GAZA STRIP: Kidnapped Italian activist found dead; Hamas condemns rival radical group

Hours after an Islamist extremist group announced it had kidnapped an Italian peace activist in the Gaza Strip, the man's body was discovered in the restive seaside territory. It was the first kidnapping of a Westerner in four years and one of the few times such an abduction has ended fatally.

The hostage, Vittorio Arrigoni, a pro-Palestinian activist for the advocacy group the International Solidarity Movement, had appeared blindfolded in an Internet video released by the Tawhid and Jihad group, which threatened to kill him unless its imprisoned leader and two other members of radical groups were freed by Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.

The group set a deadline of Friday evening, but Arrigoni’s body was found by Hamas police well short of that, Hamas officials said. They said they had arrested two suspects and were searching for a third. Hamas said it "condemns the heinous crime that does not reflect our values, our religion or our custom and tradition," according to an Interior Ministry statement released to Palestinian news media.

But the kidnapping raised questions about Hamas' control over Gaza, and it represents the latest example of how smaller, more radical groups in the territory -– some with alleged ties to Al Qaeda -– are challenging the rule of Hamas, which itself is viewed by Israel and the United States as a terrorist organization.Those groups complain that Hamas has become too moderate.

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, has been cracking down on Islamist Salafists over the last 18 months, arresting their members and killing one of their spiritual leaders during an armed clash in August 2009.

Gaza residents said Arrigoni arrived in 2009 aboard a ship challenging the Israeli naval blockade after the 2008-09 Israeli offensive in Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead. His abduction was the first of a foreigner since Hamas took control of the territory. The last foreigner kidnapped here was BBC reporter Alan Johnston, who was abducted in March 2007 and released three months later.

-- Ahmed Aldabba in Gaza City

TUNISIA: New poll shows concern about economy, division over religion

Tunisians are optimistic about the future of their country but remain concerned about the economy and deeply divided on the role religion should play in politics, a new poll finds.

The study, commissioned by the Washington-based International Republican Institute, claims to be the first independent opinion poll since the fall of former President Zine el Abidine ben Ali. It comes at a critical juncture for Tunisia.

On July 24, Tunisians are expected to vote for a national assembly that will be responsible for rewriting the constitution and determining crucial elements of the political system, such as the distribution of powers within the government and whether to legally separate matters of religion and state.

According to the poll, 79% of respondents said Tunisia is going in the right direction, despite the fact that 66% categorized the economy as somewhat or very bad. Job creation topped the list of priorities respondents said the interim government should be pursuing, followed by free and fair elections and stimulation of the economy.

However, respondents were sharply divided on the role religion should play in politics, with 48% saying they were in favor of a political system based on religion and 44% preferring a secular system. Among those, 27% said they felt the Tunisian political system should be "strongly" secular and 21% said it should be "strongly" based on religion. Urban respondents were more likely than their rural counterparts to support a secular system, as were younger respondents over older ones.

The poll's results appear to strengthen comparisons between Tunisia and Turkey, which has achieved mixed results with its attempts to blend a secular political system with the Islamic values shared by many Turks.

-- Meris Lutz in Beirut

Photo: A wave of popular protests driven partially by economic woes forced former President Zine el Abidine ben Ali from power earlier this year. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

 

 

 

KUWAIT, IRAN: Iranian diplomats to be expelled over spy ring row in latest spat in Arab Gulf-Iranian relations

Kuwait is reportedly ready to boot out a number of Iranian diplomats for alleged links to a spy ring working for Tehran in the latest spat in ties between Sunni Arab Gulf states and Shiite Iran.

According to Kuwait's foreign minister Mohammed Sabah, a number of Iranian diplomats are to be expelled for alleged spying that reportedly dates back to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"There will be action against a group of Iranian diplomats.... They will be considered persona non grata and expelled from Kuwait," he was quoted as telling reporters in Kuwait on Thursday.

Tehran slammed the claims as baseless, and Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said the Islamic republic was not meddling in Kuwaiti affairs, according to Iranian state media.

Arab Gulf media reports say that Kuwait has recalled its ambassador to Iran for consultations.

Ties between Arab Gulf countries and Iran appear to becoming increasingly strained since the wave of Arab protests reached Iran's Shiite neighbor Bahrain where the Sunni government's security forces crushed the mainly Shiite-led protest movement last month.

