Al-Jazeera back on NileSat

Ahram Online, Wednesday 9 Feb 2011

The Egyptian Company for Satellites "NileSat" decided to resume broadcasting both Al-Jazeera and Al-Jazeera Mobasher (Live) TV channels on their original frequencies.

The broadcast of both channels was stopped on 30 January, five days after the January 25 uprising. The channels were, however, aired on different frequencies on other satellites such as NourSat and ArabSat.

Al-Jazeera had stated that its Egyptian headquarters near Tahrir Square had been attacked by thugs and that its reporters were attacked in Cairo, as well as in other provinces, during the uprising.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/5248.aspx.

Egyptian protesters block parliament

Hundreds are staging a sit-in outside parliament to reinforce their demands that the whole ruling regime step down and not just the president

AFP, Wednesday 9 Feb 2011

Several hundred Egyptian protesters attempted to block parliamentary buildings in Cairo on Wednesday as part of their campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old regime.

The building was protected by troops backed by armored vehicles, but there was no violence, with protesters instead staging a sit-in to blockade the lower house, just as others have occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Parliament is dominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), thanks to tight rules on who can stand for election, and the protesters said they saw it as part of his autocratic regime.

"We came to prevent the NDP members from entering. We will stay until our demands are met or we will die here," said 25-year-old Mohammed Abdullah, as the crowd chanted anti-Mubarak slogans and waved Egyptian flags.

"The people did not elect this parliament," said 19-year-old Mohammed Sobhi, a student at Cairo's Al-Azhar university. "We want the entire regime to fall, not just the president, because everything under him is corrupt."

Thousands of pro-democracy campaigners have been camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square since 28 January to demand Mubarak step down.

The government has offered constitutional reform, and Mubarak will not stand for re-election in September nor engineer his son's succession, but protesters continue to demand that he step down immediately.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/5276.aspx.

Egypt revolution youth form national coalition

Youth and opposition groups band together form a coalition that hopes to represent the increasing number of protesters

Salma Shukrallah, Wednesday 9 Feb 2011

“The Youth Revolution” has become the term widely used to describe Egypt's recent uprising, despite the diversity of its members. Although people of all ages and various social backgrounds have taken part in one way or another in the (thus far) 15-day revolt, the uprising has been widely attributed to the youth primarily because of their 25 January Internet initiative.

The Khaled Saeed Facebook group, which was formed to commemorate 28-year-old who died at the hands of Egyptian police, had taken the initiative to declare 25 January a day of Egyptian revolt to condemn police brutality. Following their steps, several bloggers, Facebook and Twitter users, as well as activist groups and associations, quickly adopted their call. Although few believed it could actually happen, the initiative snowballed to become Egypt's largest uprising in its modern history.

Hoping to create a form of representation for themselves, many young activists have banded to form a coalition called “The Revolution's Youth”. Groups involved include the 6 April Youth movement, Justice and Freedom, Muslim Brotherhood youth, ElBaradei's campaign, The Popular Democratic Movement for Change (HASHD), The Democratic Front and Khaled Saeed Facebook group administrators. The coalition has 14 group representatives in total and a general assembly with a few hundred members.

The group representatives include Ahmed Maher and Mahmoud Samy from the 6 April Youth movement, ElBaradei supporters Ziad Alimy and Abdel Rahman Samir, Islam Lotfy and Mohamed Abbas from the Muslim Brotherhood, Shady Ghazali Harb and Amr Salah from the Democratic Front Party and from the Youth for Justice and Freedom, Khaled Sayed and Mostafa Shaki.

Additionally, Wael Ghoneim, one of the founders of the Facebook group “Kolona Khaled Said” (We are all Khaled Said), as well as independent activists Naser Abdel Hamid, Abdel Rahman Faris and Sally Moore are also members.

According to Ahmed Ezzat, a HASHD and coalition member, the coalition is still expanding and intends to include other young and diverse political trends that have been part of Egypt's political sphere over the past few past years.

"Although it started with only these groups we hope it expands to include all the other young activists, including young members from the Karama party, Labor party, Kifaya and all others including independent bloggers and Internet activists,” says Ezzat.

Not claiming that they are talking on the uprising's behalf, the coalition was formed with an aim to provide representation for the young who have played a role in political life in Egypt and have contributed to the current revolt. However, the uprising has taken its own path, independent of these groups, and, according to many of their members, the coalition only aims to articulate its demands and keep them at the forefront of public consciousness as Egypt prepares for change.

Although diverse in vision, the coalition's groups have long agreed on basic demands, which they believe will lead to a more democratic Egypt, and have worked cooperatively in recent years to push for these common goals. The groups' common requests have included an end to police brutality, the abolition of emergency law, free and fair elections, constitutional changes and an end to Mubarak's thirty-year rule.

