Tension prevails over Abyei as newly-independent South Sudan celebrates [Dubai TV, UAE]

Presenter, Male # 1
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir warned that the Abyei region may see new conflicts between Sudan and South Sudan, which became independent two days ago, if the agreed-upon protocols are not respected. Bashir welcomed the Security Council's resolution to deploy 4,200 Ethiopian soldiers to Abyei for six months, believing that the Ethiopian peacekeeping forces are capable of carrying out their mission, contrary to the current troops. In a TV interview in Khartoum, Bashir said his troops will withdraw from Abyei as soon as the Ethiopian troops arrive. The Sudanese opposition, which is unwelcome in the North, did not receive the support it was seeking from the leaders of South Sudan. The president of the newly independent republic, Salva Kiir Mayardit, said in a statement that he refuses to risk South Sudan's relations with Khartoum by embracing the North's opposition. Therefore, the opposition finds itself forced to return to Sudan and play by the rules of the ruling party there. Sami el-Shenawi reports from Juba.

Reporter, Male # 2
The North's opposition is in Juba after the secession. But the road to Juba is no longer what it used to be. The faces that have become strange to the newly born republic may cause fear and jeopardize the South's relations with the Khartoum government, especially if Juba embraces political parties undesired by the North. This prompted the new republic to settle the controversy over whether the northern opposition should stay in the South with a frank rejection.

Guest, Male # 3 (Salva Kiir Mayardit, South Sudanese President)
The only way for us to improve relations between the two countries is for all parties return to their country and work on building it.

Reporter, Male # 2
It seems that Salva Kiir made this move with special calculations to make relations with the North stronger than what some opposition parties presumed. However, the opposition in turn found its only consolation in stating that Sudan is ready to welcome other parties if the ruling party continues its policies.

Guest, Male # 4 (Hassan al-Turabi, Head of opposition People's Congress)
As long as this regime remains tyrannical, will it be able keep the rest of the North united? This is still a questionable issue. The risk that we must realize now is that tomorrow Darfur may secede because it used to be an independent country. It was more independent than the South, which didn't used to be a country.

Reporter, Male # 2
So it seems feasible for the northern opposition to return to the North. This compels the opposition to give up its intention of finding a safe haven in the new country, which would have allowed it to overcome the ruling National Congress Party in Khartoum. Despite what has happened in the country, the northern opposition parties' request of rapprochement was rejected. Juba's government is content with maintaining the same relations between the two countries in the future. Sami el-Shenawi, Dubai TV, Juba, the Republic of South Sudan.

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Six months after the revolution, anger persists in Tunisia [BBC Arabic, UK]

Presenter, Male # 1
Six months have passed since Tunisian protestors toppled President Ben Ali, igniting a wave of demonstrations demanding change in Arab countries. The Tunisian revolution began after Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of the confiscation of the fruit he was selling without a permit. However, six months after the Tunisian president left, Tunisia is still witnessing anger and demonstrations. BBC's Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen prepared this special report from Tunisia.

Reporter, Female # 1
Wassim Herissi's radio show mocks Tunisian leaders. His political jokes would have led him to jail before the revolution. However, today, Tunisians are allowed to laugh at them. Wassim impersonates leaders in fake phone calls. Muammar al-Gaddafi is one of the show's regular callers. Tunisia's former President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled in January, argues with the colonel over who is more popular.

Guest, Male # 2 (Wassim Herissi, radio host)
We had a clean revolution. Ben Ali turned out to be a coward. He just ran away, not like the others, like the poor Libyans, or in Syria, but we lit the fuse of all the other revolutions.

