Tunisian Revolution and the Middle East--And Now, The Withdrawal From Afghanistan (M.E.T.)

[visionary]

http://usa.news.net/article/2298019/diplomat-chosen-as-burkina-fasos-interim-president&

Burkina Faso chooses Michel Kafando as interim president

 

Veteran diplomat Michel Kafando has been chosen as Burkina Faso's interim president, officials in the west African country announced Monday and will head the country until 2015.

Kafando was selected after several hours of negotiation, which had begun the previous day.

 

The 72-year-old described the appointment as "more than a honour".

 

"It is an awesome responsibility that falls to me, I already foresee the pitfalls and the immensity of the task," he told reporters.

 

Kafando previously served as the country's ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2011. He was also Burkina Faso's foreign affairs minister between 1981 and 1982.

A panel of 23 officials, mainly civilians, chose Kafando after preferring him to the other candidates, which included journalist Cherif Sy and sociologist and ex-minister Josephine Ouedraogo.

 

Initially Paul Ouedraogo, the Catholic archbishop of the southern Bobo-Dioulasso diocese, appeared to be a frontrunner despite his reluctance, but the Church later announced "categorically" that he was not in the race.

 

"The consensus candidate is Michel Kafando," said Ignace Sandwidi, a representative of the Catholic Church, which was involved in the discussions to find a new leader.

Kafando's appointment will now have to be ratified by the Constitutional Council.

 

It comes ahead of a deadline imposed by the African Union, which instructed Burkina Faso to establish interim institutions and pick an interim president by Monday or face sanctions.

Elections are scheduled to be held in November next year, returning the country to civilian rule after long-time ruler Blaise Compaore was ousted in October.

Edited November 17, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/un-security-council-adds-libyas-ansar-al-sharia-210700831.html#0lDTQTh

UN Security Council adds Libyan Islamists to terror list

 

The UN Security Council on Wednesday added to its terror list a Libyan Islamist group accused of involvement in the September 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.

 

The Security Council slapped sanctions on Ansar al-Sharia for its ties to Al-Qaeda, diplomats said, with an arms embargo, assets freeze and global travel ban targeting the extremists going into force at the request of Britain, France and the United States.

 

The measure targets Ansar al-Sharia Benghazi and its sister group Ansar al-Sharia Derna, which both have links to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other violent extremist outfits.

 

In October, Ansar al-Sharia Derna pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS), the Islamist group that has seized control of territory in Iraq and Syria.

 

Since 2012, the Benghazi wing has operated several training camps mainly to help armed groups in Iraq and Syria and to a lesser extent in Mali, according to the request filed by the three countries.

 

Twelve of the 24 jihadists who attacked the Algerian In Amenas gas complex in 2013 trained in the camps of Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi, Libya's second city, documents said.

 

More recently, the group has conducted several attacks on Libyan security forces, it added.

 

Ansar al-Sharia Derna also took part in the 2012 attack on the US mission and is operating camps in the northeastern Derna and Jebel Akhdar regions to train fighters for Iraq and Syria.

 

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in September told a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that the group should face sanctions as part of efforts to prevent Libya from sliding further into violence.

Edited November 19, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/21/us-egypt-brotherhood-arrest-idUSKCN0J415B20141121?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Egypt arrests Brotherhood leader as crackdown intensifies

 

Egyptian police on Thursday detained Mohamed Ali Bishr, one of the few Muslim Brotherhood leaders to escape jail after last year's overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, extending a sweeping crackdown on political dissent.

 

Bishr, a veteran politician who served as a cabinet minister under Mursi, was accused of inciting violence and terrorism, and of seeking to overthrow the government after he called for mass protests on Nov. 28, state media said.

 

Since the army toppled Mursi in July 2013, Egypt has banned the Brotherhood, its oldest Islamist movement, labelled it a terrorist organisation and rounded up thousands of its members. The Brotherhood has denied any involvement in militant violence.

 

With much of the leadership, including Mursi, in jail, Bishr had played a key role in keeping the group's activities alive underground. He was also involved in a pressure group that had pushed for Mursi's reinstatement and was banned last month.

Edited November 21, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/world/africa/tunisia-presidential-election-beji-caid-essebsi.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimesworld&_r=0

Tunisia to Choose Course in First Democratic Presidential Election

 

Less than a month after electing a new Parliament, Tunisians will vote Sunday in their first-ever open democratic presidential election, completing a tumultuous democratic transition begun with their revolution nearly four years ago.

 

The front-runner, Beji Caid Essebsi, who turns 88 next week, leads a field of 27 candidates that includes former dissidents and political prisoners, former officials from the dictatorship, a millionaire football boss, and a female magistrate — the only woman in the race.

