A blasphemy trial in Tunis symbolizes an emotional struggle, with implications for the Arab world, playing out with the rise of Islamists after the end of a secular dictatorship.
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The New Islamists: Tunisia Navigates a Democratic Path Tinged With Religion
Before the Green Revolution in Iran, before Tunisia and Tahrir Square, there was the Saffron Revolution in Burma: a peaceful uprising for democracy, led by Buddhist monks, that was brutally suppressed by the ruling generals . Read full article > >
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Editorial Board: Prisoner release keeps Burma’s reforms on track
Tunisians unveil a statue in honour of the man whose act of self-immolation a year ago unleashed the Arab Spring.
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Tunisia unveils Bouazizi statue
IT WAS a year ago Saturday that fruit vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself aflame in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, improbably providing the spark for what has become a regional revolution. The Arab Spring acquired its name in part because early commentators likened it to the upheavals that brought an end to dictatorship in other parts of the world — including the former Soviet bloc, East Asia and Latin America. It seemed logical that Middle Eastern states would, at last, follow the same path that led in other places from dictatorship and economic stagnation to free elections, free markets and integration into a global economy. Read full article > >
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Keeping the Arab Spring alive
Tunisia’s Esperance win the African Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Wydad Casablanca.
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Esperance take African club crown
The office of Charlie Hebdo, a weekly, had recently published an issue “guest edited” by the Prophet Muhammad in recognition of the Islamist party that won the Tunisian elections.
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Charlie Hebdo Magazine in Paris Is Firebombed
The Tunisian government is seeking to question Suha Arafat in an investigation into corruption by government officials, including the country’s ousted president.
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Tunisia Seeks to Question Suha Arafat in Corruption Inquiry
Protesters angered by a local result in Tunisia’s first free election burned a central government building on Friday in the impoverished town of Sidi Bouzid.
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Tempers Flare After Some Tunisian Votes Are Nullified
The leader of the Islamist party which won Tunisia’s first free election appealed for calm in the town where the “Arab Spring” began, accusing forces linked to the ousted president of fanning violence there.
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Fresh Post-Vote Clashes in Cradle of Tunisia’s Revolt
TUNIS — The strong showing by a moderate Islamist party in Tunisia’s elections this week has made this tiny coastal nation a test case for whether Islamist ideology and democracy can coexist in a region long dominated by Western-backed autocrats who have used religion as a foil, not a governing philosophy. Read full article > >
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In Tunisia, Islamists flourish as democracy is ushered in
TUNIS — A once brutally repressed moderate Islamist group was poised to win the most seats in an elected assembly tasked with writing the Tunisian constitution and appointing a new interim government. As Tunisian authorities continued to count ballots in the nation’s first truly free vote , early results, leaked to the Tunisian radio station Mosaique, showed that Ennahdha, Renaissance in English, was leading the polls among many constituencies. Read full article > >
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Moderate Islamists lead in early counting of Tunisian votes
Polls open in Tunisia in the first free election of the Arab Spring, nine months after the fall of former President Zinedine el Abidine Ben Ali.
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Landmark Tunisia vote under way
Democracy and Islam can coexist in Tunisia, Rachid al-Ghannouchi believes, and his ideas may be tested if his party succeeds in Sunday’s voting.
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Rachid al-Ghannouchi Imagines Democratic Future for Tunisia
Islamists are poised to do well in elections this month in Tunisia, the first of the Arab Spring countries to choose new representatives. But the nation’s prime minister has a message for the West: Don’t worry. “All Islamist parties are not the same,” Beji Caid Essebsi said in an interview Wednesday. Opinion polls indicate that an Islamist party, Ennahdha, could get the most votes in the Oct. 23 balloting, in which voters will choose an assembly to rewrite Tunisia’s constitution. Read full article > >
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Tunisian leader says Islamists won’t undo secular system
Islamists are poised to do well in elections this month in Tunisia, the first of the “Arab Spring” countries to choose new representatives . But the nation’s prime minister has a message for the West: Fear not. “All Islamist parties are not the same,” Beji Caid Essebsi said in an interview Wednesday. Indeed, American officials are cautiously optimistic about Tunisia’s chances of transitioning to democracy. The election features a dizzying array of over 100 parties, and is being overseen by an independent commission. Read full article > >
The New Islamists: Tunisia Navigates a Democratic Path Tinged With Religion
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012Editorial Board: Prisoner release keeps Burma’s reforms on track
Friday, January 13th, 2012
