The Palestinians are catching on. The Syrians seem to be hearing the message.
Putin got the message. The Word is spreading...


washingtonpost.com
Palestinians Signal Break With Arafat Era
Lawmakers Approve Cabinet Heavy on Young Technocrats and Reformers

By Samuel Sockol and John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 25, 2005; Page A15

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb. 24 -- The Palestinian parliament on Thursday approved
a new cabinet composed largely of reformers and technocrats after forcing Prime
Minister Ahmed Qureia to dump an entrenched group of Yasser Arafat loyalists.

With a few exceptions, the 24-member cabinet is made up of men with little
experience in elective office, unlike the old cabinet and alternative lists for
the new one informally floated this week by Qureia, which were drawn mostly from
members of parliament and stalwarts of Arafat's Fatah movement, the dominant
organization in the Palestinian Authority.

Qureia, a member of Fatah who was appointed prime minister by Arafat 15 months
ago, was forced to accept the wholesale shake-up by a newly independent and
assertive Palestinian Legislative Council. Lawmakers, after years of
subservience in which they simply rubber-stamped cabinets stacked with Arafat
cronies, exercised their oversight powers for the first time and forced real
change on the Palestinian Authority's executive branch.

Even members of Fatah, which controls about two-thirds of the legislature's
seats, turned against Qureia and his proposals for a limited cabinet shuffle.
Seemingly liberated by the death of Arafat three months ago, and with an eye
toward parliamentary elections in July, lawmakers across the board demanded a
major housecleaning.

"It was important to raise a voice clearly against anyone who does not want to
change and develop," said Mufid Abed Rabbo, a member of parliament from Fatah's
wing of young reformers. "It was necessary to say no to the old path, and
therefore it was agreed upon to have a cabinet of technocrats."

In forcing the overhaul, lawmakers said they were reacting to public demands to
purge corrupt cabinet ministers, professionalize the government and expedite
reforms, especially the training of security forces and the consolidating of 12
security agencies. Lawmakers said the new cabinet underscored their dedication
to reform in advance of a 25-nation conference in London next week that will
focus on strengthening Palestinian political institutions.

The power struggle over the cabinet played out over the past three days as
Qureia, who as prime minister has strongly defended the political status quo and
initiated few changes, informally floated several lists but never proposed a new
cabinet to parliament because it was clear he did not have the votes. Threatened
with a no-confidence vote that could have cost him his job, Qureia finally
relented and stripped the cabinet of most holdovers from the Arafat era.

The new cabinet, approved 54 to 10 with four abstentions, includes seven
ministers from the old cabinet and 17 newcomers. Eleven of the ministers have
doctorates, and three are engineers.

Maj. Gen. Nasser Yusef was named interior minister, while Mohammed Dahlan,
formerly a senior security official in Gaza, was made civil affairs minister.
Both are strong advocates of reform and were often at odds with Arafat. Salam
Fayyad, a respected former official with the International Monetary Fund,
retained his position as finance minister.

Arafat's nephew, Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations,
was named foreign minister, replacing Nabil Shaath, who was made deputy prime
minister and information minister. Negotiations minister Saeb Erekat, one of the
best-known Palestinian spokesmen for more than a decade, lost his cabinet post
but remains the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel.

"This is a transitional government," Shaath said after the vote. "The public
wanted to test some younger people, but these younger people will have some of
the older people with them" to provide continuity, he said. "But the majority
are new, so rejuvenation is the name of the game."

Anderson reported from Jerusalem.



John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

"John H" wrote in message
...
The Palestinians are catching on. The Syrians seem to be hearing the
message.
Putin got the message. The Word is spreading...


washingtonpost.com
Palestinians Signal Break With Arafat Era
Lawmakers Approve Cabinet Heavy on Young Technocrats and Reformers

By Samuel Sockol and John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 25, 2005; Page A15

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb. 24 -- The Palestinian parliament on Thursday
approved
a new cabinet composed largely of reformers and technocrats after forcing
Prime
Minister Ahmed Qureia to dump an entrenched group of Yasser Arafat
loyalists.