 

Mr. Essebsi has promised to restore the authority of the state and stability to a country that has struggled with economic malaise and a rise in Islamist terrorism since the overthrow of the autocratic president, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

For many Tunisians, weary of two years of sometimes chaotic rule by the country’s Islamist party, Ennahda, that followed the revolution, Mr. Essebsi is seen as a reassuring figure.

 

“In this period we need him, his capacity and his expertise,” said Tarek Ben Slimen, a retired printer, shouting over the cheers at a rally in Tunis. “He is the one who created the political balance. If not for him, things would have been worse.”

 

Mr. Essebsi is riding the success of his secular two-year-old party, Nidaa Tounes (Call for Tunisia), which gained the most seats in the legislative elections in October and will lead a coalition government.

 

With a career spanning over 50 years, Mr. Essebsi served three times as minister, once as head of Parliament and as ambassador under both of Tunisia’s authoritarian presidents, Habib Bourguiba and Mr. Ben Ali.

 

His opponents, however, emphasize his age and his connections to the former government, raising fears that he is ushering in a return of officials from the Ben Ali era.

 

Mr. Essebsi came out of retirement to head Nidaa Tounes, a collection of leftists, businessmen and former government officials united by their opposition to the Islamists.

The result has created a shift in Tunisia’s volatile transitional politics before the presidential elections. Ennahda has not fielded a candidate for the presidency, nor is it backing any candidate publicly, preferring to concentrate its efforts in the legislature.

 

In the absence of the Islamists, some Tunisians are questioning whether Mr. Essebsi will gain too much power, if he leads both the legislative and executive branches.

 

It was the first thing Mr. Essebsi addressed at a big rally in the capital last weekend, emphasizing his readiness to share power.

 

“We will try to work with other political parties because this is a sensitive period during which we need to show national unity,” he told supporters. “The Tunisian nation is a great and smart people, and it gave us a clear message saying that we should govern, but with help.”

 

One of his main challengers, Moncef Marzouki, is a longtime dissident, academic and human rights activist, who has served as president since shortly after the revolution in 2011. Mr. Marzouki, 69, has an informal style that has endeared him to some Tunisians and infuriated others.

Edited November 22, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/tunisians-turn-out-to-vote-for-first-democratically-elected-president-1416740729

Tunisia’s First Democratic Presidential Election Raises Some Anxiety

 

In this city where the Arab Spring was born, an undercurrent of anxiety accompanied the country’s first democratic presidential election on Sunday.

 

Outside the cosmopolitan coastal capital of Tunis, front-runner Beji Caid Essebsi, an 87-year-old politician who served under two autocratic regimes, is viewed with suspicion. He is seen as an unsettling relic of the autocratic regimes that ruled Tunisia from its independence from France in 1956 until the 2010 uprising.

 

“You can’t be stung by the same scorpion twice,” said Najib Issaoui, a 27-year-old fruit vendor in a small market in the center of Sidi Bouzid. “The revolution is in progress. But it isn’t finished.”

Mr. Essebsi is widely expected to defeat 21 other candidates after his secular party, Nida Tunis, wrested control of Parliament from moderate Islamist party Ennahda in last month’s legislative elections.

 

Tunisia’s election authority said about 52% of eligible voters turned out for the presidential vote—a sharp decline from the nearly 69% who participated in the parliamentary ballot. Independent polling groups said Mr. Essebsi and the incumbent, Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, appeared to be heading for a runoff vote in December.

 

Mr. Essebsi’s success would underscore how the political winds have shifted in Tunisia—and the region at large—since Islamists gained control after the uprising. Tunisia has had an interim president elected by Parliament since then.

 

Ennahda led the moderate Islamist government that came to power following the uprising. But the party initially resisted sharing power and sought to put an Islamist stamp on the constitution. It was widely criticized for not reining in Salafist extremists who battled security forces in the country’s border regions. Ennahda was also seen as sluggish in addressing the country’s flatlining economy.

 

Unemployment is running at 15%—and among youth at 30%. Tunisian Interior Ministry officials say that poor job picture is one major catalyst for Tunisians accounting for the highest number of foreign fighters joining extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.

 

In campaigning for Parliament and the presidency, Nida Tunis characterized Islamism as alien to the Tunisian national character and seized on a nostalgia for the stability that autocrats offered.

 

Mr. Essebsi has billed himself as an experienced statesman, appealing to voters weary of years of transition and longing for stability.

 

As frustrations grew with the pace of transition and with little tangible improvement in quality of life, voters last month gave Mr. Essebsi’s party a plurality in parliamentary elections.

 

Once the presidential race is decided, Tunisia will have its first executive and legislature with a five-year mandate.

 

And despite his party winning 86 of the 217 seats in Parliament, it will have to contend with a still viable Ennahda, which won 69 seats and is poised to become a formidable opposition.

