Lebanon: Walid Bey Explains it All

The collapse of the Lebanese government may have been inevitable once the Syrian-Saudi mediation was declared a failure, and it returns the country to the paralysis it endured in 2006-2007, which led to the Doha Agreement and the creation of a unity Cabinet in which the "opposition" (in quotes since they joined the Cabinet) had a "blocking third" that could block legislsation or, in this case, bring down the government. Once Hizbullah and Amal quit, only one more resignation was needed to collapse the government, and a Presidential appointee obliged. Qifa Nabki gives his usual clear backgrounder.

But the always entertaining and unpredictable Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who met today with the Maronite Patriarch at the Patriarchate, told reporters that "Yesterday, the dark forces intervened and torpedoed the Saudi-Syrian initiative," Some reports are translating it as "occult forces."

I guess he's saying the devil made them do it.

Lebanese Government Falls

Lebanon's union government has collapsed after Hizbullah and Amal, the Shi‘ite parties, resigned over the failure of Prime Minister Sa‘d Hariri to convene a Cabinet meeting to discuss the expected indictments from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. This in turn came after Syria and Saudi Arabia indicated their mediation efforts had failed.

I'll have more to say on this as the situation clarifies.

Tunisia: Interior Minister Fired,Rumors Rampant

Tunisia has fired Interior Minister Rafiq Belhaj Kacem and ordered the release of at least some of those arrested in recent weeks, in an apparent move to conciliate the protesters amid rumors running rampant suggesting that things were nearing a crisis. Since real information remains scant, rumors of dissent in the Army and a potential coup may be (and given the history, probably are) fantasy, but clearly the crisis was reaching a breaking point and some move had to be taken.

The question is whether it was in time to save the situation. That remains to be seen.

Tunisia Confrontations Deepen

There are reports this afternoon of serious clashes in the Tunisian capital, which has generally been kept calmer than the provinces during the current troubles, and some reports now say the death toll may be 50 or more so far in the confrontations of the past few weeks (the government grudgingly admits to 23 or so). There are also reports among dissidents that the First Lady (Leila Trebelsi, wife of President Ben Ali) has left the country for the UAE.

At this point, some three weeks and two Presidential addresses into the crisis, the goverment still has not managed to put the lid on the protests, and each additional death further inflames public opinion. As the Western media finally begin to notice, the Arab media are watching in something like awed fascination, with a "could it happen here?" undercurrent: see Marc Lynch on the "Arab regimes on edge."

I am a lot less skeptical than I was 10 days ago that this may be approaching a turning point.

Angry Arab on Fall of the State Department Arabists

As'ad AbuKhalil, the Angry Arab, is angry again. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman wrote a letter to The New York Times recently, taking exception to a favorable article about the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar (which has been the main Wikileaks outlet in Arabic), and praising instead the murdered Editor of al-Nahar. AbuKhalil offers a lengthy post which is essentially a critique of Feltman (though al-Nahar gets the treatment, too) and a yearning for the days of the Arabists at State, whose eclipse he dates to the Clinton Administration. While he acknowledges the State Department Arabists were oftn, in his view, too timid, and also often ignored, he has kind things to say about the late Richard Parker, as well as Richard Murphy and William Quandt. It's true that few of our most senior diplomats today have their rich knowledge of the region.

I don't agree with him 100%, but he has some useful points. He calls Robert Pelletreau the last Assistant Secretary for Near East who was an Arabist, which may be strictly accurate but may be misleading. It's also misleading to suggest that every policy figure in the Clinton Administration was a strong supporter of Israel. Martin Indyk and Dennis Ross are the usual targets here, but more balanced views were heard from Assistant Secretaries Ned Walker and Bill Burns, not to mention Aaron David Miller, who is too often assumed by critics to be an echo of Dennis Ross, which Miller's writings since leaving government service ought to put to rest.

