By Dr. James M. Dorsey, July 9, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Russia has emerged as Saudi Arabia’s and the UAE’s silent partner in assisting the Sudanese military’s efforts to weaken, if not defeat, a months-long popular revolt that has already toppled president Omar Bashir.
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Algeria’s popular protests, or Hirak, entered their 20th week on July 5, with thousands of demonstrators flooding city streets.
Algeria’s parliament elected Islamist leader Slimane Chenine as its new speaker on Wednesday. Chenine, a member of the opposition National Construction Movement, replaces Moad Bouchareb, who resigned last week following months of protests against the country's ruling elite.
Separately, Algeria’s Supreme Court ordered the detention of former Industry minister Youcef Yousfi on Wednesday on charges of “dissipation of public funds” as part of an anti-graft investigation. Protests continue despite the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as Algerians demand a transition to democracy and the trial of figures linked to the former regime.
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By Dr. James M. Dorsey, June 27, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Demonstrators in Sudan, Algeria, and nations beyond the Middle East such as Pakistan and Russia are applying lessons learned from the 2011 popular Arab revolts as the Sudanese military uses an apparent Saudi-United Arab Emirates template to crack down.
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The Islamic State claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings that rocked the Tunisian capital on Thursday at the peak of tourism season and months ahead of a general election. The Interior Ministry said the first blast targeted a security patrol in central Tunis, killing one officer and wounding another along with three civilians. Ten minutes later, a second suicide bomber blew himself up at the back door of a police building in a complex housing the headquarters of an antiterrorism brigade in the city. The ministry said four security officers were wounded.
Shortly after the two attacks, President Beji Caid Essebsi, 92, was “taken seriously ill and transferred to the military hospital in Tunis,’’ the Tunisian presidency said in a post on Facebook. Some media reports claimed the president had died, but they were denied by the presidency.
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Algeria’s predominantly young protesters have proven resistant to any attempt to hijack their cause and bend it to any end but their own.