East Saudi Arabia sees more demos
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202989.html
Wed Oct 5, 2011 11:0PM
The Saudi nationals have once again held demonstrations in the kingdom's east in favor of implementation of political reforms in the absolute monarchy, Press TV reports.
Despite heavy presence of security forces, the protesters took to the streets in the Awamiyah village, the city of Qatif, and Al-Qaddih on Wednesday, calling for an end to Riyadh's crackdown on dissent and demanding the release of political prisoners, a Press TV correspondent reported.
According to Saudi activists, most of the detained political thinkers are being held without trial or legitimate charges and have been arrested for merely 'appearing suspicious.' Some of the detainees are reported to have been held without trial for more than 16 years.
New footage posted on the internet showed Saudi troops being deployed in Awamiyah to crush the protests.
Clashes erupted after the forces opened fire to disperse hundreds of protesters, chanting slogans against Riyadh's policies. Several protesters including women were injured in the confrontations.
Similar rallies have turned violent in the past few days, following attacks by Saudi security forces. A security official speaking on condition of anonymity said an unspecified number of demonstrators had been arrested.
Shaikh Nimr Nimr, a prominent cleric in Awamiyah, has accused Saudi authorities of "provoking" the protesters by firing on them with live bullets and urged the protesters to avoid clashes with the government forces.
He said, "Saudi authorities depend on bullets… and killing and imprisonment. We must depend on the roar of the word, on the words of justice."
A video posted on YouTube dated October 4 showed demonstrators chanting 'Down with Mohammed bin Fahd,' referring to the governor of the Eastern Province -- which has turned into a focal point for anti-regime rallies -- and the son of Saudi Arabia's former ruler, the late King Fahd.
On Monday, the Saudi police arrested two men, both in their 70s, in Awamiyah in an attempt to force their wanted sons, accused of taking part in pro-reform protests, to surrender, one activist said.
The ultraconservative Saudi regime is known for its intolerance of dissent. Earlier in the year, the Saudi Interior Ministry imposed a ban on all kinds of demonstrations and public gatherings.
Human Rights Watch says hundreds of dissidents have been arrested since February as part of the Saudi government's suppression of anti-government protests.
According to the Saudi-based Human Rights First Society (HRFS), the detainees were subjected to physical and mental torture.
The kingdom is also deeply wary of the wave of Islamic Awakening, which has started sweeping the North Africa and the Middle East.
Riyadh especially found pro-democracy protests in neighboring Bahrain, which borders the Eastern Province, a matter to be reckoned with, dispatching its military forces to the island to assist Manama's suppression of demonstrations there.
Saudi cleric asks Shiite protesters to avoid arms (in al-Awamiyyah, al-Qatif)
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Oct-06/150555-saudi-cleric-asks-shiite-protesters-to-avoid-arms.ashx
October 06, 2011 12:48 AM
RIYADH: A Saudi Shiite village where protesters clashed with police was calm Wednesday as a prominent cleric urged his followers to avoid the use of firearms and fingers of blame were pointed at Iran.
"Iran is trying to export its problems to avenge what happened in Bahrain, and reduce pressures on Syria," Tehran's Arab ally, said Anwar Eshki, director of the Saudi-based Middle East Institute for Strategic Studies.
Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center, referred to "concrete evidence of Iran's involvement" in this week's unrest, including "telephone calls from Tehran that were intercepted" by Saudi Arabia.
This is "a message from Iran to Gulf states after its failure in Syria and its loss of a strategic ally. It will respond … and we will begin to see escalation in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province," he said.
Kuwait Protesters in Porsches Say Gulf Can't Spend Way Out of Arab Spring
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-05/kuwait-protesters-in-porsches-shake-gulf-s-democracy-pioneer.html
http://backupurl.com/gf9vhk
By Fiona MacDonald - Thu Oct 06 09:55:12 GMT 2011
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Meshal al-Zaidi says he was drawn into Kuwait's protest movement by political ideals, not the economic grievances that helped spur revolts in poorer Arab countries.
"My friend drives a Porsche Cayenne, another a Porsche Panamera, you'll see the best cars at Kuwaiti protests," said al-Zaidi, a 25-year-old who runs a public relations firm and attends rallies seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah. "It's not about money, it's not about oil, it's about real democracy."
Demands for a change of government are growing louder in Kuwait, where per-capita gross domestic product was about $39,000 last year. . .
Youth groups including al-Zaidi's 'September 16' cite inspiration from the Arab Spring and demand a constitutional monarchy and elected government. . .
Kuwaitis call on govt. to quit
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/203000.html
Thu Oct 6, 2011 2:44AM
Thousands of Kuwaitis have held a demonstration in the country's capital, calling for stiff action against the country's corrupt lawmakers and demanding the government to quit.
On Wednesday, the speakers among the roughly 3,000 protesters, who had taken to the streets in Kuwait City, warned that failure to bring the corrupt officials to account could spark bigger demonstrations in the oil-rich emirate, AFP reported.
The protesters also demanded the ouster of the government, which has been led by Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser al-Muhammad Al-Sabah since 2006. The premier is a member of the ruling family and nephew of Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait.
Kuwaiti lawmaker, Khaled al-Sultan, said, "This unprecedented crime will not pass without punishment ... If we do not force this government and its head to step down, the country will go to catastrophe."
The public prosecutor in the emirate has launched a probe into the bank accounts of about 14 MPs, who are accused of receiving illegal deposits of about USD 350 million. Some say as many as 20 lawmakers could eventually be found corrupt in the 50-member parliament.