But then, AbuKhalil has long enjoyed the role of provocateur, and I think he has succeeded in provoking some discussions here. It's worth a read. And I say that as someone who has never worked for the State Department, but who has never run away from the title of "Arabist."

The Second Battle of Kasserine

From Saturday through Monday, violence has wracked the southern Tunisian towns of Thala and Kasserine. Government reports acknowledge somewhere between eight and 14 dead in the towns; opposition estimates range from 20 to 40 dead. By most accounts government security forces opened fire on crowds using live ammunition (to protect government buildings, the government says), which suggests this second Battle of Kasserine was even more one-sided, if smaller in scale, than the drumming Field Marshal Rommel gave the American Army there in 1943.

As usual, accounts differ. But many photos of dead and wounded are around the Internet, and a bloody video from a Kasserine hospital here.

Meanwhile, Tunisia has canceled all school and university classes indefinitely, and President Ben Ali has spoken to the country again. (Brian Whitaker offers an English translation here of the French text (here, with video of the Arabic original being delivered). He accuses the demonstrators of terrorist acts, of being a small minority exploiting labor problems and provoked by Tunisian prosperity (!). He promises all sorts of good things this year and next.

For the first time I really am wondering if Brian Whitaker is on to something about just how serious this is becoming. This sounds like a regime in the corner, lashing out, uncertain of what to do next. Next door in Algeria they're comparing the riots there to the events of 1988, which led first to a crackdown and then to an opening, In Tunisia they're not comparing the events to anything, because there's nothing — at least since the 1970s — to compare them to.

So far, Tunisia has stayed below the radar in the English-speaking world, where reports of demonstrations have only occasionally mentioned the levels of violence. Whitaker's work for The Guardian and occasional articles elsewhere are the exceptions.

But I've come around from earlier skepticism. This does feel like something we haven't seen before, and thus something we cannot hope to predict the outcome of.

Algeria's Turn as Winter of Discontent Expands

I wanted to leave my tribute to Dick Parker as the top post throughout today, but the events of the past weekend also demand comment. The ferment in the Maghreb seems to be spreading. Now it's Algeria's turn. Over the weekend, what had been simmering boiled over with riots over food prices and other issues, even as the violence in Tunisia has continued, with major casualties in Kasserine and other places. I'll have more to say about Tunisia in a separate post, but first, the Algerian outbreaks.

Read Hugh Roberts at Foreign Policy's Middle East Channel for a quick primer; and The Moor Next Door's reflections here and here. Kal at The Moor notes that youth protests are much more common in Algeria, while the Tunisian troubles — Brian Whitaker has called it an uprising — are much more atypical of that country's regimented stability. I already noted Marc Lynch's suggestion late last week that the troubles in Tunisia (he added Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait) might augur an "Arab Spring."

I've earlier said I thought Whitaker's statement late last year that the Tunisian upheaval was the most important story of 2010 was perhaps overstated, or at least premature. The spread to Algeria and the metastasis of the Tunisian troubles into something much bloodier than before make me wonder if, as Whitaker suggests, "It's all looking much more serious than a week ago. Anything could happen now. And maybe it will."

This is starting to seem different. The Tunisian troubles are getting worse, not being contained by the security forces as they usually are. The death toll is rising. The Algerian riots echo this. Ultimately, sclerotic Arab regimes that cannot deliver basic necessities (job, food) to their people will be held accountable, but it may take a long time for the anger to build. It seems to be boiling over. I don't know if any regimes will fall, but I think Whitaker may have been more on target than I was, at least about Tunisia. More on that subject soon.

Ambassador Richard B. Parker, 1923-2011, Diplomat, Historian, MEJ Editor

Ambassador Richard B. Parker, 87, former United States Ambassador to Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon, author of numerous books and a scholar of note, third Editor of The Middle East Journal (and Acting Editor a decade later), longtime Scholar in Residence at the Middle East Institute, bedrock of the Board of Advisory Editors of the Journal, role model, adviser, sometime critic, and friend, died January 7. This is going to be a lengthy post, and I plan to leave it as the main post all day Monday.

