Time to wrap up this live blog for the evening. Here's a summary of today's events:
• Barack Obama said his administration was "on the right side of history" for its response to the downfall of the Mubarak regime in Egypt
• Hosni Mubarak is again said to be gravely ill, although accounts differ
• CBS News correspondent Lara Logan was brutally attacked by a mob in Tahrir Square on the night Mubarak resigned, the US network has revealed
• Bahrain: thousands of protesters descended on Pearl Roundabout in the capital Manama for a peaceful demonstration, as opposition MPs began a boycott of parliament
• Iran: a second person was killed during yesterday's demonstrations, a member of the country's parliament said, while 1,500 arrests have been reported
• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton described Iran's government as "awful" for its repression of protesters suring a speech on internet freedom
• Yemen: there have been clashes throughout the country in the fifth consecutive day of protests
Follow the Guardian's on-going coverage here, and thanks for reading.
The government of Yemen should respect the right to protest, Alistair Burt, the UK government's minister for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement:
All Yemenis have a right to express their views in a peaceful and open manner and I am extremely concerned by reports of increasing violence and the excessive use of force by security forces.
I call on the government of Yemen to respect the people?s right to peaceful protest and listen to their legitimate grievances. The Yemeni authorities should respond positively to these concerns.
CBS News correspondent Lara Logan in Cairo's Tahrir Square, moments before she was attacked on 11 February. Photograph: CBS
Chilling news from the US television network CBS: its correspondent Lara Logan was beaten and sexually assaulted by a mob in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the celebrations following Mubarak's resignation.
Here's the CBS statement:
On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a 60 Minutes story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.
In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.
There will be no further comment from CBS News and Correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time.
Currently CBS News's chief foreign correspondent, Logan's resume includes previous jobs working for GMTV, Sky and ITN. She's an accomplished foreign correspondent, having reported from Afghanistan, Iraq and many other conflict zones.
The Wall Street Journal has a useful analysis of the political protest in Bahrain's parliament today:
As violence continued, parliamentarians from the country's main Shiite opposition bloc suspended their participation in the body in solidarity with the protesters. The bloc, called Al-Wafaq, controls 18 of Bahrain's 40-seat parliament. The move raises a new hurdle for Bahrain's Sunni ruling family, robbing it of a legitimate, political counterparty with which to negotiate a settlement to the unrest.
The Guardian's Ian Black has a new article up on how the events in Bahrain are making its neighbours nervous:
This sectarian division puts Bahrain on a regional faultline, with an assertive Shia Iran glowering across the Gulf at a country that is also home to the US 5th fleet and a key ally for Washington. The Saudis, with their Shia majority in the oil-producing eastern provinces, are watching nervously.
Bahrain is the odd one out economically as well, lacking the hydrocarbon riches of Qatar or the UAE and thus the ability easily to buy off dissent in exchange for political quiescence.
Some good quality video from a march in Bahrain yesterday, with what looks like a peaceful chanting crowd followed by the sound of rounds fired.
The Guardian's Giles Tremlett, recently back from Morocco, reports:
Morocco's government appears to be trying to calm fears over price hikes on basic goods as Facebook-arranged youth demonstrations called for Sunday, 20 February, draw closer. Today it has doubled the money it sets aside for state subsidies to counter rising global commodity prices.
The move comes as Twitter and YouTube are seeing increasing traffic about the marches, which are to be held across a country whose leadership claims it will be an exception to the wave of protest and revolution sweeping through the region.
The government will add 15bn dirhams ($1.8bn) to the 17bn dirhams allocated by the 2011 budget for the government's subsidy fund called Caisse de Compensation, Morocco's official MAP news agency said.
Reuters makes its calculations of the economic impact:
This means that at 32bn dirhams the Caisse de Compensation alone would cost 4% of the country's GDP in 2011, if the 5% growth target is met.... Morocco heavily subsidises staples, such as cooking gas, sugar and flour. Last month, the government promised to keep staples affordable at any price even if a surge in global prices of food and oil have a severe impact on its public finances this year.
At various points today Hosni Mubarak has been declared to be near death or in Israel according to various media outlets. Reuters is now reporting that he is in Sharm el-Sheik making phone calls, although it covers all the bases:
A military source said Mubarak, 82, believed to be in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, was "breathing". Another Egyptian source with links to the family said he was unwell. But a source who said he spoke to Mubarak on Tuesday described him as "fine" and receiving telephone calls.
Asharq al-Awsat online, quoting a former security official, has this:
What is certain is that his state of health is declining drastically. In addition there is information that he is refusing to receive the required medical treatment.
Most Americans approved of Obama's handling of the protests in Egypt, according to this poll just published by USA Today.
It found that 68% of those polled said President Obama did a good or very good job.
The poll by Gallup of 1,000 adults also found:
• By 37%-22%, they predict events in Egypt will increase rather than decrease the chances for enduring peace in the Middle East; 28% say it won't make a difference.
• By 28%-21%, they say it will help rather than hurt US efforts to fight terrorism; 41% say it won't make a difference.
• By 47%-44%, they say it will result in democracy taking hold in other countries in the region.
A full text of Hillary Clinton speech on internet freedom is available online here.
More details on the second death of a protester in Iran resulting from yesterday's protests. Kazem Jalali, spokesman of the Iranian parliamentary committee on national security, told the Ilna news agency that one of injured protesters has also died. The victim was not identified.
Meanwhile, acting police commander General Ahmad Reza Radan has told the state run IRNA outlet that several people were arrested. Radan claimed that members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahadeen-e-Khalq had opened fire at police and protesters, although there appears to be no evidence for such an allegation.
A cracking and all too rare interview with a Yemeni activist, Tawakul Karman, by Reuters journalist Mohammed Ghobari:
Tawakul Karman, a short, veiled woman with a fiery tongue, has become a thorn in the side of [President] Saleh, a key US ally against al-Qaida who has ruled the Arabian Peninsula state for 32 years.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets last month when authorities arrested the 30-year-old Karman, a member of the Islamist opposition party, Islah, for organising what it said were illegal protests. She was later released. Tens of thousands joined in protests she helped organise two weeks ago.
"A revolution will be easier in Yemen than in Egypt," Karman told Reuters in an interview. "The poverty is worse and there is more hunger ... the anger in Yemen is stronger than elsewhere."
Here's the ominous news: of Yemen's 23 million people, 40% live on less than $2 a day, a third face chronic hunger and one in two people owns a gun. That's a lot of guns.
Despite the intimidation Karman says she faces from police, the journalist continues to march in the streets, confident that Yemenis will soon revolt.
"The international community's response was heartening. We feel confident and secure after the position it took in support of Tunisia and Egypt. That encourages our revolution," she said.
Hoisted from the comments section below, reader Ozzicht points out that the digital campaigning organisation Avaaz is organising a global petition calling on G20 countries to take action over the Mubarak family's wealth.
There may now be less need, since the US, the EU and Switzerland are already working on formal requests from the Egyptian government on freezing Mubarak clan assets, but any encouragement can't hurt.
Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov doesn't think that the US or other countries should be stirring up the wave of protests in the Middle East:
We are convinced that calls for revolutions are counterproductive. We have had more than one revolution in Russia, and we believe that we don't need to impose revolutions on others. We don't think that we need to tighten the screw, or take sides.
That's certainly a change from the Soviet Union's policies.
The big takeaway from Hillary Clinton's internet freedom speech today is that the US will spend $25m on plans to help internet users circumvent curbs such as the "Great Firewall" of China, the blocks on Facebook and other social media sites in Iran, as well as attempts to thwart anti-government protests by pulling the plug on online access:
The United States continues to help people in oppressive internet environments get around filters, stay one step ahead of the censors, the hackers, and the thugs who beat them up or imprison them for what they say online .... Some have criticized us for not pouring fundinginto a single technology – but there is no silver bullet in the struggle against internet repression. There's no "app" for that.
