NATO’s killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers provokes a crisis as Pakistanis demand the US abandon the airbase from which its drone strikes are launched, to the delight of the Afghanis:
- NATO Strike on Pakistan Military ‘Couldn’t Come at a Worse Time’ (Christian Science Monitor)
- Pakistan Orders US to Leave Airbase in Row over Deadly Nato Assault (Guardian)
- Afghan Schadenfreude as Pakistan Reels in Wake of Deadly NATO Strike (Christian Science Monitor)
- In Egypt, Trying to Reaffirm Faith in a Revolution (Washington Post)
The arrests of what are probably Iranian informants comes on the heels of Hezbollah’s arrests of informants in Lebanon:
- CIA Arrests in Iran? Allegations Point to Smoldering Covert War with US (Christian Science Monitor)
Election day arrives to the consternation of the military, with high hopes for the Muslim Brotherhood and secularists held suspect for their acceptance of the military’s delays:
- Egypt Military Chief Tantawi Warns over Elections (BBC)
- Egypt Vote Is On, Despite Deadly Protests. How Will the Muslim Brotherhood Do? (Christian Science Monitor)
- Egypt’s Liberals Are Squeezed Between Islamists and a Flawed Regime (Guardian)
Support for Obama has dropped and “26 percent of Muslim-Americans don’t see themselves as part of any party;” will Ron Paul be the benificiary?
- Muslim Voters Hard to Predict in 2012 (Iowa City Press-Citizen)
On the scene in Libya, Franklin Lamb avers that Seif al-Islam has not been properly treated for his injuries because his guards fear that a trip to the only local hospital would lead to an assassination “on order to collect on the substantial rumored Qatar/NATO offered cash reward”:
- The Troubling Case of Saif Gadhafi: ICC Prosecutor’s Career Move Switches Horses and Legal Theories in Libya (Foreign Policy Journal)
Nineteen of the 22 Arab countries vote to cut off project funding and central bank transaction but Iran continues to wait:
- Arab League Approves Syria Sanctions (abc News)
- Analysis: Iran Adopts “Wait and See” Policy on Syria’s Crisis (Reuters)
…. meanwhile analyst George Friedman suggests that the rise of the “Syrian Free Army” coincides with Israel’s realization that Iran strengthened in regional influence by America’s intervention in Iraq is more threatening to them than a potential increase of Sunni religious parties in “democratized” hitherto secular Arab states:
“Opposition leaders said Mr Saleh had no authority to issue a pardon because he signed a deal last week transferring his powers to the vice-president”:
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