LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t see that what the security forces and army units are doing will lead to a definitive victory.”
Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa, who was quoted in a Lebanese newspaper calling for a negotiated settlement between rebel forces and the Syrian government Article, 5A
Tunisians protest at Arab Spring event
TUNIS, Tunisia - Protesters threw stones and tomatoes and booed Tunisian leaders Monday at a ceremony marking two years since the start of the Arab Spring, an uprising that changed regimes around the Arab world.
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and other dignitaries who spoke had to be escorted off stage by security forces as some 3,000 people protested the country’s moderate Islamist-led government.
Marzouki urged patience and said he has no “magic wand” to bring down unemployment.
But protesters complained they have seen little improvement in their region since the new government took power. Some held signs saying, “The people want the fall of the government and a new revolution.”
Monday’s ceremony marked two years since the street vendor set himself on fire to protest abuses under the regime of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Vendor Mohamed Bouazizi died but set off demonstrations that spread around Tunisia and to several Arab countries, including Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Syria.
Egyptian prosecutor files resignation
CAIRO - Egypt’s prosecutor general has submitted his resignation, less than a month after he was swiftly sworn in by the president.
If his resignation is accepted, it will be a blow to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who has been engaged in a power struggle with the judiciary since late last month.
Egypt’s official MENA news agency carried excerpts of the resignation letter submitted Monday by Talaat Abdullah.
Hundreds of public prosecutors staged a sit-in outside Abdullah’s office in Cairo on Monday, demanding he resign.
They said the president’s appointment of Abdullah was improper and the Supreme Judicial Council should have been the one to nominate him, in order to ensure a separation of powers.
Israel moves ahead with settlement plan
JERUSALEM - Israel on Monday said it was pushing forward with plans to build hundreds of homes in a Jewish settlement of east Jerusalem, risking renewed tensions with the Palestinians and its Western allies over the project.
The announcement was part of a new Israeli settlement push announced earlier this month as retaliation for the Palestinians’ success in winning United Nations recognition.
An Interior Ministry committee on Monday approved an intermediate stage of planning for the construction of 1,500 apartments in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, a part of the city Palestinians claim for a future capital.
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the move, calling it a “stark challenge to the entire international community.”
Israel announced plans early this month to build thousands of settlement homes, including in Ramat Shlomo, in response to the U.N. General Assembly’s recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.
The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, condemned the construction plans, and several European allies summoned Israeli ambassadors to lodge formal protests.
In Bahrain, tear gas, arrests at protest
MANAMA, Bahrain - Security forces in Bahrain fired tear gas and arrested protesters Monday during marches in the traditional market area of the Persian Gulf nation’s capital, forcing many businesses to close.
The Interior Ministry said it made a “number” of arrests. Among them was rights activist Yousef al-Muhafedha, the acting head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said his wife, Zainab al-Sairafi.
On Monday, authorities set up checkpoints and expanded patrols across Manama before rallies Monday to mark an annual commemoration for two protesters killed in 1994.
Separate groups of hundreds of protesters chanted slogans in the narrow streets of the city’s market district.
Some of the crowds were dispersed with tear gas and volleys of stun grenades.
More than 55 people have been killed in unrest in the country since February 2011, when Bahrain’s majority Shiites escalated their fight for a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. The island nation is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 12/18/2012