Qaddafi prepares to take over world (body)

Passport? Check. Suitcase? Check. Enemies list? Ticked. Billion-dollar frivolous lawsuit for defamation of character? Check.

Muammar Qaddafi, officially Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution--whose career trajectory has now passed the orbits of army Colonel, revolutionary hero, dictator, scion of pan-Arab nationalism, patron saint of international terrorism (or, depending on your outlook, freedom fighting), and leader of all Africa--will complete his dream for global dominion when Libya assumes the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly later this summer.

(Look out, Mr. Universe.)

Any doubt that Qaddafi is adapting to his burgeoning status as global alphadog with anything but grace was euthanized by his filing of a one-billion-dollar lawsuit against a Ugandan tabloid--The Red Pepper--which recently suggested that the Colonel has had a steamy affair with that country's Queen Mother.

(Qaddafi also has outstanding lawsuits pending against unflattering newspapers and journalists in Niger, Algeria and Morocco. Next up may be Zimbabwe, whose press has lampooned the Libyan leader for throwing a tantrum when, upon arriving for an official state visit in South Africa, Qaddafi was greeted by South Africa's minister of culture instead of incoming president Jacob Zuma.)

“We stand by the story,” said Red Pepper editor Ben Byaraba, “and we are waiting for Qaddafi to stand in court to accuse us of writing that he is engaged in the sex scandal.”

Should worse come to worse, of course, the newspaper--nay, the country--would not be able to pay off Qaddafi. Uganda's per-capita GDP is about $1100, which means Qaddafi may have to accept 909,090 average Ugandan citizens in lieu of a cash settlement.

DOING AMERICA'S LAUNDRY
All kidding aside, the recent mysterious death of a Libyan opposition leader suggests Qaddafi is getting cozier with America ahead of what is sure to be a spectacle of his addressing the United Nations General Assembly later this year.

The death in a Libyan prison of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi just weeks after he was visited by reps of Human Rights Watch has raised the alarm that Qaddafi is doing America favours ahead of Libya's formal welcoming back into the society of Western-friendly nations.

Al-Libi, a member of an Islamic opposition movement to Qaddafi's rule, was renditioned and tortured in Egypt under the auspices of the CIA where he produced forced confessions linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda of the sort that the Bush administration needed to justify its 2003 invasion.

He was then repatriated to Libya, where Qaddafi--no friend to Islamists anyway--locked him up at the request of the American government. Then came the Human Rights Watch visit, worries that the Obama administration is having trouble putting the Bush administration's record to rest, and (presto!) al-Libi's sudden, apparent suicide.

Cavorting with HRW is just the kind of thing that would embarrass the US and jeopardize its plans to use Qaddafi as a proxy for a new, softer kind of imperialism. A redeemed Libya heading the UNGA looks tolerable on America's ledger. A Libyan who can't keep his mouth shut about torture does not, and Qaddafi won't abide such defamation of his character.

Would Qaddafi kill to take over the world?

More Tuque Souq coverage of the Lightness of Being Qaddafi

Egyptian editor sentenced, then pardoned, after questioning Mubarak's health

Egyptian president-for-life (in sickness and in health, till death do us part) Hosni Mubarak has pardoned the editor-in-chief of one of the country's main opposition newspapers after he was arrested for questioning Mubarak's state of health.

Ibrahim Issa [pictured], head of the al-Dustour daily newspaper and a well-known critic of the government, was incarcerated in 2007 and recently sentenced to 2 years in prison after publishing an editorial [ARABIC] that criticized the Mubarak regime for concealing from all Egyptian citizens the leader's health.

Mr. Issa wrote: "The president in Egypt is a god and gods don’t get sick. Thus, President Mubarak, those surrounding him, and the hypocrites hide his illness and leave the country prey to rumors. It is not a serious illness. It’s just old age. But the Egyptian people are entitled to know if the president is down with something as minor as the flu."

He continued, again with some sarcasm: "The [Egyptian] state wants to present him as a sacred person who never errs, with whom nobody competes. So he definitely cannot fall ill. And nobody should even dare to think he can die like other human beings! The issue now, however, involves the country’s present and future. As everyone knows, the president’s family and Mrs. Mubarak have been pushing for the president to give up power—during his lifetime—and pass it to his son Gamal. The president is the only member of the family who resists this idea either because he wishes to stay in power or because he’s worried about antagonizing the Egyptian people and some important army generals."

[Read the full translation of Mr. Issa's article.]

According to the BBC, the Egyptian authorities originally justified the arrest of Mr. Issa by citing national security issues, saying that his editorial "fuelled malicious rumours and scared away foreign investors."

Mubarak's pardon of Issa came on October 6, an Egyptian national holiday commemorating the 1973 war against Israel, now a date on which the president traditionally grants clemency.

Egypt has an infamous record of harassing and jailing journalists and bloggers, and almost all of its major news outlets are state-controlled. Normally the Mubarak government's suppression of media is concerned with the Muslim Brotherhood. But no government critic - not even in the blogosphere - is safe in Egypt.

Reporters Without Borders has Egypt on its list of "Internet Enemies" especially for targeting bloggers. In one of the most famous incidents of state crackdown, Mubarak's government set up a sting to entrap and arrest homosexuals in Egypt, who communicate via blogs because of strict laws against homosexuality.