The coalition’s current stand is not to engage in any negotiations until president Mubarak steps down. While many coalitions claiming to represent the revolt have already involved themselves in such talks with government bodies, the coalition of the Revolution's Youth has insisted on its primary demand before any details are discussed.

In Tahrir square, where tens of thousands are still holding daily protests, the coalition has set up its own stage in front of the Mogama'a building, with speakers and microphones, through which it transmits its views and latest developments to the public. The stage is also used for young people to perform their music and poetry.

The coalition’s main challenge now is to sustain an organized body in which the thousands of young Egyptians that are now taking to the streets can be represented.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/5257.aspx.

Gazan students hold Egypt solidarity rally

Several hundred students rallied in central Gaza on Wednesday in a show of solidarity with the ongoing anti-government protests in Egypt

AFP, Wednesday 9 Feb 2011

Several hundred Gazan students rallied in central Gaza on Wednesday in a show of solidarity with the ongoing anti-government protests in Egypt, AFP correspondents said.

"Gaza salutes the Egyptians" they shouted, denouncing embattled President Hosni Mubarak as "an American collaborator."

Waving Egyptian and Palestinian flags, they also shouted angry slogans against Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egyptian immigration officials told AFP they had been ordered to bar Palestinians from entering the country.

An official at the Palestinian embassy in Cairo confirmed the ban but said he had been told it was a "temporary measure."

It was not clear who issued the order, although security sources in the northern Sinai told AFP earlier this week that Palestinians may have been behind the sabotaging of a gas pipeline over the weekend.

Egypt is in the grip of a major political crisis which began on January 25 with tens of thousands of demonstrators calling for Mubarak's overthrow.

Shortly afterwards, the Egypt-Gaza border was closed, leaving several hundred Palestinians stranded on the Egyptian side, most of them who had made the trip for medical reasons, Palestinian officials said.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/5305.aspx.

Hizb ut-Tahrir suspects arrested in Osh

Staff Report
2011-02-08

OSH – Police have arrested eight suspected members of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), media reported February 7, quoting the Interior Ministry's Osh Oblast press office.

The police arrested five suspects in Osh and three in the village of Shark, the press office told media. During searches of the suspects' homes, police found many brochures, books, leaflets and audio-video disks of an extremist nature, AKIPress.org reported.

Authorities are holding the eight in Osh's pre-trial detention center and are investigating their activities.

HT is banned for wanting to impose a caliphate throughout Central Asia.

Source: Central Asia Online.
Link: http://centralasiaonline.com/cocoon/caii/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/caii/newsbriefs/2011/02/08/newsbrief-06.

Hamas: investigation linking Al Adly with church bombing exposes involvement in incitement against the resistance

Tuesday, 08 February 2011

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, has said that the submission of a subpoena against former Egyptian interior minister, Habib Al-Adly, linking him to the bombing of the Coptic church in Alexandria reveals the extent of his, and other officials' involvement in numerous unfair political accusations against the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued today, the movement added that accusations of its responsibility for the criminal bombings which targeted its neighbor, Egypt, were intended to incite world opinion against the Palestinian nation and distort its brave struggle and resistance. It was an attempt to justify and maintain the criminal blockade as a form of collective punishment against one and a half million of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and instigate additional Zionist attacks against the Palestinian people.

The movement added that the Egyptian interior ministry led by former Minister Al-Adly, is itself accused of betraying its trust; of plotting and perpetrating premeditated atrocities and crimes against the Egyptian people and violating the blood of both its Muslim and Christian sons to achieve dubious objectives.

Hamas announced in its statement that the policy of media manipulation, distortion and incitement against the Palestinian people was not limited to this minister. On the contrary, it was the policy and system of operation for a number of state run Egyptian organizations, which still continue and currently exploit the youth and people's revolution to broadcast lies in the official Egyptian media about Hamas.

Hamas demanded that all those involved in incitement against the Palestinian people be exposed and held to account. It confirmed its commitment to the security of Arab and Islamic countries in order that they serve as the strategic depth for the Palestinian cause in confronting the tyrannical Zionist occupation.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/news/middle-east/2033-hamas-investigation-linking-al-adly-with-church-bombing-exposes-involvement-in-incitement-against-the-resistance.

High Hopes For Malaysia's Mega Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

By Melati Mohd Ariff

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- At 150 kilometers long and costing a whopping RM36.6 billion, the Kuala Lumpur Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) without doubt is Malaysia's largest infrastructure project thus far.

The construction of this mega project is scheduled to start this July with the first line from Sungai Buloh to Kajang, covering some 60km and with 35 stations running up to the city center.

The proposed MRT project which is expected to be completed by 2020 is aimed largely at easing the public transport woes for those living in the so-called Greater Kuala Lumpur (Greater KL) area.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak embraced the term Greater KL when he announced the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) on Sept 21, 2010 that would transform Malaysia into a high-income economy by 2020.

Greater KL encompasses 279,327 hectares covering Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Ampang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Kajang, Klang, Sepang and Selayang.

