The first shaky amateur videos are emerging from today's protests in Iran, where thousands of people have taken to the streets in defiance of the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has made it clear that further opposition will not be tolerated.

But the protesters are not only marching but also upping the ante with new slogans slamming Khamenei's son Mojtaba, who, according to analysts, is the leading force behind the violent crackdown. 

In the following clip, protesters can be heard shouting "Mojtaba, we're not going, we won't give you the supreme leadership."

The protest today was intended to coincide with the anniversary of the student uprising of 1999, which was also suppressed, with hundreds of dissidents jailed, injured or killed.

Reports of attacks on protesters by pro-government Basiji militiamen have been difficult to verify because most journalists either have been expelled from the country or severely restricted in their ability to report. 

The government began its media crackdown shortly after the disputed presidential elections in June that sparked widespread protests across the country.

The featured videos were posted on YouTube and several Iranian opposition websites, which claim it was shot today, although verification is difficult with cellphone lines cut and Internet access slowed.

-- Meris Lutz in Beirut

Videos: Protesters take to the streets in Tehran. 

In an essay in Al-Ahram Weekly, Mustafa Labbad writes that “Arab public opinion is divided between support for the demonstrations as the legitimate right of all peoples and rejection of them as a product of the West and a tool for bringing down the Iranian regime.”

Two dynamics are unfolding: The peaceful demonstrations, Labbad says, have turned into a global war against Iran while the supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “sum up Iran and its unique culture in the president's persona, and in doing so, they come very close to classic models of dictatorship and its political values from the Middle East -- one opinion, one voice, one group.”

This raises an intriguing notion. In countries like Iran, where security forces have tightened their grip, can democracy be willed through popular resistance, or does it need a bit of help from outside forces?

Click here for Labbad's full essay.

-- Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: Protests in Iran. Credit: AFP 

It started out as a frantic Facebook message plea for help about a tense confrontation at an airport in Istanbul between Amir Farshad Ebrahimi (above, right) and Turkish security officials in March 2008.

As a onetime member of the Revolutionary Guard, he says his military superiors were impressed by his enthusiasm and writing skills and one day, they recommended him for the Quds Force, the unit described by U.S. officials as the Islamic Republic’s elite branch for overseas subterfuge. The 19-year-old readily agreed.  

Ebrahimi offers evidence of his work, including a document he says was the equivalent of his discharge papers (at right), evidence that he lived in Beirut and training manuals he designed. 

“Iranians don’t send the weapons directly,” he said. “We give you money. You want to build hospitals, or buy missiles? If you want to build missiles, here’s a contact that will help.”

One day, he recalled, an argument had broke out between the Beirut Quds force commander and Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, some minor point about domestic Iranian politics.

From the beginning, the Quds Force worked to tap Ebrahimi’s communications gifts. He claims he was placed in the directorate of intelligence and operations and quickly sent off to North Korea for six months of training in counter-intelligence and propaganda. 

Based on his lessons in North Korea, he was asked to design a course to train recruits in Iran. He authored course materials on subjects such as “psychological operations” or “propaganda and its role in foreign affairs,” copies of which he provided to the Times (at right). 

Aboul-Fetouh, who is also secretary general of the Union of Arab Doctors, was among detainees facing various charges, including conspiring with international terrorist organizations against the country and money laundering.

The prosecutor's report alleges that those detained were responsible of forming terrorist cells inside Egypt and funneling Muslim Brotherhood members to be trained in the Gaza Strip under the supervision of Hamas. The report also alleges connections between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Lebanese Hezbollah party.

"Aboul-Fetouh led a cell that received instructions from Hezbollah. The orders focused on staging streets protests in Egypt and other Arab countries," the report read.

The movement is similarly accused of receiving large sums of money from unknown foreign sources and using it to finance terrorist activities in addition to diverting to its own uses money raised for Palestinians during the Israeli bombing of Gaza in December 2008 by its affiliates in the United Kingdom (Islamic Daawa).

Government critics and Muslim Brotherhood supporters say the recent purge is part of a decades-long effort to taint the organization, the nation's most formidable opposition party with control of 20 percent of Parliament. Despite the long history of enmity between successive Egyptian ruling regimes and the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement's lawyer, Abdel Moneim Abdel-Maksoud, confirmed that this was the first time the country's biggest opposition movement had been officially accused of terrorist activities.