Edited November 23, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Nov-28/279290-libya-strongman-vows-to-take-tripoli-from-islamists.ashx

Libya strongman vows to 'take Tripoli' from Islamists

 

An anti-Islamist former Libyan general, Khalifa Haftar, said Friday he has given himself two weeks to take Benghazi and three months to recapture the capital Tripoli.

 

The strongman, who is allied to the Libyan parliament, has been battling Islamist militias who took control of the war-torn country's biggest cities this summer after their defeat in elections.

 

Forces loyal to Haftar and Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani are fighting for control of Benghazi in the east and have launched an offensive against Islamist positions west of the capital.

 

"For Tripoli we are only at the beginning," Haftar told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "We need more men and more supplies and weaponry."

 

"I have given myself three months, but maybe we will need less. The Islamists of Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) are not difficult to fight, no more so than the Islamic State at Derna," the town in the east of the war-torn country which has become a base for militants affiliated to the extremist group who control swathes of Syria and Iraq.

 

"But the priority is Benghazi," Haftar said. "The Ansar Asharia (Islamist militia) is battle-hardened, that takes more work, even though we control 80 percent of the city and we are pushing forward," he added.

 

The general wants parliament and al-Thani's internationally-recognised government, now based in Tobruk, close to the Egyptian border, to come back at least to Benghazi. "I have given myself a deadline of December 15," he said.

Even if they do clear out the Islamist militias from Tripoli and Benghazi though, they have to watch out for assassinations and bombings.

Edited November 28, 2014 by visionary

[Stadium-Armory]

Reading just this last page of the thread..  the world is on fire.

 

Finger's crossed for Tunisia.

Edited November 28, 2014 by Stadium-Armory

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/29/world/meast/egypt-mubarak-trial/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

Egypt: Ex-ruler Hosni Mubarak, accused in deaths of hundreds, cleared of charges

 

Egypt's former longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak was cleared of charges in a retrial Saturday and could soon be released -- a stunning reversal for a man who faced life imprisonment or worse after a revolution toppled him in 2011.

 

A Cairo judge dismissed charges linking Mubarak to the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 revolt and found him not guilty of corruption.

 

Mubarak, who ruled Egypt as president for 29 years, was stoic as his supporters in the courtroom cheered the decision that capped a months-long retrial. The 86-year-old, reclining on a hospital gurney in a defendants' cage, nodded while fellow defendants kissed him on the head.

 

Later, he told the country's Sada ElBalad TV station in a brief phone interview that he "didn't commit anything."

 

"I laughed when I heard the first verdict," he said of the first trial. "When it came to the second verdict, I said I was waiting. It would go either way. It wouldn't have made a difference to me either way."

 

Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat will appeal the verdict, Egypt's government-controlled Al-Ahram newspaper website reported early Sunday.

 

Mubarak was convicted in 2012 of issuing orders to kill peaceful protesters during the country's 2011 uprising and was sentenced to life in prison. He appealed and was granted a new trial last year.

 

Also acquitted Saturday were Mubarak's former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six of el-Adly's aides, who'd been accused of being connected to the deaths of 239 protesters as security forces cracked down on them in 2011. Mubarak's two sons also were acquitted Saturday of corruption.

 

Mubarak still has a three-year sentence for a previous conviction for embezzlement, but it wasn't immediately clear how much time he's already been credited with, and therefore when he will be free.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/29/mubarak-charges-dropped_n_6240174.html

Egypt Court Drops Murder Charges Against Mubarak

 

A judge dismissed murder charges Saturday against former President Hosni Mubarak and acquitted his security chief over the killing of protesters during Egypt's 2011 uprising, crushing any hope of a judicial reckoning on behalf of the hundreds victims of the revolt that toppled him.

 

Yet instead of outrage, a largely muted initial reaction greeted the decision in an Egypt where unlicensed protests draw stiff prison terms and many remain fearful over their security four years after the nation's Arab Spring revolt.

 

Some 2,000 young people protested the verdict near Cairo's Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising closed off Saturday by soldiers and police, though open a day earlier despite widespread fears of violent Islamist protests. They chanted against the military, whose former chief, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, is now the president.

 

"The people want to bring down the regime!" they shouted, using one of the chief slogans in the 18-day, anti-Mubarak uprising.

 

In the evening, police broke up the gathering, firing water cannon and tear gas and driving protesters into side streets after supporters of the banned Muslim Brotherhood joined the protest. An Interior Ministry statement said that Brotherhood supporters pelted security forces with rocks and fought with the protesters.

 

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief reporters, said police arrested 29 people.

 

 

https://twitter.com/borzou/status/538999707172102144

Judge dropping case v Mubarak offered condolences to families of Egypt police & soldiers killed in protests, but not demonstrators (AMAY)
5:15 AM

Edited November 30, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/25665343/zimbabwes-divided-ruling-party-to-elect-new-leaders/

Zimbabwe's divided ruling party to elect new leaders

 

Divided as never before over ageing leader Robert Mugabe's succession, Zimbabwe's ruling party opens a key leadership congress Tuesday, with a host of heavyweights sidelined by a major purge.