Reporter, Female # 1
Although Tunisia's revolution is the most complete of the Arab revolutions, it's still disappointing some of the people who fought for it. Back in January, Tunisia showed the rest of the Arab world that it was possible to remove a leader, despite a police state and despite his powerful Western friends. Since then, Tunisia has also shown that getting rid of a dictator doesn't solve all of a country's problems, that years of corruption and mismanagement leave a difficult legacy. Tunisia is unstable enough and the army still guards government buildings in Tunis. And while elections have been postponed until October, even a successful, free, and fair vote won't fix unemployment on its own, which is Tunisia's new biggest problem. Mohamed Bouazizi is the young man whose death sparked the uprising, and this is where Mohamed died, in Sidi Bouzid. Local residents are proud that they started the uprising after Mohamed set himself on fire as a result of government inspectors confiscating the fruit he was selling without a license. Feyda Hamdi spent 110 days in prison, unjustly she says, after Bouazizi became the people's hero.

Guest, Female # 2 (Feyda Hamdi, Police Inspector)
The revolution was going to happen in Tunisia. Today, tomorrow, or after tomorrow, it was going to happen, because of the accumulated frustration.

Reporter, Female # 1
Sidi Bouzid is full of unemployed men, still frustrated and angry that they can't earn money for their families.

Guest, Male # 3
I'm in the cafe all day; at noon, at 1, 2, at 5, at 10, 11. I drink 50 coffees a day. I want to have a job, build my life, be rich, and work.

Guest, Male # 4
The problem is I'm afraid that our dreams won't come true.

Reporter, Female # 1
The old Arab world couldn't satisfy its people who rose up, announcing they will no longer be ignored. So how long will their patience last if the new world doesn't deliver on their ambitions?

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Lebanon warns Israel it will protect its resources [Press TV, Iran]

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has warned Israel against taking any unilateral decision in violation of international laws over Lebanon's maritime borders. Suleiman says Lebanon is ready to defend its land and maritime borders with all possible means. He also said that the governments will adopt an official stance during his next meeting to preserve the country's sovereignty. Suleiman's remarks come after Tel Aviv approved a map of what it claims to be the borders with Lebanon. The disputed area is said to contain oil and gas reserves worth billions of dollars.

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Pro-Palestinian activists on hunger strike in Israeli jails [Press TV, Iran]

Pro-Palestinian activists held by Israel for trying to enter Palestinian lands are on a hunger strike. Scores of pro-Pal activist remain in Israeli jails three days after their arrest at Tel-Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport, reportedly being held under harsh conditions. Israel says the activists will be deported to their original destinations within three days. Dozens have already been expelled. The activists were among hundreds planning to travel to Palestinian territories over the weekend to display solidarity with the Palestinian cause. European airlines barred hundreds of activists from boarding flights bound for Israel.

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Yemen protestors accuse US, Saudi Arabia of suppressing revolution [Press TV, Iran]

Protestors hold nationwide rallies in Yemen condemning Saudi Arabia and the US for what they call their efforts stop on the ongoing popular revolution. Protestors have come out in massive numbers in the cities of Taiz, Ibb, and Saada. They are demanding an end to the current crisis in Yemen. They also promise they will do whatever it takes to make the ongoing popular Yemeni revolution succeed. The Yemeni people have longed accused in the regimes in Riyadh and Washington of trying to suppress the revolution.

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Pressure mounts on Germany over Saudi arms deal [Press TV, Iran]

Iran says Saudi Arabia has ordered German tanks because it is fearful of the recent wave of revolutions in the region. A senior Iranian military official says Riyadh is concerned that what is going on in Bahrain and Yemen could spread to Saudi Arabia and that is why it has ordered the advanced main battle tanks. German has reportedly sold hundreds of Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia. Berlin has come under intense pressure over the arms deal worth billions of dollars.

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Afghans protests Pakistan attacks, US occupation [Press TV, Iran]

People have taken to the streets in Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad, protesting the US occupation and Pakistan's cross-border attacks. Demonstrators chanted anti-Pakistan and anti-US slogans and called for an immediate end to attacks on their villages and the killing of their children. They also plan to take up arms and fight against Washington and Islamabad. Tensions are running high between Kabul and Islamabad over Pakistan's alleged bombardments of Afghanistan's eastern provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar. Afghan officials say the shelling has killed several civilians, injuring many others. Pakistan however, has dismissed the allegations.