The crisis in Bahrain quickly transformed into a regional standoff between Sunni Gulf Arab states and Shiite Iran with both sides throwing accusations at each other.

Authorities in Bahrain have accused Iran of meddling in its affairs, and some Sunni monarchies have sent troops to Bahrain, a move that has drawn stark criticism from Iran.

On Thursday, an Iranian parliamentary panel warned Riyadh that it was "playing with fire" by contributing troops to the joint military force in Bahrain.

The kingdom fired back, urging Iran to mind its own business and to not interfere in the affairs of Gulf states. A Saudi government official called the statement "irresponsible" and condemned it "in the most strongest words," reported the state-run Saudi news agency SPA on Friday.

News about Kuwait planning to oust Iranian diplomats came two days after a Kuwait City court sentenced two Iranian nationals and a Kuwaiti to death for spying for Tehran. All three had served in Kuwait's army at the time of their arrest in 2010. Sabah alleged that the Iranian diplomats were connected to the spy ring.

A Syrian national and a stateless Arab were given life terms at the conclusion of the trial while two Iranians were acquitted.

Salehi dismissed the allegations by Kuwaiti court, saying the death sentence rulings were part of a "plot," reported Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.

"Focusing on an outdated issue by a Kuwaiti court and attributing it to the Islamic Republic of Iran is a plot being pursued by those who are jealous of Iran's good and friendly relations with Kuwait," Fars quoted Salehi as saying.  

The court heard charges that the spy ring had given secret military information and taken photographs of military sites in Kuwait and spied for the Islamic Republic.

Local media said the men confessed to having taken pictures of Kuwaiti and U.S. military sites for Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, but the defendants reportedly denied the charges in court and stressed they were tortured to confess, according to Agence France-Presse.

Oil-rich Kuwait has a sizaeble Shiite population.

-- Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

Photo: Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah. Credit: Agence France-Presse

 

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks-20110402,0,6348665.column

IRAQ: The Sadrists' golden opportunity

Editor’s note: The post is from an analyst with the Carnegie Middle East Center. Neither the Los Angeles Times nor Babylon & Beyond endorses the positions of the analysts, nor does Carnegie endorse the positions of The Times or its blog.

Iraqi protesters have been greeted with promises from all sides.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has pledged 280,000 new jobs, a 100-day evaluation period for ministries and provincial councils, and public-sector reforms. Ayyad Allawi’s Iraqiya Party has backed improvements in agriculture and electricity services. And the Kurdish leadership has even tried to respark the Kurdish national dream of annexing hotly disputed Kirkuk to stem the flow of demonstrations calling for the leadership’s reform.

But the Sadrists — the Shiite militia-turned-political-movement led by the cleric Muqtada al Sadr -- have responded most promptly to calls from most Iraqis for better services. Although he did not participate in the demonstrations, Sadr immediately pledged to hold an inquiry to survey the needs of the country’s governorates. “The Week of People’s Voices” this month presented the Sadrists as spokesmen for the Iraqi people and caretakers of their demands.

This is the Sadrists’ second strategic move recently; in December, they released Iraq from a nine-month political deadlock by giving 40 seats to Maliki’s State of Law coalition, allowing him to form a new government. The kingmakers of the new government now have the chance to become key players in the government itself by capitalizing on the ministries under their control.

In exchange for their support of Maliki, the Sadrists were granted control of the ministries of municipality, water, and housing and construction. They also temporarily run the ministry of planning. Through these positions, the Sadrists control the provision of water, irrigation systems, and the building of national infrastructure -- including much-needed housing, public buildings, roads and bridges.

Most importantly, in leading the ministry of municipality, they regulate the delivery of services such as electricity, water and sewage in each province and directly oversee the municipal manager of each provincial council. By holding most of the service provision ministries, the Sadrists have the most to gain from meeting the demands of the Iraqi street.

While the Kurdistan region seeks new leadership, most Iraqis want better services, as Iraq lacks even basic infrastructure and access to potable water is below 70% in urban areas and 48% in rural areas. The country currently produces only one-third of the general demand for electricity and the majority of Iraqi homes are without power for almost 17 hours a day.

To meet these needs, the Sadrists will most likely respond with populist measures to increase their following, especially among unemployed youth, their traditional base of support. The minister of municipality has already proposed land redistribution for all those who are unemployed and homeless.

The Sadrists could also effectively improve services, build infrastructure and generate employment opportunities in key areas such as the Shiite-dominated southern provinces of Iraq and Baghdad, where they aim to increase their legitimacy and erode Maliki’s popular support.

