Yemen, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Suicide Bombing in Sana'a

Al Jazeera's report on Monday on the suicide bombing in Yemen

See also Bahrain Live Coverage: Appearing Before the UN Human Rights Council
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Amidst the Assassination Rumors, 60 Die
Turkey Live Coverage (21 May): Regional and Global Dimensions of "Terrorism"

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1735 GMT: Libya. Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said Tuesday that Tunis will soon extradite former Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, after detaining him for eight months.

Al-Mahmoudi was arrested in September for illegally crossing the frontier into Tunisia as he tried to flee to Algeria.

"Tunisia will never be a refuge for those who represent a threat to Libya's security," said Jebali on Tuesday, following a visit by his Libyan counterpart, Abdurrahim el-Keib.

Lawyers and human rights groups had opposed the extradition, saying Al-Mahmoudi might be harmed by Libya's new ruling authorities.

1730 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria says 13 people have died today: three each in Hama, Deir Ez Zor, and Daraa Provinces, two in Homs Province, and one each in Aleppo and Idlib Provinces.

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The Latest from Iran (17 May): Arms to Syria?

See also Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- Attacks on Journalists, A Death Bounty for A Rapper, A Woman Dragged from the Book Fair
The Latest from Iran (16 May): Remembering Political Prisoners from Science to Religion

Syria's Assad & Supreme Leader1955 GMT: All-Is-Well Alert. Saeed Jalili, Iran's lead nuclear negotiator, has told a university audience six days before talks resume with the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China):

Those who feel they can pressure the Iranian nation through sanctions are playing our game. This move leads to new formations within the Islamic Republic and its efficacy in different fields, which will gain momentum. Our progress is the result of the very thought of sanctions.

Minister of Industry Mehdi Ghazanfari chips in, "Iran enters the 5+1 Group negotiations as the 17th largest economy of the world."

Jalili also offers an interesting claim of a missed opportunity for the US and European Powers when talks broke down in October 2009: "Had the Geneva II [negotiations] given us 20% fuel, we may not have managed to achieve our fuel."

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The Latest from Iran (31 March): All Quiet on the Tehran Front...Almost

See also Iran Feature: Muffling the Drumbeats of War? Israel, Azerbaijan, and the US
The Latest from Iran (30 March): After Turkey's Prime Minister Went Home....

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1530 GMT: Nuclear Watch. During her visit to Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed that Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China) will begin talks on Tehran's nuclear programme on 13 April in Istanbul.

1430 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Press TV, which has reported for weeks that sanctions were not forcing Ankara to curb trade with Tehran has been forced to headline, "Turkey to Decrease Iranian Oil Imports".

The admission follows Friday's announcement by Minister of Energy Taner Yildiz and Turkey's largest refiner that purchases of Iranian oil will be cut by 20%, with supplies coming instead from Libya.

Taner Yildiz also said Turkey is in talks with Saudi Arabia on spot oil purchases and longer term contacts: “We plan to increase the number of countries we buy oil from and the routes we use.”

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The Latest from Iran (16 December): Today is Ashura

2125 GMT: Political Prison Watch. Rah-e-Sabz reports that Fatemeh Maleki, the wife of journalist/filmmaker, has been hospitalised after she was detained in front of Evin Prison.

Maleki was seized along with other relatives of Nourizad as well as Fatemeh Mohtashamipour, the wife of detained reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh. All were released after several hours, but Maleki was taken to hospital with a heart condition.

Earlier today (see 1710 GMT), the website supporting Nourizad said it was Mohtashamipour who had been hospitalised. However, Rah-e-Sabz features an interview with her about the day's events.

2115 GMT: Summarising Today. An EA reader writes, "Just reading your blog today re Ashura. I wonder if the huge number of security forces meant that the Islamic Republic could not show Tehran on TV. I mean, after all, 'Everything is under control, and everyone loves us!' But if they showed Tehran like a fortress it....".

And if they showed the capital with lots of security forces and very few people marching in support of the regime....

But I'm sure this is wild speculation.