With a few exceptions, the 24-member cabinet is made up of men with little
experience in elective office, unlike the old cabinet and alternative
lists for
the new one informally floated this week by Qureia, which were drawn
mostly from
members of parliament and stalwarts of Arafat's Fatah movement, the
dominant
organization in the Palestinian Authority.

Qureia, a member of Fatah who was appointed prime minister by Arafat 15
months
ago, was forced to accept the wholesale shake-up by a newly independent
and
assertive Palestinian Legislative Council. Lawmakers, after years of
subservience in which they simply rubber-stamped cabinets stacked with
Arafat
cronies, exercised their oversight powers for the first time and forced
real
change on the Palestinian Authority's executive branch.

Even members of Fatah, which controls about two-thirds of the
legislature's
seats, turned against Qureia and his proposals for a limited cabinet
shuffle.
Seemingly liberated by the death of Arafat three months ago, and with an
eye
toward parliamentary elections in July, lawmakers across the board
demanded a
major housecleaning.

"It was important to raise a voice clearly against anyone who does not
want to
change and develop," said Mufid Abed Rabbo, a member of parliament from
Fatah's
wing of young reformers. "It was necessary to say no to the old path, and
therefore it was agreed upon to have a cabinet of technocrats."

In forcing the overhaul, lawmakers said they were reacting to public
demands to
purge corrupt cabinet ministers, professionalize the government and
expedite
reforms, especially the training of security forces and the consolidating
of 12
security agencies. Lawmakers said the new cabinet underscored their
dedication
to reform in advance of a 25-nation conference in London next week that
will
focus on strengthening Palestinian political institutions.

The power struggle over the cabinet played out over the past three days as
Qureia, who as prime minister has strongly defended the political status
quo and
initiated few changes, informally floated several lists but never proposed
a new
cabinet to parliament because it was clear he did not have the votes.
Threatened
with a no-confidence vote that could have cost him his job, Qureia finally
relented and stripped the cabinet of most holdovers from the Arafat era.

The new cabinet, approved 54 to 10 with four abstentions, includes seven
ministers from the old cabinet and 17 newcomers. Eleven of the ministers
have
doctorates, and three are engineers.

Maj. Gen. Nasser Yusef was named interior minister, while Mohammed Dahlan,
formerly a senior security official in Gaza, was made civil affairs
minister.
Both are strong advocates of reform and were often at odds with Arafat.
Salam
Fayyad, a respected former official with the International Monetary Fund,
retained his position as finance minister.

Arafat's nephew, Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian ambassador to the United
Nations,
was named foreign minister, replacing Nabil Shaath, who was made deputy
prime
minister and information minister. Negotiations minister Saeb Erekat, one
of the
best-known Palestinian spokesmen for more than a decade, lost his cabinet
post
but remains the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel.

"This is a transitional government," Shaath said after the vote. "The
public
wanted to test some younger people, but these younger people will have
some of
the older people with them" to provide continuity, he said. "But the
majority
are new, so rejuvenation is the name of the game."

Anderson reported from Jerusalem.



John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to
resolve it."
Rene Descartes

Indeed. Good things are happening across the globe, most especially in the
Middle East. And we can thank GWB for it.

A similar report:


Free at Last?

Some Arabs welcome American democratic browbeating

Michael Young





On Monday, exactly a week after Lebanon's prime minister, Rafik Hariri, was
killed in a bomb blast in Beirut's tony seaside hotel district, some 50,000
or so protestors met near the site, observed a minute of silence, and
marched toward Hariri's grave. As riot police brought up the rear, or stood
by the roadside, protestors demanded a return to Lebanese sovereignty,
shouted abuse against Syria and the pro-Syrian Lebanese government, and
insisted that there be an impartial inquiry into Hariri's death.

I was there, and while protests are perhaps not as rare in the Arab world as
some might think-particularly when directed against Israel or the United
States-anti-Syrian protests in Lebanon (protests where, for example, Syrian
President Bashar Assad could repeatedly be called "a pimp") are. The killing
of Hariri removed all the stops, dissolving fear and allowing the
pleasurable indecorum of the incanted insult. And while many in the United
States might today be jaded when it comes to liberal impulses in the Middle
East, increasingly there are those in the region who see recent elections in
Iraq (and democratic movements in Ukraine or Georgia) as deeply relevant to
their own fate.