As fate would have it, when I returned to the office from the holidays I found a note from Dick, sent around Christmas, forwarding an old article of his on colloquial stereotypes in Lebanese Arabic for various villages, work he presumably did on the side while serving in Lebanon as a diplomat, but never published due to its sensitivity. He wanted MEI's library to have it. We may even publish it somewhere, since he indicated I could if I wished. His cover letter suggested I give him a call to catch up, and perhaps visit him for lunch sometime at his retirement home. I planned to do so soon, and put the letter (I get few snail mail letters in this e-mail age) on the to-do pile. Sadly, we won't be having that lunch now.

When The Middle East Journal celebrated its 60th Anniversary in early 2007, the Library of Congress joined with the Journal to hold a conference at the Library on the Journal's 60 years. The first panelist I invited was Dick Parker, whom I consider one of the greatest of the Journal's Editors. But before he came to The Middle East Journal or MEI, Dick had a 31-year career in the Foreign Service, including three Ambassadorships.

Dick was a member of the World War II generation, fighting in the European Theater, and was taken prisoner in the Battle of the Bulge. Liberated from the Germans by Russian troops, he was moved to Odessa and repatriated through the Black Sea. His sights of Istanbul and Port Said on his way home were his first exposures to the Middle East, and piqued his interest, as he always told the story. You can find a version of his story in this interview in the Foreign Service Journal for July-August 2004, which is titled "A Diplomatic Renaissance Man," an article which marked the American Foreign Service Association's awarding Dick its award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy.

The "Renaissance Man" title was no exaggeration. Dick had broad and varied interests, not just in the history but in the languages and cultures of the region. He wrote the first two or so of several editions of A Practical Guide to the Islamic Monuments of Cairo, a mainstay of the American University in Cairo Press (more recent editions have been done by Caroline Williams); in my days in Cairo (I was a medievalist then) I wore out at least two paperback copies, stuffed into available pockets while exploring the older quarters. climbing minarets and such. As a serving diplomat when he wrote it, he noted that some of the monuments weren't open to non-Muslims and others weren't open at all. I visited them all anyway, though I had to climb a fence or two, but Dick's guidebook didn't sanction that. He did a similar guide to Morocco's Islamic monuments, which I've also used, though never had enough time to use as extensively as the Cairo guide.

Dick was serving as a political officer in the US Embassy in Cairo when the 1967 War broke out. He always took an interest in the Liberty incident, but unlike many US diplomats, he believed that the attack by Israel on the US spy ship was a genuine mistake. He used to joke that he was "the only Gentile in the State Department who believed it was a mistake," but was always ready to engage in exchanges of letters over new books on the subject. After his retirement and while at MEI, he organized and presided over two major conferences on the anniversaries of the 1967 and 1973 war, and produced books from those conferences, while his book The Politics of Miscalculation in the Middle East remains a good guide to the blundering judgments that led the region into the 1967 war.

His tours in North Africa led to an enduring interest in the Maghreb, and in retirement, one of his books was Uncle Sam in Barbary, a history of US diplomacy connected with the Barbary Wars.

After his three decades of diplomatic service and three Ambassadorships, Dick started a new career in academia, as Editor of the Journal, teaching at the University of Virginia while Editor, and also taught at Johns Hopkins and Lawrence University. He also served as first President of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.

But I want to talk about his contributions to the Journal. He served as Editor for almost seven years, 1981-87, and returned as Acting Editor for one issue in 1995.

First a little background. (You can find a longer history of the Journal by me in the "Editor's Note: Sixty Years of The Middle East Journal" in the Winter 2007 MEJ , Volume 61, No. 1.) When the Journal began in January 1947, its Editor was Harvey P. Hall, a former professor at AUB. With the Spring 1956 issue, he was succeeded by William Sands. And William Sands remained the Editor for 25 years. Through the Suez War, the crises of 1958, the 1967 War, the 1973 War, the Lebanese Civil War. Bill Sands took over when I was in grade school and was still Editor when I was making my first contributions to the field. When Bill Sands finally stepped down, most people had never known any other Editor. How do you fill those shoes?