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Lebanon Special: Queries over the Special Tribunal, Hariri, and the Accusation against Hezbollah

Claudio Gallo writes for EA:

The search for truth about the Hariri case has once more sunk into a poisonous marsh threatening another Lebanese civil war. Hezbollah continues to maintain that there is Israeli hand behind the attack and that the Tribunal is politicised. In August, the Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah introduced TV footage, apparently stolen from an Israeli drone, which seemed to show surveillance by Israeli intelligence of the route of  Hariri’s car. The issue now is whether Hezbollah goes beyond accusation to launch a political move pressuring or even taking control of the Lebanese Government.

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Lebanon Special: Justice or A Death Blow for Beirut? (Narwani)

This Tribunal is no longer about justice. To weigh one man's death against the lives of four million Lebanese and countless other millions who could be caught up in a regional conflagration is sheer madness.

Imagine the trauma of this Levantine nation as the trial draws out, day after day, week after week, month after month - creating divisions, frictions, suspicions to the detriment of Lebanon's fledgling government which has made admirable strides in maintaining its equilibrium and learning the art of compromise this past year.

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The Latest from Iran (11 November): "The Safest Country in the World"

1440 GMT: Cartoon of Day. Nikahang Kowsar portrays the rejection of Iran's candidacy for the Execution Board of a new UN agency on women's rights --- the UN says to a disguised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, "Sister! You Don't Look Much Like A Woman."

1435 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Tabriz student activists have protested the ongoing immunity of Iranian officials from prosecution over the post-election abuses and killings at the Kahrizak detention centre.

The demonstration took place on the anniversary of the death, in mysterious circumstances, of Ramin Pourandarjani, a physician at Kahrizak.

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Lebanon Interview: State Department's Feltman Plays with Beirut as a Pawn

A depressing interview in The Washington Post with the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey D. Feltman.

It's depressing because almost none of Feltman's words --- and thus, I presume, the State Department's attention --- are about Lebanon. There's no recognition here of the concerns of the Lebanese people, of the relationship amongst Shia, Sunni, Christian, and Druze communities, of the economic, social, and religious issues in the country, of the initiatives to bring some agreement amongst factions and thus some progress. Indeed, the only Lebanese whom Feltman specifically notes --- apart from a fleeting reference to President Michel Suleiman (not even a mention for Prime Minister Saad Hariri) --- are "Hezbollah".

That is because Feltman's concern is not about Lebanon but about Syria and Iran, to the point where he drops all pretence of "Lebanon" at one point and talks about the situation in Iraq. The interviewer is no better: note the concluding question, "So you don't think Lebanon is about to fall into Iran's hands?":

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Iran Feature: Ahmadinejad's "Problematic Triumph" in Lebanon (Zibakalam)

Whichever way one approaches Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon, there can be little dispute that it was a personal triumph for the hardline Iranian president. The Iranian media covered the state visit thoroughly and in particular showed the huge crowd that gathered to welcome the Iranian leader. Ahmadinejad’s aides and supporters back in Iran tried to portray the visit as a personal triumph for the president’s “bold, revolutionary and courageous foreign policy.”

Having confronted unabated criticism since the much-disputed presidential election in June 2009, it was only natural for Ahmadinejad to portray his visit to Lebanon as a victory against his opponents in Iran. Whether or not the visit was equally a triumph for Iran itself is a more controversial question. There are many Iranians who ask why our money should be spent on Shiites in Lebanon or for that matter on the Palestinians.

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The Latest from Iran (10 October): The Threat of Foreign Mice

1925 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Azeri activist Hossein Nasiri has been sentenced to one year in prison.

1830 GMT: Currency Watch. Iran's problems with foreign exchange appear to be affecting production. Paint producers have been crippled by problems with imports, leading to lack of stock for retailers. Steel producers, who import 40% of their raw material, are having problems with lines of credit and must pay a cash premium for shipping insurance. A similar situation is reported with importers of car parts. Reports continue of lines at foreign exchange markets.

1810 GMT: Academic Corner: Parliament is expressing strong objections to Government moves, in its 5th Budget Plan, to partly privatise Iran's universities.

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