Conflict in Mideast

Continuing bloodshed in Palestine

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

It is the same pattern; a déjà vu of what normally happens when an overwhelmingly strong Israeli army retaliates on minor provocation and leaves behind a trail of blood and gore.

A ceasefire finally came into force Thursday in and around Gaza after a week of 1500 missile strikes that killed at least 155 Palestinians. How long will the truce hold when core of the conflict is untouched? Pushing the burning issue under wraps might risk turning the whole region into powder keg.

Announcement of the ceasefire sets off celebrations in Gaza, where thousands poured into the streets, firing guns into the air, honking horns and waving Palestinian, Hamas and Egyptian flags. Hamas celebrated it as their victory, while Israel also achieved what it wanted to. In Israel, however, small demonstrations were held in communities that were struck by rockets. Protesters said the military should have hit Hamas harder and some held signs demanding security and denouncing “agreements with terrorists”, says media reports.

The post-Arab Spring Egypt this time took a centre stage in resolving the conflict. Islamist President Muhammad Morsi emerged as the one regional leader who could ensure peace by brokering the ceasefire. Morsi, who has been in a flurry of meetings and conversation with the US and European governments, also earned the rare US praise for his role. But for how long can he resist the growing resentment among the rejuvenated Egyptians and Arabs demanding a firm ‘shut-up call’ to a chesty Israel.

The accord, according to media reports, calls on Israel to “stop all hostilities... in the land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals” and urges the Palestinian factions to end “rocket attacks and all attacks along the border”. Israel would be obliged to ease restrictions on Gaza residents under the accord which specified that “procedures of implementation shall be dealt with” 24 hours after the ceasefire went into effect on opening Gaza’s border crossings and allowing the free movement of people and goods. However, there is nothing in place to ensure that the accord is implemented or what penalty the violator will pay.

Whether Israel follows the accord or not, it is safe and strong until the United States watches its back and the impotent Arab League and Organistaion of Islamic Cooperation sit silently. A military elephant boozing on latest warfare technology will keep bulldozing the shanty settlements of poor Palestinians defending themselves with catapults.

It is pointless at this time to look for who started the war. The cost is too high. As senior journalist and expert on Middle East, Robert Fisk, puts it “one hundred Palestinians for one Israeli”. He writes, “The new exchange rate in Gaza for Palestinian and Israeli deaths has reached 16:1. It will rise, of course. The exchange rate in 2008-9 was 100:1.”

The graphic visuals of bleeding Palestinian women and children running for safety as Israeli jets and drones rained down missiles once again failed to give heart and courage to international powers to find a lasting solution. Nothing is new — the same aggressor, the same victim, the same wailing children and women and the same venue. For the last 64 years, Israel has been repeatedly creating terror by trying to exterminate the resilient Palestinians struggling to find some breathing space against an expansionist foe.

Emboldened by the Arab Spring and expecting support for its objectives, Hamas again fell in the trap and tried to test its rockets at a wrong place and at the wrong time. Hamas miscalculated the move and provided Israel another opportunity to test its ‘Iron Dome’ system. The success of the Iron Dome system means Hamas will have to wait for years to properly arm itself for taking Israel head on.

Operation Pillar of Defense proved that the expensive new defense system performed unexpectedly well against Hamas’ Fajr-5 missiles, intercepting some 85 per cent of the rockets that were launched at Israel by Hamas, according to the reports. The Dome is designed specifically to track and destroy rockets that are headed over populated areas. By the end of the week, there were reports of Israelis staying outside during air strikes to watch the Dome at work.

Events in the region are witness to the fact that Israel always rubbished peace deals whenever it wanted to test its military muscles, showing the neighbours around and the public at home that Israel is strong enough to guarantee its security.

In 2005, Israel withdrew its troops from the Gaza Strip and removed the thousands of Israelis who had settled in the territory. Since the Israeli withdrawal, Hamas has been engaged in, sometimes, a violent power struggle with its rival Palestinian organisation Fatah. On January 25, 2006, Hamas won a surprise victory in the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. In 2007, Hamas overthrew Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip again giving Israel the opportunity to blockade Gaza.

In March 2008, the Israeli blockade of the city had caused the humanitarian situation in Gaza that has reached its worst point since Israel occupied the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War. In 2008, Israel launched strikes in response to alleged repetitive rocket and mortar attacks from the Gaza Strip into Israel. In January 2009, at least 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the “Operation Cast Lead”.