This year we will award more than $25 million in additional funding. We are taking a venture capital-style approach, supporting a portfolio of technologies, tools, and training, and adapting as more users shift to mobile devices. We have our ear to the ground, talking to digital activists about where they need help, and our diversified approach means we're able to adapt to tackle the range of threats against Internet freedom. We support multiple tools, so if repressive governments figure out how to target one, others are at the ready. And we invest in the cutting edge because we know that repressive governments are constantly innovating their methods of repression. We need to stay ahead of them.
For those interested in following Clinton's speech and the issues it raises, Alec Ross, the state department's senior adviser for innovation, and Dan Baer, deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labour, will participate in worldwide webchat on internet freedom.
The webcast and follow-on webchat will take place on the CO.NX Facebook page and here. The webchat will begin at approximately 2pm ET (7pm GMT).
Hillary Clinton moves on to WikiLeaks and the need for security on the internet – and likens the leaking of the US embassy cables to stealing documents in a briefcase:
Government confidentiality has been a topic of debate during the past fewmonths because of WikiLeaks. It's been a false debate in many ways. Fundamentally, the WikiLeaks incident began with an act of theft. Government documents were stolen, just the same as if they had been smuggled out in a briefcase.
Some have suggested that this act was justified, because governments have a responsibility to conduct all of their work out in the open, in the full view of their citizens. I disagree. The United States could neither provide for our citizens' security nor promote the cause of human rights and democracy around the world if we had to make public every step of our most sensitive operations.
Confidential communication gives our government the opportunity to dowork that could not be done otherwise. Consider our work with former Soviet states to secure loose nuclear material. By keeping the details confidential, we make it less likely that terrorists will find the nuclear material and steal it.
Or consider the content of the documents that Wikileaks made public. Without commenting on the authenticity of any particular documents, we can observe that many of the cables released by WikiLeaks relate to human rights work carried out around the world. Our diplomats closely collaborate with activists,journalists, and citizens to challenge the misdeeds of oppressive governments. It's dangerous work. By publishing the diplomatic cables, WikiLeaks exposed people to even greater risk.
Then she denies any involvement by the Obama administration in the moves against WikiLeaks by companies such as Amazon:
There were reports in the days following the leak that the US government intervened to coerce private companies to deny service to Wikileaks. This is not the case. Some politicians and pundits publicly called for companies to dissociate from Wikileaks, while others criticized them for doing so. Public officials are part of our country's public debates, but there is a line between expressing views and coercing conduct. But any business decisions that private companies may have taken to enforce their own policies regarding WikiLeaks was not at the direction or the suggestion of the Obama Administration.
If people are to come together through the internet then "we need a shared global vision," Clinton says.
Now Clinton mentions the variety of positive uses of the internet in places such as Russia, China and Syria but then notes:
At the same time, the internet continues to be constricted in myriad ways worldwide. In China, the government censors content and redirects search requests to error pages. In Burma, independent news sites have been taken down with distributed denial of service attacks. In Cuba, the government is trying to create a national intranet, while not allowing their citizens to access the global Internet.
Clinton's speech is being followed by zero US cable news networks, perhaps because Obama's press conference was enough for one day.
Events in Egypt and Iran are about more than just the internet, Clinton says, as much as they are about protests and activity:
What happened in Egypt and Iran – where this week again violence was used against protesters – was about a great deal more than the internet. In each case, people protested because of a deep frustration with the political and economic conditions of their lives. They stood and marched and chanted, and the authorities tracked and blocked and detained them. The Internet did not do any of those things. People did.
As a result, says Clinton, "there is a debate underway in some circles about whether the internet is a force for liberation or repression":
But that debate is largely beside the point. Egypt isn't inspiring because people communicated using Twitter, it is inspiring because people came together and persisted in demanding a better future. Iran isn't awful because the authorities used Facebook to shadow and capture members of the opposition, it is awful because it is a government that routinely violates the rights of its people.
"The events in Egypt recalled another protest movement, 18 months earlier in Iran, when thousands marched after disputed elections," says Clinton:
The authorities used technology as well; the Revolutionary Guard stalked members of the green movement by tracking their cellphones. For a time, the government shut down the internet and mobile networks altogether. After the authorities raided homes, attacked university dorms, made mass arrests, tortured, and fired into crowds, the protests ended.
But in Egypt, says Clinton, "the story ended differently":
The protests continued despite the internet shutdown. People organized marches through flyers and word of mouth,and used dial-up modems and fax machines to communicate with the world. After six days, the government relented, and Egypt came back online.
Hillary Clinton is taking the stage at George Washington University in DC, for her address on "Internet Rights and Wrongs". Her introduction mentioned the events in the Middle East as making it especially relevant.
Clinto says there is a need for a "vigorous debate" about how the internet is maintained – and begins by speaking of how "the internet went dark across Egypt" on 28 January:
Cell phone service was cut off, TV satellite signals were jammed, and Internet access was blocked for nearly the entire population. The government did not want the people to communicate with each other. It did not want the press to communicate with the public. And it did not want the world to watch.
Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also planning a press conference of his own, scheduled for 6pm GMT / 1pm ET / 9.30pm IRST, but that time may slip.
Obama's press conference has just concluded and there a sense that the US president feels justified in how he handled America's response to the protests in Egypt, as reported below.
Obama's argument was that the change happened rapidly without major bloodshed and that subsequent events are positive so far.
There's another press conference by Hillary Clinton coming up in 10 minutes – the subject is "Internet Rights and Wrongs: Choices & Challenges in a Networked World" – which may well touch on events in the Middle East. You can follow it on the State Department's website, and we'll be live blogging it right here as well.
My colleague Richard Adams is taking the helm now.
More from my colleague Richard Adams on Barack Obama's press conference:
Obama said the US was "on the right side of history" in its approach to Egypt, after he was asked if the US had been too cautious in its approach to the protests.
"I think history will end up recording that, on every juncture in Egypt, that we were on the right side of history. What we can't do is pretend that we could dictate the outcome, because we can't."
Obama said the US message was consistent throughout the crisis. "Particularly if you look at my statements, I started talking about reform two weeks before Mr Mubarak stepped down."
In general: "I think we calibrated it just right ... there was relatively little anti-American sentiment, relatively little anti-Israeli sentiment, or even anti-western sentiment. I think we got it about right."
Asked what effect the events in the region would have on the Middle East peace process, Obama said: "I think it offers an opportunity as well as a challenge." The opportunity comes in the outlook of the young people being "less likely to channel their frustrations into anti-Israel" activity.
"The challenge is that democracy is messy. If you try to negotiate with a democracy you just don't have one person [to negotiate with] ... but I like the odds of getting a better outcome."
Here is an evening summary:
• Bahrain: thousands of protesters have descended on Pearl Roundabout in the Bahraini capital Manama for a peaceful demonstration (see 1.59pm). Many have been setting up tents in echoes of Egypt's Tahrir Square and say they will stay there until their demands are met. A man named as Fadhel Salman Matrook was killed in Bahrain when security forces fired shots at a crowd of people who had gathered for the funeral of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was shot dead yesterday (see 7.53am). The king later expressed his sorrow at the deaths and announced an investigation (see 4pm). The main Shia opposition group in Bahrain, al-Wefaq, denounced the "bullying tactics and barbaric policies pursued by the security forces" and said it was suspending its participation in parliament, where it holds 18 of the 40 seats (see 10.40am).
• Iran: A second person was killed in yesterday's demonstrations in Iran, a member of the country's parliament said (see 1.31pm). The protester shot dead yesterday has been named as 26-year-old Sane Jaleh by the opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi's official website, Kaleme.org (see 9.29am). Acting police commander general Ahmad Reza Radan said dozens of people, including nine members of the security forces, also were wounded. He blamed the violence on the opposition. One opposition group described his comments as "ridiculous" (see 4.14pm). The Iranian judiciary said that 1,500 people were arrested in yesterday's demonstrations and transferred to Evin prison, according to the Human Rights Reporters Committee (see 4.43pm). The committee said that families of the detainees who were protesting at their imprisonment were attacked by security forces outside the prison. Members of the Iranian parliament have called for the death penalty to handed out to Mousavi and fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, both of whom who were put under house arrest ahead of yesterday's protests (see 11.22am).