The health of Mubarak, now 80 years old, has long been kept in secrecy. His son, Gamal, is tapped to succeed him, not necessarily democratically.

[UPDATE: Right about the time this post went live, the New York Times ran a front-page story about how the U.S. presidential hopefuls have been less than forthcoming about their medical/health status.]

Saved by the [lack of a] Bell

"The Syrian economy, out of all the regional economies, has been least affected by this [global financial] crisis... The Syrian financial market is yet to be born, and the financial institutions and banks are still in their infancy, the capital of which is mostly domestic..."

- Syrian Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed al-Hussein, in an op-ed from the Syrian pro-gov't daily al-Thawra, commenting on how Syria's defence against the domino effect of the financial market crisis is, um, its grossly underdeveloped financial market.
[See further comment from Asharq Alawsat here.]

The media on Tzipi Livni

It's official - Ehud Olmert will resign as head of the Kadima Party and as Prime Minister of Israel. (Next stop, prison?) Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni takes over as leader of Kadima, and has less than 2 months to form a new government and offiically take the reigns of PM.

[Tuque Souq note: If Livni becomes PM, then 3 out of the 4 branches of Israeli government will be headed by women - Dalia Itzik is Speaker of the Knesset and Dorit Beinisch is President of the Supreme Court (aka Chief Justice). Man Shimon Peres is still the figurehead President of Israel. But eat your heart out, Sarah Palin.]

Here's a sampling of Middle Eastern opinions on Tzipi Livni

Asharq Alawsat:
"[Livni] is also notorious for her lack of respect and appreciation and for her disregard and scorn of Palestinian rights... It is obvious that the Palestinians and other Arabs will pay the price of the battle during which Tzipi Livni will prove her character before the other Israeli political parties. The outcome of this battle will be to return the negotiations with Syria and the Palestinians to square one."

Ha'aretz:
"Livni has so far known only how to evade any binding statement that indicates a clear policy. She has known how to enthusiastically stress important words to hide that there is nothing behind them."

Al-Arabiya:
"She is viewed as a strong supporter of the peace process, but if general elections are held the opposition right-wing Likud party is expected to win the most seats, putting the future of the negotiations in doubt."

Gulf News:
"The odds are that [Livni] like Olmert will not have the political make-up to sign a historic deal with the Palestinians. As chief negotiator in the current government, [she] has not demonstrated the calibre needed to make "painful" concessions. The dichotomy between the celebrated Israeli democracy, which has catapulted Livni to the forefront of Israeli politics, at least for now, and the dire reality in the Occupied Territories has never been more pronounced."

The Daily Star:
"As a mother, Livni has seen firsthand the immediate psychological impact that children suffer when they experience overwhelming fear, so surely she can imagine what might be the cumulative effect of growing up under such terrifying conditions.... Perhaps Livni might prove herself to be man enough for the job if her actions as premier emanate from her concerns for the wellbeing of children - both hers and ours."

Globe and Mail:
"[W]hen it comes to substance, what happens on the three key issues for Israel - the threat of nuclear Iran, Syria-Lebanon, and the Palestinians - will depend on who is the next president of the United States as much as who is the Israeli prime minister."

Where in the world is Khaled Meshal (going)?

The Kuwaiti daily al-Rai al-Aam reported [ARABIC] last week that the Damascus-based politburo chief of Hamas, Khaled Meshal, is being relocated to Sudan. (Hamas then denied the report.)

[Meshal is pictured here with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in 2006.]

Speculation is that:

A) Syria is tossing Meshal as a signal to Israelis that top-level peace talks should resume (Israelis and Syrians are still engaged in low-level peace talks via Turkey);
B) Syria is trying to disengage itself from the clutches of Iran (perhaps to advance said peace talks with Israel) and is sending a message to Hamas to get off Iran's teat or else;
C) Syria struck a deal with Meshal to lay low in Sudan for awhile while it makes a half-hearted effort to curry favour with Israel and the West.

While C seems all too predictable an answer for even casual observers of Middle East politics, consider this:

1. After Syrian President Bashar al-Assad participated in a summit last week in Qatar with leaders from France and Turkey to discuss advancing the peace process, Iranian state news exclaimed that "no effort can distance Syria from Iran." (A statement of fact that nicely doubles as a threat.)

2. At least some Israeli officials believe President al-Assad is genuinely interested in kick-starting serious peace talks again; and perhaps further that al-Assad really is fed up with Hamas.

3. And, a release by the US-based anti-Assad Syrian Reform Party alleged that Khaled Meshal's personal secretary in Syria, Hisham al-Labadani, was dragged from his car last week in the Syrian city of Homs and shot to death. While suspect as a news source, the SRP's claim is backed up by reports that Hamas is beefing up security around is Syria-based leaders for fear of assassination.

The SRP believes that moderate factions within al-Assad's regime are trying to strengthen ties with the West and sever the long-standing umbilical cord to Iran, and that al-Assad himself is playing both sides so as to not isolate his country from either Iran or the West until he can make the best move (for him).

So has Meshal packed his bags? Nobody knows for sure at the moment. The Hamas leader has lived in Damascus for more than 10 years, ever since Israel's Mossad tried and failed to assassinate him in Jordan. But with Hamas evermore dependent on Iranian funding, it is unlikely that Meshal's departure from Syria - if it happens - will be amicable.

For more analysis, read Ramzy Baroud's comment in al-Ahram [ENGLISH].