On the same day as the demonstration in Beirut, George W. Bush delivered a
speech in Brussels where he again demanded that the Syrians remove their
army and intelligence agents from Lebanon. He also, more broadly, declared:
"A status quo of tyranny and hopelessness in the Middle East-the false
stability of dictatorship and stagnation-can only lead to deeper resentment
in a troubled region, and further tragedy in free nations. The future of our
nations, and the future of the Middle East, are linked-and our peace depends
on their hope and development and freedom."

In this endeavor, Bush has unexpected allies. Writing in the Washington Post
on Wednesday, David Ignatius offered up this quote from Lebanon's paramount
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who, after siding with Syria for decades (he
didn't have much choice; they killed his father) and opposing the U.S. war
in Iraq, has become the leading figure in the anti-Syrian Lebanese
opposition: "It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has
started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq.
But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, eight million of
them, it was the start of a new Arab world . The Syrian people, the Egyptian
people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We
can see it."

Jumblatt, for whom political changeability has long been the price to pay
for protecting his minority community (and his control over it),
nevertheless means what he says. Like many Lebanese, albeit at much greater
risk to his own life, Jumblatt has gone too far in attacking Syria to turn
back now. And while there are those in the Middle East and the United States
who will refuse to give the administration any credit on democratization, at
this end of the table, and in Iraq, the more pragmatic view is that it's
best to take what one can from the outside if expanded freedom is the
upshot.

Nick Gillespie was right to pooh-pooh the view that "[a]t every step of his
career, [George W.] Bush has been written off as a lightweight and a loser,
a dim bulb whose grasp exceeds his reach and whose I.Q. is stuck somewhere
in the high double digits." I once referred to him as a "cretin," and the
laugh is surely on me, though this was in the context of a successful
endorsement. Like Ronald Reagan in Eastern Europe, Bush has shown in the
Middle East that simple, indeed simplistic, ideas can go a long way when
expressing the frustration and anger of populations afflicted with tyrannies
refusing to accord them even minimal respect.

For most Lebanese, the killing of Hariri was very much perceived as an
outrage against the normal order of things, because it targeted a rare Arab
leader who left behind a constructive legacy and didn't pack a gun. Even
recognizing the former prime minister's faults, one often-heard refrain
somehow makes perfect sense, particularly against the backdrop of
photographs of Hariri's burned body widely disseminated in the local press:
"It was unnatural for such a man to die in such a sordid way." This
suggested the extent to which the Lebanese today understand (as many should
have, but not so long ago didn't) that autocracy is the triumph of the
aberrant and the promotion of the inferior.

As the debate continues in the U.S. and elsewhere over Bush's merits and
demerits, and over his dissembling, indeed lying, before dispatching forces
to Iraq, the Lebanon example shows the advantages of selective
interpretation. It matters little where Syria's Lebanese foes stand in
disputations over Bush's record, nor did voters in Iraq much care either;
both populations took what was relevant to them, accepted Bush's broad sound
bites of democratization, and carried the idea on from there according to
their parochial interests.

Should the United States pursue its democratizing path, particularly in the
Middle East? It is remarkable how Bush's critics, both from the political
left and libertarian right, found themselves in a bind after the Iraqi
election. Unlike Jumblatt, most scurried to a fallback position when their
predictions of a fiasco proved wrong. A favored option was to warn that
Washington had roused an Islamist monster. In that way the critics did a
180-degree turn: implying, initially, that the U.S. was avoiding democratic
elections, then, when that proved wrong, that the elections would fail, and,
when that again proved wrong, that elections should never have taken place
because the victors were mullahs.