• Yemen: there have been clashes in the country for a fifth consecutive day. About 1,000 protesters, marching down a street that leads to the presidential palace, were blocked by anti-riot police, a Reuters reporter said. As they dispersed into side streets, they were confronted by hundreds of government backers and both sides hurled rocks at each other (see 11.42am).
• Egypt: the Muslim Brotherhood announced that it plans to set up a political party (see 10.35am). It had previously said that it would not put up a candidate for the presidential election or seek a parliamentary majority.
• Jordan: the country's leaders tried to head off protests by easing restrictions on public gatherings (12.04pm). Jordan's interior minister Saed Hayel Srour said that protesters would still have to inform authorities of any gathering two days in advance to ensure public safety. However, he said the government would no longer interfere in such matters.
• Tunisia: the country extended a state of emergency that has been in place since Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia but ended a curfew imposed during the protests (4.15pm).
Iran has confirmed the arrest of 1,500 people during yesterday's protests, Radio Zamaneh reports:
The Iranian judiciary today announced the names of 1,500 people arrested in yesterday's demonstrations and transferred to Evin prison, the Human Rights Reporters Committee reports.
Families of detainees gathered in front of the revolutionary court, where the detainees' files were being initiated, but they were attacked by special guards of the security forces and dispersed.
The authorities are refusing to inform families about what's happening to individual detainees.
The announcement of the 1,500 names comes after security commander Ahmadreza Radan confirmed to the media that 150 people had been arrested. He said the protests had been carried out by a handful of seditionists.
Jack Shenker in Cairo has filed a story on fears the Egyptian army is hijacking the revolution there.
Asked specifically about the stability of Saudi Arabia and the effect on oil prices, Obama didn't respond in detail. On Iran he said:
My hope and expectation continues to be that the people of Iran have the courage to express a desire for greater freedom and a more responsive government. Understand that America cannot dictate what happens inside of Iran.
Speaking more generally, Obama said that America was obviously concerned about stability throughout the region. The message was, he said: "The world is changing, and if you govern these countries you've got to get out ahead of change, you can't be behind the curve."
On the Middle East more widely, Obama said:
Obviously we are concerned about stability throughout the region. Each country is different. The message we have sent ... is that the world is changing; you have a young vibrant generation within the Middle East.
You cannot maintain power through coercion; at some level in any society there has to be consent and that's particularly true in the new era where people can communicate, not just through some central government, but they can go onto a smartphone or to a Twitter account and mobilise hundreds and thousands of people.
Real change in the Middle East doesn't come from terrorism, it comes from moral force, Obama said. "That's how governments bring about lasting change."
My colleague Richard Adams was also watching the Obama press conference. He reports that Ben Feller of the Associated Press asked the president if the spread of protests in the Middle East jeopardised US interests. Obama said: "With respect to the situation in the Middle East, obviously there's still a lot of work to be done in Egypt but what we've seen is positive."
Obama said "Egypt needs help" to create democratic institutions and for its economy. "But so far at least we've seen the right signals out of Egypt." He specifically noted the military administration's confirmation of Egypt's existing peace treaties with Israel.
For the rest of the region, Obama noted that "each country is different, each country has its own traditions" and America couldn't dictate to them. But violence can't be used as a solution by those governments. "It's important in all the protests we've seen around the region, it's important that governments respond to peaceful protests peacefully."
On Iran, Obama said:
I find ironic that Iran pretended to celebrate what's happened in Egypt when they act directly contrary to what happened in Egypt by gunning down and beating people.
Barack Obama has been giving a press conference and was asked about Saudi Arabia and Iran specifically. He talked at length about Iran but did not speak directly about Saudi Arabia and just talked generically about Middle Eastern leaders (he did not mention Yemen, Bahrain etc either).
He was asked whether the US had been strong enough in its utterances on Iran during the opposition protests that were crushed in 2009.
He said the US said in 2009 and is saying now "that what is true in Egypt should be true in Iran, which is that people should be able to air their ... grievances" without facing violence (although that wasn't true of Egypt in 2009).
He said, just like in Egypt, the US cannot "dictate what happens" but it can lend "moral support".
Tunisia has extended a state of emergency that has been in place since Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia but ended a curfew imposed during the protests, the Associated Press reports:
The curfew was in place since 13 January, the day before President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia in the wake of clashes between police and protesters angry about unemployment, corruption and repression.
The state of emergency, declared 14 January, forbids any public street gathering of three people or more, though that rule has rarely been enforced. It also authorises police and security forces to use their weapons against suspects who do not turn themselves in when ordered to do so, and against fleeing suspects who cannot be apprehended.
An Iranian opposition group has rejected accusations from a police commander that it fired on an opposition protest in Tehran (see 8.01am), branding the report a lie, reports the Associated Press:
Iran's IRNA news agency cited acting police commander General Ahmad Reza Radan as saying that members of the opposition group Mujahedeen Khalq, or MEK, opened fire at police and protesters. He did not provide any evidence to back up his claim.
The France-based National Council of Resistance in Iran, which speaks for MEK, says the claim is "ridiculous and false".
The group said Tuesday the claim was "fabricated by the regime even when everyone knows that it is the ruling power and its organs repressed the protesters by shooting at them".
The MEK, which stands for the People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran, is on the US government's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Its thousands-strong army based in neighbouring Iraq has been disarmed by US troops.
The group participated in Iran's Islamic Revolution but soon fell out with the clerics in charge of the country. The group's supporters argue it no longer engages in armed struggle in its quest for a new leadership in Iran, and the European Union removed it from its list of banned terrorist groups in 2009.
A couple of interesting comments from below the line:
From iPersius
The problem here is that where the west had some leverage in Tunisia and Egypt, and indeed Algeria and Yemen to some extent, I don't think Iran has any interest or motive in keeping the west sweet.
If Iran chose to gun down these protesters, what exactly could anyone do to stop them?
How much resolve can these people have against such naked aggression?
From lesbiches:
Anything reactions / events happening in KSA to all of this?
I thought that was meant to be one of the more precarious regimes.
The Guardian has video of King Hamad of Bahrain's speech in which he expressed sympathy for the death of two people linked to anti-government protests and promised an investigation.
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Spain's foreign minister Trinidad Jimenez has threatened to recall the country's ambassador to Iran unless Tehran explains – and apologises for – yesterday's arrest of one of its consular representatives within 48 hours, according to a report on monsters and critics.
Ignacio Perez-Cambra was detained in front of the Spanish embassy in Tehran after taking a walk with the ambassador in an area where government opponents were staging a protest rally on Monday. The Spaniard was held for over four hours before being released.
Iran had violated the Vienna Convention regulating diplomatic relations, because it did not inform Perez-Cambra of the reasons for his arrest, Jimenez said.
The Bahrain interior ministry's response to the large protest at Pearl roundabout ... is to warn of congestion:
We advise citizens to stay away from Pearl roundabout area to avoid traffic jams
Ministry of Interior
moi_bahrain
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The UK Foreign Office has upgraded its travel advice for British citizens with respect to Egypt. It says it is safe for them to travel to Luxor (since 28 January it had advised against all but essential travel to the city). The Foreign Office continues to advise against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria and Suez but "in light of the improved situation on the ground after the resignation of President [Hosni] Mubarak, we have removed our advice to British nationals without a pressing need to be in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez to leave by commercial means."
In further echo of Tahrir Square protesters appear to be setting up camp at Pearl roundabout in Bahrain. Protesters can be seen unfolding a large section of canvas sheeting in this video on Bambuser.
