Tunisie: manifestations contre le président Kaïs Saïed

Vendredi à Tunis, un Tunisien brandit le drapeau national lors de manifestations contre le président Kaïs Saïed, à l’occasion du 11 e anniversaire de la révolution de 2011. FETHI BELAID/AFP
Tunis
LE FIGARO : REPORTAGE - L’ONU a également condamné le pouvoir autoritaire du président tunisien.

«Dégage! Dégage! Dégage!»: ils ont continué à crier dans les petites rues. Ce vendredi, les opposants au président Kaïs Saïed, qui a pris les pleins pouvoirs cet été, comptaient fêter l’anniversaire de la révolution - l’autocrate Ben Ali a fui le pays le 14 janvier 2011- et montrer leur poids. Cela malgré l’interdiction, décidée en début de semaine, de se rassembler pour cause d’épidémie de Covid. L’épreuve de force a bien eu lieu. À coups de matraque, de gaz lacrymogène et de canon à eau, les policiers ont dispersé la foule.

«C’est un fou. Un fou à lier», souffle une sexagénaire qui refuse de donner son nom, «trop risqué». Elle est venue manifester sur l’avenue Bourguiba, en plein cœur de Tunis, malgré l’interdiction: «Je n’ai pas participé aux manifestations pendant la révolution. Je m’en suis voulu et je me suis juré d’agir depuis. J’ai un grand rêve: celui de la démocratie.» Ghassen Marzouki, lui, peste contre les policiers: «Ils ont tout fait pour nous empêcher de nous réunir. Il y a des groupes de gens coincés un peu partout. Les policiers quadrillent. En fait, ils veulent diviser notre nombre, ils ont peur des images.» De fait, si deux groupes de quelques centaines de personnes ont pu se réunir près de l’horloge au début de l’avenue Bourguiba, les protestataires ont rapidement - et brutalement — été dispersés. » | Par Maryline Dumas | vendredi 14 janvier 2022

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À LIRE AUSSI :

Où se dirige la Tunisie après le coup de force du président? : DÉCRYPTAGE - Kaïs Saïed s’est octroyé les pleins pouvoirs le 25 juillet dernier. Il a suspendu le Parlement et limogé le gouvernement. »

Why Many French Muslims Choose Burial Abroad

BBC: From working-class neighbour-hoods of French towns and cities to the villages of Algeria and Morocco, a strange kind of reverse migration is under way - of the dead.

Every year thousands of bodies are being repatriated from France to the Maghreb, as Muslim families return their loved ones to the soil of their original home. It is a costly and complicated business, involving flights, consular administrators and specialist funeral providers. It also prompts the question: why not get buried in France?

After all, France is the country where these families are now destined to live. Would it not be a sign of successful integration if France were also where they chose to rest when they died?

The answer to that question has to do with the complexities of national identity in a world of mass migration.

But also with France's own obsession with secular "republican" values, and its reluctance to give ground - literally - on matters of faith. » | Hugh Schofield | BBC News, Paris | Monday, July 22, 2012

Con Coughlin: From Arab Spring to Boiling-hot Summer
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran is ruthlessly exploiting the pro-democracy movement for its own ends.

When the term “Arab Spring” entered the collective vocabulary this year, it was meant to encapsulate the youthful exuberance of the pro-democracy movements that had sprung up throughout the Middle East. After enduring decades of stultifying and repressive rule by the ancien re[é]gime, this was the moment that the region’s poor and dispossessed at last laid claim to certain basic rights, such as the freedom to express their political opinions, and to a more equal share of their nations’ wealth.

Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution quickly led to the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, while in Egypt, mass protests forced the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.

Within weeks, the contagion was wreaking havoc throughout the region, threatening the ruling elites in such disparate countries as Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.

