Iranian protesters clash with police

TEHRAN (AFP) ― Iranian riot police fired tear gas and paintballs at anti-government protesters in Tehran, websites and witnesses said Monday, while an Iranian news agency said a bystander had been shot dead.Fars news agency said a number of other people had been wounded by the gunfire and blamed the outlawed former rebel group, the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran.Some opposition websites said that men

Feb. 15, 2011

Arab regimes must change or face revolt

DUBAI (AFP) ― Within less than a month, popular uprisings toppled the long-time presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, and revolts could spread to other Arab countries if they do not implement reforms quickly, analysts say.“The Arab leaders are in a race against time: Either they quickly adopt liberal changes, or they suffer the same fate as (the leaders) of Tunisia and Egypt,” said Anwar Eshki, the dir

Feb. 14, 2011

Mubarak: A survivor comes undone

CAIRO (AP) ― He survived assassination attempts and wave after wave of Mideast crises, a solid ally of the West whose stable image reassured many Egyptians. Hosni Mubarak ended his presidency as a symbol of what was wrong with Egypt: the repression, the corruption, the lost hopes of a swelling, impoverished class.Mubarak, in power for nearly three decades, was such a fixture that his exit from pow

Feb. 13, 2011

Fallout from Egypt being felt in region

DUBAI (AP) ― Less than a month after the world watched Tunisia celebrate the collapse of the country’s strong-arm ruler, the scenes in central Cairo on Friday offered an even more potent display of the newfound power of the Arab street: fist-pumping crowds cheering the end of President Hosni Mubarak.The downfall of Mubarak ― one of the mainstays of Middle East politics and Western policies in the

Feb. 13, 2011

U.S. presses but Egypt rejects ‘hasty’ reforms

CAIRO (AFP) ― The United States urged Egypt to immediately lift an emergency law and launch democratic reforms as protestors staged the biggest show of defiance against President Hosni Mubarak in a three-week-old revolt.But Mubarak’s newly appointed deputy, Vice President Omar Suleiman, warned that hasty reforms could spell “chaos” in the Arab world’s most populous nation.In Cairo, hundreds of tho

Feb. 9, 2011

Egypt transition talks strained by pressure

CAIRO (AFP) ― Its wings clipped by a popular revolt, Egypt’s regime is seeking a way out of crisis through national dialogue, but pressure from the street and division among key players could discredit the process.On Sunday, Vice President Omar Suleiman began talks with members of the opposition and announced measures aimed at placating the protesters staging massive protests demanding the end of

Feb. 9, 2011