This magazine alone is proof that there is no consensus among American
liberals (in the classical sense of the term) as to whether defense of
liberty at home should somehow imply defending it abroad. As Christopher
Hitchens bitingly observed in a 2001 Reason interview with Rhys Southan,
when asked about why he was growing more sympathetic to the libertarian
critique: "It's hard to assign a date. I threw in my lot with the left
because on all manner of pressing topics-the Vietnam atrocity, nuclear
weapons, racism, oligarchy-there didn't seem to be any distinctive
libertarian view. I must say that this still seems to me to be the case, at
least where issues of internationalism are concerned. What is the
libertarian take, for example, on Bosnia or Palestine?"

Indeed, what is the libertarian take on Iraq or Lebanon? Or, for that
matter, that of those leftist internationalists who cannot bring themselves,
even temporarily, to walk in step with the Bush administration? Should the
priority be freedom? Should it be to deny the president recognition for
being true to his democratic word? Is American democracy an island, an
isolated city on the hill that can be an inspiration but must not otherwise
challenge the status quo buttressed by the prescriptions of national
sovereignty?

Who knows, but earlier this week tens of thousands of marching Lebanese, and
hundreds of thousands behind them, were hoping the answer is more, not less,
American interest in advancing their desired liberty, even as they realize
they are the ones who must take the lead.

"JimH" wrote in message
...

"John H" wrote in message
...
The Palestinians are catching on. The Syrians seem to be hearing the
message.
Putin got the message. The Word is spreading...


washingtonpost.com
Palestinians Signal Break With Arafat Era
Lawmakers Approve Cabinet Heavy on Young Technocrats and Reformers

By Samuel Sockol and John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 25, 2005; Page A15

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb. 24 -- The Palestinian parliament on Thursday
approved
a new cabinet composed largely of reformers and technocrats after forcing
Prime
Minister Ahmed Qureia to dump an entrenched group of Yasser Arafat
loyalists.

With a few exceptions, the 24-member cabinet is made up of men with
little
experience in elective office, unlike the old cabinet and alternative
lists for
the new one informally floated this week by Qureia, which were drawn
mostly from
members of parliament and stalwarts of Arafat's Fatah movement, the
dominant
organization in the Palestinian Authority.

Qureia, a member of Fatah who was appointed prime minister by Arafat 15
months
ago, was forced to accept the wholesale shake-up by a newly independent
and
assertive Palestinian Legislative Council. Lawmakers, after years of
subservience in which they simply rubber-stamped cabinets stacked with
Arafat
cronies, exercised their oversight powers for the first time and forced
real
change on the Palestinian Authority's executive branch.

Even members of Fatah, which controls about two-thirds of the
legislature's
seats, turned against Qureia and his proposals for a limited cabinet
shuffle.
Seemingly liberated by the death of Arafat three months ago, and with an
eye
toward parliamentary elections in July, lawmakers across the board
demanded a
major housecleaning.

"It was important to raise a voice clearly against anyone who does not
want to
change and develop," said Mufid Abed Rabbo, a member of parliament from
Fatah's
wing of young reformers. "It was necessary to say no to the old path, and
therefore it was agreed upon to have a cabinet of technocrats."

In forcing the overhaul, lawmakers said they were reacting to public
demands to
purge corrupt cabinet ministers, professionalize the government and
expedite
reforms, especially the training of security forces and the consolidating
of 12
security agencies. Lawmakers said the new cabinet underscored their
dedication
to reform in advance of a 25-nation conference in London next week that
will
focus on strengthening Palestinian political institutions.

The power struggle over the cabinet played out over the past three days
as
Qureia, who as prime minister has strongly defended the political status
quo and
initiated few changes, informally floated several lists but never
proposed a new
cabinet to parliament because it was clear he did not have the votes.
Threatened
with a no-confidence vote that could have cost him his job, Qureia
finally
relented and stripped the cabinet of most holdovers from the Arafat era.

The new cabinet, approved 54 to 10 with four abstentions, includes seven
ministers from the old cabinet and 17 newcomers. Eleven of the ministers
have
doctorates, and three are engineers.

Maj. Gen. Nasser Yusef was named interior minister, while Mohammed
Dahlan,
formerly a senior security official in Gaza, was made civil affairs
minister.
Both are strong advocates of reform and were often at odds with Arafat.
Salam
Fayyad, a respected former official with the International Monetary Fund,
retained his position as finance minister.