 

The elective congress -- to be attended by some 12,000 delegates -- is expected to endorse the 90-year-old Mugabe as party chief and his wife Grace as women's league boss.

 

But several major players are unlikely to retain their posts after a purge in recent weeks targeting Vice President Joice Mujuru and her allies.

 

"This marks a major turning point in the fortunes of ZANU-PF," Ibbo Mandaza, head of the think tank Southern African Political and Economic Series Trust, told AFP.

 

"We don't even know what ZANU-PF will look like after the congress. It's a different ballgame altogether."

 

The party meets behind closed doors on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the congress moving into open session from Thursday to Saturday.

 

But with the ruling party set to approve amendments to its constitution to allow Mugabe to personally appoint his deputies, business was already as good as done, said analyst Rushweat Mukundu of the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute.

 

"Much of the congress business has been completed as Mugabe will have the power to choose who he wants to work with," Mukundu told AFP.

 

"If there is going to be any competition, it will be among bootlickers fighting to earn the favour of the president."

 

 

[visionary]

Oh goody....

 

http://www.madamasr.com/sections/politics/why-everyone-walked-free-mubarak-trial

Why everyone walked free in the Mubarak trial

 

Judge Mahmoud al-Rashidy knew that the acquittal of former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six of his aides on charges of inciting and conspiring in the killing of protesters during the January 25 revolution would shock many.

 

He released a 280-page long judgment to mitigate the shock.

 

As Rashidy flatly dismissed the charges against former strongman Hosni Mubarak on procedural grounds, the judgment that was given to the media must be read, as his reasoning behind the exculpation of the interior minister and his aids.

 

The case largely hangs on the testimony of security officials and former regime officials. Incriminating testimony has been dismissed and individual acts are justified given the extenuating circumstances.

 

At the heart of it all, Rashidy argues, is a global conspiracy.

 

Below, we have laid out the key arguments in Rashidy’s judgment:

 

The judge begins by moving beyond the scope of the case and giving his view of the events that occurred within the case’s time frame (January 25-31). Rashidy maintains that an American-Zionist conspiracy had been plotting to divide the country.

 

This claim, Rashidy continues, is based on the testimonies of “the nation’s wise men,” namely the late intelligence head Omar Suleiman, former Defense Minister Hussein Tantawy, Mubarak-era Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, his head of intelligence Mourad Mowafy and other top officials, in addition to journalist Ibrahim Eissa.

 

The Muslim Brotherhood were key conspirators, helping groups like Hamas and Hezbollah to sneak into the country. These actors, the court concludes, executed a choreographed plan on January 28 to bring down the state.

 

The court also concluded that the Brotherhood was behind the violence that occurred on January 28, 2011.

Edited December 3, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/gcc-to-set-up-regional-police-force-based-in-abu-dhabi

GCC to set up regional police force based in Abu Dhabi

 

The GCC will form a regional police force based in Abu Dhabi, and a joint naval force based out of Bahrain.

 

The police force, to be known as GCC-Pol, and naval force were announced at the annual summit of Gulf nations in Qatar last night.

The GCC leaders said a joint military command would also be formed after further discussions were held.

 

Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, the Qatari foreign minister, said the police force would improve regional cooperation against terrorism.

“It will be an Interpol-like force but inside GCC countries,” Mr Al Attiyah said.

 

The plan for a joint naval force was announced in the summit communique, without details.

 

The GCC already has an emergency military force called Peninsula Shield, which intervened in Bahrain to quell protests in 2011.

 

Qatar joined its fellow GCC members at the summit in supporting Egypt under president Abdel Fattah El Sisi, signalling an end to months-long conflict over Doha’s backing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

GCC leaders announced their “full support to Egypt, the government and people in achieving its stability and prosperity”, and for Mr El Sisi’s “political programme”, the statement said.

 

The rapprochement that began last month underlines the GCC’s consensus on the urgent need to address the growing extremism that threatens to destabilise the region.

 

Arabian Gulf states have “no choice but to face terrorism”, Qatar’s emir told fellow leaders at the summit’s opening yesterday.

 

“Terrorism prevention is better than trying to cure it after it expands,” Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said.

Edited December 10, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/world/middleeast/yemen-car-bombings-kill-dozens.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimesworld

Car Bombs in Yemen Kill Dozens, Including Schoolchildren

 

Two car bombs exploded in a city in central Yemen on Tuesday afternoon, killing more than two dozen people, including at least 15 children returning home from school, according to a witness and Yemeni officials.

 

The city, Rada, has been a flash point for the armed conflict between Al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate and Houthi rebels, who seized control of the capital, Sana, in September.