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France says time for political solution in Libya [Al Jazeera, Qatar]

Presenter, Male #1
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said that efforts to reach a political solution are continuing to be exerted, while it is necessary to maintain military pressure on the Libyan Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Presenter, Female #1
At a press conference during his visit to Nouakchott, Juppe said that the political solution is comprised of four basic points, and that Gaddafi cannot be a part of any solution and should step down.

Guest, Male #1
The desired political solution is based on four points: immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Gaddafi's forces to their bases; Gaddafi vowing to relinquish power; beginning a dialogue hosted by the Libyan Transitional National Council with participation from Libyan tribes and officials in Tripoli who are sending signals for the end of Gaddafi's rule; and finally, drawing a roadmap for establishing a democratic system that holds free elections.

Presenter, Female #1
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet said that the time has come for the Libyan opposition to negotiate with Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi's regime and to stop waiting for his defeat. Longuet indicated that the solution to the conflict lies in dialogue between the two sides, not in military operations.

Presenter, Male #1
This statement coincides with Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam's statements saying that an actual dialogue is ongoing in France with Sarkozy himself, not with the revolutionaries. Meanwhile, revolutionaries continue to advance towards the capital Tripoli amid heavy shelling by Gaddafi's battalions in order to force them to concede defeat.

Reporter, Male #1
There are only a handful of days from when the Libyan conflict will complete its fifth month. The battles are still ferocious between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi's battalions. Seesaw battles are dominating various fronts in the east, west, the Jabal al-Gharbi region, and the border areas. Reports indicate that there have been casualties on both sides in Zawiya, al-Maya, al-Ghazaya, the surrounding areas of Misurata, the outskirts of Zawiya city, and the town of Bir al-Ghanem. The revolutionaries have achieved modest gains in the last several days. They are trying to make their way towards the capital Tripoli, but are confronted by heavy shelling from Gaddafi's battalions. The shelling hinders their advance towards the highway leading to the capital, especially after they took over the strategic village of Al-Qawalish, located 100 kilometers south of Tripoli. Gaddafi's battalions are also moving to put their supporters on the frontlines. The revolutionaries control most surrounding areas of Jabal al-Gharbi in northwestern Libya. But here, in the city of al-Gharyan, at the top of Jabal al-Gharbi, Gaddafi's supporters and battalions are showing their readiness to defend the city until the end. In light of developments of the prolonged armed conflicts without achieving a full victory anywhere, voices are being raised calling for a dialogue between the two sides.

Guest, Male #2 (Gerard Longuet, French Defense Minister)
The international coalition intervened in Libya in order to affirm to the Libyans that the force will not solve the problem. We have asked them to talk to each other. It is entirely true that the Transitional National Council's position led by the opposition is very different from other positions. All Libyans are talking now and there is a need for them to all sit down at the same table. But our intervention does not mean seeking a solution by force.

Reporter, Male #1
However, the two sides' positions are extremely far from each other. It is true that the United States and many countries are siding with the revolutionaries who insist that Gaddafi must step down; it is also true that there are talks about indirect negotiations ongoing in a number of capitals. But it does not seem as though any of these negotiations have achieved anything so far. The question that needs to be answered now is how to gather the two sides at the same table under such circumstances. No detailed initiative on this issue has been proposed, except for the African Union's initiative that was brought forward in April and was recently renewed. The initiative first stipulates a ceasefire, then beginning the process of a power transition and implementing political reforms. The opposition rejects such arrangements proposed by the initiative.

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Pro-Assad loyalists attack US, French embassies as protestors reject dialogue [New TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Female # 1
Syrian citizens surrounded the embassies of Washington and Paris in Damascus to condemn the ambassadors' interference in the events in Syria. Our correspondent Nidal Hameidi reports from the Syrian capital.