Arafat's nephew, Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian ambassador to the United
Nations,
was named foreign minister, replacing Nabil Shaath, who was made deputy
prime
minister and information minister. Negotiations minister Saeb Erekat, one
of the
best-known Palestinian spokesmen for more than a decade, lost his cabinet
post
but remains the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel.

"This is a transitional government," Shaath said after the vote. "The
public
wanted to test some younger people, but these younger people will have
some of
the older people with them" to provide continuity, he said. "But the
majority
are new, so rejuvenation is the name of the game."

Anderson reported from Jerusalem.



John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary
to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

Indeed. Good things are happening across the globe, most especially in
the Middle East. And we can thank GWB for it.

This could have happened way back in 1991...but Bush 41 was afraid to back
the Shiite and Kurd uprising in Iraq, despite publicly encouraging them to
do so.

Bush 43 has certainly sent a strong message that he means what he
says...and the silent majority in the Arab world believes him as is starting
to get bolder and bolder.

"As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."

"NOYB" wrote in message
...

"JimH" wrote in message
...

"John H" wrote in message
...
The Palestinians are catching on. The Syrians seem to be hearing the
message.
Putin got the message. The Word is spreading...


washingtonpost.com
Palestinians Signal Break With Arafat Era
Lawmakers Approve Cabinet Heavy on Young Technocrats and Reformers

By Samuel Sockol and John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, February 25, 2005; Page A15

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb. 24 -- The Palestinian parliament on Thursday
approved
a new cabinet composed largely of reformers and technocrats after
forcing Prime
Minister Ahmed Qureia to dump an entrenched group of Yasser Arafat
loyalists.

With a few exceptions, the 24-member cabinet is made up of men with
little
experience in elective office, unlike the old cabinet and alternative
lists for
the new one informally floated this week by Qureia, which were drawn
mostly from
members of parliament and stalwarts of Arafat's Fatah movement, the
dominant
organization in the Palestinian Authority.

Qureia, a member of Fatah who was appointed prime minister by Arafat 15
months
ago, was forced to accept the wholesale shake-up by a newly independent
and
assertive Palestinian Legislative Council. Lawmakers, after years of
subservience in which they simply rubber-stamped cabinets stacked with
Arafat
cronies, exercised their oversight powers for the first time and forced
real
change on the Palestinian Authority's executive branch.

Even members of Fatah, which controls about two-thirds of the
legislature's
seats, turned against Qureia and his proposals for a limited cabinet
shuffle.
Seemingly liberated by the death of Arafat three months ago, and with an
eye
toward parliamentary elections in July, lawmakers across the board
demanded a
major housecleaning.

"It was important to raise a voice clearly against anyone who does not
want to
change and develop," said Mufid Abed Rabbo, a member of parliament from
Fatah's
wing of young reformers. "It was necessary to say no to the old path,
and
therefore it was agreed upon to have a cabinet of technocrats."

In forcing the overhaul, lawmakers said they were reacting to public
demands to
purge corrupt cabinet ministers, professionalize the government and
expedite
reforms, especially the training of security forces and the
consolidating of 12
security agencies. Lawmakers said the new cabinet underscored their
dedication
to reform in advance of a 25-nation conference in London next week that
will
focus on strengthening Palestinian political institutions.

The power struggle over the cabinet played out over the past three days
as
Qureia, who as prime minister has strongly defended the political status
quo and
initiated few changes, informally floated several lists but never
proposed a new
cabinet to parliament because it was clear he did not have the votes.
Threatened
with a no-confidence vote that could have cost him his job, Qureia
finally
relented and stripped the cabinet of most holdovers from the Arafat era.

The new cabinet, approved 54 to 10 with four abstentions, includes seven
ministers from the old cabinet and 17 newcomers. Eleven of the ministers
have
doctorates, and three are engineers.

Maj. Gen. Nasser Yusef was named interior minister, while Mohammed
Dahlan,
formerly a senior security official in Gaza, was made civil affairs
minister.
Both are strong advocates of reform and were often at odds with Arafat.
Salam
Fayyad, a respected former official with the International Monetary
Fund,
retained his position as finance minister.