"The government regularly accused us of trying to take over certain public organizations and workers unions in order to recruit more people to the movement, but it is the first time we get indicted for terrorism," Abdel-Maksoud said.

The recent detentions are seen by many to be part of the government's efforts to limit the Muslim Brotherhood's popularity as the group prepares its candidates to run for seats in the Shura Council and People's Assembly elections to be held next year.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: Abdel Moneim Aboul-Fetouh. Credit: Al-Masry Al-Youm.

"The heaviest weapon to carry is one rose in the hand," it says. 

One video making its way around the Internet shows demonstrators how to make devices to disable the motorcycles used by truncheon-wielding Basiji and Ansar-e-Hezbollah militiamen. 

The marches, which are taking place amid continued political discord over the June 12 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are  meant to mark the 10-year anniversary of the storming of Tehran University dormitories by pro-government militias and subsequent weeks of unrest. 

The circular urges marchers to avoid wearing the green that has become the official color of the Mousavi campaign or "flashy make-up" in order to demonstrate the marchers' serious intent. 

It suggests demonstrators leave cellphones and jewelry at home and carry only an identification card and relatives' phone numbers.

If protesters decide it's too risky to take part in the rally, the circular advises them to walk or drive around in their own neighborhoods, flashing the "victory" sign with their fingers.

"Bear in mind the most important point is to walk to the destination and not follow the exact path," the message advises. "Wherever you see the anti-riot police or militia ... hindering you ... change your path ... the goal is to keep on going."

-- Los Angeles Times

Photo: A protester shows a victory sign and white rose as people protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in Brussels on June 20. Credit: Yves Logghe / Associated Press

Arab royalty is famous for its ability to resolve familial disputes in private, but that isn’t the case with Saudi princes Khaled and Al-Waleed bin Talal.

In an act of rare public criticism, Prince Khaled bin Talal openly criticized his billionaire brother for propagating vice, and attempting to change the traditionalist norms of the kingdom. In an interview with an Islamist blog, Prince Khaled said, “the objectives of Prince Al-Waleed and others are to open a wide range of intellectual, religious, and ethical changes.”

 He also leveled the charge of violating Shariah, or Islamic law, which makes up the majority of Saudi law.

Prince Al-Waleed is one of the better-known Saudi royals, due to his extensive financial power and his extravagant lifestyle. So extravagant that his 460,000-square-foot palace was featured on VH1.

He is also among the less-conservative Saudi princes and has suggested reforming the legal code to allow modest reforms such as allowing women to drive. This has put him at odds with conservative members of the Saudi royal family, as well as the Saudi clerical establishment.

The feud itself is not a new development. Prince Khaled said that he tried to privately resolve his arguments with his brother over the past decade, but after Prince Al-Waleed’s media companies began to distribute films in Saudi Arabia, it was too much, and he went public online.

Prince Khaled suggested treating Al-Waleed’s immorality by freezing his assets, estimated at $13 billion. After “repentance” from “personal motives,” the assets would be freed. Prince Khaled could be airing his grievances ignored by the rest of the Saudi family, or his criticism may be part of a liberalizing trend—although limited to the Saudi royal family. Prince Khaled’s criticism of his brother comes during a week in which Prince Fahad bin Saad criticized the uneven distribution of wealth in the kingdom.

Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi reformist believes it to be a part of that liberalizing trend. While speaking to the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper the National, al-Qahtani said: “There is a big change in the mindset of the young generation of Saudi princes. They are more critical than the previous generation and they are more open for criticism.”

Others, like Ali al-Mosa take the more traditional line, arguing that the Royal family should be more cohesive in public appearances: “The [royal family] should remain an umbrella [impartial] above all.”

— Jahd Khalil in Beirut

Photo: Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, right, and his wife, Princess Amira al-Tawil, visit the Al-Waleed group-funded resident complex for people affected by a landslide at al-Dhafeer village in Yemen in May. Credit: Yahya Arhab / EPA

The Egyptian funeral of Marwa El Sherbini, who was brutally killed  outside a courtroom in the German city of Dresden, turned into a mass rally Monday against Germany, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and racism.

The 32-year-old pharmacist, dubbed the "veil martyr" by the Egyptian media, was stabbed to death Wednesday by a man who had been fined 780 euros for taunting her with racial slurs in August 2008. The assailant, known as "Axel W.," appealed the fine, and while the pregnant El Sherbini was preparing her testimony, he stabbed her 18 times in front of her husband and 3-year-old son. The husband was severely injured after unsuccessfully trying to protect his wife.