The population of Greater KL is about six million people and the number is expected to rise to 10 million by 2020.

FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

This high-speed and large-scale MRT rail project was revealed when the Prime Minister tabled the RM230 billion 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015) on June 10 last year.

The project, he said was in line with the Greater KL's National Key Economic Area (NKEA) to further enhance the city's public transportation network.

Improving public transportation is one of the six National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), which is a priority under the Government Transformation Program (GTP).

Upon completion, this iconic project would cover a radius of 20km from the city center and when fully operational would serve up to two million passengers per day.

The construction of bus and rail terminals is also expected to increase the public transport modal share in Greater KL from 12 per cent in 2009 to 30 per cent in 2015.

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, modal share or mode split or modal split is a traffic/transport term that describes the number of trips or (more common) percentage of travelers using a particular type of transportation including public transport and private motor vehicle.

Senator Datuk Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department was quoted recently as saying "By 2020, at least 50 per cent of the KL population must be on public transport."

Malaysia, he said had a per capita car ownership that was higher than that of the United States and Germany, with 20 million cars for a population of 28 million!

MORE ON MODAL SHARE

Muhammad Zulkarnain Hamzah, speaking on behalf of TRANSIT, the Association for the Improvement of Mass Transit-Klang Valley, a public transport activist group was a bit skeptical on the public transport modal share target for the mammoth MRT project.

He told Bernama that under the 6th Malaysian Plan, one big modal share jump to 50 per cent was targeted for year 2000 with the completion of light rail systems but it did not materialize.

TRANSIT, he said remained pessimistic that MRT alone would create a big transit modal share, meaning the percentage of commuters who use public transport.

"There is a prevailing sense of neglect in improving the present support systems for transit, including transit priority and traffic restraint measures on present roadways," he said.

He explained that what he meant by transit priority was measures to make the movement of public transport vehicles such as buses and trams faster and more reliable.

Whilst traffic restraint means measures to make using (not buying) private vehicles less appealing so that roads will be clear for buses to move.

MAXIMUM POTENTIAL

Muhammad Zulkarnain said TRANSIT would like to see the present travel patterns in the Klang Valley be fixed first through transit-oriented developments (TOD) surrounding existing rail stations before the government can come up with any new rail proposal.

According to him coverage of existing rail services has yet to achieve its maximum potential not due to the lack of feeder bus coverage, but due to bad pedestrian permeability, poor bus network designs and lack of integration between transit modes.

"The 10th Malaysia Plan talks about new urbanism and on creating vibrant, compact and people-centered cities, where open spaces are designed for people, not cars.

"With the same spirit, the government should focus on creating dedicated bus lanes on congested roadways that stretch from the suburban areas to the activity centers, and from the activity centers to downtown Kuala Lumpur. A bus lane with stations in the median and priority signals at junctions can move more than ten times as many people as a lane full of cars.

"The progress towards compact and people-centered cities must be through careful integration of land use and transit planning, which requires the fundamental mindset that accords respect from car drivers to pedestrians and from those who travel individually to those who travel collectively.

"A stand-alone rail solution will not solve the congestion problem," he stressed.

Pointing to Hong Kong and other places with good land use and transportation planning, Muhammad Zulkarnain said high-density developments are concentrated surrounding stations.

In that way, he said people could get to where they want faster and easier.

"In Malaysia, land use policies are not strictly enforced to promote TODs around existing stations. Look at Taman Bahagia LRT station, you can see cars parked on pedestrian paths.

"Access road next to the station is severely congested almost any hour of the day due to the traffic spill from the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP), and this lengthens the already circuitous and exhausting journey of the feeder bus.

"In the end, urban growth is still shaped mostly along motorway corridors and we have not heard of any plans to create bus lanes, especially for local transit lines. How do you think people using MRT can go to where they want if they are stuck at stations, not knowing how to get to their final destination?

"Will they still want to use such a system knowing door-to-door journey is terribly long compared to using their private vehicles? " he said.

ENDORSEMENT VITAL

Speaking further, Muhammad Zulkarnain questioned on why the mega MRT project is being approved prior to the completion of a comprehensive transport master-plan.

"How can the biggest public transportation undertaking in the country commence without a master plan which should first be endorsed by all affected stakeholders? " he asked.

A master plan, he added is very relevant to chart out how the proposed mass transit lines will jive in with local structure plans and how people's need can be met equitably and sustainably.

"The MRT is touted to solve traffic congestion in the Klang Valley. The congestion has not only affected roads leading to KL city center but also roads linking activity centers across the fringes of KL as well.

"Our question is what is the long term plan of the government to settle the worsening congestion on the LDP for instance. MRT and LRT (Light Rail Transit) only solve problems facing KL city center-bound commuters who live near the stations," he said.

REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL

As for environmentalist S. Piarapakaran, his main concern is more on the environmental challenges of the MRT given the fact that the transportation sector in Malaysia has been using high amount of fossil fuel.