Arafat's nephew, Nasser Kidwa, the Palestinian ambassador to the United
Nations,
was named foreign minister, replacing Nabil Shaath, who was made deputy
prime
minister and information minister. Negotiations minister Saeb Erekat,
one of the
best-known Palestinian spokesmen for more than a decade, lost his
cabinet post
but remains the Palestinians' chief negotiator with Israel.

"This is a transitional government," Shaath said after the vote. "The
public
wanted to test some younger people, but these younger people will have
some of
the older people with them" to provide continuity, he said. "But the
majority
are new, so rejuvenation is the name of the game."

Anderson reported from Jerusalem.



John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary
to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

Indeed. Good things are happening across the globe, most especially in
the Middle East. And we can thank GWB for it.

This could have happened way back in 1991...but Bush 41 was afraid to back
the Shiite and Kurd uprising in Iraq, despite publicly encouraging them to
do so.

Bush 43 has certainly sent a strong message that he means what he
says...and the silent majority in the Arab world believes him as is
starting to get bolder and bolder.

"As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."

Even more good news from the Middle East:


Egypt's Mubarak Orders Election Changes

42 minutes ago

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday ordered a
revision of the country's election laws and said multiple candidates could
run in the nation's presidential elections, a scenario Mubarak hasn't faced
since taking power in 1981.

The surprise announcement, a response to critics' calls for political
reform, comes shortly after historic elections in Iraq and the Palestinian
territories, balloting that brought a taste of democracy to the region. It
also comes amid a sharp dispute with the United States over Egypt's arrest
of one of the strongest proponents of multi-candidate elections.


"The election of a president will be through direct, secret balloting,
giving the chance for political parties to run for the presidential
elections and providing guarantees that allow more than one candidate for
the people to choose among them with their own will," Mubarak said in an
address broadcast live on Egyptian television.


Mubarak - who has never faced an opponent since becoming president after the
1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat - said his initiative came "out of my full
conviction of the need to consolidate efforts for more freedom and
democracy."


The audience before him at Menoufia University broke into applause and calls
of support, some shouting, "Long live Mubarak, mentor of freedom and
democracy!" Others spontaneously recited verses of poetry praising the
government.


Mubarak said he asked parliament and the Shura Council to amend Article 76
of the constitution, which deals with presidential elections. Egyptian
television reported that the two bodies convened emergency sessions to begin
discussing an amendment.


He said the amendment would be put to a general public referendum before the
presidential polls, which are scheduled for September.


As recently as last month Mubarak had rejected opposition demands to open
presidential balloting to other candidates, and he was obviously aware of
the historic potential of his announcement.


"If it happens, it would be the first time in the political history of Egypt
that a chance is given to somebody who is capable of shouldering the
responsibility to protect the people's achievements and future security to
come forward for presidential elections with parliamentary and popular
support," he said.


Egypt holds presidential referendums every six years in which people vote
"yes" or "no" for a single candidate who has been approved by parliament.
Mubarak has been nominated by his ruling National Democratic Party to stand
in four presidential referendums, winning more than 90 percent of the vote
each time.


Mubarak has not officially announced his candidacy for a fifth term, though
he is widely expected to be nominated by his ruling party.


Several opposition leaders have demanded that Mubarak amend the constitution
to let more than one candidate compete for the presidency. In recent
meetings between opposition groups and the government, it was agreed that an
amendment would be discussed after September's presidential referendum,
making Mubarak's announcement even more surprising.


The move also comes amid a dispute between Egypt and the United States over
the recent detention of an opposition leader.


Ayman Nour, head of the Al-Ghad Party, was detained Jan. 29 on allegations
of forging nearly 2,000 signatures to secure a license for his party last
year. He has rejected the accusation, and human rights groups have said his
detention was politically motivated.


The prosecutor general has denied that charge.


His detention has been strongly criticized by Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice \, and Rice canceled a Mideast visit that had been planned for next
week, a decision believed to be in protest of Nour's detention.