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Bahrain's Pearl roundabout has been renamed the "Nation's Square" by protesters, says the Associated Press. It also reports – significantly given that the protesters are largely Shia and some have even accused them of being supporters of Iran – that they have been shouting chants of solidarity with Sunni Muslims. "No Sunnis, no Shiites, we are all Bahrainis," is the chant.
People on the roundabout are putting up tents and settling down for the night in a sign that they want it to become their equivalent of Tahrir Square.
New video has emerged from Bahrain that appears to show tear gas being fired at mourners who gathered for the funeral of protester Ali Abdulhadi Mushamai.
It is impossible to verify whether the film was shot today, but it appears to tally with eyewitness reports of what occurred this morning. Another protester was killed after the security forces fired tear gas and bird shot at the crowd.
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Here's a gallery of images from Yemen and Bahrain.
Harrowing photos purportedly of Fadhel Salman Matrook, the Bahraini man killed at a funeral this morning (see 7.53am) have been posted online. (Warning: the images are upsetting and some are graphic.)
Hosni Mubarak's health is deteriorating rapidly, according to a new report in the Saudi Arabia's Asharq al-Awsat newspaper which says the former Egyptian president is refusing medical treatment.
Citing former Egyptian security officials it said an announcement of his death could come at any time.
The source also revealed that there had been attempts to convince Mubarak to travel abroad for medical treatment, most probably to Germany, where he previously underwent treatment to remove a gall bladder last year. However the former security official clarified to Asharq Al-Awsat that "Mubarak is refusing this … in fact, he has asked those around him to allow him to die in his country, and I believe this is just a matter of time" adding: "It is unfortunate that this is how it will end."
A Facebook tribute group, modelling on a similar group in Egypt, has been set up for the protester killed in Bahrain yesterday.
"We are all Ali Abdulhadi Mushamai" deliberately echoes Egypt's "We are all Khaled Said" the group set up by Google executive and activist Wael Ghonim.
Protesters in Bahrain are also sharing information at a Facebook group called True Royal Democracy, which has more than 24,000 supporters.
Thousands of protesters, including children, have gathered for a rowdy protests at the Pearl (also known as Lulu) roundabout, according to live mobile phone footage uploaded to Bambuser.
Protester @RedhaHaji tweets:
Pple chanting. handing out snack foods&Wtr. Others cleaning. It looks like a day out on the green grass. Sitting. Talking #bahrain #feb14
Bahraini journalist @MazenMahdi tweets:
Pictures of political detainees including ali abdul imam being raised in lulu roundabout demanding their release #Bahrain #feb14
This is Matthew Weaver taking over again. Thanks Haroon. A second person was killed in yesterday's demonstration in Iran, a member of the Iranian parliament said today.
"At Monday's rally ... two people were martyred and many were wounded; one person was shot dead," Kazem Jalali was quoted as saying by Iranian news agency ISNA.
An opposition website claimed at least 1,500 people were arrested while taking part in the banned protests.
More video is emerging of the protests. This one shows a crowd chanting for the release of political prisoners as they march down a street. The film ends abruptly when protesters begin to flee in the opposite direction.
Ahram online has some quotes from the king of Bahrain's televised address (see also 12.49pm). It was reportedly quite a short speech. King Hamad said:
In light of the incidents that took place yesterday and today ... There have been sadly two deaths. I express my deep condolences to their families. Everyone should know that I have assigned deputy prime minister Jawad Al-Orayedh to form a special committee to find out the reasons that led to such regrettable events."
Haroon Siddique here. Bahrain's interior ministry has named the person killed at a funeral this morning (7.53am) as Fadhel Salman Matrook and announced an investigation into his death.
Ali, a student activist at Amir Kabir University in Tehran, has been talking to InsideIran.org about organising a student demonstration on Monday.
Q: What groups of people were there today?
A: We saw people from all walks of life. Many students but lots of older people. We saw people with Islamic covers and beards in our ranks. There were people who looked poor. We didn't expect them to come. But I think they came because of economic pressure. Things have gotten worse since the subsidies reform.
Q: What is going to happen next?
A: We don't know. Moussavi was supposed to talk to BBC, but he is under house arrest. So is Karroubi. People need information but no one is adequately covering the events in Iran. Lots of people have good internet access at work and more people have basic internet at home. But there is not any information for them as what to do.
I think people are waiting for another call to protest. People want to take advantage of internal rifts in government. The Majlis and the government cannot work together. They always insult each other. And people are fed up with this situation that nothing gets done and there is so much infighting. Everything is getting more expensive because of Ahmadinejad's subsidy cuts. Metro tickets in Tehran are going to quadruple in price. People, especially the urban poor, cannot live like this. The same people who voted for him because of handouts are now getting tired of his policies.
He said he wanted to see Egyptian and Tunisian pro-democracy groups issue statements of support for the Iranian rebels.
King Hamad announced on state TV that there will be investigation into the deaths of the killed protesters.
"We opened the a road to Freedom 10 years back," he said according to Bahrain Twitter user @RedhaHaji. "We will continue without barriers," the King is reported as saying.
Meanwhile, Bahrain protesters are gathering at Pearl Roundabout, which they claim is their Tahrir Square.
@AngryArabiya tweets:
WE HAVE A TAHRIR SQUARE @ LAST, the pearl roundabout! Heading there now!! #bahrain #feb14
Photographs uploaded to Twitter show that hundreds of protesters have gathered at the roundabout.
Protesters have warned that they could target the Bahrain grand prix on 13 March.
In the wake of ongoing protests in Bahrain this week urging the government to consider political reform, fears are growing that the opening race of the 2011 season on 13 March could be hit.
Nabeel Rajab, vice president of campaign group Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said on Tuesday that the grand prix was being viewed as an opportunity for protesters to publicise their cause.
"For sure F1 is not going to be peaceful this time," Rajab told Arabian Business. "They'll be lots of journalists, a lot of people looking and [the government] will react in a stupid manner as they did today and yesterday. And that will be bloody, but will be more publicised."
This is interesting. Our Middle East editor Ian Black has been trawling through WikiLeaks releases of US diplomatic cables about Bahrain. He found this mini-portrait of King Hamad and the country's intelligence relationship with the US. The secret briefing was prepared for Denis Blair, Barack Obama's director of national intelligence, in December 2009.
12. (C) King Hamad is personable and engaging. He rules as something of a "corporate king," giving direction and letting his top people manage the government. He has overseen the development of strong institutions with the restoration of parliament, the formation of a legal political opposition, and a dynamic press. He is gradually shifting power from his uncle, Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who remains the head of the government, to his son, the Crown Prince. Crown Prince Salman received his high school education at the DOD school in Bahrain and earned a BA from American University in 1985. He is very Western in his approach and is closely identified with the reformist camp within the ruling family - particularly with respect to economic and labor reforms designed to combat corruption and modernize Bahrain's economic base. King Hamad is committed to fighting corruption and prefers doing business with American firms because they are transparent. U.S. companies have won major contracts in the past two years, including: Gulf Air's purchase of 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, a USD 5 billion joint-venture with Occidental Petroleum to revitalize the Awali field, and well over USD 300 million in Foreign Military Sales.
13. (S) Director of BNSA (Bahrain National Security Agency) Sheikh Khalifa bin Abdallah Al Khalifa figures prominently into the King's efforts on reform and stability. Charged by the King to "Bahrainize" and professionalize BNSA, Sheikh Khalifa is determined to rid BNSA of the last vestiges of British influence and grow BNSA into a world-class intelligence and security service with global reach. Sheikh Khalifa understands well that if he is to fulfill his mandate of protecting Bahrain, he must "go deep" and develop robust intelligence liaison relationships with partners around the world. To that end, he has embarked on a program to establish and strengthen intelligence ties abroad, with a central focus on counterterrorism. Against this backdrop, Sheikh Khalifa unabashedly positions his relationship with the U.S. Intelligence Community above all others, insisting that his key lieutenants communicate openly with their U.S. liaison partners and actively seek new avenues for cooperation. In your discussions, you will find Sheikh Khalifa to be frank and likeable, and he will no doubt emphasize his sincere desire to continue strengthening the already excellent relationship he enjoys with the U.S.
The supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has accused the US and Britain of interfering in Egypt.
"The US seeks to hijack the great movement of the Egyptians. The Islamic Republic of Iran is against the interference of foreign sides in Egypt and believes that this is the Egyptian nation that should be the main decision-maker," he said, according to Press TV.
The leader emphasized that the British government is the main agent behind causing difference among Muslims and urged all Muslim countries to adopt their policies and strategies in line with strengthening unity in the Muslim world.
He didn't mention the protests in Iran. The Iranian newspaper Hamshari also ignored the protests on its front page today (see left), focusing instead on the state visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gul.
There are more front pages from the region at the website of Washington's Newseum.
Here is our interactive Twitter map of Arab and Middle Eastern protests.
Jordan continues to try to head off protest by showing a willingness to reform. King Abdullah II has already dismissed his cabinet and promised reforms; now the interior ministry said it will allow public gatherings.
An AP report in the Gulf Times says:
Jordan's interior minister, bowing to public pressure to revoke restrictions on public gatherings, says protests will no longer need government permission.
Saed Hayel Srour says he has recommended the change to the cabinet, which is expected to endorse it quickly.
In street protests in the past five weeks, Jordanians demanded that the government lift restrictions on free speech and assembly ...
Srour said that protesters would still have to inform authorities of any gathering two days in advance to ensure public safety. However, he said the government would no longer interfere in such matters.
Time for a summary of events so far.
• A person has been killed in Bahrain when security forces fired shots at a crowd of people who had gathered for the funeral of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was shot dead yesterday (see 7.53am). At least 10,000 people reportedly gathered for Mushaima's funeral, where people chanted anti-government slogans and held aloft defaced pictures of the king.
• The main Shia opposition group in Bahrain, Al Wefaq, denounced the "bullying tactics and barbaric policies pursued by the security forces" and said it was suspending its participation in parliament, where it holds 18 of the 40 seats (see 10.40am).
• The Iranian protester shot dead yesterday has been named as 26-year-old Sane Jaleh by the opposition leader Mir Hussein Mousavi's official website, Kaleme.org (see 9.29am). Iranian police have confirmed the death of a protester. Acting police commander general Ahmad Reza Radan said dozens of people, including nine members of the security forces, also were wounded. He blamed the violence on the opposition.
• Members of the Iranian parliament have called for the death penalty to handed out to Mousavi and fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, both of whom who were put under house arrest ahead of yesterday's protests (see 11.22am).
• The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt announced that they plan to set up a political party (see 10.35am). It had previously said that it would not put up a candidate for the presidential election or seek a parliamentary majority.
• Pro- and anti-government protesters have clashed in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. Four anti-government protesters were wounded (see 11.42am).
Waleed al-Maqtari (second right), a journalist for al-Jazeera, and bystanders take shelter from rocks being hurled by government supporters against anti-government protesters in Sana'a, Yemen. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
Pro- and anti-government protesters have clashed in Sana'a, according to Reuters.
Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators and government loyalists fought with rocks and batons in the Yemeni capital today in political unrest fuelled by the Egyptian uprising.
About 1,000 protesters, marching down a street that leads to the presidential palace, were blocked by anti-riot police, a Reuters reporter said. As they dispersed into side streets, they were confronted by hundreds of government backers and both sides hurled rocks at each other.
Police managed to stamp out the fighting. Four of the anti-government protesters were wounded, the Reuters reporter said, two bleeding from head injuries.
"Ali, leave, leave, and take your sons with you!" protesters shouted, referring to President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Many expect Saleh, who has ruled this Arabian Peninsula state for 32 years, will hand power to his son, a charge he denies.
Protesters have complained of repression but have also pointed to economic conditions – around 40% of Yemen's 23 million people live on less than $2 a day, while a third face chronic hunger.
Loyalists have countered demonstrators with increasing violence. Three ambulances had accompanied the protesters from the start of the march, a sign that eruptions of violence are now expected.
Some of the loyalists beat a parliament member who had joined anti-government protesters. Ahmed Seif Hashid told Reuters that he was also stabbed, and accused the ruling party of bringing in hired men for backup.
"Most of them were not members of the ruling party, they were hired thugs," he said. "Some of them tried to stab me in the back. The attacks here keep happening, they want to occupy the places used for protests."
A few hundred men had been waiting for protesters as they gathered today at Sana'a University, which has become the launch pad for anti-government rallies. Some waved pictures of Saleh, most carried batons.
"You cowards, you American collaborators! The people want dialogue to start," Saleh loyalists chanted.
Bahraini Shiite protesters carry the coffin of a comrade who died a day earlier from his wounds following clashes with police, during his funeral in the town of Jidhafs. Photograph: Adam Jan/AFP/Getty Images
CrowdVoice, a user-generated website for compiling reports of protests, has compiled what it says is video and photographic evidence of violence used against protesters in Bahrain and Iran.
Iran's Press TV has shown footage of members of Iran's parliament calling for the execution of the opposition leaders Karroubi and Mousavi.
__
An angry crowd of up to 20,000 people have gathered in Bahrain at the funeral of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was killed in yesterday's protests, according to an eyewitness in an audio interview.
The witness, who did not wish to give her full name, said:
The scene is just unbelievable. There are thousands upon thousands on the road ... There were definitely chants against the regime. The crowd was getting angrier and angrier. A lot of signs said they are peaceful, and this is what we get in return.
It has been peaceful, but people are angry, they are very frustrated. I am assuming that people are going to keep marching. It has been announced that people will be marching again tomorrow for the funeral of the second guy who was killed today.
This is definitely a lot more than people expected when we heard there was going to be some protests. Nobody expected this much turnout.
They are just chanting they want reform, that's all they want. I can see people as far as my eyes can see. There could be 20 [thousand].
___
Mobile phone footage purporting to show the funeral procession in Bahrain has emerged on the video streaming service Bambuser.
AP reports that 10,000 people gathered for the funeral of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, the protester killed yesterday. One person was killed in initial clashes with the mourners, but then the police withdrew, allowing the funeral to take place.
Police watched from a distance as at least 10,000 marchers streamed from the hospital to the Shia Muslim cemetery about a half-mile (1km) away. Mourners chanted against the government and some even held aloft portraits of Bahrain's king defaced with an X, a possible signal that their anger could shift toward the monarchy itself.
Bahrain's protesters have claimed they do not seek to overthrow the ruling family but want greater political freedoms and sweeping changes in how the country is run. The demands include transferring more decision-making powers to the parliament and breaking the monarchy's grip on senior government posts.
The death [today] is likely to boost sectarian tensions that make the tiny island kingdom of about 525,000 citizens among the most volatile nations in the Gulf.
Bahrain's Shia majority, about 70% of the population, have long complained of systemic discrimination by the Sunni rulers. A crackdown on perceived dissent last year touched off weeks of riots and clashes in Shiite villages.
The main Shia opposition group, Al Wefaq, denounced the "bullying tactics and barbaric policies pursued by the security forces" and said it was suspending its participation in parliament, where it holds 18 of the 40 seats.
The declaration falls short of pulling out the group's lawmakers, which would spark a full-scale political crisis. But Al Wefaq warned that it could take more steps if violence persists against marchers staging the first major rallies in the Gulf since uprisings toppled long-ruling regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.
A statement from Bahrain's interior minister, Lt Gen Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, expressed "sincere condolences and deep sympathy" to Mushaima's family. He stressed that the death will be investigated and charges would be filed if authorities determined excessive force was used against the protesters.
The Muslim Brotherhood said they had no plans to put up a candidate for the presidential elections in Egypt, but today they said they plan to set up a political party.
In a statement on its English-language website, the Brotherhood said it would become a political party when the time is right.