In an interview with Bernama recently and quoting figures of the National Energy Balance 2008, he said there was a steady increase in the usage of fossil fuel in transportation sector from about 35.8 per cent between 2000 and 2008.

"Such increase definitely can be curbed if there was good development in the public transportation sector.

"In comparison, we can observe a lot of energy resources saved via effective public transportation system in the United States, Singapore and Japan which respectively record 28.5 per cent, 18 per cent and 24 per cent in energy resources allocation to transportation sector.

"This smaller portion does not come so easily. This is due to continuous development of public transportation sector to cater for growing demand," said Piarapakaran who is also President of Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (AWER).

TRANSPORTATION AND POLLUTION

Fuel combustion would release residues into the air including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxide and other pollutants.

According to Piarapakaran, in concentrated locations such as Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Seremban and Johor Baharu, the level of pollutants from vehicles are definitely higher.

"This gives direct impact to air quality index. The air quality drops further with locations that have bad traffic congestion. Badly managed traffic eventually not only waste energy resources but it also gives health impact to those directly exposed to it through inhalation," he explained.

Piarapakaran cited a 2007 health report by Toronto Public Health that concluded traffic gives rise to 1,700 hospitalizations per year in Toronto.

While majority of hospitalizations involve the elderly, traffic-related pollution also has significant adverse effects on children.

According to the Report, children experience more than 1,200 acute bronchitis episodes per year as a result of air pollution from traffic.

The study estimated mortality-related costs associated with traffic pollution in Toronto at about $2.2 billion Canadian Dollar.

COST OF POLLUTION

A 30 per cent reduction in vehicle emissions in Toronto is projected to save 189 lives and result in 900 million dollars in health benefits.

"We do not have any such studies in Malaysia linking health impacts due to traffic pollution. Ever wonder why? However, there are academic literatures available in medical studies for many countries, which prove health impact due to traffic pollution.

"Even the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had carried out similar studies in Austria, France and Switzerland. Such study only proves that reducing pollution via effective public transportation has good impact to the nation by saving lives, environment and give a good economy sense. Will we be able to deliver such effect through the MRT project?

"We can reduce energy wastage and pollution if we are to have an effective MRT system. It will also be possible if the people prefer public transportation. If planning goes awry, more energy and obviously the people's money will be wasted," said Piarapakaran, adding that MRT alone would fail to reduce the current traffic congestion problem.

MORE QUESTIONS

Ideally Piarapakaran said a passenger who leaves his or her house should be able to easily hop into a bus or feeder bus within the first 200 metre and get connected to MRT stations.

The same passenger can use the feeder bus from the MRT stations to reach the target location he or she wants to reach.

"All this comes with good timing. In developed nations, these support systems are very crucial and they have been developing rail system with supporting systems over a long period of time," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Source: Bernama.
Link: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsfeatures.php?id=562431.

Another 1,439 Malaysian Citizens To Arrive Home Today

SEPANG, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Another 1,439 Malaysian citizens from strife-torn Egypt are expected to arrive home by three Saudi Air and one Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights under the second phase of Ops Pyramid, on Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister A.Kohilan Pillay said until yesterday, 1,355 Malaysian citizens, mainly students had returned home from Jeddah.

He said the remaining 3,846 Malaysian citizens in Jeddah would be flown home by Sunday by MAS and AirAsia.

About 2,000 Malaysian citizens decided to remain behind as the situation in Egypt is improving, he told reporters after receiving 357 Malaysian citizens, who arrived from Jeddah on MAS flight MH8031 at the KL International Airport here Wednesday.

He said the Malaysian Embassy in Cairo would monitor the safety of Malaysian citizens who stayed put in Egypt.

On the cost borne by the government in the Egypt evacuation, he said the actual figure had yet to be ascertained although initially it was estimated at RM50 million.

He said part of the cost would be borne by MAS and Airsia as part of their corporate social responsibility.

"We also lifted Malaysian citizens, mainly students from Moscow and several other countries, who came to Egypt for a holiday, to Jeddah," he said, adding that however, they would have to bear the cost of their return journey.

According to Wisma Putra, besides MAS flight MH8031, three Saudi Air flights would bring home 480, 452 and 150 Malaysian citizens respectively today.

The last Saudi Air flight is expected to arrive at 3.30pm.

The first batch of Malaysian citizens returned home from Jeddah on Monday to a rousing welcome led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

-- BERNAMA

Source: Bernama.
Link: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=562436.

Malaysian states plan Valentine's Day crackdown

KUALA LUMPUR — Several Malaysian states are planning a crackdown on "immoral acts" during Valentine's Day as part of a campaign to encourage a sin-free lifestyle, an Islamic party leader Wednesday.

Authorities in the northern states of Kedah, Penang and Kelantan as well as central Selangor state will carry out "immorality checks" on February 14, said Nasrudin Hasan Tantawi, head of the Islamic party PAS's youth wing.