Dick Parker was the answer, and he began his tenure in the Winter 1981 issue with these words:

After 25 years as the guiding spirit of this publication, Bill Sands has retired from his position as Editor . . . Although there has been an explosion of publications on the Middle East in the past ten years, and Bill and a few other pioneers carried the torch through the wilderness with very little encouragement and support . . . (MEJ Winter 1981, Vol. 35, No. 1)

Although the prologue where those words appeared was at first called "Comment," it was the beginning of what became the "Editor's Note" at the front of the issue, and which has continued since. I don't know how many people bother to read it, but it does allow the Editor to introduce the issue, explain the rationale of the selections, and generally have a voice. Before Dick Parker's time, the Editor was silent and unheard from.

No more. In his third issue, Summer 1981, a statement of "Editorial Policy" appeared, announcing an intention to regularly include articles on policy issues alongside scholarly research, and noting articles by William Zartman and David Newsom as the forerunners. The very next issue (Autumn 1981) was a double issue containing three articles on journalism in the Middle East, and — this may have caused apoplexy among the Old Guard — a Doonesbury panel on the cover.

Ever the historian, Dick marked the 40th anniversary of the Journal in 1987 with a special issue, though earlier anniversaries had not been noted. Mary-Jane Deeb marked the 50th and I marked the 60th, taking our cues from Dick. (His only complaint, at least to me, about the 60th was that I said too many nice things about him. But they were all earned.)

After close to seven years (early 1981 to late 1987) Dick took his leave in the last issue of 1987, remarking that it had "been an interesting and rewarding job, and it had provided a wonderful platform for pontificating." (MEJ, Autumn 1987, Vol. 41, No. 4.) And that was before the Editor had a blog! I think Dick would have taken to blogging quickly if he'd been a bit younger. He was never reticent about expressing an opinion.

Dick remained a Scholar in Residence at MEI, and wrote his books and taught courses at various schools and kept on going. In 1995, after a period of three relatively short-term editors, the editorial chair was vacant and Dick was called back to serve as Acting Editor. That was the Winter 1995 issue, and typically for Dick Parker, it's one some people still remember, since it contained a controversial article, "The Impending Crisis in Egypt," by a then-serving government official published under a pseudonym (one of only a few times the Journal has done so), "Cassandra."

I remarked in the 60th Anniversary issue that Dick had remained a part of MEI and the Journal "so he has provided a source of institutional memory and advice (and of lectures about typos) for subsequent editors." He also was always forthcoming when asked for advice. He could be a bit curmudgeonly (some of it, I think, feigned) and did not suffer fools gladly, but also complimented jobs well done.

He will be missed. Certainly I will miss him.

But the best way to remember a scholar, and I think that's how Dick would want to be remembered, is by reading him:

Dick's books at Amazon:

The Politics of Miscalculation in the Middle East

The Six-Day-War: A Retrospective

The October War

Uncle Sam in Barbary: A Diplomatic History

North Africa: Regional Tensions and Strategic Concerns

And if my remarks on using his Practical Guide to the Islamic Monuments in Cairo in the 1970s inspired anyone, you can find Caroline Williams' current version Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide here. A couple of used copies of his Practical Guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco can be found here.

And, I hope, The Middle East Journal continues to reflect his legacy.

One Last Thing for the Weekend: We Are All Egyptians

I know the Weekend Historical Video is already up, but here's one last thing I just saw. I'm not clear on the origin but the link is here, and here's the picture:
The caption is "We are all Egyptians." The pictures, obviously of the same man in various garb and makeup (or really good Photoshop skills), range from fellah to businessman to intellectual to salafi to Coptic priest, etc. It seems an appropriate image after so many Muslims turned out to protect Coptic churches by attending midnight mass and even providing human shields for the churches. Egypt may have a lot of problems, but its people aren't one of them. Misr Umm al-Dunya.

