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Egyptian blogger offline after 'harassment' From correspondents in Cairo April 29, 2007 07:42pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email ONE of Egypt's most prominent political bloggers has decided to call it a day, citing harassment by security services as his main reason to quit. The Egypt-based blogger, known only as “Sandmonkey” – a derogatory term for people of Arab descent – posted his last entry on Saturday. “One of the chief reasons (for quitting) is the fact that there has been too much heat around me lately,” he said. Sandmonkey – who describes himself as “extremely cynical, snarky, pro-US, secular, libertarian” – started posting two years ago and has since been one of the main animators of Egypt's vibrant blogosphere. The blog offered stinging commentary on the Islamisation of Egyptian society as well as virulent criticism of President Hosni Mubarak's 26-year-old regime. Sandmonkey regularly reported on the arrests of political activists, police brutality and videos recently posted on the internet of alleged vote-rigging in a referendum for constitutional amendments, which critics say curb civil liberties. “I no longer believe that my anonymity is kept, especially with state security agents lurking around my street and asking questions about me, since that day,” he said, referring to anti-referendum protests last month in which he participated and several demonstrators were detained. Egypt's bloggers came to public attention during the political ferment surrounding elections in 2005 and have since been targeted by the regime, drawing international condemnation. In April, security forces detained blogger Abdel Moneim Mahmud for criticising the government's human rights record. In February, an Egyptian court sentenced blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman to four years in prison for insulting religion and defaming the president, a verdict condemned by rights groups as an attack on free speech.
Thousands protest Turkish Government From correspondents in Istanbul April 29, 2007 10:25pm Article from: Agence France-Presse Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email AT least 300,000 secular Turks waving the red national flag flooded central Istanbul to demand the resignation of the pro-Islamic government. The second large anti-government demonstration in two weeks, it followed a sharp rise in tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the country's powerful pro-secular military, which accuses the government of tolerating the activities of radical Islamic circles. “Turkey is secular and will remain secular,” shouted thousands of flag-waving protesters, who travelled to Istanbul from across the country overnight. The demonstrators sang nationalist songs and demanded the resignation of the government, calling Mr Erdogan a traitor
Iran cracks down on offbeat Western hairdos From correspondents in Tehran April 29, 2007 07:39pm Article from: AAP Font size: + - Send this article: Print Email TEHRAN barbers are to stop offering Iranian men unconventional Western hairstyles amid a nationwide crackdown on dressing deemed to be unIslamic, the Etemad newspaper reported today. The paper quoted the head of the Tehran barbers' association as saying police had issued a directive forbidding its members from giving men offbeat hairstyles that are all the rage in more affluent parts of the capital. “Currently some salons use Western grooming methods to create styles that are in line with the European and American ones,” said the association's head, Mohammad Eftekhari-Fard. “The union has repeatedly announced the restrictions against unconventional grooming when issuing permits to each of the barber shops. Hence barbers, knowing these rules, should not pursue the wrong methods.” “The union will withdraw its support from those barbers who cut hairstyles that are out of line with the norms of the system,” he said. Eftekhari-Fard did not specify which hairstyles were being targeted, but conservatives in Iran have long been upset by the heavy use of styling gel, shoulder-length hair and the spiky “big hair” styles sported by some of Tehran's young males. The directive also banned the use of “facial cosmetics, plucking of eyebrows and applying special make-up in male salons,” he said. Iran has handed out thousands of warnings over the past week to women found to have infringed Islamic dress rules in the latest police crackdown. However, the authorities have emphasised that men are not excluded from the drive, and males whose T-shirts were found to be too short or tight and hair excessively groomed have also found themselves apprehended. Eftekhari-Fard told Etemad that while only 5 per cent of Tehran hair salons were deviating from the laws, they would be strictly monitored and if necessary their permits taken away for at least a month. Customers would also not be allowed to wear ties and bow-ties – frowned upon in Iran as a symbol of Western imperialism – in barber shops, he said.
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