Saudi Shi'ite Protests Simmer as Bahrain Conflict Rages
REUTERS: Hundreds of young Shi'ite men marched down a commercial street in the Saudi city of Qatif, near the heart of the kingdom's oil industry, pounding their fists in anger over their country's military intervention in Bahrain.

"With our blood and soul we sacrifice for you, Bahrain," they chanted as they walked, according to videos of a recent protest posted on the internet. Some wore scarves to conceal their faces. Others waved Bahraini flags.

"People are boiling," one Shi'ite activist in Qatif told Reuters by phone, asking not to be named for fear of arrest. "People are talking about strikes, demonstration and prayer to help the Bahrainis."

The protests were in response to Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and most powerful Gulf Arab state, sending troops to Bahrain last week to help quell weeks of protests by majority Shi'ites in the Sunni-led monarchy. Bahrain's opposition called it a declaration of war.

Riyadh, facing Shi'ite protests of its own, fears a sustained revolt in neighboring Bahrain could embolden its own Shi'ite minority, which has long grumbled about sectarian discrimination, charges Riyadh denies.

The military intervention, however, appears to have only deepened Shi'ite resentment in the kingdom, where between 10 and 15 percent of the 18 million Saudi nationals are Shi'ites.

Leading Saudi Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar has called for Gulf leaders to find a political solution.

Saudi Shi'ites, inspired by pro-democracy protests across the Arab world that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, have held sporadic protests in a handful of eastern towns over the past three weeks.

"Before the start of revolution in Tunis, people felt rather incapable of making a difference," activist Tawfiq al-Seif said. "They (now) feel they can make a difference." » | Cynthia Johnston | QATIF, Saudi Arabia | Monday, March 21, 2011

Syrie: 14 manifestants et cinq policiers tués, un opposant arrêté à Damas
LE POINT: Quatorze manifestants ont été tués et plusieurs autres grièvement blessés vendredi par les forces de sécurité syriennes dans trois villes de Syrie tandis que Riad Seif, l'une des principales figures de l'opposition, a été arrêté à Damas, selon des militants.

Les autorités ont annoncé de leur côté la mort d'un officier de l'armée et de quatre policiers à Homs, une importante cité industrielle à 160 km au nord de la capitale.

"Huit personnes ont été tuées et plusieurs autres ont été grièvement blessées par les tirs de forces de sécurité sur une manifestation à Homs", a déclaré un militant local des droits de l'Homme.

Selon lui, les forces de sécurité ont ouvert le feu sur une manifestation alors que le défilé arrivait à Bab Dreib, dans le centre-ville.

Plus au nord, cinq manifestants ont été tués également par les forces de l'ordre à Hama, selon des militants. » | AFP | Vendredi 06 Mai 2011

Interpol délivre un mandat d'arrêt contre Kadhafi, Saif Al-Islam et son beau-frère

LE MONDE: Interpol a diffusé, vendredi 9 septembre, une "notice rouge" pour demander à ses cent quatre-vingt-huit pays membres l'arrestation en vue de leur extradition ou de leur traduction devant un tribunal international du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, de son fils Seif Al-Islam et de son beau-frère Abdallah Al-Senoussi, visés par un mandat d'arrêt international émis par la Cour pénale internationale.

Ce mandat "va restreindre significativement les possibilités pour ces trois hommes de franchir les frontières et sera un outil important pour aider à leur localisation et à leur capture", a estimé dans un communiqué Ronald K. Noble, le secrétaire général de l'organisation policière internationale, basée à Lyon. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Vendredi 09 Septembre 2011

Worlds Apart: Martial Democracy? Radical Islam Has No Future in Egypt – Former General El-Yazal

Egypt has been embroiled in turmoil amid the Arab Spring revolution and the coup that toppled its first democratically-elected president last year. And as the nation gears up for new elections in the shadow of a shattered economy, will it receive the same old result? Can Egypt establish a democracy or will it slide back into chaos? Oksana is joined by the Chairman of the Algomhoria Center for Political and Security Studies, Sameh Seif El-Yazal, to discuss these issues.

Asma al-Assad – The Beautiful Face of the Syrian Dictatorship | DW Documentary

Asma al-Assad, the First Lady of Syria and wife of president Bashar al-Assad, was initially a beacon of hope. Today, she is regarded as the dictator’s accomplice.