Thousands attended El Sherbini's burial, which took place in her hometown of Alexandria, just a few hours after her body arrived in Egypt on Monday morning. Mourners carried banners condemning racism and criticized both German and Egyptian authorities' reaction to the crime.

Although the Egyptian Foreign Ministry denounced the act and asked its German counterpart for an official response, Egyptians were upset at the way their government had been dealing with the matter. "The passive policy adopted by the foreign ministry will lead to similar incidents against other Egyptians and Muslims abroad," said El Sherbini's brother Tarek.

"Now we as Muslims and Arabs have a chance to show the whole world that real terrorism takes place in the West," he added. "In the West, they don’t recognize us. There is racism there. The Germans are the enemies of God."

The funeral, which was attended by a large number of Egyptian politicians and parliament members, was overwhelmed with chants such as "We need revenge," "Where is our foreign ministry?" and "Down with Germany" and "No to racism."

Egyptians were angry that the murder had received little attention among German and international media. The absence of the German ambassador at El Sherbini's funeral also sparked ire. El Sherbini moved to Germany four years ago to be with her husband, Elwi Ali Okaz, who was granted a fellowship to study  genetic engineering at the Max Planck Institute.

The incident between El Sherbini and Axel W. began in a city playground, where El Sherbini was with her son. An argument developed in which Axel W. is said to have hurled abuse at the woman, including calling her a terrorist.  El Sherbini filed an official complaint, which led to the fine.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: Thousands attended Marwa El Sherbini's funeral. Credit: Associated Press

Three decades ago Mina, an 18-year-old who had recently graduated from high school, took to the streets with her family to protest the injustice and tyranny of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in demonstrations that led to his overthrow.

Last month, the 48-year-old professor of physiology again took to the streets, again her with family, to oppose the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amid allegations of massive vote fraud.

At the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, "the military were in the streets but they were just soldiers," she recalled. "They were just doing their duty because of orders from their commander. Most of the time they came and told people to run and not to stay, because they were afraid of their commanders."

But now, she said, it's different. The pro-government Basiji militiamen on the streets "really beat people and they want to kill people," she said in an interview, asking that her last name not be published for fear of retribution. 

In 1979, so long as you didn't leave your neighborhood you were safe. But now the fighting has spread to all parts of the capital. "In our streets, two or three young people were killed" in recent days, she said.

Mina said she and her family went into the streets 1979 because they opposed the Shah's autocratic rule. "Our family were in a good economic situation, better than now," she said. "But at that time we thought, 'We want a change of regime for justice.' We wanted a new system in the framework of justice. We thought,  'The foreigners plunder our oil and money.' We did not have independence in our foreign policy. We thought the distance between rich people and poor people was too much."

Even up to two years after the revolution, Mina says her family was satisfied with the changes wrought by the new clerical rulers. "We thought we were on our golden way," she recalled. "We were very happy for the revolution."

Still, she admits that when she and her family cast votes for the Islamic Republic, they didn't really understand what they were after. People wanted these things called democracy, freedom and independence, but weren't sure what they meant."

But after war the ended in 1988, they waited for positive change and got nothing. 

"We wanted corruption to decrease. We could no longer accept the government's claim that 'we are in a special situation.'  And we started to think that we are far away from the goals we had in the revolution. Now we want to return to those days. We want the good thing we wished for our country back."

Still, she said she and her family don't long for another revolution. They want the system to slowly change, to reform. 

"We know that, with a real revolution, you cannot be sure that you will arrive at your goal," she said.

-- Los Angeles Times

Photos: Above, demonstration preceding the 1979 Islamic revolution.Credit: Wikepedia Commons. Below, 2009 demonstration in support of presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Credit: Associated Press.

In Kafr El Barbari in Dakahlia, mayhem broke out Tuesday after  18-year-old Mohamed Ramadan Ezzat, a Muslim, was apparently  stabbed to death by John Emile Gerges, a Christian grocer, in a dispute over the price of a carbonated drink.

After Ezzat's burial later that same day, 25 people were injured as hundreds of angry Muslims attacked Gerges' and other Coptic residents' houses, throwing stones and trying to set the homes on fire.  The violence spurred many to flee the town, which is inhabited by about 1,000 Copts and 3,000 Muslims.