PAS is part of the opposition alliance that won control of the four states in 2008 elections. Its conservative stance has caused friction with its two partners including the liberal Chinese-based Democratic Action Party.

"We have identified spots in these states which are used by lovers and we are deploying local religious department officials as well as party members to stop such sinful acts like casual sex which violates Islam," Nasrudin told AFP.

He said authorities will take action against those caught in the dragnet, under Islamic laws that run in parallel with the civil justice system in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

"There have been campaigns promoting 'no panties' on Valentines Day and even free hotel room offers for unmarried couples. We must stop such practices here as these are sinful activities," he added.

Nasrudin said PAS youth was also launching a campaign to promote a sin-free lifestyle during the period.

"We are not trying to stop love, but want to ensure that whatever Muslims in Malaysia do is moral and in keeping with our faith."

PAS is known for its hardline stance on morality and in Kelantan, which the party rules in its own right, it has banned gambling, restricted the sale of alcohol and requires men and women to queue in separate lines at shops.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Abbas receives Jordanian citizenship

AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Jordanian citizenship has been given to senior Palestinian Authority officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas and his sons, a Jordanian politician said.

The move to award senior Palestinian officials citizenship comes despite a decision by authorities in Amman to revoke the Jordanian citizenship of thousands of Palestinians, Atef Tarawneh, deputy speaker of the Jordanian Parliament said, The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

A significant number of senior Palestinian officials are registered as full Jordanian citizens, the London based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper. The officials received citizenship at the same time they urged Jordan to stop giving Palestinian Jordanians citizenship, so they could consolidate their Palestinian identity, the Arab language newspaper said.

It noted that Abbas and his entire family have Jordanian citizenship as well as other senior Palestinian officials such as Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan and Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

Tarawneh said he rejected the government's decision to strip Palestinian Jordanian citizens of their citizenship and in a recent meeting with King Abdullah warned him against the repercussions such a decision would have, the Post said.

Tarawneh said many Jordanian-Palestinian businessmen who live abroad are afraid to return home for fear that their citizenship will be confiscated, The Jerusalem Post said.

Earlier this month a report issued by the Human Rights Watch called on Jordan to stop revoking the nationality from Jordanians of Palestinian origin, saying the authorities stripped more than 2,700 people of their nationality between 2004 and 2008.

Jordan captured the West Bank in 1949 and in 1950 extended sovereignty there granting all residents Jordanian nationality, the report said.

In 1988 the late King Hussein severed legal and administrative ties to the West Bank, withdrawing Jordanian nationality from all Palestinians who resided there at the time, the human rights organization said.

Other Jordanians of West Bank origin who were not living in the West Bank at the time were not affected, the report said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/02/09/Abbas-receives-Jordanian-citizenship/UPI-49261297257434/.

Large student protests in Algeria

8 February - University students in Algeria have started an "indefinite strike", denouncing the poor quality of teaching. Meanwhile, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is trying to stop the large protest marches announced for Saturday.

Students from several faculties in Algeria have decided to embark on an "indefinite strike", with manifestations in cities including Algiers, Oran, Tlemcen and Annaba. The students, according to the usually well-informed Algerian daily 'El Watan', principally are protesting the poor quality of education and a new qualification system, but are loosely connected to the general North African protest movement.

Following a presidential decree of December 2010, the formerly used "master" degree is now replaced by a "magisterial" degree, which also would mean that an engineer education will now end up with a title equivalent to a "professional education".

This seems to have been the last drop for Algerian student organizations, which already are complaining about the poor studying conditions and work possibilities faced in the country. Starting today, at least 500 students only in Algiers boycotted classes after announcing a large protest march to be organized tomorrow.

The student strike comes at a time when President Bouteflika is experiencing an increased popular pressure, following the events in Tunisia and Egypt. Currently, government is trying to avoid the holding of an announced mass protest march in Algiers on 12 February - next Saturday. The march is organized by the political opposition, human rights groups, trade unions, student organizations and an unemployed association.

The main demand of these groups originally was a lifting of Algeria's 19-year-old state of emergency, which permitted government to limit political rights and to a certain degree disrespect human rights. President Bouteflika quickly announced he had ordered government to find a legal basis to lift the state of emergency by finding other ways of "fighting terrorism."

The Algerian President at the same time said government would accept popular protests anywhere in the country, but not in the capital, Algiers. This was reaffirmed yesterday, as government turned down the application of the organizers of the 12 February protests for an Algiers demonstration.

Authorities rather advised the demonstrators they could use the Mohamed Boudiaf sports arena to hold a public meeting. The arena has a maximum capacity of 10,000 persons, and the proposal was therefore rejected by the protesters.

The organizations preparing the 12 February protest march, despite authorities' rejection, today still say the popular manifestation will go on as planned in Algiers and other Algerian cities.

