Thousands protest in Morocco for more reform

 

 

  Several thousand people marched through Morocco's biggest city Sunday to protest that constitutional reforms unveiled this week by King Mohammed have not gone far enough.

After some of the biggest protests in decades -- inspired in part by the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- the monarch announced on Friday he would devolve some of his powers to parliament and the government and put the reforms to a referendum on July 1.

Under the changes, the king would retain his hold on security, the army and religion. That disappointed some opponents who had wanted to see the monarch hand over all his executive powers to elected officials.

"We are here to reject the proposed constitution," said Aziz Yaakoubi, one of the organisers of Sunday's protest in Casablanca, Morocco's commercial capital.

"It keeps all the powers in the hands of the king. He refused to listen to the street."

Protesters marched through Casablanca's working class Derb Sultan district carrying placards that read: "No to a constitution made for slaves!" and "No to a constitution of dictatorship!"

About 10,000 people took part in the protest, according to a Reuters reporter at the event, while about 500 pro-monarchy activists gathered for a nearby counter-demonstration.

Organisers of the opposition demonstration said 20,000 people took part.

A government official, who did not want to be identified, said 2,500 people took part in the opposition protest and that most of them were members of a banned Islamist group. The official also said the pro-monarchy counter-protest was attended by 70,000 people.

Most Moroccans revere the monarch and months of protests demanding he give up his executive powers have failed to win the sort of popular support that toppled long-standing leaders earlier this year in Tunisia and Egypt.

The moves by King Mohammed, who heads the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty, are being closely monitored by Gulf Arab monarchies which are also facing calls for reform.

Before the march got underway, several dozen young men carrying the Moroccan flag, sticks and broken bottles charged the protesters. Activists blocked their way and the confrontation was defused.

There was a light police presence and the march ended without any violence.

The referendum is likely to endorse the monarch's reforms. Some people at Sunday's protest, organised by the February 20 opposition movement, called for a boycott of the vote.

Some of the demonstrators chanted: "Moroccans, the referendum is a charade!" and "We are not voting for a constitution we don't agree to!"

"The king introduced cosmetic changes that actually strengthen his grip over the decision-making process," said Abderrahim Tafnout of the Unified Socialist Party, which has two seats in parliament.

There were also protests organised by the February 20 movement Sunday in other cities including Tangier and Rabat, but figures on how many people took part were not immediately available.

 

 

 

Read More

Syria's Assad blames unrest on saboteurs, pledges reforms

 

  Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday "saboteurs" were behind unrest against his rule and that political accommodation could not be reached with gunmen.

In just his third speech since the demonstrations began four months ago, Assad appeared tense as he pledged to pursue a national dialogue on reform and held out the prospect of expanding a recent amnesty.

But he said: "We have to distinguish between (protesters, and others who have legitimate demands) and saboteurs. The saboteurs are a small group that tried to exploit the kind majority of the Syrian people to carry out their many schemes."

No political solution was possible with people carrying weapons, he said.

As Syrian forces swept through the northwestern border region with Turkey, blocking refugees fleeing a military crackdown, Assad called on the 10,000 who have already crossed the frontier to come home.

"There are those who give them the impression that the state will exact revenge, I affirm that is not true. The army is there for security," he said in the speech at Damascus University.

A committee on national dialogue will meet in the next few days and invite more than 100 personalities to discuss the criteria and mechanism for constitutional reform, he said. He set a one-month target date for presenting recommendations.

Syria's military operation along the Turkish border follows the biggest protests in four months of anti-Assad unrest on Friday which a violent clampdown has failed to quash.

Security forces shot dead up to 19 protesters on Friday, rights groups said.

In addition to the more than 10,000 Syrian refugees now in Turkey, a further 10,000 are sheltering close to the border just inside Syria in the olive groves and rich farmland around the town of Jisr al-Shughour, Turkish officials said.

But Syrian human rights campaigner Ammar al-Qurabi said the army was now stopping those still inside Syria from leaving.

"The Syrian army has spread around the border area to prevent frightened residents from fleeing across the border to Turkey," he told.

Qurabi also accused pro-government forces of attacking people trying to aid the refugees as they fled.

The violence so close to its border challenges Turkey's foreign policy of "zero problems with neighbors" that has seen it befriend the Middle East's autocratic rulers while presenting itself as a champion of democracy.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has pledged to keep his borders open to refugees and has called the Syrian government crackdown "savagery," but beyond words, it is not clear whether Ankara's rapprochement with Damascus has earned Turkey any influence with Assad to halt the violence.

REFUGEES "FEAR GETTING SHOT"

Syrian troops and gunmen loyal to Assad seized the town of Bdama, only 2 km (1.2 miles) from Turkey on Saturday, burning houses and arresting dozens, witnesses said.

"There are roadblocks everywhere in Bdama to prevent people from fleeing but villagers are finding other routes through valleys to escape to the Turkish border," said Omar, a farmer from Bdama who managed to reach the border area.

"We received no bread today. There was one bakery operating in Bdama but it has been forced to shut. The 'shabbiha' (Assad's gunmen) are shooting randomly," one refugee, a carpenter who gave his name as Hammoud, told Reuters by telephone.

"One man in Bdama was injured today and we managed to smuggle him to hospital in Turkey. But many fear getting shot if they attempt to cross the border," the refugee added.

Faced with troops firing live ammunition, Syrian protesters have taken to venting their anger against Assad at night.

Demonstrations erupted overnight in the cities of Hama, Homs, Latakia, Deir al-Zor, the town of Madaya near the Lebanese border, several suburbs of the capital Damascus and in Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq, witnesses and activists said.

Authorities blame the violence on armed groups and Islamists, backed by foreign powers. Syria has barred most international journalists from entering the country, making it difficult to verify accounts from activists and officials.

Syrian rights groups say at least 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 people detained since March.

The Syrian Observatory for human rights has said more than 300 soldiers and police have also been killed. Other rights campaigners said dozens of security personnel had been killed by loyalist troops for refusing to shoot at unarmed civilians.

Even so, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev practically ruled out supporting a UN resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Read More

Jordan King promises to speed democratic reforms

 Jordan's King Abdullah said on Sunday he was committed to pushing ahead with democratic reforms, but believed street pressure for change was a recipe for chaos. 

 











The monarch, speaking in a televised speech marking his 12 years as ruler and ninety years of the state's creation, said he backed a new electoral law proposed by a government-appointed panel that would allow for a cabinet to be elected by a parliamentary majority rather than being chosen by him.

"We hope these recommendations ensure a modern electoral law that leads to a parliament that is representative of all Jordanians," he said.

Parliaments are currently elected under laws that ensure a pliant pro-government assembly composed of tribal loyalists.

The Islamist-led opposition has expressed disappointment over the limited nature of the reforms proposed by the committee that they boycotted and which came after weeks of street protests earlier this year calling for political changes.

The proposals unveiled last week keep intact a gross underrepresentation of Jordan's cities, mostly inhabited by Palestinians, to ensure a dominance by rural, sparsely populated tribal areas over the large cities, including the capital which have long been the opposition Islamist strongholds.

"As we witness the changes in the region, this demands making a difference between the required democratic changes and between the dangers of chaos and (fitna) sedition on the other," he said.

The Hashemite monarchy is viewed as an arbiter among feuding tribes and a unifying force that holds together the country's two main competing groups, East Bank native Jordanians and their countrymen of Palestinian origin.

The monarch has faced pressures for reforms by a broad calls from the Islamists, the country's largest political force to leftists and tribal figures, to relinquish his extensive powers, ranging from appointing cabinets to dissolving parliament.

Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, the largest political party, and liberal politicians alongside opposition tribal figures say political freedoms in Jordan have been eroded in recent years and accuse the authorities of resisting change.

The monarch defended his reformist credentials since he ascended the throne in 1999, saying he had long pushed for reforms which he has long accused vested interests within the establishment of derailing.

King Abdullah said he wanted a empowered legislature and amendments to the constitution that would usher greater political rights but could not accept reform pressures from unnamed radical groups that agitated through street protests.

Read More

Thousands rally for reform in Bahrain

Thousands of Bahrainis shouting "we are victorious" gathered for a rally for political reform on Saturday, in the first large demonstration since the Gulf Arab state crushed a democracy protest movement in March. Bahrain brought in troops from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in March and introduced martial law, which ended last week, to stop the protests against the Sunni Al-Khalifa family that rules over a Shia majority population. The government said the protests had a sectarian agenda and help from Shi'ite power Iran, just across the Gulf waters. The opposition denies this. "Some try to manipulate our demands, to make them Shi'ite demands. This is not true. We are not calling for an Iran, but to build up our political reforms together, Shi'ite and Sunni, which will benefit all Bahrainis," said Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Wefaq opposition group which organized the event. "We will continue peacefully and we will continue our peaceful demonstrations," he said, as the crowd roared back: "Peaceful, peaceful!" The rally will likely be seen as a show of strength by Wefaq, Bahrain's leading Shi'ite opposition group, as it heads to a national dialogue called by the king for next month. "Wefaq wants to encourage people to get back out after months of fear. It's a good sign ," said protester Fatima. The government said it granted permission for the rally, held in a large square in the Shi'ite district of Saar, west of the capital and away from central Pearl Roundabout, epicenter of the earlier protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Protesters waving Bahraini flags spilled out into the streets and dozens watched from nearby rooftops. People drove in from around the city, causing traffic jams of more than 2 km long. State helicopters buzzed over crowds raising signs that read "The nation is for everyone." Opposition figures more than 10,000 people attended the rally. The Interior Ministry said 4,000 people were gathered.

Read More