She grew up in London, went to elite schools and had a promising career. The former ambassador of the European Union to Syria, Frank Hesske, still gets a sparkle in his eyes when he talks about Asma al-Assad. She was ‘a darling’, and comparable to Princess Diana - and not just because of her British roots: ‘We diplomats,’ the former ambassador now reveals with surprising honesty, ‘let ourselves be seduced’. Many of the diplomats, politicians and journalists from the West who met the presidential couple during the 11 years after Assad took power and before the civil war broke out shared that fate: they let themselves be duped. Torture, arrests and threats were unleashed on all those who got in the way of the regime - just as under Assad’s father. There’s the famous opposition activist Riad Seif, whose daughter talks about the regime’s humiliations and the constant fear that her family could be taken by the secret police and her father killed. While the country remains as dark as ever, this film looks at Asma al-Assad’s international role as the face of the dictatorship, the woman from London who for a long time managed to make the Assads socially acceptable.

Seif ul-Islam al Gadhafi on Economic Change

Libye : la France va participer aux frappes imminentes
Des Libyens ont brandi leur drapeau national libyen et le drapeau tricolore français après le vote de la résolution onusienne, jeudi soir, dans la ville rebelle de Benghazi. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: L'ONU a donné jeudi soir son feu vert à une opération militaire. La Libye n'a «pas peur», a rétorqué vendredi l'un des fils de Mouammar Kadhafi, Seif al-Islam. Paris, Londres et Washington ont commencé à coordonner une stratégie.

Les frappes militaires interviendront «dans quelques heures» et les Français y «participeront», a annoncé vendredi le porte-parole du gouvernement François Baroin. Le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU a voté jeudi soir en faveur d'un recours à la force contre les troupes du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, ouvrant la voie à des frappes aériennes en Libye. La résolution 1973 adoptée par le Conseil autorise en effet «toutes les mesures nécessaires» pour protéger les civils et imposer un cessez-le-feu à l'armée libyenne. » | Par Thomas Vampouille | Vendredi 18 Mars 2011

Alaa Abdel Fattah: British-Egyptian Activist's Life at Acute Risk - UN

The UN said Alaa Abdel Fattah was one of a number of Egyptians "arbitrarily deprived of their liberty". | ANADOLU AGENCY
BBC: The United Nations human rights chief has called on Egypt to immediately release jailed British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Volker Türk said his life was "at acute risk" after he escalated a hunger strike and stopped drinking water.

He began the strike in April to protest against the denial of consular visits.

His sister, Sanaa Seif, said: "All we know is that Alaa stopped drinking water 50 hours ago. We don't know where he is. We don't know if he is alive."

"My mother waited outside the prison gates for 10 hours yesterday for her weekly letter. They didn't give her one. She is back at those gates right now," she told a news conference at the COP27 climate conference in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.

"I asked the British authorities to get us some proof that Alaa is alive and conscious. I did not get any response." » | David Gritten, BBC News | Tuesday, November 8, 2022

MI6 Agent Joined Disgraced BP Boss in Secret Meetings with Gaddafi
Lord Brown and Gaddafi. Photos: Mail On Sunday
This is the same Lord Brown who struck up a 'close friendship' with Peter Mandelson's then partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva from Brazil. Peter Mandelson has been flitting about the world to attend parties of the rich and famous (and sometimes infamous). It is known that he had at least two meetings with Seif ul-Islam before the deal to release Megraho was struck.

It is difficult to tell precisely, of course, without being privy to far more detail; but can't it be said that there appears to be here at least one common thread on the British side? – ©Mark

MAIL ON SUNDAY: New questions about the extent of the Government’s involvement in the trade deals that led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, were raised last night with the revelation that an MI6 agent flew to Libya with former BP boss Lord Browne for two cloak-and-dagger meetings with Colonel Gaddafi.

Jeff Chevalier, the ex-lover of Lord Browne, has told The Mail on Sunday that Browne was ‘shocked’ when the agent made a reference to his relationship with Mr Chevalier, indicating the authorities knew about their liaison, which was a closely guarded secret.

Mr Chevalier said Lord Browne also referred to Mark Allen, the MI6 counter-terrorism chief at the centre of the secret talks between Libya and Britain, who now works for BP.

But he did not know if Allen was the agent who accompanied the peer to Libya.

Lord Browne’s secret missions started shortly after international sanctions were lifted on Libya in 2003, prompting an ‘oil rush’ by companies keen to win lucrative contracts – and with the Government lobbying hard on BP’s behalf.