UPDATED: Commenter Rashad notes: "This is from an exhibit currently up at the art gallery Darb 1718 near Coptic Cairo. Not sure of the artist off the top of my head."

I'd like to credit the artist if anyone knows.

Weekend Historical Videos: 1958

The year 1958 was a crucial one in what the late Malcolm Kerr called "The Arab Cold War," when Nasserism was sparring with more traditional Western-backed regimes, with the broader Cold War rivalry providing the lens for much Western interpretation of what was going on. The overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq (and the deaths of the Royal Family), an incipient civil war in Lebanon, threats of a coup in Jordan, and the dispatch of US Marines to Lebanon and British troops to Jordan, all created a sense of explosive crisis which seemed more coordinated to many at the time than the historical evidence necessarily justifies. A few clips for this week's Weekend Historical Videos.

Two newsreels of the overall situation, clearly focused through a Cold War lens:





US Marines in Lebanon;



Video of the Lebanese crisis with only a musical background, but the presence of Pierre Gemayel in many of the clips makes me assume its a Phalangist video:



Have a good weekend.

Southern Sudan Has A Clear Choice on its Ballots, a Harder Choice for a New Name

The Sudan referendum is Sunday, and virtually everyone, North and South, expects southern secession. The ballot is about as simple as it can be, for a country with limited literacy: a single hand for separation, clasped hands for unity, along with the words in Arabic and English:


The real question is not the referendum results, but what follows.

And here's an interesting question: What will the new country choose to call itself? "Southern Sudan" and "New Sudan" have been suggested, but they seem derivative and will lead to confusion with the country they have left. North and South Korea both insist on being Korea, as the former North and South Vietnam, East and West Germany, and North and South Yemen did on being Vietnamese and German and Yemeni (with perhaps an asterisk on the last of these), but they were distinct nations divided by history, ideology, and war: the whole point is that Southern Sudanese have never felt an affinity with the Arab North, and thus would perhaps prefer a distinct identity. (Since "Sudan" is Arabic for "country of the blacks," some might claim the South has a better claim to it, but they are unlikely to want to use an Arabic name which, in its origins, was at least a bit dismissive.)

"Nile Republic" or something similar has been bounced around for years, but might raise objections from all the other Nilotic states. Only the White Nile runs through the South. The link above notes the problems of naming created by FYROM — "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" — since Greece claims to own the name "Macedonia" by itself. Anything evoking the Nile might lead to similar complaints. "Upper Nile Republic" might work. "White Nile Republic" might have unfortunate connotations.

"Cush" or "Kush" has been floating around, too, and might work as a historical evocation if you remember that, for example, Ghana and Mali aren't in the exact locations of the ancient states of those names either. Equatoria is a historical name for parts of the deep south, but not all of the new state, though it's been suggested. This blogpost suggests Anyidi and even Juwama, the latter a combination of the first letters of the provincial capitals, which seems pretty obscure.

When the US declared its independence there was disagreement about what the country should be called, but the Declaration of Independence, perhaps without intending to, had been headed "The UNANIMOUS DECLARATION of the thirteen united STATES OF AMERICA," which, despite the lower case "united," had a ring to it.

For now I'll call it the New Kid on the Block, but as soon as they figure out the name, that'll be fine.

Whatever they call themselves, they've fought a long time, and I'm not sure they're quite there yet, but I wish them well.

Early Indications: a Conciliatory Christmas in Egypt

Given the tensions that have built over the past week, Egypt entered Eastern Christmas last night with high nervousness, but there were wonderful signs of interfaith unity as well: Muslims planning to attend Midnight Mass or surround the churches as a human shield against attacks; statements of national unity from al-Azhar and most other religious bodies, and the like.