In Basra, the minister of water recently inaugurated the Shat al-Arab Irrigation Canal Project to tackle the problem of water shortages. A grid of roads and bridges has been planned to connect the Maysan province to Baghdad. Since the Sadrists also run the ministry of tourism, they will manage all investments generated by the flow of religious tourism in Najaf and Karbala. Priority in all project implementations will be given to Basra, Maysan, Dhi-Qar, Babylon, Diwanya, Karbala and Muthanna, as well as the outskirts of Baghdad.

While the protests in Iraq may not threaten an entire leadership, they could shift the balance of power within the ruling coalition. With both promises and targeted public policies in southern Iraq, the Sadrists could infiltrate Maliki’s strongholds -- especially Basra and Baghdad -- consolidate their popular support there, and increase their pull within the new government, most likely at the expense of Maliki’s State of Law coalition. As a result, the Sadrists could regain politically what they lost militarily in the 2007 Battle of Basra to Maliki-affiliated armed forces and emerge as a key player in the government.

During the protests, the Sadrists lobbied for the resignation of several State of Law governors and high-ranking officials in Baghdad and Basra, accusing Maliki’s administration of being lax in combating corruption. This move may turn the Sadrists from an indispensable ally for Maliki’s reelection into his chief competition. Maliki already seems to be avoiding alienating the Kurds over the issue of Kirkuk, possibly to secure them as an alternative ally.

The winners of this period of social unrest will be those who heed the call of the Iraqi street, and hold the potential to respond at the local level. The Sadrists have a golden opportunity to overshadow their past as a sectarian militia and recast themselves as populist policy makers who are receptive to the people’s demands. Whether they do so remains to be seen.

--Maria Fantappie in Beirut

Maria Fantappie is a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.

IRAN: Protesters slam Bahrain's royal family, U.S. for crackdown on dissidents

More than 1,000 Iranians took part in an officially sanctioned protest Friday against the royal family of Bahrain and its Western allies in connection with a violent crackdown against largely Shiite anti-government demonstrators.

Protesters in Tehran shouted "Death to Al Khalifa in Bahrain" and "Death to America," referring to the close alliance between the Khalifa ruling family and the United States.

"We are all Muslims," protester Ali Asadpour, 58, told Babylon & Beyond. "We should be united against the arrogant power, the U.S., and we want an Islamic system in Bahrain."

Sunni government loyalists in Bahrain have tried to discredit the protest movement there by alleging it has ties with Iran and the Shiite paramilitary party Hezbollah in Lebanon, a claim the protesters deny.

Nevertheless, the Iranian government has been particularly outspoken in its criticism of Bahrain, and the two countries withdrew their ambassadors this week after the intervention of Saudi troops in Bahrain.

Iranian officials have also condemned American support for Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. President Obama has called on the governments of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to show "maximum restraint" but did not condemn the violence or ask Saudi troops to withdraw from Bahrain.

IRAN: Tehran residents speak up about protests and opposition movement

What do Iranians think about the confrontation between pro- and anti-government forces that continues to dominate the country's political discourse?

Babylon & Beyond spoke to people on the streets and in the mosques of Tehran to canvas opinion about recent protests in the Iranian capital, the opposition movement and its leaders.

Those interviewed also were asked whether they thought protests might escalate or were losing momentum.

Amir, 50, businessman:

"The demonstration on March 1 was in Engelab and Azadi avenues and they were more than I had expected. But the difference was the plainclothes police who were among the groups of demonstrators. ... As soon as [the protesters] dared to chant slogans, they were arrested and taken away to the waiting buses. I have watched videos ... about the demonstrations in Shiraz and Isfahan and other cities. The demonstrations will be escalating if the suppressive militia lets up and is a bit lenient."

SAUDI ARABIA: Protests 'contradict' Islamic law and are banned, Interior ministry declares [Updated]

After demonstrators staged protests demanding the release of political prisoners, and activists urged sweeping reforms in Saudi Arabia, the ultra-conservative kingdom appears to have decided to put the lid on street-based calls for change.

[Updated at 9:25 a.m.: The headline on an earlier version of this post said demonstrations by Shiites were deemed to contradict Islamic law. The interior ministry said all demonstrations, not just ones by Shiites, were contrary to Islamic law.]