The recent “Operation Pillar of Defense” had two strategic goals — one, to neutralise the Hamas rocket capability and pulverize the already poor infrastructure of Gaza, literally pushing the Palestinians to stone age, and two, sending threatening signals to Egypt after the Muslim Brotherhood came to power and forcing Morsi to play the security game on Israeli terms. However, the official version of the operation is always ‘peace’.

What else is the solution if not violence? Experts believe a United Nations mandated Palestinian state inclusive of all the occupied land with Jerusalem as its capital is the only permanent solution. Will Israel agree this time?

All is set for the vote on Palestinian statehood in the UN on November 29. Just before the Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was attempting to intimidate the Palestinians into quitting their bid. Reportedly, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor recently said that “they should change their request from a Non-Member State to a Non-Member Terrorist State.” Rumours were in the air when the operation began that the assassination of Hamas militant leader Ahmed Jabari was also an attempt aimed at torpedoing the UN bid to allow Palestinians have their own homeland.

confession

Confession of a journalist

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

“I, artist and poet, wrote and taught without myself knowing what. For this I was paid money; I had excellent food, lodging, women, and society; and I had fame, which showed that what I taught was very good. And without noticing that we knew nothing, and that to the simplest of life’s questions: What is good and what is evil? we did not know how to reply, we all talked at the same time, not listening to one another, sometimes seconding and praising one another in order to be seconded and praised in turn,” said great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy in his “Confession”.

After spending almost 20 years in journalism, I realised that I actually know nothing, though all my life I feigned as a man of letter. It is just the information that we journalists normally receive and pass on to others, just as a medium like computers and the papers on which we print. Observing the mess and chaos the society is in, I can, shamefully, admit the fact that I, as a journalist, has also contributed to it. I have skillfully avoided my basic responsibility to inform and educate people, and have been dexterous enough to fend off any criticism for that negligence. I am paid for what I do; that is all, and fair enough.

An old friend of mine helped me realise that I know nothing by putting some basic questions to me, like what is happening in the society, what is this violence for, whose war on terror is this, who is our friend and who is our enemy, what is happening in Balochistan, why there is so much poverty and inflation in our country? And he went on asking and I kept on replying. Arguments and counter arguments soon turned into a verbal war as different perspectives left us groping for consensus in the dark. “I don’t know” was the exhausting point.

Sounds funny, but do we journalists really know what is happening around us and why? We are yet to find time out of non-issues that make our headlines to focus on the matters that really hurt us. National Reconciliation Ordnance (NRO), memogate scandal, immunity or no immunity, contempt or no contempt, Mehran Bank scam, suo moto on this and suo moto on that are all we are left to deal with. Do these issues make any good for our toiling people?

Another journalist colleague is convinced that Osama was not in Abbottabad. It was all a well-scripted drama, he thinks. And why do you think so, I asked. “It was the biggest lie of the decade by a biggest power,” he continued, adding the Americans themselves shot down the chopper with all the 30 Marines on board who had taken part in the operation. “They also demolished the compound in Abbottabad to spoil any clue proving that Osama was not there.” What makes you think that Osama was there, he asked in turn. Because they (Americans) say so, I replied. “You are naïve,” he ended the debate.

We don’t know who the Pak army is fighting for. Is it for us, Pakistanis, or the Americans that pay it in cash and kinds. We don’t know who are carrying out suicide attacks and blasting off high value installations. We don’t know what is happening in Balochistan except that foreign hands are involved — another confession that we know nothing. We do have some guesswork and claims, but we do lack truth. Someone is wrong because someone is right. Who is right and who is wrong is left for a bloody war to decide in Pakistan. We keep silent and let the guns roar because both the right and the wrong have guns and we have the worthless life to fight with. We do profess professionalism, but in reality we follow different agendas thrown our way by those ‘who matter’.

Famous Austria writer and journalist Karl Kraus had aptly said, “How is the world ruled and led to war? Diplomats lie to journalists and believe these lies when they see them in print.”

A very unsuccessful politician always comes to me for advice on politics for he thinks that I know a lot about politics. The day he realizes that my advices have made him a third grade politicians, we will be friends no more.

