ethnic group or opposition party.

It is too early to ascribe the "revolution" label to this Syrian youth movement. But what is clear from the Tunisian example is that revolutions need a spark and it seems Assad has already ignited it in Daraa.

Click to read more ...