POLAND: Middle East activists observe Polish election.
Activists from Egypt, Libya and Tunisia observed Poland’s parliamentary election on Sunday to gain firsthand experience about how to hold the first democratic votes in their countries in decades.
Rania Mbarki, one of five election officials from Tunisia, emerged optimistic about her nation after visiting two polling stations in Warsaw.
“I want our election to show the will of the people, whatever it is,” she said, adding that voter registration is high in her region of Tunisia. “This is the birth of a new, democratic process and we are expecting this new arrival with a lot of patience and a lot of optimism.”
Tunisia was the first Arab Spring country to successfully overthrow its longtime leader, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and will also be the first to hold free elections, with voters to cast ballots on Oct. 23.
Egypt plans to hold its national ballot on Nov. 28. No elections are scheduled in Libya yet, where dictator Moammar Gadhafi remains in hiding.
UNITED STATES: Concern for American who joined forces with Libyan rebels.
Relatives and government officials say they are concerned about an American who spent six months in a Libyan prison and has joined the rebels fighting against forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi.
Matthew VanDyke of Baltimore was captured by Gadhafi forces in March and freed in August. But he hasn’t left Libya. Recent news photos transmitted from Libya show VanDyke, 32, dressed in fatigues and standing alongside rebel fighters.
His mother, Sharon VanDyke, said she supports her son’s decision to remain in Libya but is worried that he is fighting. She also says he can no longer expect help from the international organizations that worked to secure his release.
SYRIA: Foreign minister warns nations against supporting umbrella council.
Syria’s foreign minister warned the international community Sunday not to recognize a new umbrella council formed by the opposition, threatening “tough measures” against any country that does so. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem did not specify what measures Damascus might take. But he said that countries that do not protect Syrian missions could find their embassies treated in the same way.
Denver Post wire services