Hafez Abu Saada, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights,
praised Mubarak's "unexpected step," which he said reflected local, regional
and international pressure.


"It is an important step that gives the Egyptian society a strong push for
more freedom and democracy," he said.

Activist Aida Seif el-Dawla was tentative in her praise.

"This concession is made to the United States of America. It is better for
him (Mubarak) if this decision came as a result of the national dialogue
with the opposition parties and in response to the protests against the
law," she said. "Let us wait and see, because a free campaign of more than
one candidate requires more than a statement from the president."

On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 08:37:06 -0500, "NOYB" wrote:


"NOYB" wrote in message
...


Egypt's Mubarak Orders Election Changes

42 minutes ago

By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday ordered a
revision of the country's election laws and said multiple candidates could
run in the nation's presidential elections, a scenario Mubarak hasn't faced
since taking power in 1981.

The surprise announcement, a response to critics' calls for political
reform, comes shortly after historic elections in Iraq and the Palestinian
territories, balloting that brought a taste of democracy to the region. It
also comes amid a sharp dispute with the United States over Egypt's arrest
of one of the strongest proponents of multi-candidate elections.


"The election of a president will be through direct, secret balloting,
giving the chance for political parties to run for the presidential
elections and providing guarantees that allow more than one candidate for
the people to choose among them with their own will," Mubarak said in an
address broadcast live on Egyptian television.


Mubarak - who has never faced an opponent since becoming president after the
1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat - said his initiative came "out of my full
conviction of the need to consolidate efforts for more freedom and
democracy."


The audience before him at Menoufia University broke into applause and calls
of support, some shouting, "Long live Mubarak, mentor of freedom and
democracy!" Others spontaneously recited verses of poetry praising the
government.


Mubarak said he asked parliament and the Shura Council to amend Article 76
of the constitution, which deals with presidential elections. Egyptian
television reported that the two bodies convened emergency sessions to begin
discussing an amendment.


He said the amendment would be put to a general public referendum before the
presidential polls, which are scheduled for September.


As recently as last month Mubarak had rejected opposition demands to open
presidential balloting to other candidates, and he was obviously aware of
the historic potential of his announcement.


"If it happens, it would be the first time in the political history of Egypt
that a chance is given to somebody who is capable of shouldering the
responsibility to protect the people's achievements and future security to
come forward for presidential elections with parliamentary and popular
support," he said.


Egypt holds presidential referendums every six years in which people vote
"yes" or "no" for a single candidate who has been approved by parliament.
Mubarak has been nominated by his ruling National Democratic Party to stand
in four presidential referendums, winning more than 90 percent of the vote
each time.


Mubarak has not officially announced his candidacy for a fifth term, though
he is widely expected to be nominated by his ruling party.


Several opposition leaders have demanded that Mubarak amend the constitution
to let more than one candidate compete for the presidency. In recent
meetings between opposition groups and the government, it was agreed that an
amendment would be discussed after September's presidential referendum,
making Mubarak's announcement even more surprising.


The move also comes amid a dispute between Egypt and the United States over
the recent detention of an opposition leader.


Ayman Nour, head of the Al-Ghad Party, was detained Jan. 29 on allegations
of forging nearly 2,000 signatures to secure a license for his party last
year. He has rejected the accusation, and human rights groups have said his
detention was politically motivated.


The prosecutor general has denied that charge.


His detention has been strongly criticized by Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice \, and Rice canceled a Mideast visit that had been planned for next
week, a decision believed to be in protest of Nour's detention.


Hafez Abu Saada, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights,
praised Mubarak's "unexpected step," which he said reflected local, regional
and international pressure.


"It is an important step that gives the Egyptian society a strong push for
more freedom and democracy," he said.

Activist Aida Seif el-Dawla was tentative in her praise.

"This concession is made to the United States of America. It is better for
him (Mubarak) if this decision came as a result of the national dialogue
with the opposition parties and in response to the protests against the
law," she said. "Let us wait and see, because a free campaign of more than
one candidate requires more than a statement from the president."


Heard about that on the radio this morning - great news.

Now, let's see, was it Clinton or Kerry that got this ball rolling?

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes