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23 Jan 2012 - NPWJ News Digest on Middle East and North Africa Democracy
Articles
Egypt's new Islamist-led parliament to hold first session
Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 23 Jan 2012
Egypt's lower house of parliament on Monday holds its first session since a popular uprising ousted veteran president Hosni Mubarak, with Islamists dominating the assembly for the first time.
One year after the revolution, many Egyptians see the new parliament as the first sign of democratic rule, in sharp contrast to the toothless legislature that existed under Mubarak.
But the exact role of parliament remains unclear, with power remaining in the hands of the military generals who took power when Mubarak resigned last February.
The assembly's first session was to convene at 11:00 AM (0900 GMT).
Syria rejects Arab League plan for Assad to step down
BBC, 23 Jan 2012
Syria has rejected an Arab League call for President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy.
The league, meeting in Cairo, also called on Syria to form a national unity government with the opposition within two months.
A government official called the plan "flagrant interference" in Syria's internal affairs, state TV said.
The UN says more than 5,000 people have died as a result of the crackdown on protests since they began last March.
The league called on both sides to end the bloodshed.
The government in Damascus says it is fighting "terrorists and armed gangs" and claims that some 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed.
Yemen Leader Leaves for Medical Care in New York
by Laura Kasinof, The New York Times, 23 Jan 2012
Yemen’s departing president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, left Yemen on Sunday and will travel to New York for medical treatment, Yemeni and American officials said.
Mr. Saleh was hurt in an attack on the presidential palace. Officials said he was expected to be in the United States as long as needed for treatment.
A Yemeni government spokesman, Mohammed Albasha, confirmed that Mr. Saleh had left the country but provided no further details.
A high-ranking official said that Mr. Saleh was to stop first in the neighboring country of Oman, and then continue to the United States, where he is expected to arrive by Wednesday.
Libya: Ruling Council Deputy Head Quits After Protests
All Africa, 22 Jan 2012
The deputy head of Libya's National Transitional Council resigned on Sunday after angry protests, as the ruling body faced its first serious challenge since the ouster of Moamer Kadhafi.
The NTC also postponed the adoption of the new election law to January 28 after it met at a secret location following attacks on Saturday on its offices in Benghazi, the eastern city which first rose up against Kadhafi last year.
NTC deputy head Abdel Hafiz Ghoga told AFP he had resigned from his post, as thousands of students demonstrated on Sunday against him in Benghazi's University of Ghar Yunis where he was manhandled three days ago.
"My resignation shows that the NTC is a tribune for fighting for a cause and not a governing body. We are not looking for posts," Ghoga said, adding that his decision was in the "best interests of Libya."
Hamas calls for end to peace feelers after arrests
by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters, 20 Jan 2012
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas urged President Mahmoud Abbas Friday to suspend exploratory peace talks with Israel following Israel's arrest of two Hamas legislators, and to stop his cooperation on West Bank security with the Israelis.
Hamas' Gaza Strip leader Ismail Haniyeh, recently back from a tour of Arab states, praised the rise of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world and predicted "black days" for Israel "because the nations know their path now."
Record number of refugees, migrants risked lives to reach Yemen in 2011
UN News Center, 20 Jan 2012
More than 103,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from the Horn of Africa made the perilous journey across the Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen during 2011, the United Nations refugee agency said today, while warning of increasing violence directed towards migrants.
“Last year saw an almost 100 per cent increase from 2010 when 53,000 people made the same journey,” said Adrian Edwards, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “The previous highest number of arrivals we have seen was in 2009 when 78,000 people made the journey.”
The increase of migrants is all the more astounding considering the journey across the Gulf is full of dangers, noted UNCHR, which has been gathering data on the migration flows in the region for more than five years.
Trial Puts Morocco's New Charter Under Spotlight
by Aida Alami, The New York Times, 18 Jan 2012
In a packed courtroom, Mouad Belrhouat, 24, an anti-monarchist rapper who performs as El-Haqed, or The Spiteful, was convicted last Thursday of assault and sentenced to prison and a fine.
On the surface, a banal enough affair, the fine was a modest 500 dirhams, or $57, and Mr. Belrhouat was immediately freed, having already served his four-month and three-day sentence in pre-trial detention. But for many observers the proceedings were more a trial and conviction of Moroccan justice — and, by extension of the country’s new Constitution, which guarantees the independence of the judiciary.