The Muslim Brotherhood's media spokesman Dr Essam El Erian has stated that steady and gradual reform must begin now, and it must begin on the terms that have been called for by millions of Egyptians over the past weeks ...
Mohsen Rady, an MB leader, agreed, adding once an official legitimate committee has been formed it will apply to become an official party highlighting that the former tyranny of autocratic rule which had once prevented the establishment of a party will give way to immediate reform demonstrating a serious commitment to change, the granting of freedoms to all and the transition toward democracy.
Shadi Hamid, a Middle East analyst from the Brookings Institute, says that if an election was held now in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood would win. But speaking on Bloggingheads TV he points out they are not interested in seizing power. "There is this misconception that Islamists are obsessed with seizing power. The Brotherhood is not a political party, it is a religious movement," Hamid says. "They don't want to win [elections]," he adds.
__
Helen Pidd in Berlin reports on debate in Germany about refugees from Tunisia.
The German parliament – and the ruling coalition – are divided over whether they should heed Italy's call and take in Tunisian refugees. Angela Merkel's CDU party doesn't want Germany to get involved, but her coalition partners the FDP think the country has a moral responsibility to share the burden. So do the Greens and the other opposition parties.
Alexander Alvaro, the spokesman of the FDP in the European parliament, said: "We can't just welcome a revolution in one country and then refuse to deal with the consequences."
But CDU politicians said it would wrong for Germany to accept an influx from Tunisia. They are even arguing that to do so would violate the Schengen agreement, which permits free travel between EU member states but makes it difficult for non EU citizens to enter the Schengen zone. One politician even suggested that those EU countries that welcome Tunisians should be punished in the form of sanctions.
My colleague Saeed Kamali Dehghan has been scanning the opposition websites.
He says Mousavi's official website, Kaleme.org, named the protester who was shot dead yesterday.
It says 26-year-old Sane Jaleh, a student of Tehran University of Arts, was killed by the security forces (not by rioters as the regime claims).
More YouTube footage has also emerged of the protests yesterday. In one they chant "both in Tehran and Cairo dictators must go".
Another gives an idea of the scale of the demonstrations.
_
The Iranian regime continues to try to blame the opposition for yesterday's violence.
Members of the Iranian parliament today called for the death penalty to handed out to opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, who were put under house arrest ahead of the protests, according to Reuters.
"Mehdi Karroubi and Mirhossein Mousavi are corrupts on earth and should be tried," the official IRNA news agency quoted them saying in a statement.
The loose term "corrupt on earth", a charge which has been levelled at political dissidents in the past, carries the death penalty in the Islamic Iran, Reuters points out.
Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said: "Those who created public disorder on Monday will be confronted firmly and immediately."
State-funded Press TV directly blamed opposition "rioters" for the violence.
Anti-government groups, including members of the anti-Iran terrorist group Mujahedin Khalq Organisation (MKO), staged riots in Tehran on Monday.
The rioters opened fire on bystanders, killing one and leaving several other people injured as well.
Parliament speaker Ali Larijani accused the United States and its allies of providing support to the opposition.
"The main aim of Americans was to stimulate the recent events in the Middle East in Iran to divert attentions from those countries," Larijani said, state radio reported.
___
Members of the Iranian parliament call for the execution of opposition leaders. Photograph: Reuters
___
Bahrain's interior ministry has confirmed that "clashes" took place at the funeral of a protester today.
In a Twitter update it said:
Chief of Public Security: In Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima's funeral procession this morning some people clashed with a police patrol.
Police used teargas to break up the funeral. "They were dispersed with teargas close to the hospital and then gathered again," Ibrahim Mattar, a member of parliament from the Shia opposition group Wefaq, told Reuters.
Mattar said a second protester died today. Al-Jazeera reported he was killed in clashes at the funeral procession.
Nabeel Rajab, vice-president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has put together a Facebook gallery of photos from today's funeral and yesterday's protests.
It includes this which appears to show protesters being dispersed by teargas (it is unclear whether this is from today or yesterday).
_
Disturbing video has also emerged claiming to show footage of Mushaima's dead body in hospital (warning distressing content).
The police have confirmed that one person was killed during clashes between security forces and protesters yesterday. Acting police commander general Ahmad Reza Radan said dozens of people, including nine members of the security forces, also were wounded.
He blamed the violence on the opposition, as did Iran's state-funded Press TV.
In the Iranian capital Tehran, anti-government groups, including members of the anti-Iran terrorist group Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), have staged riots, killing one person.
The rioters opened fire on bystanders on Monday, leaving several other people injured as well, Fars news agency reported ...
The opposition had asked for permission to hold a public rally "in support of the people in Tunisia and Egypt" but the Iranian government refused to give permission and declared all such rallies illegal.
The government said that no more demos were needed as the Iranian people already expressed their solidarity with the Egyptians and Tunisians on 11 February.
Shockwaves from the uprising in Egypt continue to be felt.
One person was killed in Bahrain today after the security forces fired shots at a crowd of people who had gathered for the funeral of a protester shot yesterday.
AP has this:
Officials at Bahrain's Salmaniya Medical Complex the meeting point for the mourners say the 31-year-old man died from injuries from bird shot fired during the melee in the hospital's parking lot.
The mourners had gathered at the hospital Tuesday for a funeral procession for a man killed a day earlier in Egypt-inspired protests.
Tuesday's death raises the possibility of more marches and challenges to the ruling monarchy in Bahrain.
Last night US secretary of state Hillary Clinton sent a message of support to protesters in Iran after thousands of people took to the streets to demonstrate against the regime of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. She accused Iran of "hypocrisy" for praising the protests in Egypt while cracking down on dissent in its own country.
Here's a round-up by country of the latest on the unrest in the region
Bahrain
Riot police fired teargas and rubber bullets as demonstrators took part in a "day of rage". One protester was killed and at least 25 people were injured.
The protesters want changes to the country's constitution, an elected prime minister, the release of political prisoners, and an end to the use of torture.
Iran
Thousands of defiant protesters in Tehran clashed with security officials as they marched in a banned rally. One person was reported killed, with dozens injured and many more arrested.
Supporters of the Green movement appeared in scattered groups in various locations in central Tehran and other big cities in what was seen as the Iranian opposition's first attempt in more than a year to hold street protests against the government.
Yemen
Protesters marched for a fourth consecutive day in the capital Sana'a demanding the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
They faced attacks by government supporters wielding broken bottles, daggers and rocks. Police were unable to control the crowds in Taiz, where thousands of Yemeni protesters had held an all-night rally. The disturbances occurred while Saleh and the main opposition group were preparing for talks to avert an Egyptian-style revolt.
Egypt
A meeting between military leaders and pro-democracy representatives produced details about plans for fresh elections and constitutional changes. Attempts to clear Tahrir Square of protesters were only partly successful. Former president Hosni Mubarak is reported to be ill in Sharm el-Sheikh, while veteran politician Amr Moussa said he wants to run for president.
Brian Whitaker's best blogs and analysis from the Middle East
From Saudiwoman's Weblog
Comments in chronological order (Total 443 comments)
15 February 2011 8:25AM
So how many demonstrators were there really in Tehran yesterday? I've seen references talking about hundreds. But Iranians like Saeed Kamali Dehghan, who have an interest in maximising the figures, now talk about "thousands". It's quite an important point, in order to be able to evaluate the Iranian demonstrations.
Of course, demonstrations in Iran are quite the reverse of Egypt. In Iran it is the former upper classes who are demonstrating (and trying to get back to power), and necessarily they are not numerous.
15 February 2011 8:27AM
In most of Countries in the Middle East there is high unemployment, huge number of jobs paying below subsistance level, relatively low life expectancy (in terms of years lived), poor education facilities and medical services, dictatorships, un-democratic regimes and it has all been made possible by the support, meddling and intrigue of the 'Free West' The World is revolting!