 

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings in Rada, but suspicion fell on Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Nasser al-Sana, a media spokesman in Rada, said the bombings appeared to target Houthis gathered at the home of a local political leader, Abdullah Idris, who has come under repeated attack from Al Qaeda for his cooperation with the rebels. In October, another car bombing at Mr. Idris’s compound killed at least 15 people and destroyed several buildings.

 

Despite security checkpoints in and around Rada, the attackers were able to detonate at least two explosives Tuesday, killing at least 10 Houthi fighters, officials said. One of the bombs also appeared to have struck a passing bus carrying schoolgirls from Al-Khansa school, Mr. Sana said. After the bombings, Houthi fighters put the city on virtual lockdown and set up roadblocks, he added.

 

The government of Yemen is facing a calamitous financial crisis and the country’s feuds are growing ever more violent while drawing in regional powers like Saudi Arabia and Iran. In recent days, there have been signs of growing friction between the Houthis and Yemen’s president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a United States ally whose authority was greatly weakened after the Houthi takeover.

 

In southern Yemen, where a secessionist movement has lately grown more assertive in its demands, the killing of a prominent political activist by the security services this week has led to fears of further civil unrest.

Edited December 16, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/160385

Death Toll from Northeast India Attacks Rises to 56

 

The death toll from a series of attacks by armed militants in remote northeast India has risen to 56, police said Wednesday.

 

Witnesses said militants pulled villagers from their homes and shot them at point-blank range in a series of coordinated attacks in the restive state of Assam late Tuesday.

 

The state's chief minister said children were among the dead, and that those responsible would not be spared.

 

"This is one of the most barbaric attacks in recent times with the militants not even sparing infants," Tarun Gogoi told AFP.

 

Police blamed the attacks on the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), which has been demanding a separate homeland for decades.

 

"As of now 56 people are dead and 80 others are injured. At least 20 of them are in critical condition in hospitals," police inspector general S.N. Singh told AFP.

 

"Our teams are still trying to reach the remote areas to see if there are more bodies lying in houses or forests."

 

Assam, which borders Bhutan and Bangladesh, has a long history of often violent land disputes between the indigenous Bodo tribes, Muslim settlers and the Adivasi community.

 

Bodo guerrillas have in recent years launched ferocious attacks on both Muslim settlers and the tribal Adivasi community.

 

"I saw my wife and two sons being shot dead before my eyes," said Anil Murmu, a 40-year-old survivor from the worst-hit village of Phulbari where 30 people were killed.

 

"I somehow managed to escape by hiding under the bed," he told AFP by phone.

 

Police said recent talks initiated by the national government with one faction of the NDFB may have provoked the attacks. Some hardliners within the group opposed negotiations.

Edited December 24, 2014 by visionary

[visionary]

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/5/2-men-charged-inusinattemptedgambiacoup.html?utm_content=general&utm_campaign=ajam&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow

2 men charged in US in attempted Gambia coup

 

Two men have been charged in the United States with conspiring to help overthrow the government in the tiny West African nation of Gambia, federal prosecutors said Monday.

 

Both men were in custody and were expected to make court appearances later in the day in Baltimore and Minneapolis.

 

"These defendants stand accused of conspiring to carry out the violent overthrow of a foreign government, in violation of U.S. law," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "The United States strongly condemns such conspiracies. With these serious charges, the United States is committed to holding them fully responsible for their actions."

 

The charges stem from a Dec. 30 coup attempt, which came as the former British colony’s longtime President Yahya Jammeh was away. Jammeh, who has ruled Gambia with an iron fist for 20 years, blamed "terrorist groups" for the coup attempt and alleged that plotters had received backing from foreign countries.

 

Prosecutors said the two men, Cherno Njie and Papa Faal, traveled separately from the U.S. to Gambia to participate in the unrest there. They later returned to the U.S.

 

Human rights activists have long criticized the Gambian government for targeting political opponents, journalists, and gays and lesbians. The U.S. government recently removed Gambia from a trade agreement in response to human rights abuses, including a law signed in October that imposes life imprisonment for some homosexual acts

 

Faal, who is a 46-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Gambia and lives in Minnesota, told investigators that in August he joined a movement in the U.S. bent on overthrowing the Gambian government.

 

He said he was motivated to participate by concerns that elections were being rigged, and over "the plight of the Gambian people," according to court papers.

 

Prosecutors said he purchased semi-automatic rifles in Minnesota that were then shipped to Gambia by cargo vessel.

 

After members of the group were defeated at the Gambian State House, Faal escaped by ferry to neighboring Senegal, where he walked into the U.S. Embassy, spoke to U.S. officials and gave the FBI permission to search his home in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, prosecutors say.

The men are charged with conspiracy to violate the 1939 Neutrality Act, which prohibits U.S. citizens or residents from taking up arms or plotting against a nation at peace with the U.S.

