Friday protests

There were protests through out the Middle East today, it being Friday.  In Egypt, protesters gathered to express a desire that Mubarak be put on trial.  In Jordan, authorities are working to keep competing groups of protesters seperate.  In Syria, despite the President’s speech on Wednesday, protests occured, with several dying (one estimate was four people) as the protesters were disperesed.  The largest protests occured in Yemen, where to rallies supporting opposite views occured a mile and half away from each other, as explained in this BBC News article.  Bahrain’s protesters continue to face a growing crackdown.  Meanwhile, in Kuwait, the whole cabinet resigned, as reported in this Al Jazeera article.  While Kuwait has not yet had any major popular protests, it is certainly a state to keep an eye on.  Another state to keep an eye on is Algeria, and Professor Rob Prince has an article up on his blog pertaining to that state.

Kuwaiti interior minister resigns over torture-murder case

While the states of the Middle East will probably not begin falling like democratic dominoes, there are a few states that strike me as more likely to be swept up by a wave of democracy.  These include Yemen, Jordan, Libya, Syria, and Kuwait.  And it is still most likely that none of the regimes in these states will collapse.  The latter state, Kuwait, is not widely considered to be at risk for political upheaval, but this BBC News article tells of an interesting resignation taking place.  A man arrested for illegally selling liquor was tortured to death while in police custody (similar incidents were occurring with increasing frequency in Egypt over the past six months).  Thus, the interior minister is resigning, and a member of the ruling family will replace him.  Now there are calls from Kuwaiti students for protests, which would be the first in the Gulf.

Kuwait rally’s disruption leads to MPs’ protest

BBC News reports on the latest in what has been a relatively tumultuous period in Kuwaiti politics.  Essentially, a rally held to protest a perceived plot by the government to amend the constitution to limit freedoms (a bit vague).  The rally was broken up by baton-wielding special forces.  Thus, opposition members of the Kuwaiti parliament intend to challenge Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah on the matter.