Although Gaddafi agreed to hand over Megrahi for trial as part of negotiations to lift sanctions, oil industry insiders claim BP’s attempts to win business were hampered by objections to the Lockerbie bomber’s detention.

Mr Chevalier, who spent four years in a relationship with Lord Browne, recalled that the BP boss made his first trip to Libya accompanied by the unnamed MI6 agent. >>> Glen Owen | Sunday, August 30, 2009

Related:

A sad end to an illustrious career: Lord John Browne could face charges of perjury >>> BBC | Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Gay Soap Opera >>> Friday, June 01, 2007

Watch BBC video: BP chief executive resigns >>>

Gaddafi’s Son: We Will Deal with Terrorists First and Then Talk Reform
THE WASHINGTON POST: TRIPOLI, Libya — Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the influential second son of Moammar Gaddafi who was once seen as the great hope for reform in Libya, is clear on two points: He and his government have done nothing wrong, and they are not going to back down.

In an interview that reflected the defiance of the Gaddafi family more than two months into its efforts to put down a rebellion supported by the United States and its allies, the 38-year-old said the world had gone to war with Libya based on nothing more than rumor and propaganda.

In Saif Gaddafi’s telling, he has been betrayed by his “best friend,” who defected to join the rebels. His father’s government is besieged by al-Qaeda. And President Obama has proved no different from his predecessor, George W. Bush.

The comments underscore the uncompromising stance of the Libyan government at a time when the fighting has stale­mated and NATO faces internal squabbling. Although there had been indications this month that Saif Gaddafi was interested in a diplomatic solution to the crisis that has divided his nation, his tone during an hour-long interview suggested that the core decision-makers in Tripoli are in no hurry to find a political way out.

As if to bolster that point, forces loyal to the Gaddafi regime on Sunday heavily shelled the besieged city of Misurata, the only rebel outpost in western Libya. A city council spokesman said 17 people were killed and more than 100 were injured. Government troops also attacked rebel positions in the strategically critical eastern city of Ajdabiya, sending some opposition fighters fleeing back to their de facto capital, Benghazi.

One month after the uprising, the United Nations authorized a no-fly zone over Libya in March to counter the government’s attacks on civilians. Obama has said that international military action saved countless Libyan lives, by preventing Moammar Gaddafi’s men from carrying out a massacre in Benghazi.
But in Saif Gaddafi’s view, Obama has it all wrong.

“We want the Americans tomorrow to send a fact-finding mission to find out what happened in Libya. We want Human Rights Watch to come here and to find out exactly what happened,” he said. “We are not afraid of the International Criminal Court. We are confident and sure that we didn’t commit any crime against our people.” » | Simon Denyer | Sunday, April 17, 2011

Transcript of interview »

LE POINT: Seif el-Islam : "Nous n'avons commis aucun crime" : Pour le fils du colonel Kadhafi, les tirs de l'armée contre des opposants au régime ne sont que des allégations. » | Source AFP | Lundi 18 Avril 2011

Arraï TV, dernière tribune de Kadhafi
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Basée à Damas, cette chaîne privée est l’ultime canal de communication de l’ex-dictateur.

Kadhafi a disparu des écrans radars, mais pas du paysage médiatique. Depuis son départ précipité de Tripoli, le 23 août dernier, le colonel continue à défier ses opposants et la communauté internationale sur les ondes d’une télévision syrienne. Inconnue du grand public, Arraï (l’opinion en arabe) focalise l’attention depuis qu’elle diffuse les messages sonores (sept à ce jour) du Guide déchu et de ses proches.

Dernière missive en date? Le 6 octobre. Dans un enregistrement – à peine audible – l’ancien maître de Tripoli a appelé le peuple libyen à descendre dans la rue pour faire entendre sa voix «contre les collaborateurs de l’OTAN». Quant à Aïcha, la fille de l’ancien leader réfugié à Alger, et son grand frère Seif al-Islam, le SDF du clan, ils ne se privent pas d’utiliser cette tribune pour relayer les discours de leur père. » | Yannick Van der Schueren | Samedi 15 Octobre 2011

Go, Gaddafi! Go!
THE GUARDIAN: UNITED NATIONS – Libya's deputy ambassador at the United Nations, surrounded by fellow diplomats, called Monday for Moammar Gadhafi to step down as the country's ruler.

"If he doesn't," deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi warned, "the Libyan people will get rid of him."

Dabbashi spoke as deep cracks appeared in Gadhafi's regime after more than 40 years in power, with a fire raging at the main government hall in the capital, Tripoli, and protesters calling for more demonstrations despite the government's deadly crackdown.

Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, went on state TV in the early hours Monday, vowing to fight and warning in a sometimes confused speech that if protests continue, a civil war will erupt in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."

Some diplomats abroad and the justice minister at home resigned.

But Dabbashi said the U.N. diplomats were not resigning because they served the people of Libya and not the regime. Libyan UN diplomats say Gadhafi should step down >>> Edith M. Lederer, AP foreign | Monday, February 21, 2011

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: From Heir Apparent to Prisoner of Libya's New Rulers

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has just been captured by Libya's new government, had long been seen as the likeliest successor to his father.

Now the 39-year-old, who occupied no formal political office but wielded vast influence, is a prisoner of his country's new rulers - arrested in the southern desert by forces of the National Transitional Council.

He had been on the run and in hiding for almost a month since the last towns held by troops still loyal to his father fell in mid-October.

For years he had been seen as a western-leaning and reformist figure inside the Gaddafi regime, and was courted by western politicians and businessmen who had high hopes for the future.

But once the rebellion in Libya got under way he became increasingly vocal in support of the regime's violent crackdown.

"Libya is at a crossroads. If we do not agree today on reforms, we will not be mourning 84 people, but thousands of deaths, and rivers of blood will run through Libya," he said in February, soon after the uprising began. » | Telegraph reporter |Saturday, November 19, 2011

Related »

WIRTSCHAFTSWOCHE: Gaddafis prominentester Sohn gefasst: Der Sohn des früheren libyschen Machthabers Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam, ist offiziellen Angaben zufolge im Süden des Landes gefasst und festgenommen worden. Er galt einst als Reformer und Hoffnung des Westens. » | rtr/dpa | Quelle: Handelsblatt Online | Samstag 19. November 2011

LE MONDE: Saïf Al-Islam Kadhafi a été arrêté dans le sud de la Libye : Saïf Al-Islam Kadhafi, capturé samedi dans le sud de la Libye, sera jugé équitablement en Libye pour des crimes graves passibles de la peine de mort, a déclaré le ministre libyen de la justice Mohammed al Alagy. Seif Al-Islam était le dernier fils encore en cavale de l'ancien dirigeant Mouammar Kadhafi, tué le 20 octobre. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP et Reuters | samedi 19 novembre 2011

BP Admits 'Lobbying UK Over Libya Prisoner Transfer Scheme But Not Lockerbie Bomber'
THE TELEGRAPH: BP is facing fresh scrutiny into whether it was involved in the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, after the oil giant admitted lobbying the British government over a prisoner agreement with Libya.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al Megrahi, left, after his release, with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam. Photo: The Telegraph
BP said it pressed for a deal over the controversial prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) amid fears any delays to negotiations would damage its “commercial interests” and disrupt its £900 million offshore drilling operations in the region.

But it denied claims that it had been involved in negotiations concerning the release of Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber freed by Scottish authorities last year.

The admission came just hours after Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, pledged to investigate allegations of BP's involvement in his release ahead of its planned new drilling in Libya.

It followed a letter from four US senators who had accused the company of having a hand in the release of Megrahi, who was released last year by the Scottish government on "health grounds" and compassionate grounds.

Mrs Clinton’s intervention came after the American Democratic senators called for an investigation into BP’s interests in Libya, as they tried to connect the oil group with a deal to free the convicted terrorist.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the company admitted it had lobbied the British Government over the controversial prisoner deal but denied any involvement in Megrahi’s release.

“It is matter of public record that in late 2007 BP told the UK Government that we were concerned about the slow progress that was being made in concluding a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya,” the company said in a statement.

“We were aware that this could have a negative impact on UK commercial interests, including the ratification by the Libyan Government of BP's exploration agreement.”

But a spokesman added: “The decision to release Mr al-Megrahi in August 2009 was taken by the Scottish Government. >>> Andrew Hough | Thursday, July 15, 2010

Related video here

Barack Obama Leads Condemnation of Scotland for Freeing Lockerbie Bomber
The decision to release this perpetrator of evil is a despicable act, and a travesty of justice. The Scots should hang their heads in SHAME! Could anyone blame the Americans for calling for a boycott of all Scottish goods as a retaliatory measure?

This had LITTLE to do with "compassion" and ALL to do with dirty politics, political gain, and commercial deals: multi-million dollar contracts will surely be signed with Libya as a result of this 'foul act of mercy'. – ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama led condemnation of Scotland's administration for allowing the Lockerbie bomber to return home to Libya.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi accompanied by Seif al-Islam el- Gadhafi, son of the Libyan leader upon his arrival at airport in Tripol . Photo: The Telegraph
The US President’s criticism of the “mistake” added to a growing backlash against the Scottish decision to free the biggest mass murderer in British legal history on compassionate grounds.

Hours after the Scottish National Party administration in Edinburgh announced its decision to free him, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the only man convicted of the 1988 atrocity, flew home to a hero’s welcome in Tripoli.

Megrahi, a former Libyan intelligence agent, has terminal prostate cancer and has less than three months to live. Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, said freeing him showed Scotland’s “humanity.”

Despite his illness, Megrahi, 57, managed to walk unaided up the steps of the plane at Glasgow airport, his face hidden by a white baseball cap.

After he left Scottish soil, Megrahi, who has served just eight years of a 27-year sentence, released a statement protesting his innocence and expressing his “sympathy” for the families of the 270 people he was convicted of killing.

The US government condemned the decision to release him, as did US relatives of some of the victims of the 1988 atrocity.

One US Senator said that by releasing Megrahi, Scottish ministers had increased the threat of international terrorism, and internet campaigners threatened a US boycott of Scottish products. >>> James Kirkup, Auslan Cramb and Alex Spillius in Washington | Thursday, August 20, 2009

Les craintes augmentent pour la vie d’Alaa Abdel Fattah, détenu politique en grève de la faim depuis sept mois en Egypte

LE MONDE : Il a été placé « sous traitement médical » selon les autorités, ce qui fait craindre à ses soutiens qu’il soit nourri de force, une pratique contraire au droit international.

Alaa Abdel Fattah lors d’une conférence à l’Université américaine du Caire, le 22 septembre 2014. NARIMAN EL-MOFTY / AP
Sept mois de grève de la faim, et un état de santé alarmant. Le détenu politique égypto-britannique Alaa Abdel Fattah, qui a cessé de s’alimenter au début de l’année dans sa prison près du Caire, est désormais « sous traitement médical », a annoncé jeudi l’autorité pénitentiaire à sa famille. Cela fait craindre que ce militant pro-démocratie soit nourri de force, ce qui est considéré par le droit international comme de la torture et même un crime contre l’humanité.

« Il faut que notre mère puisse le voir, ou un représentant de l’ambassade britannique, pour que nous puissions savoir dans quel état de santé il se trouve vraiment », a lancé sur Twitter sa sœur, Mona Seif. Alaa Abdel Fattah n’a ingéré que 100 calories par jour durant sept mois. » | Le Monde avec AFP | jeudi 10 novembre 2022

Related material here

The Guardian View on Egypt’s Abuses: Justice Needed for Alaa Abd el-Fattah – and the Others

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: The treatment of the British-Egyptian democracy activist is a travesty, and emblematic of the regime’s brutality

Sanaa Seif, the sister of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, at a protest in London last month. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Only the Egyptian regime knows the fate of Alaa Abd el-Fattah. It wants to keep it that way. The jailed British-Egyptian writer and democracy activist, a figurehead of the 2011 revolution, began refusing water on Sunday – six months after launching a hunger strike that has seen him consume no more than 100 calories a day. On Monday, his mother waited in vain outside the prison for his weekly letter. As of Tuesday evening, his family was still demanding proof of life, fearing he may die before the end of the Cop27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, which has finally propelled his case to international attention. They are also concerned that he may be tortured through force-feeding. » | Editorial | Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Related article here.

Ghadhafi placiert seinen Sohn: Hoher Posten offenbar Vorbereitung für Machtübernahme nach Tod
NZZ ONLINE: Nicht Hannibal, der den Ärger mit der Schweiz verursachte, sondern al-Islam Ghadhafi soll offenbar das politische Erbe seines Vaters antreten. Der 37-jährige Sohn des Revolutionsführers wird laut Medienberichten in Libyen demnächst einen wichtigen Posten in der Regierung erhalten.

Seif al-Islam al-Ghadhafi, der politisch ambitionierte Sohn des libyschen Staatschefs Muammar al-Ghadhafi, soll in der staatlichen Hierarchie demnächst zur Nummer zwei aufsteigen. Dies haben Vertreter der kommunalen Führungsgruppen in der Hauptstadt Tripolis vorgeschlagen. Regierung sollte Job finden >>> sda/dpa | Montag, 12. Oktober 2009