Run-off Stakes | Nasserist Darkhorse | Key Players
Jadaliyya Coverage | Tight margin for 2nd
SCAF to issue preliminary constitution
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Syrian Slaughter Update - Week Thirteen
Popular opinion in Syria is starting to turn on the peace plan and the UN monitors, as one activist named Kamal Al-Hamwi, from the hotspot of Hama, explained to Avaaz: “This initiative has been a bad omen on the city of Hama. No less than 140 civilians have fallen, most of which happened in three consecutive massacres and took place during the presence of UN observers in the city. It seems like the purpose of Annan’s initiative was not to stop the killing, but to give the regime a green light to shed more blood of the Syrians demanding their freedom.” >continue<
![The words on the boy’s body read, “We will never kneel, O Bashar” [Reuters]
Syria Students Killed in Aleppo Campus Attack
Syrian security forces and students armed with knives have attacked a protest march at Aleppo University, killing at least four people who were protesting against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, activists have said.
Several others were wounded during the pre-dawn raid early on Thursday, with activists saying that as many as 200 demonstrators were arrested. >continue<
Aljazeera Live Blog Syria | syriacomment.com](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3h1m35tYA1qebfjho1_1280.jpg)
The words on the boy’s body read, “We will never kneel, O Bashar” [Reuters]
Syria Students Killed in Aleppo Campus Attack
Syrian security forces and students armed with knives have attacked a protest march at Aleppo University, killing at least four people who were protesting against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, activists have said.
Several others were wounded during the pre-dawn raid early on Thursday, with activists saying that as many as 200 demonstrators were arrested. >continue<
Wait I thought we won Egypt using Twitter!
Glen Johnson
The revolution is long over in Libya, but gunfire still crackles in the night, echoing down empty streets and alleys.
Swaggering men in Che Guevara-style berets patrol the outskirts of once-besieged Misurata with antiaircraft guns affixed to the back of their pickup trucks, stalking those they believe are responsible for their city’s misery.
A militia based in mountainous Zintan refuses to hand over Moammar Kadafi’s son and once heir-apparent, Seif Islam Kadafi, and encirclesTripoli’s airport, holding both as bargaining chips to extract concessions and avoid being marginalized in the country’s emerging political order.
Six months after Kadafi was ousted, well-armed militias made up of former rebels present an increasing threat to Libya’s precarious stability.
Amnesty International describes the militias as “largely out of control.” Others view them as a temporary scourge in a country torn by retribution and tribal rivalries.
Traveling in reckless caravans across deserts and through cities, the militias defy easy categorization and represent a direct challenge to the overwhelmed Transitional National Council.
The distrusted and opaque interim authority lacks the muscle to rein in the armed groups numbering in the hundreds, which have become a law unto themselves.
“The core issue is legitimacy,” said William Lawrence, the North Africa director of the International Crisis Group. The transitional council “is not representative of the Libyan people.”FULL ARTICLE (Los Angeles Times)
Photo: Abdel Magid Al Fergany, Associated Press
The documentary “Reporting… A Revolution” tells the story of six intrepid Egyptian journalists who watched in horror from their Cairo hotel as security forces attacked protesters near Tahrir Square during last year’s revolution. The film, which screened at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, delves into how reporters react when their home city turns into a war zone.
“I just got back from Tunisia and rather than being with my baby son, I had to go to Tahrir Square. The revolution was happening here,” she told Spiegel ONLINE. “It feels very different when it happens in your own country: When the outcome of the battle will influence your own and your son’s future, it is no longer about journalism. It becomes a personally decisive moment.” That fine line between the personal and the professional forms the crux of the documentary “Reporting… A Revolution,” part of the Berlin International Film Festival’s spotlight on the Arab Spring. >see the video<
A member of the Free Syrian Army burns a portrait of Bashar Assad in Al Qsair. Jan. 25, 2012
Read More Here
Arabist »
This video, put out by Aalam Wassef, is one of the most daring and well-made I’ve seen yet by the anti-SCAF movement. The basic narrative is that the SCAF represents a military that has run Egypt into the ground for some sixty years, while enjoying the fruits of its economic empire, luxury hospitals, clubs etc. It calls for a boycott of military-produced products and a general strike on February 11. >link<
SCAF = Supreme Council of Armed Forces
This also comes when multiple sources are reporting that about 15% of the regime’s army has defected, which is about 40,000—almost double what it was when I spoke to Rami Nakhla of the Syrian National Council about a month ago.
An assault on Syrian civilians and a string of embassy protests have been underway the past few hours, and — right now — there’s no better place to bring yourself up to speed with the story than on Carvin’s twitter feed.
