The Syrian attempt at revolution continues. President Bashar al-Assad shows an iron will to stay in power, while more and more Syrians call for his removal from power. So far, however, the people see no signs of genuine change in the government. Thousands of people are fleeing into the neighbouring countries, despite the Syrian army’s attempts to prevent them from doing so.

Meanwhile the opposition movement is slowly becoming more organized, with a conference recently held in Istanbul between different opposition parties. The conference called for the end of the regime, for the respect of Syria’s different ethnicities and religious groups, and for the importance of keeping the protests peaceful, for instance through the use of civil disobedience. There is also talk about drafting a new constitution, and about preparations for setting up a national transitional government. On the other hand, however, the conference alienated some opposition factions, notably the Kurdish parties, allegedly since the conference chose to use the official name of the country, namely the Syrian Arab Republic. The Kurds are opposed to using the ethnicized name, and chose therefore to walk out of the conference. This does not promise well for the continued opposition to the regime, and indeed for what comes after the potential fall of the Assad regime. The Kurds cannot be sidelined in the creation of a democratic Syria. Furthermore, many opposition groups do not want to have anything to do with the Muslim Brotherhood, which constitutes a significant part of the opposition.

In addition, the government is reported as attempting to foment sectarian divisions within the country, in order to weaken the opposition. They must not take the bait.

If the opposition movement is to have success, it is of vital importance that they stand together, and that their internal divisions aren’t stronger than their distaste of the government.

Safa TV, a Saudi satellite station, recently allowed known terrorist Sheikh Mohamed Al-Zoghbi to air his inflammatory, xenophobic and libellous views on their station.

The Sheikh lists horrific calamities he wishes to befall Bashar Al-Assad and calls on Allah to punish not only Bashar, but all the Al-Assad family as well as those who help and support them, referring to the whole family as an ‘infidel clique’, ‘criminals’ and ‘abusers’.

He then calls on the people of Syria, men, women, slaves and children to revenge themselves against them all and fight them with their ‘money, bodies and tongues’.

He says that the jihad against the Al-Assads is more important than that which Muslims should be waging against the Christians and even the Jews, referring to both religions as ‘infidels’ but stresses that Nusayris are greater infidels.

He closes by saying ‘Kill these unbelievers until you purify the earth from their filth’.

These comments should be strongly condemned as should Safa TV for allowing Sheikh Zoghbi to make them on their station.

Interview can be viewed here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi24WT7D2fg

Johann Hari, of the Independent, was suspended on Tuesday following allegations of plagiarism.

He was condemned by other journalists and bloggers for lifting quotes from alternative sources and implying they came out of his interviews.

He is now also facing claims that he used an online alias to hit back at his critics. Hari apparently used the alias to make ‘unflattering’ edits to Wiki’s for Nick Cohen (the Observer and the Spectator) and Christina Odone (Daily Telegraph), among others.

Kelner, ex-editor of the Independent, said that he felt what Hari did was wrong but felt that many journalists were blowing it out of proportion.

Hari admitted he had done something wrong but proclaimed that this was not plagiarism and insisted that all quotes he used portrayed an accurate impression of what the interviewee was trying to say and he just sourced more articulate expressions of their thoughts that had been voiced at other times.

Hari’s Orwell prize, which he received for political journalism will stand, as no allegations have been made concerning the pieces for which he was given the award.

As July 9th (the planned date for the secession of Southern Sudan from the rest of the country) is approaching, the dispute over the Abyei area continues. The contested area has never been addressed properly, and is now increasingly becoming a headache for the efforts being made for a peaceful separation of the country. Following the Northern army’s seizure of Abyei and the displacement of at least 100,000 people since May (according to UNHCR), the North and the South have now agreed to demilitarize the area, under the auspices of 4,200 Ethiopian UN peacekeepers (UNISFA). These measures are yet to be put in place.

It is unlikely that the overall plan of secession will be shattered by the Abyei dispute and violence. After all, it has been known from the days before the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that Abyei is a particularly problematic case (it was not included in the CPA and in the referendum earlier this year). The president of Sudan, the infamous war criminal Omar al-Bashir, confirmed as late as today that he supports the secession to take place on July 9th. The separation of the country, then, will most likely take place without Northern interference.

Due to border conflicts, however, what happens after independence remains very unclear, and Abyei, in addition to the ethnically-divided Northern state of South Kordofan, is one of the potential hot spots that may lead the two soon-to-be-born countries on a path toward war. The borders between the North and the South are far from being mutually agreed upon. The complex ethnic composition of the people living in the border areas, in addition to the valuable oil resources continue to create obstacles to peaceful relations. Al-Bashir himself stated recently that he is ready for war, and the SPLM seems to be on the same track. The recent military clashes in the border areas are clear testaments to this. As if this weren’t enough of a concern, the many inter-tribal conflicts add an additional violent dimension to the imminent independence of the South.

For these reasons many aid agencies are currently calling upon the international community to provide additional UN peacekeepers to Southern Sudan. Most things remain uncertain, but one could safely say this: even though independence for Southern Sudan is surely necessary and desirable, it is not sufficient to bring immediate peace to a part of the world which has been haunted by war for most of its postcolonial history. And although peacekeepers do have an important role to play, they cannot create peace.

Freedom House have recently published their Freedom of the Press 2011, Global Press Freedom Rankings and Sudan has ranked 168th (out of 196) in the world in terms of press freedom, with Finland coming out on top.

http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/fop/2011/FOTP2011GlobalRegionalTables.pdf

This is unsurprising as only a few days ago (19 June), the Sudanese justice system decided to keep Abuzar Ali Al-Amin in jail.

Al-Amin, who is the deputy editor of opposition newspaper, Rai Al-Shaab, was arrested in May last year, charged two months later and given a five year sentence. This was then reduced to one year but days before his scheduled release, new charges were brought against him for which he may face life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

The National Intelligence and Security Services of Sudan have issued several complaints and thus Al-Amin is now allegedly facing charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal offences, attacks on the state aimed at undermining the constitutional system, publishing false information and irresponsible editing and journalism.

Reporters without Borders, who first published the story, say that these charges constitute psychological torture and have been brought against him ‘in a manner that is as illegal as the previous proceedings’.

Belsat journalists Andrey Fralu and Mikalay Dzychenya, and cameraman Alyaksandr Dzyanisau were issued prison sentences of ten days each, for their coverage of the peaceful silent protests in Belarus on Monday 4th July.

15 journalists in total were detained in the day, some of whom are still currently awaiting trial. Tear gas was used against cameramen in Minsk who tried to film the protests and in all, approximately 350 people were arrested. Other reporters were unable to be at the protests after having their visas withdrawn at the last minute.

The revolutions which have been taking place in Belarus began through social networking sites which were promptly blocked by the government. President Lukashenko said that the protests against his rule were an attempt to bring the country ‘to its knees’ and he would not allow that to happen.

Protests in Belarus are rare; the authoritarian rule of Mr Lukashenko has lead to many Western governments levying sanctions against the country. The protests consisted of clapping over President Lukashenko’s speech as he moved to address the Independence Day celebrators. Reuters reported that the first individual to do this was promptly led away by police. Others joined in and there were soon clashes between the protesters and the police.

Revolution has almost occurred in Belarus several times in recent history, notably after the President’s re-election but Lukashenko insists that he will remain in power and Belarus will not become the next ‘Arab Spring’ victim.