Mass protest in Egypt
Last Saturday, a criminal court in Cairo sentenced Egypt autocrat Hosni Mubarak -along with his long-time interior minister Habib al-Adli, to life in Prison but dismissed corruption charges against Mr. Mubarak and his deeply unpopular sons, Alaa and Gamal, on technical grounds. Six top police commanders, who faced the a charge of complicity in killing unarmed protesters, were acquitted for what the judge said was a lack of evidence.
Soon after the verdict was announced, protesters poured on to Tahrir Square and planned for a million strong march, which took place yesterday. Khalil spoke with Egyptian journalist Amad Shokr about the protests and the current political landscape in Egypt.
Ahmad Shokr is a Ph.D. candidate in History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University and a freelance journalist based in Cairo.
US Turkey military alliance
Last month, on the sidelines of the two-day Nato Summit, Turkish President used a face to face meeting with President Obama to place an order for US-made drones for use against the Kurdish resistance in Turkey.
Last year, the United States moved 4 of its Predator drones from Iraq to Turkey and now Turkey is trying to acquire armed drones of its own – the kind used by the US in Yemen Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Last December, as a group of Kurdish schoolchildren and young villagers were transporting cheap fuel into Turkey from Iraq to the border area, four Turkish F-16 fighter jets launched an attack and within an hour, 34 members of the group, including 17 children, were dead. The intelligence for this attack had been provided by a U.S. Predator drone.
Shahram Aghamir spoke with Dr. Burhan Allthuran of Indiana University about the US Turkey Alliance and Turkey’s policy on the Kurdish question.