Most Copts are staying at home in fear of other possible attacks. After the incident, dozens of security vehicles, firefighters and ambulance personnel formed a security barrier around the town as police forces tried to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the village. Security forces attempted to intervene to bring peace between the town's Muslim and Coptic leaders, and financially compensating Ezzat's family was being suggested as a possible resolution to end the conflict.

Meanwhile, six people were injured and 15 others were detained by police in the wake of similar confrontations between Muslims and Copts in the Bani Swaif village of Ezbet Gerges on Friday.

Clashes started when a priest decided to turn a social services building for Copts into a small church. Muslims attacked the priest's house and attempted to burn it down. Seven security vehicles were sent to maintain order by surrounding the village and the priest's house.

Priest Samaan Shehata blamed the situation on security forces, saying that none of this would have happened had state security responded to the official request to build a new church he sent months ago. Unlike mosques, building new churches in Egypt requires the authorization of the country's state security.

The two incidents come less than three weeks after 18 people were injured during a fight among neighbors in a village south of Cairo after a vicar held a Coptic Mass in his house.

Christians make up to 10% of the Egypt's population.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: Tensions rise between Muslims and Copts in Egypt. Credit: Associated Press

An article on Al Manar's website alleged that he served in the army for about four years and partook in several wars launched by Israel against Lebanon or in the Gaza Strip. 

Photos: Top, a montage on the website of Lebanese Hezbollah on June 25 shows a picture of Moroccan French comedian Gad Elmaleh, right, among other artists scheduled to perform at the Beiteddine Festival, as well as a photo of an Israeli soldier and a burning Star of David, a map of Lebanon and the logo of the festival. Credit: Al Manar TV.

Below, Elmaleh in 2006. Credit: Wikipedia Commons.

Security forces appear to be acting rather haphazardly — some property being damaged, other property left alone.  Footage of arrests follow the same pattern, with some protesters being arrested and others escaping.  Those arrested often have nothing to do with the protests.

The clip below shows police special forces in riot gear vandalizing cars, smashing window sand bashing side panels with riot batons.  One plainclothes officer, presumably from the Basij Militia, throws stones and debris from the rampage.  Interestingly, one car goes untouched. 

Another video shows more special police beating and tipping motorcycles. Helmeted general police in green are also seen smashing tipped motorcycles with their batons.

Videos continue to surface showing security forces suppressing protests.  The clip below shows security forces beating, then dragging away a resisting protester.

The clip below shows Basij militia members beating a man before dragging him away.  Other protesters are luckier. Police are seen looking off screen before running away, being replaced by a crowd of protesters.<

-- Jahd Khalil in Beirut>

The 21-year-old barber, dubbed the "Maadi serial killer" by newspapers, even though he has killed no one, was found guilty of sexually harassing nine females in the neighborhoods of Maadi, Rod El Farag and Basateen between December 2006 and January 2007.

The court announced that Sayed, who used a razor blade to cut his victims' clothes to reveal their bodies in public and sometimes made physical contact, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for each of the nine cases. 

After 11 months on the run, Sayed was caught in February, and despite admitting to all the accusations, he claimed in court that he was forced by police officers to make such confessions.

Although many regarded the verdict as a harsh one, it is clear that the court wanted to set an example for others by Sayed's judgment. This is the second case in Egypt's history in which a sexual harasser received a prison sentence. In October, Sherif Gomaa Gibrial was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor for harassing a 27-year-old filmmaker.

Sexual harassment on the streets has become a growing phenomenon in Egypt. Many women, especially foreigners, have reported physical or verbal attacks. On most previous occasions, women were blamed for allegedly wearing revealing clothes that invited and provoked harassers.

Islam, followed by more than 85% of the country's population, prohibits sexual relations between unmarried couples. With marriage expenses climbing amid the country's poor economic status, sexual harassment incidents have been on the rise.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: A street in Cairo. Credit: Getty Images

A total of 438 Iraqis died in June in shootings, bombings and assassinations, 68 of them members of the security forces. That is the highest monthly total since July last year, when 465 Iraqis died violently, and includes the tolls from a string of bombings such as the one near Kirkuk last week that killed more than 70 people. It's almost three times the figure for May, 165, the lowest number of the war.

