Crowds demonstrate people power across Middle East

WIDER PROTESTS:PEOPLE POWER yesterday rallied across the Middle East following Friday prayers.

In Cairo’s Tahrir Square, tens of thousands of Egyptians cheered newly appointed prime minister Essam Sharaf who said their support gave him legitimacy, while calling for their help to rebuild Egypt and vowing to resign if he could not meet their demands.

His appearance was seen as a milestone on the road to democracy, as this was the first time a senior Egyptian politician ever addressed such a throng.

A transport engineer, Dr Sharaf headed a short list of candidates for the post put forward to the ruling army command by the Youth Coalition which organised the mass protests that brought down president Hosni Mubarak, vice-president Omar Suleiman last month and, on Thursday, prime minister Ahmad Shafiq.

In Iraq, police enforced vehicle bans and curfews and blocked access to city centres in order to prevent protests against the lack of electricity, water and jobs, and rampant corruption.

Thousands gathered in Tahrir Square in Baghdad chanting “Maliki is a liar,” and waving placards showing a finger dyed purple after voting being cut off – symbolising rejection of last March’s parliamentary poll. In Basra, police dispersed demonstrators with water cannon and batons.

The protests coincided with the withdrawal of Ayad Allawi from the fragile coalition under prime minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Mr Allawi, whose bloc won the largest number of seats in parliament, pulled out because Mr Maliki has failed to share power as agreed in the unity government’s partnership agreement. On Thursday, Mr Allawi met radical Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr, who has also threatened to end his support for Mr Maliki if he fails to deliver services within six months. Mr Allawi and Mr Sadr accuse him of monopolising power.

Following weeks of protests against cronyism and corruption in Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region, regional president Massoud Barazani has urged the regional assembly to implement a 17-point reform programme and called for early provincial elections.

In Yemen, tens of thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators rallied in separate squares in the capital, Sanaa, while protesters calling for the resignation of president Ali Abdullah Saleh staged demonstrations across the country. During an anti-Saleh rally by insurgent Houthi tribesmen in the north, soldiers fired into the crowd, killing four and injuring seven.

Mr Saleh has rejected a plan, drawn up by opposition figures and religious scholars, for a peaceful transfer of power by year’s end.

In Bahrain, thousands of anti-government protesters besieged the state television station following brief clashes late on Thursday between reformist Shias from the majority community and Sunnis who support the ruling Sunni family. In a bid to foster calm on the island after three weeks of unrest, opposition figures agreed to hold talks with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa and presented a list of six demands, including resignation of the government and a new constitution.

In Jordan, 2,000 protesters called for the resignation of new prime minister Marouf Bakhit and for King Abdullah to cede the right to appoint the cabinet.