Four months later, however, the worldwide enthusiasm that greeted this seemingly spontaneous outpouring of democratic fervour has been replaced by mounting concern at the way these protests have developed. In Egypt and Bahrain, as well as Libya and Syria, the hopes they inspired have been nipped firmly in the bud. Continue reading and comment » | Con Coughlin | Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Bin Laden Death a 'Strike at the Heart' of Terrorism, Says Cameron
THE INDEPENDENT: The death of Osama bin Laden was a "strike at the heart" of international terrorism, David Cameron told MPs.

He hoped the news would bring a "sense of justice being served" to families of the victims of the atrocities carried out by al-Qa'ida.

But in a Commons statement the Prime Minister warned: "While bin Laden is gone, the threat of al-Qa'ida remains."

Al-Qa'ida and affiliates in Yemen and the Maghreb could launch an operation to demonstrate their continued ability to operate.

Or a "lone wolf" radical could launch a solo attack, he warned.

"We must be more vigilant than ever, and we must maintain that vigilance for some time to come." » | David Hughes and Emily Ashton, PA | Tuesday, April 03, 2011

Arab Spring Clearing Path for Iranians?
Apr 8, 2011 – How is Iran taking advantage of unrest?

The Uprisings: Islam and the Arab Revolutions
THE ECONOMIST: Religion is a growing force in the Arab awakening. Westerners should hold their nerve and trust democracy

THE sight of corrupt old Arab tyrants being toppled at the behest of a new generation of young idealists, inspired by democracy, united by Facebook and excited by the notion of opening up to a wider world, has thrilled observers everywhere. Those revolutions are still in full swing, albeit at different points in the cycle. In Tunisia and Egypt they are going the right way, with a hopeful new mood prevailing and free elections in the offing. In Libya, Syria and Yemen dictators are clinging on to power, with varying degrees of success. And in the Gulf monarchs are struggling to fend off demands for democracy with oil-funded largesse topped by modest and grudging political concessions.

So far these revolts have appeared to be largely secular in character. Westerners have been quietly relieved by that. Not that they are all against religion. Many—Americans in particular—are devout. But by and large, they prefer their own variety to anybody else’s, and since September 11th 2001, they have been especially nervous about Islam.

Now, however, there are signs that Islam is a growing force in the Arab revolutions (see article). That makes secular-minded and liberal people, both Arabs and Westerners, queasy. They fear that the Arab awakening might be hijacked by the sort of Islamists who reject a pluralist version of democracy, oppress women and fly the flag of jihad against Christians and Jews. They worry that the murderous militancy that has killed 30,000 over the past four years in Pakistan (see article) may emerge in the Arab world too. Islam on the rise » | Leaders | Thursday, March 31, 2011

Al Qaeda to Obama: Thanks
THE WASHINGTON TIMES – EDITORIAL: Toppling Arab governments feeds Islamist revolution

President Obama’s advisers give him credit for energizing the Arab revolts and saving the Libyan rebels. For al Qaeda’s leadership, this is all a gift from Allah.

Al Qaeda central’s views are detailed in the latest issue of their English-language propaganda magazine Inspire, which features a special section on “The Revolution.” American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki writes in an essay entitled “The Tsunami of Change” that, “Our mujahideen brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the rest of the Muslim world will get a chance to breathe again after three decades of suffocation. For the scholars and activists of Egypt to be able to speak again freely, it would represent a great leap forward for the mujahideen.”

Al Qaeda has always recognized that the greatest obstacles to jihadist progress in the Middle East were what they call the “apostate regimes,” the generally pro-Western kings and authoritarian rulers who have kept a lid on violent extremists like al Qaeda and other groups. As these regimes totter and fall, the conditions are being created for the kind of radical change the Islamists have been working towards for decades. » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Related articles here and here

Al-Qaida Leaders Welcome Arab Uprisings, Says Cleric
THE GUARDIAN: Anwar al-Awlaki uses online magazine to explain why the Middle East revolts are not a setback for al-Qaida

Senior al-Qaida leaders have welcomed the uprisings in the Arab world in their first comprehensive statement on recent events, published in an internet magazine earlier this week. Anwar al-Awlaki – the radical preacher who grew up in America but is now a fugitive in Yemen – used a lengthy article in an English-language magazine called Inspire to explain why the revolts sweeping the Middle East were not a setback for al-Qaida.