Outside Algiers, the protest marches however already have seen their small beginnings. On Sunday, the biggest protest so far in the country was organized in Annaba, a coastal city close to the Tunisian border, where hundreds of unemployed took to the streets and expressed their dissatisfaction with the Bouteflika government.

Around 300 protesters attacked the provincial government (wilaya) offices in Annaba, shouting slogans against the government and demanding jobs. Police forces confronted the protesters and dispersed the group, threatening to use force.

Also in Algiers, there was a smaller demonstration on Sunday in front of the Labor Ministry, estimated at around 100 participants. Also this protest was violently dispersed by police forces, detaining several of the protesters for some hours.

Source: Afrol.
Link: http://www.afrol.com/articles/37264.

Nervous Algeria joins change bandwagon to preserve system

Tuesday, 08 February 2011

Algeria's rulers appear to have concluded, in the words of Giuseppe di Lampedusa's 19th century novel "The Leopard", that "Everything must change so that everything can stay the same."

It has become the latest Arab state to announce political reforms designed to preserve a system dominated by the security services and head off pro-democracy protests that swept away Tunisia's ruler and threaten Egypt's.

The tactic may work because the country's oil and gas wealth provides leeway to buy social peace, opposition is fragmented and the population is traumatized by memories of a civil war in the 1990s in which an estimated 150,000 people died.

The authorities that imposed a state of emergency in 1992 after scrapping a general election which an Islamist movement was poised to win have suddenly decided to lift it.

The "suspension of the electoral process", as it was euphemistically termed, launched a decade of carnage in the North African state, in which both sides committed atrocities as the Islamic Salvation Front was crushed.

Now President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the civilian face of a system dominated by generals and secret policemen, has said all legal political parties will have access to the media and demonstrations will be allowed everywhere except in the capital, Algiers, and its surrounding region.

"This is clearly a response to the events in Tunisia and Egypt and an attempt by the Algerian authorities to get ahead of the curve and head off popular protests, as in Yemen," said Benjamin Stora, the leading French historian of Algeria.
"They would not have dreamed of lifting the state of emergency otherwise."

It also seems to be a divide-and-rule tactic aimed at splitting a nascent pro-democracy front formed by small, secular political parties and the Algerian League of Human Rights, which has long favored dialogue with the Islamists.
"I hope very much that this is not just another ruse by the authorities," said Fodil Boumala, one of the organizers of a planned protest march called for February 12.

"I think that instead of getting to the root of the problem the authorities are just playing for time. They want to cut the ground out from the opposition by saying: 'You asked for the state of emergency to be lifted and now it is'," he said.

The ruling elite, built around officers who fought in the 1954-62 war of independence against France, is closely watching events in Egypt, which has a similar system of military-dominated government with a civilian facade.

Many Algerians speak of "le pouvoir" (the powers-that-be) to designate the opaque security establishment presumed to pull the strings and control the economy, and "le gouvernement" (the government) -- the civilian politicians and technocrats who debate in parliament and decide on the color of traffic lights.

For three decades since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, the rulers of Algeria and most other Arab countries have secured international support by presenting themselves as the last rampart against an Islamist takeover.

In the name of "stability", Western governments closed their eyes to the Algerian slaughter of the 1990s, chillingly epitomized by the phrase of former Prime Minister Redha Malek: "Fear must change sides." Fear changed sides in the other direction in Tunisia and Egypt, where protesters have braved the risk of death or injury to demonstrate for democracy and against their rulers.

Algeria's development has long been distorted by the "resource curse" of the energy sector, which funded the elite and encouraged an import-based economy that rewarded rent-seekers and discouraged domestic production.

Bureaucracy stifled entrepreneurship, leaving young, educated Algerians the choice between emigration, until Europe slammed its doors shut, and unemployment. Housing construction did not keep pace with rapid population growth.

The socio-economic frustrations which fueled Islamism have erupted frequently in mostly short-lived local protests.

But unlike Tunisia, where the self-immolation of a frustrated vegetable-seller snowballed into a national protest movement, protests against price rises and housing shortages in Algeria were short-lived, quickly bought off by the authorities.

While Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's rule was politically repressive and nepotistic, he did promote the rise of an educated middle class and a thriving private sector that provided the social basis for the democracy movement.

The political challenge presented by Algeria's embryonic pro-democracy front may be trickier to defuse than the economic unrest, but the country has always had the escape valve of a sometimes outspoken privately owned press and some degree of parliamentary debate. A popular joke in the Maghreb, adapted from communist-era eastern Europe, tells of two dogs who meet on the border between Algeria and Tunisia.

"Why do you want to come to Tunisia?" the sleek, chubby Tunisian dog asked the mangy Algerian mongrel. "I want to eat," the Algerian dog replies. "But why on earth do you want to come to Algeria?"

"I want to bark," the Tunisian dog says.

