In Egypt, protesters again gather at Tahrir Square following Friday prayers. Main focus of the prayers is the Military rulers.
Violence and death continue in Syria, as two explosions in Damscus today kill at least 10 people. International criticism also continues as it is noted that Syria has failed to live up to its commitments.
Out of Iraq, a film called The List that highlights the perils of those Iraqis who have worked with the Americans, has its premiere in New York.
The government of Israel recently said it would begin deporting illegal immigrants from two African countries because conflicts there had subsided and it was safe to return home.
A commander of the Libyan rebel forces that helped to oust Moammar Gadhafi last year claims British intelligence services played a key role in his capture and alleged CIA rendition back to Libya in 2004, where he says he was tortured. His lawyers say the case reveals the murky links between Western governments and Gadhafi before the 2011 uprising.
Details follow the break.
Rival crowds of pro-democracy activists and Islamic fundamentalists protested in different corners of Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday for the second straight week.
Hundreds of mostly young men turned out for Friday's protest, chanting slogans against the country's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The turnout fell far short of what had been billed as a “million man march,” and highlighted growing divisions among secular and Islamic activists.
Bearded Islamic fundamentalists, or Salafists, erected a separate podium across from their secular rivals, as both sides protested.
Loudspeakers for the Salafists played verses of the Koran as the young activists repeated slogans from last year's revolution which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
The election commission announced the final list of 13 candidates for president on Thursday. Ten candidates were disqualified. The roster included the two top Islamists, but reinstated Ahmed Shafiq, who served under Mubarak during last year's uprising. Missing from the list are liberal reformers who spurred last year's protests.
Veteran Egyptian editor and publisher Hisham Kassem argues that revolutionary fervor is waning as the country's economy continues to deteriorate. He also argues that support for Islamic fundamentalists has diminished:
"On the whole, the Islamists have lost points. People's expectations are too high, and I don't think that even if the liberals or any other current had [won last year's election], that they would have done better. They would have lost a lot of points. People now are result-oriented. They don't want to just keep hearing political jargon and not feel this is reflecting on their life,” said Kassem.
Kassem says that parliament has been trying to remove the government and to prosecute people who have allegedly insulted Islam, issues which do not resonate with most Egyptians.
The first round of voting is set for May 23-24. If none of the candidates wins more than 50 per cent of votes, a run-off will be held in June. A winner will be declared on June 21. The military has pledged to turn over power to a civilian government by the end of June.
Syria
Two explosions rocked Damascus on Friday, leaving at least 10 people dead, as international concerns mount over Syria's deteriorating cease-fire.
One blast occurred near a mosque where anti-government protesters gather after Friday prayers. The government called it a suicide bombing orchestrated by "terrorists."
Earlier, there was an explosion in a nearby industrial zone.
The violence came as thousands of protesters calling for President Bashar al-Assad's departure rallied in cities, including the flashpoints of Aleppo and Hama.
International criticism continued Friday from the U.S., the European Union and some U.N. officials who say Syria's has failed to abide by terms of a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan.
During a news conference in India, U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "gravely alarmed" over Syria's rising death toll in spite of the government's repeated commitments to end violence.
Iraq
There are more than 3,000 names on Kirk Johnson's list -- a list that has brought him incredible joy but which has also taken an emotional toll.
The names are of Iraqis who worked alongside Americans as translators and advisers during the more than eight-year-long Iraq war and who now fear for their lives and their families' safety. Just last week, one was mailed a syringe filled with poison and a note telling him to inject himself before the senders did so themselves.
Johnson has worked furiously for the last four years to help resettle these Iraqis in the United States. They seek him out after receiving death threats from Al Qaeda-affiliated groups and Iraqi insurgents who consider them the enemy for helping U.S. forces.
Now, a new documentary called The List artfully dovetails the plight of these Iraqis with Johnson’s story. It had its world premiere at New York City's Tribeca Film Festival on April 21. A few nights later, producer and director Beth Murphy joined Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, for a postscreening talk.
"You’re sitting in a bar with [Johnson] and having a conversation and someone calls him and says, 'I'm going to get killed in an hour,’" Rieckhoff says. "I mean, imagine that constant pressure on him and on his family. I just think it’s incredible."
Johnson first went to Iraq in 2004 to work for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In the film, he says he felt compelled to go because he spoke Arabic and understood the culture. He also wanted to serve his country – despite disagreeing with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In 2007, after hearing of the plight of U.S.-affiliated Iraqis, he founded The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. The film portrays Johnson as a hero to the 1,500 Iraqis he has helped resettle in the United States but doesn’t hide the toll it has taken. Johnson grinds his teeth in his sleep, sleepwalks, and suffers from insomnia.
In one scene, he hangs his head in disbelief while looking at the website for No Buddy Left Behind, an organization that rescues dogs from Iraq. The dogs were safe in the United States within weeks, while most of the Iraqis in "The List" had been in limbo for years.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, “Any Iraqi who believes he/she is at risk or has experienced serious harm as a result of association with the U.S. is encouraged to contact the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to receive guidance.” ( From RFE/RL, Courtney Brooks)
Israel
The government of Israel recently said it would begin deporting illegal immigrants from two African countries because conflicts there had subsided and it was safe to return home. Opponents of the decision obtained court rulings postponing the deportations, but these rulings are to expire soon.
Moses Gadia is a 35-year-old hotel worker originally from a village near Yambio, in newly independent South Sudan. Five years ago, he crossed into Israel from Egypt with his wife and two children. A third child was later born here.
Gadia said he is grateful that initially he was able to work and support his family. But that changed a few months ago. The Israeli government announced it would begin deporting undocumented workers from South Sudan because a decades-long war had ended with the country's independence last year.