"Our mujahideen brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the rest of the Muslim world will get a chance to breathe again after three decades of suffocation," Awlaki wrote in an article entitled The Tsunami of Change.

The magazine also featured translated excerpts of earlier statements by senior figures in al-Qaida, such as deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri which had previously only been posted in obscure extremist forums.

Zawahiri calls on the "people of freedom and honour in Tunisia, Egypt and in each of the Islamic lands" not to let their recent efforts go to waste. His statement appears to have been written before the fall of President Hosni Mubarak nearly two months ago. » | Jason Burke | Thursday, March 31, 2011

Yémen, Bahreïn, Syrie: La révolte persiste
leJDD.fr: Alors que la situation en Libye pourrait très prochainement basculer, les mouvements de révolte se poursuivent dans d’autres pays du monde arabe. Au Yémen, la répression se fait sanglante: une cinquantaine de personnes ont été tuées par les forces de l’ordre.

Il y a deux jours à peine, la contre-offensive sanglante menée par le colonel Kadhafi en Libye augurait de sombres perspectives pour le printemps des révolutions arabes. Commencé en Tunisie, poursuivi en Egypte, le mouvement s’est étendu à de nombreux pays, des rives de la Méditerranée jusqu’au Golfe persique. L'hypothèse d’une victoire du dictateur libyen menaçait l’avenir des révoltes menées dans d’autres pays, au premier rang desquels, Bahreïn et le Yémen. Après l’adoption d’une résolution de l’ONU sur le cas libyen jeudi, les manifestants n’ont pas cédé face à la répression.

Le président yéménite, Ali Abdallah Saleh, a proclamé vendredi l’état d’urgence. Les forces de l’ordre ont tiré sur la foule qui manifestait dans la capitale, Sanaa, pour exiger le départ du dirigeant au pouvoir depuis 32 ans. Bilan: 46 morts, au moins, et 400 blessés. Le président des Etats-Unis, Barack Obama, a fermement condamné ces violences. "J’appelle le président Saleh à tenir sa promesse d'autoriser les manifestations à se dérouler pacifiquement", a-t-il ajouté. » | Adrien Gaboulaud (avec agences) - leJDD.fr | Vendredi 18 Mars 2011

We in the Middle East Have Replaced Humiliation with Dignity
THE GUARDIAN: From Libya to Turkey the will of the people has revived a sense of common destiny. This is now our region

The wave of revolutions in the Arab world was spontaneous. But it also had to happen. They were necessary in order to restore the natural flow of history. In our region – west Asia and the south Mediterranean – there were two abnormalities in the last century: first, colonialism in the 1930s, 40s and 50s that divided the region into colonial entities, and severed the natural links between peoples and communities. For example, Syria was a French colony and Iraq a British one, so the historical and economic links between Damascus and Baghdad were cut.

The second abnormality was the cold war, which added a further division: countries that had lived together for centuries became enemies, like Turkey and Syria. We were in Nato; Syria was pro-Soviet. Our border became not a border between two nation states, but the border between two blocs. Yemen was likewise divided.

Now it is time to naturalise the flow of history. I see all these revolutions as a delayed process that should have happened in the late 80s and 90s as in eastern Europe. It did not because some argued that Arab societies didn't deserve democracy, and needed authoritarian regimes to preserve the status quo and prevent Islamist radicalism. Some countries and leaders who were proud of their own democracy, insisted that democracy in the Middle East would threaten security in our region.

Now we are saying all together: no. An ordinary Turk, an ordinary Arab, an ordinary Tunisian can change history. We believe that democracy is good, and that our people deserve it. This is a natural flow of history. Everybody must respect this will of the people.