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia's interior ministry reportedly issued a statement deeming all sorts of protests in the kingdom illegal with the explanation that demonstrations are not in line with Islamic law and values of Saudi society.

"Regulations in the kingdom forbid categorically all sorts of demonstrations, marches and sit-ins ... as they contradict Islamic Sharia law and the values and traditions of Saudi society," said a ministry statement published on the official SPA state news agency.

It added that Saudi police are "authorized ... to take all measures needed against those who try to break the law."

A day earlier, several hundred people from Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority community marched in towns in the eastern province, demanding the release of an arrested cleric and political detainees. Last month, more than 100 Saudi activists and intellectuals called on King Abdullah to set up a constitutional monarchy and implement sweeping reforms in the Sunni-dominated country.

There are also activist calls on Facebook for a "Day of Rage" on March 11 in the austere kingdom and for a "Saudi revolution" on March 20.

--Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

Photo: Activists have called on Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to enact sweeping reforms in the kingdom. Credit: Associated Press

SAUDI ARABIA: Demonstrators stage rare protests to demand release of political prisoners

 

Saudi Arabia has so far escaped the demonstrations and popular uprisings that are sweeping the region, but recent developments suggest the ultraconservative kingdom is not immune to protests and unrest.

Media reports say demonstrators took to the streets of areas of Saudi Arabia's oil-producing eastern province Thursday and Friday to demand the release of political prisoners they claim are being held without trial.

According to CNN, one of the main rallying points at Friday's protest was the outspoken Shiite prayer leader Sheikh Tawfeeq Amer who protesters claim was arrested Feb. 25 after calling in a sermon for Saudi Arabia to become a constitutional democracy.

The video above, posted on YouTube, claims to show prosteters marching in the streets in a town in the eastern province Friday to demand Amer's release.

The demonstration comes a day after around 100 Saudi Shiite Muslims gathered for a rally in the same province to call for the release of Shiite prisoners they say are being arbitraily held by the Saudi authorities.

A report from the Reuters news agency said young men were seen marching through Awwamiya, a town near Saudi Arabia's Shiite epicenter Qatif, chanting "Peaceful, peaceful" while waving pictures of Shiites they say have been detained unjustly. A group of policemen observed the protest without intervening, added the report. 

Thurday's and Friday's protests, however, were reported to be much smaller in size than the demonstrations that occurred down in Awwamiya in 2009 after Saudi police launched a crackdown and search for the Shiite preacher Nimr Nimr, who back then had suggested in a sermon that Shiites could one day seek their own separate state.

The vast majority of Saudi Arabia's Shiite community lives in the country's eastern province -- home to most of the kingdom's vast oil resources and also near protest-stricken Bahrain, where members of the majority Shiite population recently have staged massive protests against their Sunni rulers. 

Shiites in Saudi Arabia regularly complain about discrimination and say they still face restrictions in getting some jobs, although their situation has improved somewhat under King Abdullah and the reforms he has implemented. The government denies charges of such discrimination.

Last month, more than 100 Saudi activists and intellectuals called on the king to set up a constitutional monarchy and implement sweeping reforms.

--Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

Video credit: YouTube

LIBYA: Popular TV cleric issues fatwa against Kadafi

Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi, head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, issued a fatwa on live television (Arabic link) Monday night urging the Libyan army to kill the country's embattled leader, Moammar Kadafi.

"It is not heroism to fight your people and to hit them with missiles," Qaradawi said in an interview with Al Jazeera, which also hosts his popular show, "Sharia and Life."

Libyan security forces waged a fierce attack on demonstrators in the two major cities of Tripoli and Benghazi on Monday, with many reports that the regime had ordered air strikes against protesters.

Those assertions were bolstered by news that two Libyan fighter jets had landed in Malta on Monday and that the pilots were seeking asylum after refusing orders to bomb demonstrators who had taken control of Benghazi, according to the Times of Malta.

"I say to my brothers and sons who are soldiers and officers in the Libyan Army to disobey when [the government] gives orders to kill the people using warplanes," the cleric said. "I now issue a fatwa urging officers and soldiers who can to kill Moammar Kadafi."

"Shoot him down and relieve the people and the country of his burden," he added. "This man wants to annihilate the people."

--Meris Lutz in Beirut

IRAN: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Egyptian uprising is an Islamic 'awakening'

Iran's spiritual and political leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the popular uprisings against Western-backed autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt represent an "irreversible defeat" for the United States.

