Blog archive all
16th January 2011
Just in case you are wondering about the pet tiger belonging to Ben Ali's 30-year-old son-in-law, Mohamed Sakhr el Materi – it has been killed. There's an unpleasant video here if you want to see. Materi himself fled Tunisia last week, reportedly to Paris.
Rumours of the tiger's existence were… Read more
16th January 2011
Just two days after the overthrow of President Ben Ali in Tunisia, videos are circulating of disturbances in neighbouring Libya. Needless to say, this is causing a good deal of excitement on Twitter.
Colonel Gaddafi has been in power for almost 42 years, compared with a mere 23 for Ben Ali. In his … Read more
15th January 2011
An update to my post earlier today. Tunisia's constitutional council has now decided that the chairman of parliament, Fouad Mebazaa, should be acting president – and not prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi.
The council says that Article 57 of the constitution, rather than Article 56, should apply. In… Read more
15th January 2011
IMPORTANT: See update
After fleeing Tunisia yesterday, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali made a circuitous journey around the Mediterranean. His plane first headed south to Libya, then north towards Paris where he was apparently told he would not be welcome. After a reported refuelling stop in Italy, the… Read more
14th January 2011
In due course, every city of consequence in Tunisia will have a street or square named after Mohamed Bouazizi, the unemployed fruit-seller whose humiliation at the hands of the authorities led to a revolution. It's sad that he didn't live to see it but today's events are a fitting tribute.
It is… Read more
14th January 2011
A Tunisian officer salutes the funeral of one of the protests' victims. Bizerte, Thursday. Source: nawaat.
In his speech to Tunisians last night, President Ben Ali went for double or quits. Either he has done enough to quell the protests with his offers to stand down in three years, to allow… Read more
13th January 2011
Today is exactly four weeks since the start of the Tunisian uprising and I was planning to write another summary of the day's main events. But, honestly, I can't. There's so much going on, so much chaos.
Let me just point to two things which, basically, say it all.
One was the demonstration today… Read more
13th January 2011
Hillary Clinton paid a surprise five-hour visit to Yemen on Tuesday en route from the Emirates – the first vist by a US secretary of state for more than 20 years.
A good deal of the media interest focused on her fall as she boarded the plane to leave but since her departure the visit has been… Read more
12th January 2011
The regime is clinging on and making some minor concessions which are probably far too late. The security crackdown is obviously placing huge demands on the police and military. In a trial of strength, can the protesters stretch them to breaking point? Maybe the endgame is approaching but the big… Read more
11th January 2011
A brief summary of reported events in Tunisia on Tuesday:
Latest videos: Police attack demonstrators outside union building in Sfax; early morning incident in the centre of Bizerte; protest in Ben Guerdane.
Tunisian stock market falls again, to lowest since last May.
Biggest trade union, UGTT… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