The early indications are positive. At Pope Shenouda's Midnight service at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Cairo (left), twelve government ministers were in attendance, as were Gamal Mubarak and his brother ‘Alaa, the French and US Ambassadors, and Muslim dignitaries. All seems to have gone smoothly, though with heavy security presence.

Egyptian Muslims seem really incensed about the Alexandria bombings, and so far they seem to be displaying a refreshing and welcome support of their Christian countrymen. If there were troubles in the provinces we may not hear of them right away, but in Cairo at least, despite strict security (and the cancellation by the churches of most Christmas celebrations other than liturgical ones out of mourning for the dead), things seem to have gone off well for the midnight celebrations.

Merry Christmas, Part Two

If you're Middle Eastern, or any sort of Orthodox or other eastern Christian, and/or ecumenical and believe you can never have too many Christmases, a Happy Orthodox/Eastern Christmas to you today. The Julian calendar having now diverged from the Gregorian by 13 days, it's rather neat: just as Western Christians are celebrating 12th Night/Epiphany/Three Kings Day and the 12 Drummers are drumming on January 6, suddenly it's Christmas Eve in the old calendar and we get to start the whole process again.

But then many Armenians celebrate on the Julian Three Kings Day, so we've still got one to go.

So Merry Christmas, Part Two.

Muqtada's Return to Najaf

Muqtada al-Sadr's return to Iraq after years of exile in Iran has strengthened the hand of Prime Minister Maliki and of the Shi‘ite parties, and with Muqtada's visit to his old power base in Najaf today he seems to be sending a message of "I'm back, and I'm back in the game." The clips I've seen of his return suggest he is totally surrounded by bodyguards, buy when your father, two brothers, and father-in-law were all either assassinated or executed, I guess that's to be expected.

Since just a few years ago Muqtada and his Mahdi Army were seen by the US occupation as hostile elements, I think it's a clear sign of the US disengagement in Iraq that he's back, and is a major pillar of Maliki's coalition.

Clampdown in Jordan

Jordan is clamping down following rioting in the southern city of Maan. Maan has long been a center of dissidence, and inter-tribal violence over a labor dispute is being blamed this time, though the rioters seem to have targeted government buildings and institutions. More here.

Yesterday, Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy talked about "The Wages of Arab Decay," noting the protests in Tunisia, the sectarian violence in Egypt, the Maan troubles and the recent arrest and beating of a prominent opposition figure in Kuwait as signs of growing dissent and violence in tradituionally moderate Arab states. While each of the four countries faces distinct challenges, I think it was useful to calla ttention to the parallels. Jordan's troubles, unlike Tunisia's, seem geographically limited. But economic problems have compounded the frustration of the populace, especially among the young and unemployed, against long-established, entrenched regimes.

A Nervous Christmas Eve

Tonight is Orthodox Christmas Eve under the Julian calendar, and in the wake of the Alexandria bombing and subsequent demonstrations, Egyptian Copts are naturally nervous. Though there has been a fairly impressive display of Muslim support for Copts coming from al-Azhar and other religious institutions, and many Muslims are expected to hold vigils outside churches during Christmas celebrations, the recent bombing, combined with last year's Christmas attack in Nag Hammadi, fuels apprehension. Security is high and police are expected to be present around churches.

I'll have more to say soon. Meanwhile, there's an interesting analysis here.

"Anonymous" Launches "Operation Tunisia"

The Internet war over information in Tunisia has a new front in the last few days. The group that calls itself "Anonymous" — and that launched denial-of-srevice attacks last month aimed at bringing down enemies of Wikileaks — has launched "Operation Tunisia" to target Tunisian official websites. Their "Open Letter to All Media" here (pdf). A story here.