 

 

More details, including court transcripts about their plans for after the coup:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/hayesbrown/two-americans-in-court-for-trying-to-take-over-the-gambia#.wpnjKAeQY

Two Americans In Court For Trying To Take Over The Gambia

 

The man who wanted to be the new ruler of the Western African country is a 57-year-old Texan.

Edited January 6, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/161809

Obama Invites New Tunisian President to Washington

 

U.S. President Barack Obama has invited Tunisia's first democratically elected president to visit Washington, the White House said Monday.

 

Beji Caid Essebsi won Tunisia's first free presidential election last month. The revolution that toppled long-time ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali four years ago unleashed the so called Arab Spring.

 

Obama called Essebsi Monday to congratulate him on his victory and hailed the "spirit of peaceful compromise" that Tunisians displayed during their period of transition.

 

The White House said no date has yet been set for the new Tunisian leader to come to Washington.

Edited January 6, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/01/france-ready-bomb-rebels-libya-border-20151651130155365.html

France 'ready' to bomb rebels on Libya border

 

France says it is ready to carry out strikes against fighters crossing out of Libya's southern border, and prevent the flow of weapons to groups fighting in North Africa's lawless Sahel region.

 

French President Francois Hollande made the announcement on Monday, but Libya's internationally recognised parliament rejected any Western military intervention in the conflict-wracked African nation.

 

"Foreign military intervention in Libya is rejected. If we need any military intervention, we will ask our Arab brothers," parliament speaker Aqila Issa said.

 

While ruling out unilateral intervention, Hollande said that French forces would strike fighters "every time they leave these places where they are hiding".

 

"We are making sure to contain the terrorism that took refuge there, in southern Libya. But France will not intervene in Libya because it's up to the international community to take its responsibility,'' Hollande told France-Inter radio.

 

France is currently setting up a military base in northern Niger, 100km from the Libyan border region, and troops have been based in the Sahel region since January 2013.

 

French and US drones are already operating out of Niger's capital, Niamey.

 

Libya is mired in its worst fighting since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

 

Fighting between forces loyal to Libya's western recognised prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, and rival militias threatens neighbouring nations including Chad, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

 

The country remains awash with weapons, as interim authorities failed to confront powerful militias which fought to oust the veteran leader.

 

On Sunday, a Libyan warplane from forces loyal to the internationally recognised government bombed a Greek-operated oil tanker anchored off the coast, killing two crewmen amid an escalation of conflict between factions vying to rule the country.

[visionary]

Oh...good.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/19/yemen-army-and-shia-fighters-clash-near-presidential-palace?CMP=twt_gu

Yemen army and Shia fighters clash near presidential palace

 

The army and Shia fighters clashed near the presidential palace in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Monday, according to reports.

 

Gunfire and explosions were heard across the city and close to the president’s residence and the home of Yemen’s national security chief. Security officials shut roads leading to the area.

 

The status of president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was not immediately clear.

 

There was no word on state media about the violence as Sanaa was suffering a power outage at the time. Those able to watch Yemen state television saw a prerecorded musical performance.

 

The Houthis, who demand more rights for the country’s Zaydi Shi’ite Muslim sect and say they are campaining against corruption, seized Sanaa in September and advanced into central and western parts of the country where Sunnis predominate.

 

The Houthis are believed to have been behind the kidnapping of Hadi’s chief of staff on Saturday amid rancorous talks about the country’s future.

 

A deal signed in September between political parties and the Houthis called for the formation of a new unity government followed by the withdrawal of Houthi fighters from the capital. The fighters have remained in place.

Edited January 19, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/23/us-libya-security-idUSKBN0KW1MU20150123?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Leader of Libyan Islamists Ansar al-sharia, dies of wounds: family, official

 

Mohamed al-Zahawi, leader of the Libyan Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, has died from wounds suffered when fighting pro-government troops several months ago, his family and officials said on Friday.

 

Zahawi, who founded an Ansar al-Sharia brigade in Benghazi after helping with his fighters to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, had been in hospital for treatment since he was seriously wounded in battle, members of his family told Reuters.

 

Fadhl al-Hassi, a Libyan military commander with forces fighting Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi, also confirmed Zahawi had died from wounds sustained after an ambush in September. There was no immediate statement from Ansar al-Sharia.

Edited January 23, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/vijayprashad

This is Shaimaa El-Sabag, a socialist, standing holding flowers at protest before police in Cairo shot her dead.
12:31 PM

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/iyad_elbaghdadi

Yesterday Egypt's MOI killed Sundus Ridha and today they killed Shayma Al Sabbagh. How is this not a women's right issue yet?
1:26 PM

 

Egypt's MOI isn't a security force, they are one of the primary causes of instability in the Egypt and by extension the Arab world.

