بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Headline News 27/02/2016
Headlines:
- Qadri Funeral Confirms National Split
- Britain to Send Forces to Tunisia
- Iran Elections
Details:
Qadri Funeral Confirms National Split
On the 29th of February 2016 Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of a governor of the Punjab province in Pakistan was executed. Qadri, an Elite Police Commando and bodyguard, shot and killed Salman Taseer in Islamabad's Kohsar Market in 2011, citing Taseer's vocal opposition to Pakistan's blasphemy law as the reason. An estimated 30,000 mourners attended Qadri's funeral procession and protests erupted in cities such as Peshawar and Islamabad, with police having to block off the route to Adiala Jail, Qadri's place of execution. Western media outlets have used this event to show what they call increasing "Islamist Influence," despite the procession being made up Muslims with various different allegiances. The government went to great lengths to block out any media coverage of Qadri’s funeral, but the government and the counties tiny liberals were left stunned for the outpouring of support for Qadri’s actions. This incident has shows once, again in clear terms the tiny elite and government are at complete odds with the values of the masses.
Britain to Send Forces to Tunisia
British Defense Minister Michael Fallon recently announced that his nation will be sending a team of ground troops to Tunisia to join that nation’s Libyan border defense operations. Fallon talked up the need to keep ISIS out of Tunisia and hinted that this might just be the first step, adding that Britain is also “urgently” helping to try to form a new unity government in Libya. Fallon also suggested that once there was a new government in place in Libya, Britain would be open to more expansive military action there, at the invitation of this new faction they are working to install. Britain has struggled to form a permanent government in Libya and the recent unity government is struggling to consolidate its position. With US military action in Libya directly competing with British interests, the mess in North Africa after the Arab Spring is directly linked to the continuing Anglo-American competition.
Iran Elections
33 million Iranians went to the polls to vote in historic dual elections. According to the latest reports, the country's parliamentary elections will result in a split between Rohani’s supporters and hard-liners. Of the 285 seats up for grabs, 70 will be contested in a runoff vote in April. Meanwhile, the Assembly of Experts elections resulted in a landslide victory for allies of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, as moderate politicians walked away with 15 of Tehran's 16 district seats. Hard-line politicians lost ground in both the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts. But with no guarantee that unity among Iran's factions will hold once the final votes have been tallied, the outcome says more about what Iranian voters want than about what the newly elected bodies can actually deliver.