EGYPT: Panel recommends reforms for presidential elections.
A constitutional reform panel Saturday recommended opening presidential elections to competition and imposing a two-term limit on future presidentsa shift from a system that allowed the ousted Hosni Mubarak to rule for three decades.
The changes are among 10 proposed constitutional amendments that are to be put to a popular referendum this year. The proposals appeared to address many of the demands of the reform movement that helped lead the 18-day popular uprising that forced Mubarak to step down Feb. 11.
But some Egyptians worry that the proposed changes don’t go far enough to ensure a transition to democratic rule and could allow the entrenched old guard to maintain its grip on power.
YEMEN: Massive protests target president; tribal allies bolt.
Embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday suffered back-to- back blows: Hundreds of thousands of protesters called for his ouster in the largest anti-government rallies yet, and two powerful chiefs from his own tribe abandoned him.
In a speech to the protesters in the city of Emran, Sheikh Hussein bin Abdullah al-Ahmar, a key leader of the Hashid tribe and a longtime ally to Saleh, said he is resigning from the leadership of the ruling party.
In a separate statement, Mohammad Abdel Illah al-Qadi, a key leader of the Sanhan tribe, a Hashid affiliate and a longtime bulwark of Saleh’s regime, said he was resigning from the ruling party.
BAHRAIN: Exile returns to urge “successful revolution.”
The leader of a banned opposition party returned from exile Saturday and exhorted a crowd of tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators to continue protesting until they achieved a “successful revolution.”
Hassan Mushaima’s return from London is another challenge for the government, a U.S. ally, as protesters have refused to back down, staging the largest demonstration yet on Friday, just days after a brutal government crackdown.
ALGERIA: More demands for ruler’s ouster.
Hundreds rallied in the capital of Algiers, demanding the ouster of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, with police out in far larger numbers. The protest on central Martyrs Square came two days after the government ended a 19-year state of emergency. The restrictive measure was put in place in 1992 as Algeria embarked on an era of violence that ballooned into a deadly Islamist insurgency.
TUNISIA: Stone-throwing youths clash with police.
Authorities temporarily banned vehicle and pedestrian traffic on the capital’s central boulevard Saturday after a new outbreak of clashes between police and stone-throwing protesters.
Police and troops backed by tanks deployed in Tunis as hundreds of youths rallied to protest against the North African country’s interim government, fearing it has hijacked Tunisia’s revolution. The Interior Ministry said three people died Saturday, without elaborating. Denver Post wire services