Punjab police

Change they need

While there is a debate on police uniform, there are opinions that its education and humane working hours that are likely to affect attitudes

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

Dozens of club-wielding angry protesters blocked a road in Misri Shah on the night of April 10, burning tyres and blocking traffic. This time the charged group was not out on the road wailing against loadshedding or hike in fuel prices, rather they were marching towards the Misri Shah police station to thrash some policemen there to avenge the killing of a youth who was shot in the head by cops at a checkpoint. This is not the first time hapless masses took to street condemning trigger-happy Punjab police.

One comes across a very common sight on city roads that cops of patrolling squad are ducking behind a wall or a tree waiting for the right moment to hound and fleece a motorcyclist or a commuter. These cops are always at the wrong place at the wrong time to wrong innocent citizens. The only thing they won’t do is their duty — to give people protection and some sense of security.

After exhausting all other potential and probable ways to rein in the most dreaded Punjab police, Inspector General of Punjab Police Haji Habeebur Rehman has come up with another idea to make his force people-friendly — change the colour of police uniform. The Punjab police are notorious for brutality and violence and the mere sight of black shirts and yellow pants, sends shivers down the spine of humble and law-abiding citizens.

“It is the dark uniform which makes them grumpy and hot-headed,” Rehman had told a press conference at Rahim Yar Khan District Police Office (DPO). “Punjab has a hot climate and black shirts absorb extra heat in summer and make policemen cranky and ill-tempered.”

The IGP must have put in a lot of effort to research and discover the impact of colours on human mind and body. Black colour is considered authoritative and powerful because it evokes strong emotions. Negativity, sometime, is also bracketed with black colour. Popular phrases like ‘black sheep’ and ‘black day’ have been coined in line with the traits of black colour.

Colour therapist Dr Mohsin Mahmood supports the police chief’s idea, contending that the colour of police uniform should be changed if you want an amiable police. “Black shirts cause aggression and gloom. It is also a mourning colour.” Dr Mahmood believes yellow colour of pants causes depression as it is a jaundiced colour. “Red badges also cause violence and anger.”

What if not black and khaki? The Inspector General had constituted a four-member committee to propose alternative colours for police uniforms. He has also sought input from regional police officers. Reportedly, the proposal has drawn a mixed reaction from force within the department — some saying it will help them win public support while others saying it is waste of time and money.

While the search for a more amiable and friendly uniform is on, the colour therapist suggests that the uniform should be either light blue or light green and the colour of badges should be golden.

Citizens, however, are reluctant to buy the idea. Some of the citizens TNS talked to spurned the plan, saying instead of changing the uniform, police need to be educated, trained and taught ethics to improve its performance. “A wolf in the garb of sheep will be more dangerous. Police should change their behaviour, not the uniform,” opines Muhammad Akram, a businessman.

The rotten thana culture has its roots in colonial history that used police as a brutal force to crush and tame people into obedience. Rampant corruption and political exigencies also have had their share in ruining the image of police.

The Punjab police has also set up 100 model police stations with educated officers and latest gadgets — CCTV cameras, computers, latest mobile phones and vehicle trackers — in a bid to change the traditional thana culture and to strengthen the trust and confidence between the public and the police.

“People are scared of police. Instead of serving and protecting the poor masses, our police only serve their political bosses and criminals,” laments a school teacher, Akhtar Ali. “Uniform will not change their mindset and behaviour. The move will only cause the police budget to swell manifold as changing the uniform for the whole force of the most populated province will cost the government dearly.” Criminals are more comfortable to deal with police while law-abiding citizens avoid even passing in front of a police station, opines Ali.

Dr Aasia Mujtaba, a psychologist, thinks changing the uniform will, somehow, help revive the image of police. “Black colour evokes aggression and is used in aggressive games as it promotes competition. Dark colours are gloomy and should not be used in uniforms.”

How does all this exercise make a low ranker feel different? A policeman, standing under the scorching sun for the last two hours to salute a VVIP passing by, laments “give us some relief in our long duty hours. We need humane duty hours, not a change in uniform. It’s not the black shirt that makes us cranky rather it’s our long duty hours without any break that kill us.”

Dr Mujtaba says, “People will psychologically respond in a better way to a police in new attire. We tend to appreciate change and people will be more friendly towards a light blue or white uniform. White colour represents peace while light blue colour evokes a soothing effect on nerves.” She, however, says the new uniform will change the view and perception of people and not that of police. “Education and better training is the key to better police.”