15 February 2011 8:33AM
Just for OneWorldGovernment, who's been trying to convince us on these threads for a couple of days, that the Egyptian demonstrators are few in number and isolated, and that a military crackdown is just about to happen, look at this analysis by BBC ME editor Jeremy Bowen. He takes much the same line as me that the army is not in a position to crack down. The strong resistance from the army to conceding more is basically a question of their financial interests.
15 February 2011 8:37AM
Yes, we all know how much Western Interference angers the Iranians, who are now protesting because they are obviously fed up with US warmongering...
I think that the main reason that the protests in Tunisia and Egypt managed to oust the reigning dictators there was that the army refused to violently suppress them at the outset. This is not the case in Iran, and probably not in Algeria, Syria, Libya, Yemen etc. Only when the army effectively lets the people have their way you may see regime change in the ME countries.
15 February 2011 8:40AM
Does anyone believe the claim that the opposition protesters were the cause of the violence? I know I don't.
15 February 2011 8:43AM
Lacking any culture or tradition of freedom or individual autonomy, it's hard to see where all this is heading. At best democracy opens the door to the Americans and behind them the Israelis with all the concomitant repression that implies. At worst, the Islamists or militarists step into the void. Like cicadas that come noisily up from the ground every other decade, the Arabs crawl out from the tyrant's boot every thirty years or so strident with freedom before going down for another long stint.
15 February 2011 8:43AM
It Takes One to Know One Department:
Is this Hillary Clinton who is accusing Iran of 'hypocrisy' and supporting the demonstrators there in any way related to the Hillary Clinton who initially supported Mubarak against the pro-democracy protestors? And is there a reason that her enthusiasm for protest doesn't extend to Bahrain?
15 February 2011 8:44AM
NIghthood
Nope. Although I bet we see some here claiming they do
15 February 2011 8:48AM
I wonder if Ken Livingstone agrees with Press TV's assessment of the situation in Iran.
15 February 2011 8:54AM
The UK Independent newspaper continues the line of Egyptian state media that it is the 'young people' or youth who started and created the Egyptian revolution and brought down the regime of Mubarak. This is a fabrication, the start of a paternalistic mytheme that was current under Mubarak and Suleiman and has been extended and continued in the 'West' to help 'explain' these events, presumably in a way that does not require them to confront the idea of a successful peoples revolution against capitalism, repression and colonialism.
In the same vein a peculiar narrative now begins to play out on the BBC. They refer Iran's protests, which are smaller but significant, to the Egyptian revolution, and Hilary Clinton now comes out with a statement of direct support for those protests, immediately, quite unlike their vacillation and fence sitting on Egypt.
The BBC refers twice in its reports on the 'unrest' to a difference between Egypt and Iran, it says while the Iranian government asked its security forces 'to crack down hard' on protesters, this was not the case in Egypt. This latter is a blatant lie, a complete fabrication. It was obvious in Egypt that the riot police and plain clothes police attacked the Egyptian revolutionaries, as well as cracked down on journalists and the internet.
So why these lies? One must assume that they wish or are pressured to go along with a new description: one that has Iran's regime as 'evil' and the old Egyptian one (of Mubarak) as relatively 'nice'. They are not too happy with revolutionary Egypt, a position which appears to reflect its state media support for the line from the Washington administration.
15 February 2011 9:02AM
@zerozero:
I suggested the other day that the BBC is now effectively UK State TV, and I fear it's only too true. Dunno what they're up to now - I can no longer bring myself to watch them!
15 February 2011 9:10AM
Hillary Clinton
Does this creature know no shame.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12461899
15 February 2011 9:10AM
Yeah, teargassing a funeral probably isn't the best way to calm the situation
15 February 2011 9:12AM
Hi,
"As when the world held sway, and stirred
Because of the spoken word."
Regards Dr. Terence Hale
15 February 2011 9:21AM
Aliboy
"Of course, demonstrations in Iran are quite the reverse of Egypt. In Iran it is the former upper classes who are demonstrating (and trying to get back to power), and necessarily they are not numerous."
But that is untrue. In Iran, there is a split within the forces of the Islamic Republic - the opposition is led by a former Prime Minister (Musavi) who is completely of the old establishment. It is evident that both sides have mass support, and its unclear which is more popular (or least unpopular). That is why the situation in Iran is very different to that in Egypt. The idea that the opposition is pro-Shah is a complete fairy tale.
Supporters of the 'former upper classes' (i.e. the late Shah and his descendents) have negligible support in Iran.
15 February 2011 9:23AM
Mid-eastern countries rulers will come down hard on any protesters seeking a change to their lack of freedom, poverty, and corruption in the government and state forces.
They perceive that (what is to them ) a soft-power approach in Egypt did not work.
15 February 2011 9:24AM
Wibbler
15 February 2011 9:10AM
Hillary Clinton
...... an inditement to the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime ......
Does this creature know no shame.
Un-be-fricking-lievable.
15 February 2011 9:26AM
Secretary of state said Egypt is stable!! then she disappeared from TV screen with bi tof shame for two weeks, appeared again yesterday forgot to mentioned About Bahrain and Yemen.
In Iran if opposition party win next election what would happen? There wouldn't be any American sattelite government for sure.
15 February 2011 9:41AM
+1
they need to cover their arses, not only did they ;politically' support the Mubarak regime but provided torturing devices to be used in state security prisons for political dissidents. The so-called USaid which is chiefly a military aid was mostly spent to equip central police units to quell opposition and protests. Furthermore during the Bush kid era, the CIA was involved in the disgusting rendition programme with the help of Egypt where many were sent over to Ismailia torture prison for interrogation with the approval of Omar Suleiman who they(and Israel) were desperately trying to install as next puppet as a replacement . That's why when asked if Mubarak was a dictator, Joe Biden said no, he has maintained peace.. it doesn't matter what a ruthless despot Mubarak was, how much he oppressed, tortured and murdered people(and not just Egyptians.. but many Sudanese, Palestinians, Lebanese and other foreign nationals), how corrupted he and his cronies were, plundering the country and causing mass poverty to the people in a country with many natural resources, powerful textile and tourism industry..it doesn't matter as long as he's serving the US and IMF interests.
326 mostly young people died in the Egyptian revolution, 12 children and the list of the 'missing' keeps growing everyday...
15 February 2011 9:42AM
Clinton needs to STFU. Her support is a convenient excuse for crackdown.
15 February 2011 9:43AM
Hillary Clinton should stay out of it. Her words just add fuel to the fire of repression in Iran. And as someone has said, she is also a hypocrite. We didn't hear her voice egging on the protesters in Egypt. I wonder why that was.
15 February 2011 9:56AM
Sillylittleman -
Pasted from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/15/middle-east-unrest?commentpage=last#end-of-comments>
Ok, maybe, but the 'former upper classes' are not confined to the Shah and his descendants at all.
15 February 2011 9:57AM
Hello Ozzicht - yes agree. But I think their reports are interesting (BBC) to grasp the 'standard ideology' and their illusions. You can safely bet these illusions are half believed by the politicians as well, so it is their weakness as well as a strength.
Some notes on Bahrain might be apt: Bahrain's 'democratic freedom', which essentially means freedom for large corporations to trade, is one policed by the state using all manner of modern 'western' techniques of repression and modern tools of the trade, and involves (yet again) the deliberate inflammation and exaggeration of religious differences and the quelling of the legitimate socialist struggles of the population, who are occasionally thrown certain welfare rights to calm them. The island kingdom has long been a centre of trade and this is true of capitalist trade today. So it is a focal point of struggle. Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy led by a King, at the head of the government is a Prime Minister who presides over a cabinet of twenty-five members, 80% of which are from the royal family (according to Wikipedia).
15 February 2011 10:01AM
Freedom-loving protesters, like homosexuals, do not exist in Iran.
(And if anyone does protest in Iran, they are obviously heretical, subversive foreign agents serving, imperialist US/Zionist interests).
15 February 2011 10:05AM
sillylittleman
I should have phrased myself more carefully, and said "upper and middle" classes. I still see little popular support for the so-called Green Revolution. Ahmedinejad is of course a demagogue who knows how to speak to the people.