Iraqis have been celebrating the departure of U.S. troops from their cities this week, but in fact the withdrawal has been taking place for months, and by June most U.S. soldiers had vacated the bases they had been designated to leave. So the jump in the casualty toll could be a reflection of what Iraqis can expect now that U.S. forces are no longer patrolling their cities.

But the violence in Iraq has a curious habit of waxing and waning, and single monthly tolls don't give a good idea of where trends are heading. The U.S. military says insurgents are no longer capable of sustaining prolonged assaults and instead focus on generating bursts of bloodshed. 

A comparison between the half-yearly figures for this year and last year makes it clear that the level of violence is in steep decline. In the first six months of 2008, 4,514 Iraqis died violently; in the first half of this year, the figure fell to 1,657.

But 438 casualties in a single month is still a lot of deaths -- more than 14 a day -- and it is hardly surprising that a lot of Iraqis are looking to the months ahead with a great deal of trepidation.

-- Liz Sly in Baghdad

The United Nations Children’s Fund released a statement Tuesday announcing that the organization will reinstate operations in Baghdad after six years of working from neighboring Jordan. The humanitarian group left in 2003 because of the fighting and is returning as U.S. combat troops pull back.  CNN is reporting on the announcement and according to the news agency, UNICEF says, "This marks the beginning of the UNICEF Iraq country office's full transition back to Iraq over the next year.”

UNICEF is also announcing that a $10-million water and sanitation project funded by the European Community will provide clean water for over 100,000 people. UNICEF’s Iraq representative, Sikander Khan, says in the statement that children in schools in the provinces of Irbil, Muthanna, Dhi Qar, Sulaymaniya, Basra and Maysan will have sustainable access to drinking water.  The statement also says that because of the conflict, approximately 6 million people have no access to treated water. Of those, “nearly 2.5 million people are accessing their water from a river or streams, putting them at very high risk of contracting water-borne diseases such as acute watery diarrhea, the second largest killer of children in the country.”

The endeavor will include teaching government staff, evaluating the country’s water and sanitation, and building plants in two areas of the country that can be replicated and implemented in other parts. 

-- Amber Smith in Los Angeles

Photo: In this picture from 2007, Iraqi children gather around a pool of water at a refugee camp in Najaf, the southern city where UNICEF had reported five cholera cases among children younger than 12. Credit: Hussein al-Mousawi / European Pressphoto Agency

Saudi Arabian authorities have charged 67 men detained at a party for reportedly wearing women’s clothing.

Most of the men were Filipino and were arrested while standing outside a private party held in a villa near  the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on the occasion of Philippine Independence Day.

According to the Saudi daily Al Riyadh, the police questioned the men after spotting “suspicious behavior” and then proceeded to raid the party. More women's clothing, cosmetics, and alcohol were reportedly found in further investigations.

The Philippines' vice consul in Riyadh, Roussell Reyes, confirmed the arrests. “Some of those arrested were reportedly wearing gowns and wigs and drinking liquor. It seems that there was a party,” Reyes reportedly told a radio station.

Photo: In this Feb. 22 picture, a protester carries a banner that reads in Arabic, "My body is not public property" during a sit-in for gays and lesbians in Beirut. Issues of gender and sexuality remain highly sensitive in the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia where Filipino men were recently arrested on suspicion of dressing up like women at a party. Credit: Hussein Malla / Associated Press

"Officers took my passport at 3 a.m. and left me waiting for hours without any clear explanation," Abbas told the Los Angeles Times. "Despite the officers'  threats, I decided to stage a sit-in as a sign of protest. They told me I won't get the passport back until I end the sit-in, which I did after four hours."

After regaining his passport, Abbas says he was searched as officers confiscated his laptop, claiming that it should be reported to the Egyptian Artistic Works. "Their excuse is, of course, total nonsense," he commented.

"I called the police three times to file a report for illegal detention, laptop confiscation and bag loss, but no one responded," Abbas continued. "I will be filing a report of the incident at El Nozha police station and the [United Nations] will forward another report to the general prosecutor."

"I'm really afraid they might frame me like they did with Howaida Taha."

Taha was sentenced to six months in jail for allegedly harming Egypt's national interests by fabricating video footage of police torture while she was working for Al Jazeera in May 2007.

Abbas previously posted a number of videos showing Egyptian police officers torturing detainees, including an officer who was binding and sodomizing a bus driver as the latter tried to break up a dispute between police and another driver. The video helped in the conviction of the two policemen.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo