Yoda, Yoda...can Jumblatt spare a dime?

Aafaq and Al-jazeera quote the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards that soon "Israel will be destroyed at the hands of Hizbullah". This was in the context of a letter of condolences sent by General Ja'afari to Hassan Nassrallah after the death of Imad Mughniya. The report did not mention what Mr. Ja'afari was smoking or snorting when he wrote the letter.

In Saudi Arabia, Shi’a Isma’ilia residents of a southern province (Najran) are protesting what they regard as a deliberate government policy to settle Sunni tribesmen in their region and dilute their majority. They have sent a letter of protest to the prince/potentate who governs the province objecting to plans to settle a Sunni tribe from Yemen. Apparently there had been previous clashes between the Shi’a residents and the police in 2000 about the issue of repopulation. The native residents claim that the newcomers get land and services they never got from the Saudi government. Perhaps they don't realize they are considered heretics?

Playing around with demographics for political ends is a common prctice in some Arab countries. It was done on a large scale in Ba'athist Iraq in the Kurdish regions of the north and the Shi'a regions of the south. It was also done in some Gulf states where the rulers imported what they considered 'pliable' tribes and naturalized them in order to offset city folks who are not so deferential to potentates. Recently the ruling elites of Bahrain have been accused by opposition groups of naturalizing non-resident tribal men as well as Sunnis from Jordan and Iraq in order to dilute the huge Shi'a majority.

It turns out that the path to a long-term US-Iraqi security arrangement may not be as smooth as originally thought by some. Elaph reports (Feb. 15), quoting an aide to Marji'iyya, that Ayatollah Ali Sistani has warned against rushing into signing a long-term strategic pact with the United States. He has called for further studies by Iraqi experts to make certain there are no loopholes in the proposed treaty. Meetings to negotiate the treaty between Iraqi and American officials are scheduled to start on February 27.

The Arab Parliament again- sans Strasbourg:
A meeting in Libya is expected to put the final touches on a the constitution for an "Arab Parliament". That is nice, since some Arab states have no constitutions, and most of those that have them might as well use them as the infidel kaffirs use other kinds of thin paper. Whatever is concluded in Libya will be discussed by a meeting of the Provisional Arab Parliament next month, then it will be put to the Arab Summit in Damascus this Spring. The upcoming Summit is widely expected to be boycotted by at least one King Abdullah, one President Mubarak, as well as one Hassan Nassrallah. Perhaps they will boycott the meeting because it will not be held at Strasbourg. The new 'parliament', whenever it materializes, will be headquartered in Damsacus- not exactly Strasbourg, but it could have been worse, at least it is not in San'a or Riyadh.

Meanwhile, the president of the said Provisional Arab Parliament met in Tunis with Tunisian officials and discussed the best ways to improve Arab parliamentary work, seriously. Well, perhaps it is a good start to have parliaments in some of these countries. Then a next step will involve having elections- a good second step. The next step would be elections that are clean and free- preferably with Jimmy Carter around to verify. Then....perhaps some teeth?

A 95 year old Moroccan man on a wheel chair was sentenced three months ago to three years in prison- for insulting the king. I still am not sure that one can actually honestly insult an Arab leader, and how. But anyway, the old man died yesterday, still aged 95, cheating His Majesty out of 33 months of his sentence.

I was initially surprised to see the warm and sometimes excited welcome Mr. Bush got in Africa. But then, again, the man did substantially increase Aids funds, something that the continent needed badly. Mr. Bush has done good by Africa, more than for other regions, like the Middle East or South America. I recall that Bill Clinton took his farewell tour mainly in Asia. That was a wise decision, since he turned a blind eye to the massacre of up to one million people in Rwanda- that was under his watch. Of course Mr, Bush hasn't exactly stopped the genocide in Darfur.
Cheers
Mohammed