1:35 PM

 

The funeral of 17-year old student Sundus Ridha, shot dead by security forces yesterday (via @hala_moo). Egypt
4:02 PM

[visionary]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fef6011fe44442629473e7aa7e000d11/protester-shot-dead-leftist-party-march-central-cairo

Protester shot dead at leftist party march in central Cairo

 

A female protester was shot dead by police at a march in downtown Cairo Saturday, her political party said in a statement.

 

The leftist Popular Alliance party said that police shot its member Shaimaa el-Sabagh with birdshot Saturday evening as the group peacefully marched toward Tahrir Square to lay a commemorative wreath of roses on the eve of the 4th anniversary of Egypt's 2011 uprising.

 

A Ministry of Health official confirmed that a female protester died from birdshot injuries to her head and body.

 

A statement from the Interior Ministry said the police forces moved to disperse a protest after they saw demonstrators setting off fireworks. It said the police were conducting an investigation into the woman's death and vowed to arrest the perpetrators.

 

Photos widely distributed on social media showed el-Sabagh carrying a wreath of roses, and then bloodied and being carried by another protester.

 

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, say they arrested 11 people following clashes.

 

Ahead of the 4th anniversary of the uprising, the revolutionary fervor of 2011 has been largely extinguished. Many of the pro-democracy activists central to the uprising are in prison for attempting to protest against the new president, former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

 

Others are dismissed in the media as troublemakers while the police, who in the revolutionaries' eyes were the hated tools of oppression, are now lauded in the press as heroes in a fight against Islamists.

 

In addition to being the anniversary of the 2011 uprising, Sunday is national Police Day in Egypt.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/world/middleeast/egyptian-court-orders-retrial-for-dozens-of-muslim-brotherhood-members.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimesworld

Egyptian Court Orders Retrial for Dozens of Muslim Brotherhood Members

 

An Egyptian court ordered a retrial for 37 Muslim Brotherhood members sentenced to death and 115 others sentenced to life in a mass trial last year, judicial officials said on Saturday.

 

The 152 people who will be retried were initially sentenced in March at a trial of more than 500 defendants, some tried in absentia. The proceedings lasted only a few days and were widely criticized by Western governments and human rights groups.

 

They will face a retrial for carrying out attacks during clashes that erupted in the southern province of Minya after the forced dispersal of two Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo on Aug. 14, 2013, when hundreds were killed.

 

The Brotherhood was protesting the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the military in the wake of mass demonstrations against his rule.

 

The original trial last year in Minya also ended with 377 people sentenced in absentia. Those sentenced in absentia automatically receive retrials when they turn themselves in, according to Egyptian law.

Edited January 24, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/16/world/meast/egypt-bedouin-threat/

Bedouin leaders threaten armed rebellion against Egyptian government

 

Egypt's military-led government, struggling to manage the transition to democracy, has a rising adversary: rebellious Bedouin tribes.

 

At a meeting last Friday in the south Sinai desert, Bedouin leaders accused the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of treason against Egypt and warned that -- if necessary -- they might take up arms to achieve greater representation in the nation's new parliament.

 

At a venue not far from the ancient St. Catherine's monastery, amid Sinai's imposing granite mountains, top Bedouins gathered to protest what they decried as "forged parliamentary elections" and a political system they claim historically has left them marginalized and oppressed for decades.

 

"We will not allow a parliament without Bedouin representation (as determined by) elections ... forged through the alliance between the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and a certain Islamic party," yelled Ahmed Hussein, a member of the Kararesha tribe.

 

A prominent Bedouin blogger, Musad Abu Fajr, took to the stage to proclaim: "All our framed prisoners in Egypt will be released."

 

"The military junta has committed treason against Egypt. They forgot how we assisted them against the Israelis in the 1973 war for Sinai," he added. "But we will regain our rights peacefully."

 

Some Bedouins' complaints about the integrity of the electoral process have been challenged in court.

 

One tribal leader, Mohamed Al Ahmar, told the meeting that "we discovered the burnt boxes at Al Tor city in South-Sinai polls containing most of our Bedouin votes! We are not sure who burned them, but it's the military's responsibility."

Edited February 1, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

Finally!

 

 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/12/uk-egypt-jazeera-idUKKBN0LG1BY20150212

Egypt frees two Al Jazeera journalists on bail

 

Two remaining Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt on charges of aiding a "terrorist organisation" were freed on bail on Thursday after more than 400 days, but the court said the case against them was still pending.

 

The case triggered an international outcry and has been cited by government critics as evidence that Cairo is rescinding freedoms gained after a 2011 uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, allegations the government denies.

 

Mohamed Fahmy, a naturalised Canadian who gave up his Egyptian citizenship, was released on bail of 250,000 Egyptian pounds (21,365 pounds). Baher Mohamed, who has only Egyptian citizenship, was released without bail. Judge Hassan Farid said the next hearing in their case would be on Feb. 23.