If we fail to understand that there is a need to reconnect societies, communities, tribes and ethnicities in our region, we will lose the momentum of history. Our future is our sense of common destiny. All of us in the region have a common destiny. » | Ahmet Davutoglu | Tuesday, March 15, 2011

As Afghanistan Falters and the Middle East Burns, How Obama Is Missing in Action
MAIL ONLINE: Every time I come to Washington, I pay a ritual visit to the White House, to stand among the tourists gawping through the railings, fantasising about about what great affairs its tenant might be engaged upon.

On a brisk, grey, early spring morning last week, the wedding-cake residence of the most powerful man on earth looked pretty much the way it did in December 1941 when Roosevelt welcomed Churchill to create the Grand Alliance; in 1962 when Kennedy faced the Cuban missile confrontation; in 1972 when Nixon launched détente with China.

But amid today’s historic upheavals in the Middle East, the occupant of the White House has taken the amazingly insouciant decision that he will watch this global crisis from the bench.

The world reels before the spectacle of the Arab oil nations in turmoil. There seems a danger that Libya’s civil war could merely be the first of a succession in the region. Yet the leader of the Western world has almost nothing to say about it all.

Last Thursday, President Barack Obama’s spokesman made it plain that the United States is content to let other countries lead the pack in forging a Western position.

Obama’s foreign policy is characterised by caution: towards Iran, China and now Libya. Most Europeans find this a welcome change from the adventurism of George W. Bush.

Few sensible people on either side of the Atlantic are clamouring for military intervention - the British Government’s fumbles and lunges have seemed cringe-making.

But, even if this is no time for Western troop engagement, it seems bizarre that Obama, the great speechmaker, is also so parsimonious with words.

America’s allies are bemused by the almost Trappist silence of this U.S. President, his reluctance to engage with many of the huge things that are happening both to his own country and to the world. >>> Max Hastings | Monday, March 14, 2011

Inside Story - Al-Qaeda's Role in the Arab World
As the ripple effects of revolutionary change continue to be felt throughout much of the Arab world, al-Qaeda has been conspicuously silent. Has al-Qaeda played any role in the Arab revolts sweeping across the region?

Revolutionary Minute
Mar 3 - A wave of anti-government protests has swept across the Middle East and North Africa, mounting pressure on long-standing leaders. Libya's Gaddafi is the latest leader under fire from within the nation and abroad. Addressing supporters he said ''Muammar Gaddafi is one of you. You must dance, sing and be happy.'' Multimedia production by Jill Kitchener. 'Battleground' music composed by Amar

Inside Story - Too Little Too Late?
Trying desperately not to become the next Tunisia, Egypt or Libya, Arab leaders are resorting to incentives and sweeteners to keep their people calm

Arab Revolutions: The Limits of Intervention
THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The conflict inherent between policy and principle continues to this day

The international community has been compromised by the revolution sweeping the Arab world. In three uncertain weeks, the United States vacillated from urging stability to shore up a strategic ally in Hosni Mubarak to cheering his overthrow. France trod the same path in Tunisia. Happily, the foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, whose first reaction to the uprising was to offer Ben Ali France's superior knowledge in riot control, has finally resigned. But her family's involvement with the ancien regime (her parents had shares in a property company owned by a businessman close to the regime) provided its own morality play.

Few were disinterested observers. When it came to the crunch, such as organising the interrogation under torture of jihadis picked up in Pakistan, the CIA, among others, traded with the darkest elements of Mubarak's regime being denounced with such ardour today. Russia and China, both of whom have much to fear from spontaneous demonstrations by their own people, have fared little better. Continue reading and comment >>> Editorial | Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Spanish PM Calls for 'Marshal Plan' Assistance

Cycle of Suppression Rises in Libya and Elsewhere
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BEIRUT, Lebanon — Libyan security forces moved against protesters Saturday in Benghazi, the country’s second-largest city and the epicenter of the most serious challenge to four decades of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s rule, opposition leaders and residents said. The death toll rose to at least 104 people, most of them in Benghazi, Human Rights Watch reported.

