Thursday 20 January 2011

Obama to Mubarak: "Forget Tunisia!"

Obama to Mubarak: "Forget Tunisia!"
"Tunisia's popular revolution should have been a wake-up call to the rotting autocracy of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and his supporters in the Obama administration. Instead, Cairo is moving to retrench, with the tacit blessing of President Obama. ........ stonewalling could have been expected from the 68-year-old Abould Gheit, one of Mubarak's most faithful retainers. Nor is it surprising that Mubarak and his court would ignore the alarming signs that Egypt is producing the same sparks that ignited Tunisia ..... More surprising is the Obama administration's defacto suport for Mubarak's immobility. On Tuesday, Obama called Mubarak; according to a White House "readout," they discussed "a broad range of issues, to include the New Year's attack on a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria, developments in Tunisia and Lebanon, and how best to advance Middle East peace." According to both the statement and my own sources, here is what the two did not discuss: the need for change of any kind in Egypt. This in spite of the fact that Mubarak just staged a rigged parliamentary election in which his opposition was systematically and sometimes brutally suppressed ........ observers in Egypt and across the Middle East were quick to get the message: Obama's support for "free and fair elections" does not extend to Egypt..."
Posted by G, Z, or B at 12:46 PM
 Obama and Mubarak discuss Lebanon


"Are we all in sync?..."
President Barack Obama spoke with  Mubarak on Tuesday about the U.S. desire for calm in Tunisia and thanked him for Egypt's support for a U.N.-backed tribunal set up to try the assassins of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri. Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14.... Obama thanked Mubarak for Egyptian support of the tribunal, " and achieve justice for the Lebanese people," the White House said..."
Posted by G, Z, or B at 9:14 PM

Abul Ghait: "Are you talking to me?"

 
.... "Any party that wants to mess with it (stability) will have to confront several foes -- Lebanese, Arabs and others," Abul Gheit said an interview with Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai to be published Friday....
Posted by G, Z, or B at 12:11 PM
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

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