Middle East Unrest Keeps Rumbling

 Econintersect:  Demonstrators are continuing to remain active in a number of countries.  Tuesday (February 15) thousands of demonstrators participated in a boisterous rally in Pearl Square, Manama in Bahrain.  The Bahrain activity was started by an on-line notice for a “Day of Rage.”  Other reports come from Yemen where there have confrontations between armed government supporters and unarmed protesters.Street protests in Iran have been described as the most significant since the 2009 uprising.  According to The New York Times:

Iran’s two man opposition leaders, Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Mussein Moussavi, were prevented from attending the protests on Monday in Tehran.

Nonetheless, the official IRNA news agency reported, 222 members of the 290-seat Parliament issued a statement on Tuesday saying they “are corrupts on earth and should be tried.”

The offense of being “corrupts on earth,” a catchall indictment of political dissent, carries the death sentence. It was not immediately clear whether the two men would be arrested. Both are under effective house arrest with their communications and movements restricted.

A report from Reuters indicates that Morocco has fears that demonstrations in Algeria over the past weekend might extend into the neighboring country.  Polity.org points out many of these countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan and, to a lesser extent, Morocco) share many of the same risk factors, including young populations, high unemployment, weak economies, rising food prices, and a lack of political and civil liberties, quoting an S&P report.

Just as people everywhere were celebrating the relief of the resignation of Mubarak, AOL News was reporting excalating labor stikes across the country.

The further progression of political action in the middle east is quite uncertain.

Sources:  Reuters, Polity.org, AOL News and The New York Times