Syrians are  emboldened by signs of an imminent victory for the rebels in Libya …
…. but in “a comment that appeared designed to include Turkey, [Assad] warned ‘countries close and far away’ against intervening” as “Syrian opposition groups” met in Istanbul aiming “to elect a national council” after the model of the National Transitional Council in Libya that attained international recognition:
Rebels have seized Tripoli neighborhoods and taken and their supporters, “silent for months, emerged,” but continuing clashes sent celebrating “residents back into their homes Monday.” Two of his sons are in custody, but if Gaddafi falls, Libya faces multiple “independent armed groups with different loyalties and who may have different visions for Libya” …
- Libya Rebels Control ’95 Percent’ of Tripoli, but Qaddafi Loyalists Vow to Fight (Christian Science Monitor)
… meanwhile, “[b]oth Akamai (top) and Google (bottom) recorded a spike in web traffic on 22 August”:
Maligned by an investigation that then-head of “the FBI’s terrorist financing operations section” says “should never have happened,” a founding father of major American Muslim organizations points out that rather than disapprove of American-style democracy, the Arab spring is about Muslims’ desire to see it spread in the Muslim world:
- … American Islamic leader struggles to put raids behind him (Washington Post)
The Dar-al-Uloom Deboandi seminary, Imarat Shariah of Bihar, the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz organization of lower class Muslims, all now support Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, and the sole RJD assemblyman Asif Mohammad Khan has “resigned from the party in protest against” its leader’s opposition to Hazare:
- Muslim Bodies Back Anna’s Cause (Times of India)
“A spokesman for the Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas, has denied that it is ending its de facto ceasefire with Israel, following an earlier report on a Hamas radio station claiming the truce was over; rather the unilateral ceasefire has been succeeded by an Egyptian and UN brokered agreement:
- Hamas Says Gaza Ceasefire Agreed (AlJazeera)
“What never wavers: Nearly all Americans, about 95%, consistently say they believe in God or a higher power”:
- 9/11 Traced New Spiritual Lines (USA Today)
Leave a Reply