Kuwait and Djibouti in the mix as list of protest-hit countries grows

Kuwait and Djibouti in the mix as list of protest-hit countries grows

worldblog.msnbc.msn .com

Reuters and regional press are reporting that two more countries in the Middle East and North Africa--Kuwait and Djibouti--have been hit by large protests, as well as Syria, where only a small flurry of dissent had been seen during the current wave of demonstrations.

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Another country or two to watch. Djibouti is very close to Yemen, and one not many may have heard of until now. Kuwait has been close to boiling over for a while now too.

Djibouti, which gained independence from France in 1977, is located on the Horn of Africa, surrounded by Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. It also lies across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, where anti-government rallies have raged for days.

Protesters have called for President Ismail Omar Guelleh -- whose family has ruled the country since its independence from France in 1977 -- to step down ahead of the elections scheduled in April. On Friday, protesters marched to the main stadium in the city-state. Guelleh has held the post since 1999 and is seeking a third term.

From another news source, this protest was reported to be over 20,000 people.

Djibouti's strategic importance to the United States is substantial. It's home to Camp Lemonnier, the only U.S. military base on the continent. The 88-acre former French military barracks is used as a staging ground for U.S. counterterrorism efforts including, reportedly, CIA drone attacks on al Qaeda terrorists.

Not much else to report at this time. Just another couple of hot spots to watch.

worldblog.msnbc.msn .com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Add Bahrain to the list as well. news.yahoo.com... I've been to Manama a few times and I hope they keep everyone on base.

reply to post by Silverado292

Yes...Bahrain too and Libya is heating up...both mentioned in this thread. Things are most definitely heating up again. Maybe it's the full moon.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Good grief,this is beginning to look like a classic domino effect/house of cards moment.
If the big players like Saudi and Libya fall the world will soon be very different.
Nevermind Yemen and Egypt.

The entire western way of commerce and oil plundering is being challanged here people.
This could change the whole game.
Be ready and start stockpiling food etc.

This could be a real storm IMO.Lets hope not.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


This is definitely going to spread throughout the entire Middle East and it's picking up speed too. I also see a massive war coming because of it, once israel has ran out of friends in the area they'll strike.

reply to post by Silverado292

Here you go: The Battle of Bahrain

It's going nuts over there again all of a sudden. Seems the news of Libya is the worst so far.

Jordan heated up again today too. Jordan protest turns violent

One Anti-Government Protester Dead in Yemen

At least one anti-government protester was reported killed Saturday in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, as a wave of political protests gains momentum across the Middle East and North Africa.

It is not clear whether security forces or pro-government supporters caused the death. Security forces monitored the situation while people in civilian clothes threw stones at the demonstrators, who have been demanding for more than a week for the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
In Bahrain, police have fired tear gas on protesters in Pearl Square in the nation's capital, Manama, shortly after soldiers moved military vehicles out of the square. The move came after a call by the main opposition group for the military to leave the streets before any consideration would be given for opposition participation in a national dialogue on the conflict.

In Libya, Human Rights Watch says at least 84 people have been killed in violence on anti-government protesters, based on reports from hospital workers and witnesses. The group says security forces killed at least 35 protesters in the city of Benghazi Friday.

Protests turned violent in Jordan as well Friday, as government supporters clashed with demonstrators calling for political reform. There are reports that at least eight people were injured when pro-government forces attacked the demonstrators with batons.

In Iran Friday, thousands of pro-government demonstrators called for the execution of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The call came ahead of a small pro-government rally. Opposition websites have made calls for nationwide rallies Sunday to show support for Mousavi and Karroubi and to mourn the deaths of two people who died in anti-government protests in recent days.

In Egypt, the ruling military said it would not allow strikes and protests to weaken the country's economy. Tens of thousands of people packed Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday for a day of celebration marking one week since President Hosni Mubarak stepped down.

this is getting scary, all we can do is sit back and watch how this all plays out and hope it isn't the beginning of the end.

Arab League sees grave situation and wants summit

(Reuters) - The Arab League said on Saturday it was important that a March summit goes ahead in Baghdad due to what it described as "the grave, fateful developments" in the Arab world.

Libya, which holds the rotating presidency of the Arab leaders' summit, said this week that the Baghdad meeting would be postponed because of the situation in the region, where protests are challenging leaders from Bahrain to Algeria.

The presidents of Egypt and Tunisia have been toppled by mass protests this year.

Djibouti Opposition Parties to Meet to Plan More Anti-Government Protests

Opposition groups in Djibouti, the Horn of Africa nation that hosts the only U.S. military base on the continent, plan to hold more anti-government protests after a demonstration last week ended in violence.

Opponents of President Ismail Guelleh will meet over the next two days to discuss a new date for the next protest, Mohamed Daoud Chehem, head of the Djibouti Party for Development said by phone from the capital city today.

“We will have another protest for sure,” he said.

At least four demonstrators died and 50 were injured in a protest on Feb. 18 that led to clashes with police, according to the opposition National Democratic Party. Government reports say one demonstrator and one police officer have been killed.