Some other speakers accused the government of spending the money to buy the votes of lawmakers to ensure the appointment of the prime minister and his cabinet.
An opposition MP, Mussallam al-Barrak, asserted that "we are before an organized gang led by the government and the corrupt MPs."
Another opposition parliamentarian, Jamaan al-Harbash, called Shaikh Nasser's government's continued tenure an insult to the Kuwaiti people.
Kuwaitis have occasionally been holding demonstrations in the emirate since the widespread launch of anti-regime protests in North Africa and Middle East early in the year.
Opposition rally banned in Bahrain
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=opposition-rally-banned--in-bahrain-2011-10-04
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
DUBAI - Agence France-Presse
Bahraini authorities banned Tuesday the Shiite opposition from organizing a demonstration against the jailing of medics and activists over their roles in pro-democracy protests quelled in mid-March.
The head of Public Security, Major General Tareq Mubarak bin Daina, turned down the request by Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq to organize a "human chain" protest in Manama, BNA state news agency said.
The security chief said the location for the protest, which had been planned to take place outside the offices of Al-Wefaq in Zinj, west of Manama, "is not suitable security-wise." He said the protest "could cause traffic bottlenecks... while it will be difficult for organizers and security bodies to control the human chain, which might affect the safety of participants and those using the road." Bin Daina ordered security measures to ban the event, BNA said.
Al-Wefaq slammed the ban as "illegal" and an "indication of constraints on the freedom of expression," in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
On Monday, a Bahraini special court established to try defendants accused of taking part in a month-long Shiite-led protests slapped jail verdicts ranging between 15 and 25 years on 36 Shiites.
Syrian unrest choking tourism to Lebanon: minister
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Lebanon/2011/Oct-06/150626-syrian-unrest-choking-tourism-to-lebanon-minister.ashx
October 06, 2011 05:29 PM
Reuters
BEIRUT: The number of Arab tourists who drive into Lebanon is down by 90 percent this year after months of political unrest in Syria, the only neighbouring country with an open border into Lebanon, its tourism minister said on Thursday.
Fadi Abboud said: "600,000 Arab tourists normally drive through Syria (into Lebanon) every year ... 90 percent of all overland arrivals have been lost in 2011."
Overland arrivals through Syrian border crossings account for about a quarter of tourist arrivals to Lebanon, which has long promoted itself as a diverse country boasting Roman ruins, limestone caves, ski resorts, beaches and a vibrant night life.
Tourists from the Gulf, Jordan and Iraq usually drive through Syria to get to Lebanon, but the escalation of violence in Syria since anti-government demonstrations began in March has slowed the flow.
Some 2,900 civilians have been killed in Syria in a military crackdown against protesters aiming to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, according to the U.N. human rights office.
The U.N. World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) says tourism revenues in Lebanon were down 20 percent in the first six months of 2011. Tourism accounts for 22 percent of GDP.
Abboud added Western tourists had shied away from the Middle East due to the "Arab spring" unrest.
But he said he believed Lebanon's tourism sector could weather the storm.
"The main percentage of tourists coming to Lebanon are the jet setters and playboys of the Middle East ... who come for the night life and cuisine," he said. "They come into Lebanon through the airport and so they are not affected."
Syriac Christians to get first church in Istanbul
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=syriac-christians-to-get-first-church-in-istanbul-2011-10-05
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
Turkey’s Syriac Christian community has secured approval from officials for the construction of its first church. The church, planned to be constructed in the Yeşilköy neighborhood, is expected to host 17,000 Syriacs who live in Istanbul
Prominent Syriac community leader, Kenan Altınışık (C) says the construction is set to begin as soon as suitable lands for the new church building are allotted.
Prominent Syriac community leader, Kenan Altınışık (C) says the construction is set to begin as soon as suitable lands for the new church building are allotted.
After years of tussling and hairsplitting, Turkey’s Syriac Christian community has secured approval from both the prime minister and the president for the construction of its first church in the Yeşilköy neighborhood on the European side of Istanbul.
“Half of our community lives in and around Yeşilköy. We rent churches for Sunday rites, but we can only start morning mass at 11:30, whereas we are supposed to finish our Sunday rites before 10:30 in accordance with our tradition,” Kenan Altınışık, a prominent Syriac community leader, told the Hürriyet Daily News via e-mail.
The church site will be allocated to the ancient community by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, while construction expenses will be paid for by the Syriacs. An official from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Hürriyet Daily News that they are searching for a suitable location for the new church.
The church architecture is planned to bear traces of the Syriac’s thousands-of-years-old culture, while the construction is set to begin as soon as suitable lands are allotted.
Community representatives held a series of talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President Abdullah Gül and EU Minister Egemen Bağış regarding their problems concerning the new church, including the allocation of land for its construction, Altınışık said.
“Afterward, we also met with the head of the Istanbul Metropolitan Construction Affairs Committee upon a directive issued by the Istanbul metropolitan mayor,” he said, adding they have no communication problems.
“We presented several files to the head of the construction affairs committee and he offered a few places, but they were not suitable for us,” said Altınışık, a businessman and head of the Syriac community’s Foundation for the Church of Mother Mary, which is located in the Tarlabaşı neighborhood in central Istanbul.
The community holds the title deed to the Church of Mother Mary and the metropolitan center that houses it, Altınışık said, adding that about 17,000 Syriacs live in Istanbul with scant numbers still living in the southeast as well.
A metropolitan center acts as a higher institution for an orthodox church. Many of Turkey’s Syriacs migrated to Europe during the mid-1980s, when there was political turmoil in the southeast.
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