“Most of the families [in Israel] are in danger. Their lives are like somebody in the jungle because of no work. They don't have money and they cannot go to hospital,” said Gadia.
An Israeli supporter of the South Sudanese immigrant community, Rami Gudovitch, said the 700 South Sudanese migrants here were given only two months to leave on their own.
"This was a very short notice and we were extremely concerned knowing from the community that the situation in South Sudan is actually very close to a disaster," said Gudovitch.
He said there still is fighting between South Sudan and neighboring Sudan. And the United Nations has declared the region a humanitarian disaster because of shortages of food and basic human services.
The Israeli government also has ordered the deportation of about 2,000 citizens of Ivory Coast who fled its civil war 10 years ago. The conflict ended in principle last year after former President Laurent Gbagbo was removed from power and his opponent who won disputed elections in 2010, Alassane Ouattara, was installed as president.
A lawyer for the Hotline for Migrant Workers group, Asaf Weitzen, said tensions continue in Ivory Coast and some asylum seekers could face reprisals from the new government.
"There are still people who were maybe against the current regime, people who have suffered from persecution, which does not allow them to go back to Ivory Coast, etc. Those people must be able to ask for asylum," said Weitzen.
Amidst demonstrations and legal appeals, Israeli courts have extended the deadlines, but these are due to expire in early May.
Activists say almost all of the estimated 55,000 undocumented migrants in Israel are vulnerable. More than 85 percent of them are from Eritrea and northern Sudan. Because of persecution and instability in their countries they have been allowed to stay, but only temporarily.
Weitzen said that in principle this is to allow them to seek refugee status, but most are not able to apply.
"Probably because the state knows that if they were examined most of them would be recognized as refugees, the state doesn't even allow them to ask for refugee status. The only thing the state does is releasing them from prison and declaring them as people who deserve temporary protection," said Weitzen.
Of those migrants who have been able to apply only a handful, less than one percent, have been granted refugee status. This is much lower than acceptance rates in most countries which range from ten percent to 50 percent or more.
While under temporary protection, the migrant is free and can work temporarily. But jobs are scarce, and as a result, many sleep on the streets and some turn to crime, which creates resentment among ordinary Israelis.
The Israel representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, William Tall, noted that the average number of migrants entering Israel illegally has doubled from 1,000 per month last year to 2,000 per month this year. Five years ago there were almost none.
"Israel has joined the club, so to speak, of countries that now are attracting significant mixed migration flows. One can understand the genuine alarm of the government of [over] any unrestrained movement across the border itself," said Tall.
The Israeli government calls them infiltrators. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently that most are not really refugees.
He said it is a national plague economically, socially, in infrastructure, welfare and from the point of view of internal security. He said Israel will continue to take in refugees from war, but must stop others who pose what he calls a serious threat to the character and future of Israel.
The Israeli government is building a three meter-high fence along its border with Egypt aimed at preventing illegal crossings by migrants, as well as by smugglers and terrorists. It also is constructing a detention facility in southern Israel to hold up to 11,000 illegal immigrants.
U.N. refugee official Tall said the government is still adjusting to the situation.
"This is a country that maybe six or seven years ago didn't even conceive of such mixed migration flows coming to the country. So they're developing an asylum system, but it is still quite a bit in its infancy now," said Tall.
He said many Israeli officials are sympathetic to the plight of immigrants in part because of the Jewish people's history of exile and suffering. But he said the government must improve the asylum application process.
This does not ease the worries of Moses Gadia, who said he no longer has family in South Sudan that can take him in. He said he is willing to return home or go to another country, but he would need more time and long-term support in order to do so.
Libya
A commander of the Libyan rebel forces that helped to oust Moammar Gadhafi last year claims British intelligence services played a key role in his capture and alleged CIA rendition back to Libya in 2004, where he says he was tortured. His lawyers say the case reveals the murky links between Western governments and Gadhafi before the 2011 uprising.
Abdul Hakim Belhadj was part of the dissident Libyan Islamic Fighting Group before the uprising last year. The U.S. State Department considered the group a terrorist organization.
Belhadj claims he was arrested with his pregnant wife in 2004 at Kuala Lumpur international airport and taken back to Libya on a CIA rendition flight - along with another Libyan national, Sami al-Saadi - and into the hands of Gadhafi
“They were picked up, Belhadj from Kuala Lumpur, Sami from Hong Kong, and rendered back to Libya to be tortured in a joint operation by the CIA, MI6 and Gadhafi’s spies," explained Cori Crider of the group Reprieve, who is giving him legal advice.
Belhadj was released from prison in 2010 and a year later played a key role in the uprising against Gadhafi. Documents discovered last September in bombed-out government offices in Tripoli appeared to tie Britain to Belhadj’s alleged rendition. He decided to launch the legal action in December.
"We believe there will be a judgment, that will bring to justice those who took part in this shameful action, which is against the principle of justice and democracy," Belhadj said in an interview with VOA.
The rendition allegedly took place just a year after then British Prime Minister Tony Blair marked Gadhafi’s return to the international fold in 2003 with a visit to Libya. Blair has denied any knowledge of the rendition. His foreign secretary at the time - who is accused of approving the rendition - was Jack Straw.
“I’m sorry I can’t say more about this case but with a police investigation pending and this intended civil legal action,” Straw told reporters.
Cori Crider of Reprieve says the case could mark a legal turning point.
“People who made the political deals at the highest level have never really had any accountability in any country so I think we’re starting to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel,” Crider said.
With an ongoing police investigation and separate civil lawsuits, both the British government and former ministers have refused to comment on the allegations.
All content based on VOA News reports.
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