Source: The Citizen.
Link: http://thecitizen.co.tz/editorial-analysis/47-columnists/8045-nervous-algeria-joins-change-bandwagon-to-preserve-system.html.

Tunisia Senate grants leader wide powers

TUNIS (AFP) -- Tunisia's Senate agreed unanimously Wednesday to grant wide powers to the interim president struggling to restore order to the country following the overthrow of ex-leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

The upper house followed the lead of the lower house of parliament which on Monday authorized interim president Foued Mebazaa to rule by decree.

"We are coming under social pressure because of the demands of the people for improvements to their situation," caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi told the house before the vote.

"But it has to be taken into account that the state is not yet capable of responding to all these demands. We do not have a magic wand."

Even as he spoke a stray bullet from the gun of a soldier who fired warning shots to disperse a crowd in Tunis wounded a 26-year-old man, witnesses said.

They said the crowd of jobless people had massed outside the social affairs ministry, which on Tuesday began distributing a dole to the handicapped and unemployed.

The shots were fired as the crowd refused to line up before the offices opened but instead tried to force a way in, the witnesses said.

The measures voted by parliament empowers Mebazaa to sidestep the assembly made up mostly of followers of Ben Ali and decide key issues by decree, relating notably to the transition to democracy and the holding of elections within six months.

These include a possible general amnesty, human rights legislation, the organization of political parties and a new electoral code.

Ghannouchi said that parties banned under Ben Ali would be made legal within days ahead of "transparent and fair elections with the participation of all the parties."

The transitional government has banned Ben Ali's ruling party, the Constitutional Democratic Assembly, and accused loyalists of the former leader ousted on January 14 of attempting to foment unrest so as to block the transition to democracy.

Mass protests sparked partly by poverty and unemployment erupted across the country last month, resulting in Ben Ali's ouster. Pockets of unrest remain and police, closely associated with the hated Ben Ali regime, have played no role in restoring law and order.

On Tuesday the government called up reservists to bolster the army which has been carrying out security duties to help keep order.

Some 234 people have been killed during the unrest in Tunisia and 510 have been injured, an official source told AFP on Tuesday. The United Nations last week had put the figure at 219.

Ghannouchi Wednesday called on Tunisians to return to work, saying the country had suffered "considerable losses" because of the unrest.

The head of the Tunis-based African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, told AFP the bank would be prepared to give Tunisia substantial additional funding to help it face up to immediate problems.

And a group of French travel agents visiting the country said they planned a strong promotional drive to encourage the return of tourists within weeks. The industry, one of Tunisia's main sources of income, saw a 40 per cent drop in revenue in January and February is expected to be similar.

Tourism Minister Mehdi Houas said that with the eventual lifting of the curfew and the return of security, "We are counting on a real recovery around March-April."

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=358550.

Algeria details renewable energy strategy

A new national energy strategy aims to create 100,000 green jobs in Algeria over 20 years.

By Mohand Ouali for Magharebia in Algiers – 08/02/11

Algeria needs to invest up to 120 billion dollars in renewable energy between now and 2030 to meet the goals of a new energy policy adopted by the council of ministers on Friday (February 4th), experts said.

"This is certainly an ambitious program, but it's achievable and within Algeria's reach," said Belhamel Mayouf, Director of the National Center for the Development of Renewable Energy (CDER).

The investment needs to come from both the public and private sector, in addition to contributions by foreign partners, energy consultant Khaled Boukhlifa explained at an El Moudjahid forum on Sunday (February 6th).

This new energy policy will be supported by the development of a local subcontracting industry, which is expected to create around 100,000 jobs.

State owned energy giant Sonelgaz will take charge of completing several renewable energy projects, the CDER director said. Sonelgaz is already running a project to develop a hybrid (gas-solar) power station at Hassi R'mel with a 150 MW capacity and a separate 10 MW wind farm at Adrar.

The new national renewable energy program, backed up by energy saving policies, will start by working to develop knowledge in the sector between 2011 and 2013. Authorities also plan to use this time to promote co-operation with foreign partners, particularly industrial groups specializing in the production of equipment and technology needed for renewable energy.

Over these three years, the state will hand out grants worth 2 billion dinars for studies to be carried out, on top of 12 billion dinars worth of subsidies for electricity generated from renewable sources. Furthermore, approximately 50 billion dinars of preferential loans will be released to enable the building of experimental units. Sixty-five projects were identified as part of this development.

In addition to the creation of a directorate for new energy, the council of ministers also allocated 1% of the tax raised from hydrocarbons to the development of these new energies.

Investments are planned to take off between 2015 and 2030, with electricity production rising to 22,000 MW, double the current generating capacity. Most of this will come from natural gas, saving around 600 thousand million cubic meters of gas over 25 years. Half of the saved gas will be stored with the rest exported, earning the country an additional 200 billion dollars over the period.

One of the projects already under way is the construction of a silicon production plant, scheduled to go online in early 2013 at a cost of between 200 and 250 million euros, according to CDER director Mayouf.

