THE popular unrest sweeping across the Middle East has sent thousands of protesters into the streets of Yemen, Algeria and Jordan, as questions mounted over who will benefit from the convulsions in the Arab world.
Thousands marched through the Yemeni capital Sanaa yesterday, in one of the largest protests seen in the autocratic nation in years. Secularist and Islamist protesters intermingled to shout for the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key US ally in the global fight against terrorism, whose government has long been criticised domestically for repression and corruption.
The government of Algeria was considering a broad government shuffle amid two weeks of sporadic rioting there.In Jordan, the Islamist opposition has called for protests and warned that it would continue campaigning to force political and economic reform in the kingdom.
And in Tunisia, where it all began and where protesters continue to call for the removal of officials associated with the old regime, the caretaker government dropped two cabinet officials who were close to freshly ousted president Zine El Abedine Ben Ali.
Suddenly, Arab regimes long viewed as invulnerable are being challenged. The prominence of Islamists in the opposition movements varies. Yemen is host to an active al-Qa'ida affiliate, and the unrest there has a strong Islamist element.Algeria's secular military has at times fought brutal campaigns against Islamists since the military took control in the early 1990s before an election Islamists were expected to win.
Islamist forces are barely perceptible in Tunisia, purged from the country in a wave of crackdowns in the 1990s, but are expected to make a comeback.The Obama administration cautioned yesterday against drawing parallels across the region but pushed broadly for governments to respond.
"The status quo in the Middle East and North Africa is not sustainable," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley. "They have young populations that are looking for more than their respective countries and governments are currently giving them."US President Barack Obama pushed the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to open up his country's political system.
"I've always said to him that making sure that they're moving forward on reform - political reform and economic reform - is absolutely critical to the long-term wellbeing of Egypt," he said in an interview broadcast on YouTube. "You can see these pent-up frustrations that are being displayed on the streets."
Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party said yesterday it was willing to talk to protesters and widen political participation, especially among Egypt's youth."All of our activities and policies are focused on the future of the youth," Safwat al-Sherif, NDP secretary-general and Speaker of the Senate, told reporters. He said widespread economic hardship and a rising cost of living were "all items on the agenda" of the party.
Egyptian dissident and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei landed in Cairo yesterday to join the protests. The 68-year-old former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is seen by a broad range of opposition leaders as a rare secular liberal with the stature to challenge the political establishment. "It is a critical time in the life of Egypt," he said upon arrival. "I wish we didn't have to go into the streets to impress upon the regime that they have to change."
The architects of the rallies are members of the National Association for Change, a group of opposition movements Dr ElBaradei assembled around him last year. His political ambitions remain unclear, with presidential elections due within months.
By The Australian
The government of Algeria was considering a broad government shuffle amid two weeks of sporadic rioting there.In Jordan, the Islamist opposition has called for protests and warned that it would continue campaigning to force political and economic reform in the kingdom.
And in Tunisia, where it all began and where protesters continue to call for the removal of officials associated with the old regime, the caretaker government dropped two cabinet officials who were close to freshly ousted president Zine El Abedine Ben Ali.
Suddenly, Arab regimes long viewed as invulnerable are being challenged. The prominence of Islamists in the opposition movements varies. Yemen is host to an active al-Qa'ida affiliate, and the unrest there has a strong Islamist element.Algeria's secular military has at times fought brutal campaigns against Islamists since the military took control in the early 1990s before an election Islamists were expected to win.
Islamist forces are barely perceptible in Tunisia, purged from the country in a wave of crackdowns in the 1990s, but are expected to make a comeback.The Obama administration cautioned yesterday against drawing parallels across the region but pushed broadly for governments to respond.
"The status quo in the Middle East and North Africa is not sustainable," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley. "They have young populations that are looking for more than their respective countries and governments are currently giving them."US President Barack Obama pushed the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to open up his country's political system.
"I've always said to him that making sure that they're moving forward on reform - political reform and economic reform - is absolutely critical to the long-term wellbeing of Egypt," he said in an interview broadcast on YouTube. "You can see these pent-up frustrations that are being displayed on the streets."
Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party said yesterday it was willing to talk to protesters and widen political participation, especially among Egypt's youth."All of our activities and policies are focused on the future of the youth," Safwat al-Sherif, NDP secretary-general and Speaker of the Senate, told reporters. He said widespread economic hardship and a rising cost of living were "all items on the agenda" of the party.
Egyptian dissident and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei landed in Cairo yesterday to join the protests. The 68-year-old former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is seen by a broad range of opposition leaders as a rare secular liberal with the stature to challenge the political establishment. "It is a critical time in the life of Egypt," he said upon arrival. "I wish we didn't have to go into the streets to impress upon the regime that they have to change."
The architects of the rallies are members of the National Association for Change, a group of opposition movements Dr ElBaradei assembled around him last year. His political ambitions remain unclear, with presidential elections due within months.
By The Australian
0 Comments