The events appeared to mark a decisive turn in four days of protests that have shaken Libya, a North African nation rich in oil. By nightfall, a deadly cycle had clearly emerged in a city where thousands have gathered in antigovernment demonstrations: Security forces fired on funeral marches, killing more protesters, creating more funerals.

The scope of the crackdown was almost impossible to verify in an isolated country that remains largely off limits to foreign journalists and, as part of the government’s efforts to squelch the protests, has been periodically cut off from the Internet. But doctors reached by Al Jazeera, an Arabic satellite channel, said dozens and perhaps hundreds were killed and wounded in the fighting, which persisted into the night. And a Benghazi resident who visited the hospital said by e-mail that 200 were dead and nearly 850 wounded; if confirmed, that would substantially raise the death toll by Human Rights Watch, which reported at least 20 people killed Saturday.

“It is too late for dialogue now,” said a Benghazi resident who has taken part in the demonstrations but refused to be named. “Too much blood has been shed. The more brutal the crackdown will be, the more determined the protesters will become.”
“We don’t trust the regime anymore,” he said in a phone interview. >>> Anthony Shadid | Saturday, February 19, 2011

Tariq Ramadan on the Turmoil in the Maghreb, Noth Africa, Middle East
Listen to Tariq Ramadan here
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION – LATELINE: Read the transcript – The people must stand up: Ramadan >>> Reporter: Tony Jones | Thursday, February 17, 2011

Egypt-inspired Protests Gain Pace Across Region
REUTERS: Anti-government protests inspired by popular revolts that toppled rulers in Tunisia and Egypt are gaining pace around the Middle East and North Africa despite political and economic concessions by nervous governments.

Clashes were reported for the first time in tightly controlled Libya, sandwiched between Egypt and Tunisia, while new protests erupted in Bahrain, Yemen and Iran on Wednesday.

The latest demonstrations against long-serving rulers came after U.S. President Barack Obama, commenting on the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, declared: "The world is changing...if you are governing these countries, you've got to get out ahead of change, you can't be behind the curve."

With young people able to watch pro-democracy uprisings in other countries on satellite television or the Internet, and to communicate with like-minded activists on social networks hard for the secret police to control, governments across the region have grounds to fear contagion. >>> Paul Taylor | Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Ben Laden menace directement la France
leJDD.fr: Les otages français en Afghanistan et au Niger risquent sont plus que jamais en danger. Par le biais d'un enregistrement sonore transmis vendredi à la chaîne de télévision arabe Al Jazira, le terroriste international, Oussama Ben Laden exige le retrait des forces françaises d'Afghanistan.

"La France va payer cher en Afghanistan et ailleurs". Tel est le message audio que la chaîne de télévision arabe Al Jazira affirme avoir reçu d'Oussama Ben Laden, ce vendredi. Le chef désigné d'Al-Qaïda a dénoncé la présence de l'armée tricolore en "terres musulmanes", menaçant directement des otages français. Ben Laden a précisé qu'ils "ne seront libérés qu'après le départ des soldats [français] d'Afghanistan ". Qui sont les "prisonniers" qu'évoque le terroriste international ? Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique (Aqmi) détient cinq ressortissants français enlevés en septembre sur le site d'Areva à Arlit (Niger) tandis que la branche afghane du mouvement maintient deux journalistes de France 3 en captivité. Ces derniers, Hervé Ghesquière et Stéphane Taponier, sont retenus depuis le 30 décembre 2009. >>> Par Vanessa Droz, leJDD.fr | Vendredi 21 Janvier 2011

«Le signe d'une radicalisation d'al-Qaida contre la France»


THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Osama bin Laden threatens to kill French hostages in new tape: Osama bin Laden has released a new audiotape warning that French hostages will be killed if President Nicolas Sarkozy does not withdraw forces from Afghanistan. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Saturday, January 22, 2011