Speaking amid heightened security during the Friday sermon at Tehran University, Khamenei went on to draw comparisons between Iran's Islamic Revolution and the recent Arab protest movements, characterizing the protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and around the region as an "Islamic awakening."

He also accused the United States of propping up corrupt leaders in the region in order to protect its own interests and those of its ally Israel.

"This is a war between two willpowers: the willpower of the people and the willpower of their enemies," he said. "The Israelis and the U.S. are more concerned about what would happen to their interests in post-Mubarak regime."

ISRAEL: Researchers see Tunisia as a textbook revolution

Revolutions seem to take place all of a sudden, but usually they don't really come out of the blue. Whether religious, political or economic reasons are behind upheaval, it often reflects a long process that reached a tipping point and a window of opportunity. 

The time must be right but the ground must be ripe, too. In this context, an Israeli research group suggests Tunisia's was a textbook revolution. Not in the sense that it was a perfect storm or that it followed a certain formula -- no two revolutions are the same -- but in the sense that it may actually have begun in school textbooks.

The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) is a group that conducts in-depth studies of school curriculum throughout the Middle East, checking hundreds of books per country and they way they teach about tolerance and peace.

A comprehensive study of the Tunisian curriculum, completed in 2009 and presented before the European parliament, found that education in Tunisia cultivates equality and is much more progressive in teaching tolerance than any other Arab country.

But it wasn't always so, says Yohanan Manor, a retired Jewish Agency official and political scientist who established the research group a decade ago. According to Manor, Tunisia began instituting educational reform in the mid-1990s, when Zine el Abidine ben Ali (who was overthrown last month) appointed a political opponent as minister of education. Mohamed Charfi, who died a few years ago, was a lawyer and longtime human rights leader in Tunisia and a fierce critic of Ben Ali, in particular concerning human rights issues.

The now-deposed president had placed Charfi in charge of the education ministry, maybe so that  he could keep an eye on him but also because Ben Ali  was interested in letting the rights leader implement his agenda, which was separating religion and state, Manor said, noting that the issue is a longstanding one in Tunisian history.

ISRAEL: Is the U.S. attitude to Egypt a message?

The U.S. position on Egypt has taken Israel by surprise and left people wondering what the Americans are doing and what this means for other allies in the region, including Israel.

When the administration first urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to address demonstrators' legitimate demands, commentators in Israel were puzzled, almost appalled.  OK, Mubarak's s not perfect, but why would America think his replacement would be any more democratic or pro-Western? Once again, the Americans are looking at the region through Western eyes and clearly, they don't know what they're doing, was the tone of many Israeli analysts. Politicians are not talking much about the crisis.

As the protests continued, some began thinking maybe Obama does know what he's doing — but they're not sure they like it.

"A knife in the back," was how Dan Margalit of the Yisrael Hayom free-sheet described the American treatment of Mubarak. "Obama threw Mubarak to the dogs," wrote Eitan Haber in Yediot Aharonot. Others were more subtle but most share the opinion that the Obama administration is sending its partners in the Middle East a message through Egypt.

Ephraim Halevy, former chief of Mossad and a highly respected former diplomat, said he's having a hard time understanding some of the American moves, reminding that Egypt was a key strategic partner to them too. But, Halevy notes, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said that all strategic alliances are conditional, as in both "temporary" and with actual "conditions." American conditions, at least in principle, are democracy and rights.

But only Mubarak is getting read the riot act, which suggests to Halevy that this isn't a principled move but a practical one, with a specific purpose. The question is, what does Obama think he will get in return.  "Obama is not naive; this is a gamble," Halevy said.

Uzi Rabi, head of Middle East and Africa studies at Tel-Aviv University, notes that this sends a "very negative message." Shaking off Mubarak in rather a cruel way should raise questions in other Arab countries who dwell "under the American umbrella," Rabi said, adding that this might cause leaders to calculate their moves differently as part of the geopolitical change the region is undergoing.

Does this include Israel?

There are many lessons to be had from the events in Egypt events — and Israel needs to learn some of them yesterday, according to Eitan Haber, former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Unlike his predecessors, the current U.S. president has no sentiments for Israel, he writes. Watching him sell Mubarak down the river "in return for popularity with the masses", Israel's lesson should be "that the man in the White House could sell us from one day to the next." The thought that the U.S. might not be there for Israel on D-day is "chilling," he wrote.