Kuwait Swept Up in Regional Unrest as Stateless Demand Rights

So-called Bidun are denied share of oil wealth and accused of freeloading

Emboldened by popular uprisings across the Arab world, Kuwaiti residents long denied citizenship took to the streets over the weekend demanding their civil rights. But harsh police treatment sent dozens of them to prison and hospital.

Known as Bidun, more than 1,000 of them clashed with security forces in the province of Al-Jahra, 30 miles west of the capital Kuwait City on Friday. Human Rights Watch reported that 120 demonstrators were arrested and approximately 30 others requiring medical treatment. On Saturday hundreds returned to the streets in Sulaibiya, north of the capital, demanding the release of the detainees in Friday's demonstrations, which the government termed illegal.

Kuwait urged to release Bidoons

A human rights group has urged the Kuwaiti government to release scores of stateless Arabs, known as Bidoons, arrested during two days of demonstrations in the oil-rich country.

Hundreds of Bidoon protesters staged another protest rally in Kuwait on Saturday to demand basic social rights and citizenship in the littoral Persian Gulf country but faced tough reaction by security forces. Riot police opened fire on protesters in Sulaibiya, a village outside Kuwait City, and wounded a number of demonstrators AFP reported.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says as many as 120 protesters were detained at a Friday rally as Kuwaiti Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Homud al-Sabah put the number at 42.

reply to post by Silcone Synapse

The media claims still they are doing it for democracy but i just dont see it that way, is the the media going to use the word democracy for everything that happens now? i wonder what happens if the riots and the uprising re starts in eupore?

speaking of which whatever happened to the greece riots?

Originally posted by Agent_USA_Supporter
speaking of which whatever happened to the greece riots?

I imagine Greece is now dealing with its economic crisis and class struggle just like we and the UK, Spain, Italy, and Portugal and most of the rest of the world are.

Here's something I read this morning that mentioned Greece: online.wsj.com...

And Beck still thinks they're coming ashore: mediamatters.org...

Now Morroco. www.abovetopsecret.com...

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Thousands of people marched in cities across Morocco on Sunday, demanding a new constitution to bring more democracy in the North African kingdom amid the wave of Arab world upheaval.

Demonstrators shouted slogans calling for economic opportunity, educational reform, better health services and help in coping with rising living costs during a march on central Hassan II Avenue in the capital, Rabat.

Egypt’s Revolution-Creative Destruction For A ‘Greater Middle East’?

The G8 Map of Washington’s Greater Middle East extends right to the borders of China and Russia and West to Morocco

As real as the factors are that are driving millions into the streets across North Africa and the Middle East, what cannot be ignored is the fact that Washington is deciding the timing and as they see it, trying to shape the ultimate outcome of comprehensive regime change destabilizations across the Islamic world. The day of the remarkably well-coordinated popular demonstrations demanding Mubarak step down, key members of the Egyptian military command including Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan were all in Washington as guests of the Pentagon. That conveniently neutralized the decisive force of the Army to stop the anti-Mubarak protests from growing in the critical early days.[2]

The strategy had been in various State Department and Pentagon files since at least a decade or longer. After George W. Bush declared a War on Terror in 2001 it was called the Greater Middle East Project. Today it is known as the less threatening-sounding “New Middle East” project. It is a strategy to break open the states of the region from Morocco to Afghanistan, the region defined by David Rockefeller's friend Samuel Huntington in his infamous Clash of Civilizations essay in Foreign Affairs.

Jordan's king demands "quick, real" reforms

AMMAN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- King Abdullah II of Jordan called on Sunday for "real and quick reforms," pledging not to allow anybody to spread division or harm the country's stability amidst pro- reform protests, state-run Petra news agency reported.

The Jordanian leader pledged to root out corruption and called for a comprehensive dialogue and more involvement of citizens in the decision-making process, Petra said.

"I am waiting for government to come up with recommendations on a mechanism for comprehensive national dialogue to tackle necessary steps to achieve political reforms, at the top of which is studying and updating all legislation governing political and civic work, namely the election law,"

Kuwait stateless demand rights

“My father, who was born in Kuwait in 1952, was never granted citizenship even though he worked for the Ministry of Interior,” Al-Shamari stated. “I have no document proving that my three children, born in 2005, 2006 and 2010 are mine.”

Abdallah Al-Shaiji, head of the political science department at Kuwait University, said a comprehensive solution had to be found for the Bedouin. He argued that some Bedouin have Kuwaiti mothers and therefore merit naturalization. But others, comprising the vast majority, do not and should be repatriated to their countries of origin.

Good to see the people standing up to what's right. Hopefully us western countries can take inspiration from this. F#&$ the Governments.

This is no coincidence it is being orchestrated by Israel, power being given back to the people on a scale never before witnessed and its only just started. It is written Israel will be attacked from all sides and Israel will decimate its enemies. Could this be the beggining of this prophecy?