About That Vulture

Okay, by now you've heard about the Israeli spy vulture, since it's being commented upon all over the place. Ha'aretz broke the story in English with this story, and it's been picked up by the BBC and drawn a lot of attention. A vulture, tagged in Israel to track its migration, was found in Saudi Arabia with the Israeli tag on it, stirring local comment and suggestions it is part of a "Zionist plot."

Now it's true that many in the Arab world tend to blame Mossad for everything; some Egyptians are blaming the Alexandria church attack on Israel, and last month the Governor of Southern Sinai suggested that the Sharm al-Sheikh shark attacks might have been an Israeli plot. Such conspiracy theories are laughable and deplorable and silly, especially when a public official like an Egyptian governor are behind the allegations.

At first glance, the vulture story looks like a repeat of the shark story. As this story has been repeated, we're seeing such headlines as "Saudi Arabia Accuses Israel of Using Vultures for Spying," and reports that Saudi security has "arrested" the vulture.

But wait, let's go back to that original Ha'aretz story:

. . . residents and local reporters told Saudi Arabia's Al-Weeam newspaper that the matter seemed to be a "Zionist plot."

The accusations went viral, with hundreds of posts on Arabic-language websites and forums claiming that the "Zionists" had trained these birds for espionage.

"Residents and locsl reporters" told a local paper that seems to mostly be an online site that it looked like a Zionist plot, and "Arabic-language websites and forums" took up the theme. Where is the "Saudi Arabia Accuses Israel" in that? Internet forums in this counry are debating whether the recent bird kill in Arkansas is the result of aliens or the end times; Internet forums are not sovereign nations.

It seems to me that this is more likely a case of some rural folk catching the bird, turning it in, and telling a local reporter they suspected an Israeli plot. Then the forums pick it up. None of the major Saudi media have picked it up that I've seen, though I may have missed it. On the other hand, Arab News does have a report about the dangers of spreading unfounded rumors.

Are conspiracy theories and paranoid suspicions too widespread in the Arab world? Yes indeed. But unlike the shark story, which involved a senior government official, this one seems to be based on local speculation and blown way out of proportion by the media.

Tunisian Opposition Offers Tech Guidance for Beating Internet Censorship

Tunisia's protesters, faced with the crackdown on new and social media I noted yesterday, are fighting back: the Nawaat website offers a technical guide to beating the government blockages (link is in French).

Global Voices Online also looks at the rising tide of Tunisian Internet censorship.

Meanwhile, Brian Whitaker of The Guardian, who's given the fullest English-language coverage I've seen to the Tunisian events, gives fuller coverage of the Internet crackdown.

Qadhafi Claims Saudi Roots

"Gadhafi Says He Is of Saudi Origin." Hmm. That's an Emirati English report citing a Saudi local news website where I couldn't locate the story, but here's another Saudi local news website that has it if you want an Arabic original.

Given the bad blood between Qadhafi and Saudi King ‘Abdullah, as seen here in 2009, I'm not sure the Saudis will be pleased with this supposed news. The details:

The tribal chiefs went to Libya to meet its leader at the request of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Salim Al Sahab, who disclosed to them that Gadhafi’s ancestors had lived in Najd and that his distant cousins belong to Anza tribe.

The seven chiefs from the Dahamisha and Anza tribes met Gadhafi and told him they were asked by the Kuwaiti Emir to come to Libya and talk about the relationship between him and those tribes in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

“The Libyan leader told them that his ancestors belonged to the Dahamisha and Anza tribes but they left the Peninsula to escape revenge…he said nearly 20 families of his ancestors left Najd to Egypt before heading for Tunisia and finally settling in Libya,” the paper said, quoting a tribal chief, Mohammed Al Qahs.

“The Libyan leader confirmed to them what the Kuwaiti Emir had told them about his relationship to those tribes who now live in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait…he made clear tribal vendetta at that time forced his ancestors to emigrate.”

Okay, if Brother Leader says so. It is probably more likely to be true than when he told American Indian visitors that they were of Libyan descent.