 

A third Al Jazeera reporter sentenced with them, Australian Peter Greste, was freed on Feb. 1 and deported.

 

The three were sentenced to between seven and 10 years on charges including spreading lies to help a terrorist organisation -- a reference to the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

The court's decision comes ahead of an investment conference in Sharm al-Sheikh scheduled for March, which authorities hope will help improve Egypt's image, which has been damaged by one of the fiercest security crackdowns in its modern history.

 

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's human rights record has come under scrutiny since he, as army chief, toppled Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. He says Egypt faces a tough, prolonged campaign against violent insurrectionists.

 

Sisi has said that he wished the journalists had been deported and not put on trial.

The courtroom erupted in applause after the judge read his decision.

 

Fahmy's fiancee, Marwa Omara, weeping and hugging journalists in the courtroom, said: "Thank you Egypt for doing the right thing ... I am happy. For the last year I haven't been able to sleep."

 

Mohamed said on his Twitter account, @Bahrooz: "I AM FREE"

 

The ruling specified that neither man could leave the country while the case was ongoing.

 

A lawyer on Fahmy's team who declined to be identified said the court's decision to release two journalists "was an indication that the court is going to acquit them."

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/world/africa/gunmen-attack-tunis-bardo-national-museum.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=span-ab-top-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Tunisia Museum Attack Leaves 19 Dead; 2 Gunmen Killed in Firefight

 

Gunmen in military uniforms attacked a museum in downtown Tunis around noon on Wednesday, killing 19 people, officials said. Security forces later advanced into the museum and killed two gunmen in a firefight, state television reported.

 

Prime Minister Habib Essid said at a news conference that the dead included 17 foreigners and two Tunisians. Polish, Italian, Spanish and German tourists were among the dead, Mr. Essid said.

 

Eight people were killed as they got off a bus to visit the museum, according to an Interior Ministry spokesman; 10 more were taken hostage and then killed. State television reported that a Tunisian museum guard who was injured in the attack and died later of his wounds.

 

The prime minister said that 22 more people had been injured in the attack.

 

Local media reports said that it was possible a third gunman was involved and was still at large, and that there were possibly other accomplices as well. Tunisian authorities said at midafternoon that the operation to retake the museum was continuing and was nearly complete.

Edited March 18, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/pentagon-al-shabab-leader-killed-drone-strike-150318233502759.html

Pentagon says al-Shabab leader killed in drone strike

 

A US drone strike in southern Somalia has killed Adnan Garaar, an al-Shabaab leader believed to be behind a 2013 attack on a Nairobi shopping mall that killed 67 people, the Pentagon has said.

 

It said in a statement that the strike last Thursday hit a vehicle carrying Garaar, a top official of the al-Shabaab armed group, which the Pentagon says targets US and other Western interests to further al-Qaeda's goals.

 

"He posed a major threat to the region and the international community and was connected to the West Gate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya. His death has dealt another significant blow to the al-Shabaab terrorist organisation in Somalia," the Pentagon said.

 

The Pentagon added that the operation took place about 240km west of Mogadishu near the town of Dinsoor.

 

Residents said at the time of the strike that the drone had hit a car carrying three al-Shabaab members and that the vehicle was completely burnt.

Edited March 19, 2015 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/libya-peace-talks-verge-collapse-150321231034000.html

Libya peace talks appear on verge of collapse

 

Peace talks between rival Libyan political factions appeared to be on the verge of collapse as fighting for control of the capital raged on for a second day.

 

Libya's UN-recognised government in Tobruk conducted air strikes on Saturday against airports and a military camp in the capital Tripoli, controlled by a rival government, and killed a senior commander loyal to that government, officials said.

 

The Tobruk-based government said on Friday that forces linked to General Khalifa Haftar had launched the military offensive to "liberate" Tripoli, which is governed by a rival legally-installed administration known as the General National Congress (GNC).

 

Amid the ongoing battle for Tripoli, UN-brokered peace talks continued between officials from the rival administrations for a second day in Morocco's capital Rabat on Saturday - aiming to reach agreement on the formation of a national unity government.

 

UN special envoy Bernardino Leon, however, said reaching an agreement was "going to be difficult", given the new clashes in and around Tripoli.

 

"[On Friday] we had a new military operation against Tripoli precisely during decisive moments of the talks and our reaction today is as strong as it was in the past," Leon told reporters on Saturday.

 

"Military activities undermine the situation in Libya and prevent the unity of the Libyans fighting terrorism. This operation we condemn in the strongest possible terms because its undermining dialogue."

 

Sources told Al Jazeera that air strikes had been carried out in and around the capital on Saturday, including the airport, but the offensive had so far been repelled.

Edited March 22, 2015 by visionary