Work to build a factory for the production of solar panels will begin later this year, Rouiba Eclairage Managing Director Abdelaziz Boumehra said. The plant will cost around 100 million dollars and will have a production capacity of between 50 and 120 MW.

The German group, Centrotherm, won the contract to build the plant on Monday (February 7th) in Algiers. The cost of this plant – the first of its kind in Africa – totals 29.8 billion dinars and is "highly competitive and almost on a par with what is being done in China", according to Sonelgaz CEO Noureddine Boutarfa.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/02/08/feature-02.

Erdoğan wants Egypt election under int'l monitoring

09 February 2011, Wednesday

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated calls on Tuesday for a transition of power in Egypt, saying a government upholding universal principles of democracy should be established through free and fair elections to be held under international monitoring.

Erdoğan, addressing his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies, said Turkey had no intention to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt or another country, but emphasized that peoples' outcries for the right to live under humane conditions cannot be considered a matter of internal affairs, just like the Palestinian issue cannot be considered part of the internal affairs of Israel due to its potential to have repercussions across the entire Middle East.

“We are looking at the issue from the perspective of humanity, brotherhood, good neighborliness. We have no intention to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs. What we want is peace, stability and welfare in our region,” Erdoğan said. “The Middle East has suffered a lot from wars, conflicts, internal unrest, instability and administrations that pay no attention to what people want. … The duty of the governments is to listen to what their people say.”

Erdoğan’s remarks came as the Egyptian ambassador in Ankara met with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, reportedly to convey a message from the Egyptian government complaining in a diplomatic manner about Turkish statements regarding protests in Egypt over the past two weeks that demand resignation of long-time President Hosni Mubarak.

The prime minister noted that he had discussed the situation in Egypt twice in the past in one week. “Transition to a government based on universal democratic principles should take place in Egypt through fair and free elections to be monitored by international observers. The transition period must begin immediately and it should be orderly. The transitional government should be built on consensus and those who resorted to violence during demonstrations should face justice,” said Erdoğan. He also said elections should be concluded in a short period of time, at most in a week and called for an international donors conference to discuss ways to prevent Egyptians from suffering from hunger or economic hardships.

Warning on Israel

Meanwhile, Erdoğan has also said Israel should avoid any involvement as events unfold in Egypt. Speaking to a group of reporters en route to Turkey from Syria, where he had talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, Erdoğan said Israeli involvement would have negative repercussions.

“I have told Mr. Obama, too; Israel’s involvement will cause provocations, it will negatively affect the course of events,” he was quoted as saying by the Milliyet daily. A US diplomatic cable disclosed by WikiLeaks showed that Israel has long regarded Omar Suleiman, just appointed Egypt’s vice president, as its preferred successor to President Mubarak. “We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman,” said the cable written by the US Embassy in Tel Aviv in 2008, using its own spelling for his name.

Some analysts say Turkey, a fierce critic of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, has emerged as a model for Arab countries, long ruled by authoritarian regimes. Erdoğan told reporters that Turkey had no intention to “export [governance] models” to other countries, emphasizing that his AK Party only came to power through a democratic vote.

Source: Today's Zaman.
Link: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-234967-erdogan-wants-egypt-election-under-intl-monitoring.html.

Turkish PM's road map for Egypt

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has proposed a road map for Egypt during his party's group meeting.

By Okan Haksever, Ankara / World Bulletin

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has proposed a road map for Egypt during his party's group meeting.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey has no intention to intervene Egypt's internal affairs, but would like to see stability and peace in the Middle East.

During his party's group meeting in Turkish Parliament, Prime Minister Erdogan listed his road map for the future of Egypt, after saying he talked to U.S. President Obama twice on this issue in 6 days.

Here is the roadmap for the future of Egypt by Erdogan:

- Free and fair elections should be held under the supervision of international observers in Egypt, so through this election transition to a new government can be done in accordance with the rules of universal democracies.

- Transition process must begin immediately and not to last long

- Interim government to be determined by reconciliation

- The ones who used violence during demonstrations should be brought
to justice.

- There should be a road map and calendar for transition process.

- A new electoral system should be established, according to universal principles

- Egypt's future be guided only by the Egyptians.

- After voting, it should not be waited for months for the result. The results of election should be concluded in a week at the latest, within 24 hours at best.

- For possible problems such as hunger in Egypt, a donators' conference should be held

"Hamas example"

Erdogan gave the following messages in his speech:

"Living in an open-air prison in Gaza and Hamas, despite all difficult conditions, deliver bread and water to all his brothers in Egypt. This scene is very important. In a ground where no communication is possible, Gaza people thrust out their hand to the people of Egypt without thinking about economy or politics. We thrust out our hand to Egyptian people with the heart of brotherhood. I have stated publicly last week, no rulership can stand against the people despite people. Government's duty is to hear the screams of its people."

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=69539.