A R A B I C A ارابيكا
CONFLICTING REPORTS #1
*A tweet from Ahmad Humeid on Libya: "God is great,thankfullyinBenghaziafterthe news ofthe voteon theno-fly zone."
*But Al Jazeera reports that Gaddafi's forces continued to bomb rebels after declaring the ceasefire.
*In Mitsurata, "witnesses said Gaddafi's troops are still bombing the city, killing 25 people," the network reported. Witnesses told Al Jazeera that snipers are on the rooftops, killing pedestrians who pass by.
CONFLICTING REPORTS #2
*Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh expressed regret over the massacre of at least 30 unarmed civilians protesting near Sanaa University on Friday, calling it "something unfortunate."
*Contradicting multiple accounts of witnesses and medical sources who told wire agencies that snipers and security forces fired into the crowds, the president blamed "confrontations between citizens and protestors after the protesters expanded into residential neighborhoods and disrupted life there." Saleh stressed that "the police did not fire any shots."
*Samih Toukan tweets, "Arabic television has not reported anything about the massacres in Yemen. God is great with the hypocrisy of the Arabs."
POPULAR REVOLT, STAGE 1
*Protests are continuing in Syria despite 32 people being charged on Thursday with the crime of "harming the image of the state." At a protest in the port city of Banias, the Facebook group "Syrian day of anger" posted the protesters demands which include: "allowing demonstrations, the release of political prisoners, the release of teenaged blogger Tel al-Molohi, freedom of speech and providing job opportunities for young people."
POPULAR REVOLT, STAGE 2
*Unlike most of Egypt's opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood support draft constitutional amendments that will be voted on in a referendum on Saturday. This poster reads, "Yes to the constitutional amendments. Share you opinion to build a future for Egypt – appointment on Saturday, March 19th."
*The official website containing all sorts of information about the referendum is estefta2.eg. The site has mapped out polling stations around the country. Click on a city, and the site directs users to a street map with an exact location and directions for how to get there.
March 18, 2011
photo credit: illustir