9/11 and Pakistani society

Social effects of 9/11

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

It was 8pm, Thursday evening in 2010 when we drove into Peshawar from Lahore. The GT Road that snakes through the city and ends up as Jamrud Road at Hayatabad was deserted with eery stillness all around. This road is normally choked with all kind of traffic and buzzes with people all the time busy doing businesses and carrying out daily chores.

I asked my friend, who lives in Peshawar, where have all the people gone? Why is there so much silence and darkness? A few people seen walking along the road looked scared and in unexplained hurry. Something was terribly wrong with things around as we drove through ‘the ghost town’. “It is Thursday today,” my friend, who was driving the car, murmured softly as if trying to keep the silence around intact. “Yes it is Thursday,” I retorted angrily as it made no sense to me. My friend clarified and explained, “Tomorrow is Friday and something bad will happen in the city. As happens routinely, there will be a blast somewhere in a market, school, mosque or some official building. Suicide bombers prefer Friday for their missions as they think Fridays are auspicious days to kill and die.”

Next morning scared and adamant Peshawarites are waiting for the moment to happen. Hospitals and medical staff are on standby and ambulances are revving up. DSNG (Digital System of News Gathering) vehicles with all the news crew are ready to cover the event live. Police personnel are gearing up to meet the eventuality. The whole city is bracing for the inevitable to happen.

Boom! Our Friday fear came true. I almost dropped my cup of tea as the windows of the room I was staying in were shattered by the shockwave of a suicide bombing nearby. Then follows what has become a routine for people — blood, bodies, ambulances and rescue operation with political rhetoric and official condolences. Our TV channels make it sure that every single gory detail is beamed to desensitized audience that has somehow developed a taste for all the real drama. It was unlike Peshawar — hostility had taken over hospitality. Strangers are no more welcome as respectable guests rather they are looked upon as potential terrorists ready to explode themselves.

The war on terror and the reactionary bombing have changed the entire social and cultural outlook of Peshawar. The ultraconservative society has further recoiled into a state of social isolation just to survive. People no more take their kids along for Friday prayers — a voluntary reversal of old traditions. Wedding gatherings are confined indoor, while in some parts of the country where Taliban hold sway fun celebrations are replaced with religious rituals. The culture of cinema and theatre has changed and artists and musicians are forced to change their professions as they keep facing threats by the moral vigilantes. The only place in Peshawar where you could have full view of a woman was the billboards atop cinemas along the GT Road, but these images have also been ‘Islamised’ to avoid the wrath of those averse to music and films.

This phenomenon is not Peshawar-specific — almost all major cities in the country have gone through a decade of social changes prompted by sheer fear. 9/11 has not only reshaped the world, it has also changed philosophies and poisoned mindsets around the world. Perhaps none living in major cities would have missed the bang of a bomb or the scenes of devastation caused by bombing. Those missing the chance would have their share of gory visuals with natural sound from our hyperactive TV channels whose camera crew always jump the gun to shoot.

America’s display of ‘shock and awe’ may have secured its citizens, but it has played havoc with Pakistan, changing the entire social fabric of the society. The war on terror and the consequent spree of suicide bombings have changed the way people live and think. The war has created different social phobias stealing the joy out of social gatherings and meetings. Social phobias driven by different fears affect many people who tend to get very anxious in crowds as they start imagining ghosts of suicide bombers lurking behind.

Another casualty of the post-9/11 world is the right to free movement due to mushrooming growth of barricades of concrete blocs and barbed wires on every road and street of Lahore — and it has become part of our life though it instills fear rather than security. Peshawar and twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi are no exceptions where one stumbles on every step over security checkposts manned by ready-to fire security personnel. Open places are shrinking while walls are growing taller and thicker. The growing number of concrete walls also symbolizes the divide the society is beginning to see — a divide between the extreme forces of liberalism and religious fundamentalism. The new ideologies (extreme left and extreme right) have pitted Qadris and Taseers of this land against each other and rest of the population has started aligning themselves with these two extremes. Again the victims are those toeing the middle path, the moderates, who are caught between the crossfire. They are forced to be ‘with us or with them’.

The post-9/11 destruction has been effected with a heavy price. “The cost of wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan are estimated at 225,000 lives and up to $4trillion in US spending,” estimate scholars with the Eisenhower Research Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International Studies in a new report by. The group’s “Costs of War” project has released new figures for a range of human and economic costs associated with the US military response to the 9/11 attacks. The Brown project says the wars have created more than 7.8 million refugees among Iraqis, Afghans and Pakistanis.

America has chased out al-Qaeda and its Taliban protectors into Pakistan, creating a new danger of the Pakistani society being taken over by militants. A decade after September 11, 2001, skepticism about the events of that day still persists among Muslim publics. In all of the Muslim countries polled recently by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, majorities still refuse to believe that the perpetrators of September 11 were Muslims. Pew finds that the Muslim world and the West still see the other as fanatical and violent. In Pakistan attitudes have moved to the extreme level — the percentage of Pakistani Muslims saying that Westerners are greedy, immoral, selfish and fanatical has increased by double-digits over the last five years.

“Among most of the Muslim publics polled, Muslims tend to identify with their religion, rather than their nationality. This is particularly true in Pakistan, where 94 per cent people think of themselves primarily as Muslim instead of Pakistani,” the finding says.

Bus ride

45 minutes in a public bus

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

I had to run for a few yards, finally to be pulled up by fellow passengers on board a public bus. Breathing heavily, I threw myself into an aisle seat, next to a 45-year-old passenger who religiously kept coughing and spitting out of the widow without even realising what he was doing to other passengers. Welcome aboard a public transport bus and buckle up for a noisy ride! Up above the window was written in bold words; “Behave and show courtesy to other passengers”. That written advice kept me from asking a standing passenger not to place his old dusty leather bag on top of my head. My courtesy and patience could not match the weight of the bag and I had to request him to get off the bag. He was kind enough to throw that bag into my lap, retorting that this is the best he could do.

The next moment he was quarrelling with the bus conductor for the seat he was promised. The conductor was not in a good mood at all and was quick to retaliate and soon after it was free-for-all. The gentleman sitting beside me again spitted freely out of the window after a long spell of cough and remarked, "This belligerent bus conductor is upset because he had a fight with his wife and is on duty without having a breakfast." Passengers around who heard him guffawed and praised him for his guess ‑ probably most of them had experienced a day without a breakfast. The bus was full to capacity ‑ and for a bus plying on a local route it means five to six passengers hanging at the door and footstep. The driver of the bus was courteous enough to wait for the passengers who had just planned to leave their homes for the bus stop. Shouting ladies and gentlemen, who were getting late for their offices and destinations, could not convince the driver to move on. Everybody on board, except the driver, was in a hurry.

A man with a small bag hanging from his shoulder was desperately trying to make his way in. A terrorist, a suicide bomber? No he turned out to be a mobile gastroenterologist trying to sell out his homemade remedies that cures all the diseases a man can think of. Give him credit for attracting a diverse crowd for a few minutes with the help of his well-prepared script listing out a group of symptoms that miraculously matched that most of the passengers carried. And that was the skill of the mobile doctor to sell health to a crowd having little access to healthcare.

Another vendor elbowed the standing passengers to make room for his on-board shop. The man was selling literature in the form of booklets of poetry, Naats and stories teaching morality. Even if the price of a set of books was so tempting that I could have bought all of them, but something kept me from buying – perhaps I am not used to buy anything, except ticket, on board a bus. Still, the vendor found many readers for his books, owing to his skill of reading out interesting teasers out of the books.

Another quiet interesting feature of the ride – that kept me attentive throughout the journey – was public debate going on in the bus. Capitalising on the absence of an irritating moderator, everyone aboard was free to discuss anything from the Blackwater plot to steal Pakistani nukes to the political wrangling in the wake of NRO. It was a pleasant surprise for me to know that the common man – a term sadly coined for the have-nots of society by those who matter – knows everything happening around, and they won’t let the rulers to take them for a ride anymore. As topics for the public debate grew, so did the crowd in the bus, and it was time for me to get ready for another feast – that was to get off the bus.

The conductor announced my destination and I started pushing the passengers around, just as everybody was doing. It was one of the rare moments when I really hated myself for frantically pushing passengers and stepping on their toes in a bid to reach the bus door. The fact that it is hard to be courteous and civilized on board a public bus saddened me ‑ the reasons being countless. Once off the bus, I examined myself and thanked God for I was in one piece still wearing my woolen cap, shoes and jacket and still carrying my handbag. All I left behind was a noisy bus my yearning for a society where we don’t need to remind people of “BEHAVE”.

Arabs Uprising

Arab world is struggling for a change that could ensure political freedom and social justice

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

It may be part of a ‘greater Israel plot’, or it may be another American move to reshape Middle East for a stronger foothold to tap more oil, or the revival of Islamic forces that are out to enforce Sharia in the Arab land. All these speculations will stay in the air until the dust of revolution settles down and a clearer picture emerges.

However, all that is happening in the streets of the Arab world shows one thing for sure; “the educated and more aware Arab youth belonging to middle class are calling the shots now for a change that will bring them at par with the rest of the world”.

No one was expecting that an isolated protest in a northern African country would trigger a tsunami that would flood the entire Arab world. Tunisian uprising gathered mass quickly and turned out to be a revolution pulling down the thrones of worn-out dictators one-by-one. It is people versus dictators. Absolute power blankets the mind and vision of a dictator and he fails to see the reality. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi also showed his true colours when he ordered his forces to crush the ‘rats’. It is the end of a dictator when he sees his people as rats.

The whole Arab world, perhaps, was waiting for a spark to ignite a change — that could ensure political freedom, social justice and right to speak without the fear of being gagged and imprisoned. Pent up desire for freedom provided the thread for the rosary of change in the Arab world.

Mubarak lost people’s confidence because he failed to feel the pulse of the young generation that is capable of juxtaposing their lives with that of the changing world with no room for repression and dictators. Taking their cue from the Tunisian uprising, Egyptians thronged Tahrir Square and forced the generals to send the 82-year-old president into retirement — as had happened to his counterpart — Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia.

The rage that sprang up in Tunisia and swept through Egypt has morphed into a ‘people versus dictators’ battle. The contagious rage knows no boundaries and is gaining momentum day-by-day. Two of the Arab rulers are down and the rest are nauseated with the event and are waiting for their turn.

Mubarak and Ben Ali have been pushed into oblivion by their fate decreed by people and what is in store for the rulers of Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq and Morocco is no different. It is just a matter of how quickly and wisely the rulers read the will of their people and leave without creating mess.

Libya

In his televised address, Gaddafi tried to scare away the swelling crowds threatening to use force to crush them. He should have talked sense because the use of force will only limit his chances for a safe and honourable exit. Mubarak went down with over 200 deaths while Gaddafi has already crossed the toll of 1000 dead and thousands injured. The resilience of Libyans shows that use of force will only quicken Gaddafi’s downfall.

Political analyst Robert Fisk says Gaddafi is facing the forces he cannot control. According to an article that he wrote for The Independent, Fisk suggests Gaddafi is groping in the dark searching for legitimacy for his illegitimate rule, “Gaddafi's claim that the millions of protesters in Libya want to turn Libya into an Islamic state is exactly the same nonsense that Mubarak peddled before his end in Egypt, the very same nonsense that Obama and Clinton have suggested.”

Bahrain

In Bahrain, the predominantly Shia Muslim protesters are sticking to their guns occupying the Pearl roundabout ahead of the promised talks between the opposition representatives and the rulers. Bahrain freed at least 23 political prisoners held on terrorism counts on Feb 23 and pardoned two others including an exiled opposition leader whose plan to return to the country may complicate talks with the government on political reforms.

More than 100,000 demonstrators recently packed central Pearl Square, in what organisers called, the largest pro-democracy demonstration this tiny Persian Gulf nation had ever seen. Tens of thousands of men, women and children, mostly members of the Shiite majority, got together with one message: “this regime must fall”. King Hammad bin Isa al-Khalifa is still clinging to power with calls for a national dialogue to try to bridge differences, preserve the monarchy and unite the nation.

Yemen

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said, only defeat at the ballot box will make him quit, despite a growing protest movement calling for him to resign. Tens of thousands of protesters continue to rally around the country. For the first time several Yemeni Ministers of Parliament joined the protesters in the streets.

Experts are voicing concern, about the US using the presence of Al-Qaeda elements in the country as a pretext for military intervention. According to BBC, many commentators warned against a repetition of the ‘pre-emptive’ action taken against Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iraq

Frustrated Kurds are crying foul at the tight grip with which the two ruling parties control the Kurdish autonomous region. Iraqis across the country have staged a number of protests in recent weeks against corruption, high levels of unemployment and poor provision of basic services such as clean water and electricity.

Algeria and Morocco

Now it could be Algeria’s turn to free itself from the autocratic rule. Fearing a full-blown uprising like that in Tunisia and Egypt, the government officials in the huge North African country are scrambling to stem an accelerating movement of street protests. This kind of a display of anti-government sentiment was unthinkable until recently. Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci had announced that his country's 19-year state-of-emergency laws would be revoked within days, ending tight censorship and lifting a ban on political demonstrations win back enraged public.

Algeria’s small neighbour is also undergoing change. Two of Morocco's biggest political parties and human rights groups have joined calls by a youth movement for constitutional reform that could reduce the role of the king. “More political freedom” and “end to dictatorship” are the by-words sending shivers down the spine of rulers in Rabat.

Iraq

Neighbourly concerns

US withdrawal from Iraq triggers a new race among Middle Eastern neighbours to gain a foothold in the war ravaged country

By Mazhar Khan Jadoon

Seen as an end to foreign occupation, the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq has created a vacuum in a changed Middle East that has seen a decade of bloody war. Iraq’s neighbours, though happy with US withdrawal from a post-Saddam Iraq, are working out their own plans to gain strategic depth in the region to further their economic and political interests. The gigantic task ahead for the leaders and peoples of Middle East is to find ways to build regional stability and cooperation in a country ravaged by a long war and perennial sectarian conflict.

The entire Arab world is also struggling to gain a foothold in Iraq and change the political landscape — Saudi Arab is eyeing a Sunni Iraq while Iran is working for a Shia sway.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia

An Iraq without an authority able to assume the tasks that had been carried out by the departing American forces would threaten Saudi Arabia and Jordan, because Iraq may join the pro-Iran club backed by Syria. Saudi Arabia has, reportedly, also started building a 812-kilometre fence along the Saudi-Iraqi border. The purpose of the fence is to prevent terrorists from infiltrating into Saudi Arabia from Iraq. While right after the start of the 2003 Iraq War, the flow of terrorists was in the reverse direction, as Saudi mujahideen used to enter Iraq and join al-Qaeda to fight the US and its allies. Now Saudi Arabia sees itself as a future target. Saudi regime fears that al-Qaeda in Iraq will re-emerge and exploit their links with the al-Qaeda network in Saudi Arabia.

Iraq and Iran

With the absence of an agreed-upon government and with political rivals at loggerheads, the political vacuum gives Iran space to interfere in Iraq's affairs. Iran wants a prime minister in Iraq who will follow Iranian orders. Iran backs incumbent Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a secular Shi'ite who is friendly with the US and in close contact with the CIA. American withdrawal from Iraq will likely provide Iran unparalleled trade opportunities and access to steer the country’s political course in Tehran’s favour. Iran is already the main trading partner with Iraq with the volume of trade between the two nations nearing $10 billion.

Iraq and Syria

Jihadi elements, having connections with al-Qaeda and other Sunni militants groups, take the US withdrawal as a victory for Islamic fighters. Encouraged, they will keep crossing into Iraq to hit the American plans for a “US-friendly” Iraq. These forces have vowed to continue their attacks till the will of Allah prevails — and the actions on ground prove they mean business. Hence, their aggression against Iraq's population and institutions is expected to last as long as their ideology lasts. They are reportedly backed by ideological and financial circles inside Saudi Arabia. The success of US pullout hinges on the capacity of Iraqi administration to stop the flow of jihadists from Syria. Damascus may also come under renewed pressure from the United States and Britain to rein in militants within its borders.

Iraq and Turkey

Turkey, the old seat of Ottoman power, had successfully stayed out of Iraq war, refusing even to let US forces cross Turkish soil for the 2003 invasion. Turkey is running neck and neck with Iran as Iraq's biggest trading partner.

The United States, during its occupation of Iraq, had been providing intelligence about Kurdish rebel positions to Turk forces. Turkish forces had been carrying out ground incursion into Iraq to hit Kurs rebels. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had vowed to fight the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to the end. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, himself a Kurd, has been critical of Turkish action and called on Erdogan to return to peaceful efforts to woo Turkey's large Kurdish minority away from violence. Both Turkey and Iraq will have to hammer out a strategy to tackle Kurd rebel irritant that is threatening stability on borders.

Iraq and Israel

Israel also should be concerned about the US withdrawal from Iraq before the establishment of a political structure that ensures a responsible government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shared his worries with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates about the emergence of a new eastern front, which may become the next threat to scared Tel Aviv. Right now, one of the biggest challenges that Israel may face from the changed Middle East is to stave off threats from a hostile milieu with charged militants. The situation is different now as US Army is no longer patrolling Iraqi territory.