15 February 2011 10:07AM
Certainly, the BBC News pretty much regurgitates government propaganda left right and centre, what did you expect? Claims that they provide a balanced or impartial view are rubbish.
15 February 2011 10:08AM
Ozzicht, actually UK BBC is the UK state TV, there is no mystery about it (I guess you know all this). It is paid for through taxes to the government. The British people are (even) made to pay for these illusions. (The website has adverts). To be fair though it often has some very good documentaries and comedies (last time I looked anyway). I think the BBC is crucial to western media as a whole, as a focal point for the 'line' to be taken on almost everything. It is very professional and copied in its format and techniques everywhere..
15 February 2011 10:16AM
As far as I can see the so called Iranian Green revolution has more supporters and funders in the CIA than it does in Iran. This is the end result of the 1 billion the US spends trying to destabilize Iran with terrorist bombing campaigns etc.
It is shameful for Clinton to compare the peaceful Egyptian protesters to the Thugs i saw yesterday on TV beating people up on the streets.
If the Iranian opposition are serious about making changes in Iran they need to
1- Not be funded and run by external governments who really have one aim which is to see Iran destroyed or reduced to regional irrelevance.
2- Have a bit of loyalty to there country. Not everyone can reduce their country to rubble and then immigrate to the US.
15 February 2011 10:21AM
Orthotox: -
Are you serious with this?
The history of the so-called Arab World, and of Islam, and Persia is just as much a struggle for freedom as is the 'west', and in fact the two are in reality so intricately mixed up ('west' and 'east') that these partitions are simply false, designed to create and justify oppression, colonization, and colonial economic exploitation by 'superpowers' and instill fear and hatred. Lately this dominance of this 'west' is waning, so this has become sharper. Also the global capitalist crisis reveals its weakness and the rubbish nature of these divisions
15 February 2011 10:26AM
According to the video posted at 9.29, it looks as though the figure of "hundreds" is a better description than "thousands" for the number of Iranian demonstrators yesterday.
You do have to watch out. Iranians in the West will always tend to massage the figures for opposition to Ahmedinejad, even if done unconsciously, because they belong to the class who were put out of power in the revolution of 1979. The Iranian elite classes tend to see themselves as representing Iran. They have been in power for for nearly two thousand years. They can't imagine themselves out of power, which they are now.
15 February 2011 10:30AM
@zerozero and Youngliars:
Yes, I course I'm well aware of the BBC licence fee - I should be, I paid it for nearly twenty years. But the Beeb has always prided itself on its independence, especially in its journalism.
I am also well aware that those claims have often been inflated, most dramatically in cases like the Falklands War. But there is a huge difference between the levels of bias which have been evident in the past (and documents by people like the Glasgow Media Group), and the overtly propagandist function of the government media in dictatorships like Mubarak's Egypt, Iran and so on, and indeed even somewhere like Italy. That seems now to have changed for the worse in the BBC's case, and that was the point of my 'State TV' crack.
15 February 2011 10:31AM
You think I listen to the BBC or their analysis? I would be just as clueless as the rest of you if I followed the mainstream media and their "analysis." Sorry, it hard to listen to "analysts" that have never worked within the machinations of the geopolitical world and only report/analyze as outsiders.
Also, last couple of days? I have been posting on Egypt since it started and I have gotten it right from the beginning. I was doubted by a lot of people from the beginning, but so far I have predicted all the major events that have occurred in Egypt before they happened and have given accurate background context since the outbreak (the military was barely a discussion point at the beginning of these blogs). Also, try upping your reading comprehension. I've stated that a crackdown will occur if certain events happen (the military perceives the protests an existential threat to their regime, which they do not at this time).
15 February 2011 10:33AM
FerventPixel
Yes. I said yesterday that I was rather surprised that La Clinton came out so directly in support of the (still rather small) Iranian protests because
a) It highlights her hypocrisy in refusing to support the far larger and more sustained Egyptian protests, and
b) It makes it very easy for the iranian regime to portray the protesters as tools of the West.
Clinton was on Al J sayign that Egypt could now be a 'model democracy' for the rest of the region. Well, why couldn't she have said that 2 years, or even 2 weeks ago? Did she only get the idea that Egypt could be a 'model democracy' when the dictator she supported became a liability? She also said that it's important that the Egyptian revolution (not of course that she used that word) not be hijacked by 'outside powers'. Well, for once I agree with her...
15 February 2011 10:34AM
What we should watch for in Bahrein and Iran is what happens 40 days from the deaths. As I imagine the dead are shi'ite, If things quieten down there will be a new explosion after that time interval.
15 February 2011 10:34AM
time for a people's revolution across the whole Middle East and Iran....Kick out those murderous scumbag dictators who just steal people's money.
15 February 2011 10:38AM
I fail to see how anyone can deny the Iranians any more than the Egyptians the right to demonstate for the right to free speech and free assembly which we enjoy.
Let Clinton be a hypocrite. There is no reason why we should be.
15 February 2011 10:40AM
Hmmm - I'm not sure but it doesn't seem to be a great amount of co-ordination in these protests.
In comparison to Egypt anyway.
Are the organisers planning anything sustained?
15 February 2011 10:44AM
The Iranian people like the Egyptian has the capacity to replace the current regime with one that is independent, democratic and respect human rights.
The cry by the apologists of the Iranian Regime that Iran will become a satellite of the US won't wash. They will by any stretch have improved relations with the US, but that is because the current regime needs the US. After all the US gave them on a plate a sectarian puppet regime in the Maliki Government in Iraq by its stupid illegal Invasion.
15 February 2011 10:48AM
The only one that is not relatively contained and might blow up is Algeria since what is really playing out is an internal struggle between Gen. Toufik Mediene and President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika.
15 February 2011 10:52AM
The protests in Bahrain seem to have been gathering momentum, apparently spurred on by the heavy-handedness of their police force. At this point it could go either way for them, but there is a definite potential for the movement there to succeed given the small size of the country.
15 February 2011 10:54AM
@lesBiches If you mean Iran, as I mentioned yesterday it's far more difficult to coordinate action in Tehran Isfahan and Shiraz because they are so far apart.
15 February 2011 11:00AM
Egyptian feminist and activist Nawal el Saadawi did a magnificent interview on aljazeera yesterday night btw
15 February 2011 11:09AM
@nightHood One problem in Bahrein is that it is the base of the US 5th Fleet, so the US really has got something to lose.
It's not exactly clear who is demonstrating, Bahreinis or immigrants or both. It would be nice to have more information.
15 February 2011 11:10AM
The Protesters in Iran unlike the Egyptian protesters have to confront a foreign military. The only way to drive out the Government is if Iranian Army officers defect stay in Iran and join the opposition movement in defiance, to show trust towards the people. Another way to move forward with peaceful change within the middle east and beyond, is if people within the Developed western world protest against the propping up of these regimes like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen etc. It is up to those who have to give. This would avoid a fight.
15 February 2011 11:14AM
OneWorldGovernment -
Always the same weak insults to everyone, coupled with self praise. Why do you feel this is necessary?
15 February 2011 11:14AM
The footage from Teheran isn't exactly inspiring. Seems like people intent on causing a traffic jam rather than a revolution.
15 February 2011 11:18AM
Bahrain protests are guerilla style, given the extreme tactics of the police, I reckon.
15 February 2011 11:18AM
usini
Not sure I agree. Provided telephones and the internet are working, physical distance doesn't really matter. Besides, cities like Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said are hundreds of km apart.
15 February 2011 11:19AM
@theinstigator
What on earth do you mean?
15 February 2011 11:20AM
Also, I'm not sure there's yet anything to celebrate in Egypt. The military, who own half the country, are running the show. And they may have learnt a thing or two from all those years being friends with Israel and claim "there's no-one to talk to" and just stay in power until they can ensure their people will win the election.