According to the BBC, military supporters clashed with anti-military and anti-Brotherhood revolutionaries during protests commemorating the second anniversary of the bloody Mohamad Mahmoud demonstrations in Cairo. Police responded to the clashes by firing tear gas at anti-army demonstrators. Protesters destroyed the Tahrir memorial erected to commemorate “the martyrs of ’25 January and June 30 revolutions’” hours after its inauguration by Egypt’s Prime Minister and other government officials, according to Egypt Independent. In anticipation of the anniversary, the Ministry of Interior released a statement urging “caution” during celebrations, and the Cabinet said: “Some groups are planning to push forward some infiltrators among the protesters to promote rumours and incite strife and violence against the Armed Forces and police.”

The Mohamad Mahmoud demonstrations broke out November 19, 2011 as protesters rallied against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Over 40 protesters were killed and over 800 injured during five days of clashes.

According to statements by human rights lawyer Mohsen Bahnasy. a member of a fact-finding committee who investigated Mohamed Mahmoud Street clashes, “Security forces caused deliberate killing of protesters due to excessive force during the Mohamed Mahmoud clashes in 2011.” The report indicates “snipers were targeting …

Over the weekend, protests erupted outside the headquarters of a Misrata militia force in Tripoli calling for the militias to leave Tripoli. The protests turned violent when the militiamen reportedly opened fire on the demonstrators, leaving approximately 43 people dead and over 400 wounded. Following the violence, Misrata’s local council and the council of elders issued a statement demanding that all militia groups within Tripoli leave within 72 hours. The BBC reported that Khalil al-Ruwaiti, who heads a unit under the Misrata Shield Brigade, confirmed his fighters would leave the capital. In response to the Misrata militiamen who opened fire on the demonstrators, calls have been made for Tripolians to strike for three days.

The military has also been sent into Tripoli to secure the city, and according to the Associated Press, “Drivers honked their cars and flashed V-for-victory signs in a show of support as the army troops moved into Tripoli, set up checkpoints and roamed the streets.” The spokesperson, Essam al-Naas, from the Joint Operation Room, a security body under the prime minister, said that as the military deployed, the militias were withdrawing from their positions in the capital.

A day after being kidnapped, an armed …

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was nominated as the National Liberation Front’s (FLN) candidate for President in the 2014 election according to Al Jazeera. Bouteflika, currently serving his third term, has been president since 1999. According to the article, “A limit on the number of consecutive presidential terms was removed by a constitutional amendment in November 2008, allowing Bouteflika to stand for a third term in office.”

Several members of the FLN and opposition parties have decried his nomination as illegal. The FLN released a statement after a meeting in Algiers articulating,  “The central committee has chosen the president of the party, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to be the FLN candidate in the next presidential election.” FLN head Ammar Saidani rejected claims that the nomination was unconstitutional, and stated “The former US president Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times, and he was in a wheelchair.”

Nabila Ramdani argues in Asharq Al-Awsat that President Bouteflika will leave a positive legacy in Algeria due to his long tenure during a time of “relative stability.” Despite this legacy, Ramdani argues that Bouteflika is “irrevocably associated with a different time and a different age” in which “great secrecy, and indeed frequent repression” were common. And …

Human Rights First published a report, entitled Plan B for Bahrain, which urges the U.S to use its leverage to push for reform in Bahrain. The organization also called for withholding arms sales and the implementation of the Leahy Law, which allows the U.S to deny assistance and equipment to governments guilty of  human rights violations. Brian Dooley of Human Rights First also said “the US administration has been reluctant to use its influence to push for reform and it has tried hard to keep the Fifth Fleet out of the conversation.” He also claimed that Bahrain only maintains “false stability” continuing “the jails are packed with political prisoners and the economy is in a downward spiral. You don’t get real stability through repression.”

An article published by the Washington Post also criticized the Obama Administration’s Bahrain strategy saying “since Mr. Obama’s U.N. address in September, which reversed his May 2011 words, the Bahraini regime has abandoned all pretense of compromise. Since the end of September, nearly 140 opposition activists have been sentenced to prison terms, including many nonviolent politicians and human rights activists. The two top leaders of the moderate al-Wefaq party”…” are being prosecuted on trumped-up charges.”  …

According to CNN, Saudi Arabia has launched a “security campaign” to crack down on workers violating visa rules after an amnesty to formalize their visa status expired. The crackdown is mainly concentrated in Manfouha, a district of the capital city, Riyadh. Khaled Al Maeena, editor-in-chief of the Saudi Gazette, said police are focusing on two types of undocumented immigrants. “One is the over-stayers and who came illegally, smuggled themselves through the borders, or were smuggled in,” he said. “But as far as the others who have documents and have shifted from one job to another without informing the authorities, I think their position is being rectified.”

The security campaign led to clashes between police, immigrants, and Saudi vigilantes that resulted in at least three deaths and dozens of injuries. A police spokeswoman told the Saudi Press Agency, “A dispute between a group of citizens and violators of the residence and work permits happened, resulting in fights between the two groups with knives.” The BBC reported that over three million immigrants obtained work visas before the amnesty ended, while over 23,000 Ethiopians have been arrested, and more than 30,000 Yemenis have crossed …