Reporter, Male # 1
Over 4,000 protestors gathered in front of the French and American embassies in Damascus. They expressed their fury and outrage at Paris and Washington's positions, viewed by Syrians as new colonialism, represented by the visit of the two ambassadors to Hama on Friday.

Guest, Male # 2
I would like to address France in general, Sarkozy and the ambassador who interfered in our affairs by going to Hama without the authorization of the Syrian Foreign Ministry. This is wrong; both the French and American ambassadors are at fault. We managed to bring down the American flag at the embassy and replaced it with the homeland's flag. Here as well, at the French embassy, we will bring down its flag and place the Syrian flag instead. Yes, we had some injuries and one young man was martyred.

Reporter, Male # 1
The protestors broke the windows and wrote angry messages on the two embassies' walls. They confirmed that they threw tomatoes and eggs, and held banners condemning the French and Americans ambassadors' violation of diplomatic norms. However, security at the French embassy fired at the demonstrators, leading to the injury of two people.

Guest, Female # 2
Human rights organizations should come see how they threw acid water at us. They fired live bullets at us. Where are our human rights? These are their human rights? Let them come see. They should not talk about something they don't have.

Reporter, Male # 1
The Syrian people hauled down the American and French flags from the embassies and replaced them with the Syrian flag to express their rejection of French and American intervention in Syrian affairs. Nidal Hameidi, New TV, Damascus.

Presenter, Female # 1
The consultative conference concluded today, paving the way for a national dialogue. Participants confirmed the dialogue will include all sides. Meanwhile, raids continue in Homs as protestors express their rejection of the dialogue.

Reporter, Female # 3
The consultative conference in Syria concluded today, paving the way for a national dialogue that aims to establish a pluralistic state. The sessions centered on the role the national dialogue is to play in order to resolve the political, economic and social issues related to the crisis in the country. Amendments to the constitution were also on the agenda, including Article 8, which deals with the ruling Baath Party. In addition, proposed new laws on political parties, elections, local administration and the press were discussed. Participants insisted on the necessity to hold a dialogue with all sides, without excluding any party, and on the importance of radical constitutional amendments. The meeting comes as the Reuters news agency quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying Syrian forces killed at least one civilian in night raids in the city of Homs. It indicated that 20 people were injured by the security forces' gunfire. Activists expressed fear of military operations in the city's Bab al-Sibai, which also witnessed gunfire. Opposition websites posted images of protests that took place in a number of cities, including Hama, Homs, Deir el-Zour, and Aleppo.

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Bahrain February 14 Movement calls national dialogue a 'farce' [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Male #1
The Bahraini February 14 Youth Coalition has called for active participation in a demonstration scheduled to take place on Sitra Island this coming Friday. The coalition said in a statement that it calls on all youths to march towards Sitra Island and to take part in a demonstration named "Self Determination III." The coalition added that its previous demonstrations in the cities of Bihad Hafiz, Jad Hafs, and Bilad al-Qadim achieved moral and ground victories over the Saudi occupation forces and mercenaries. The coalition threatened to escalate the protests and called for demonstrations in sensitive areas, especially in front of the American embassy. The Bahraini authorities released 153 detainees including political activists, journalists, and students the day before yesterday. Most of these people were arrested as they participated in popular protests demanding political and constitutional reforms. This is the second batch of detainees released in less than a month. Some regions witnessed rallies celebrating their release, while other regions saw protests. Security forces intervened to disperse the protests using tear gas. Last night, Bahraini cities witnessed demonstrations that condemned the regime's practices and reaffirmed to continue the revolution until its legitimate demands are met. The February 14 Youth Coalition considered the dialogue conference called for by the king a failure and described it as a farce because it was conducted in light of the Saudi occupation and continuous repression on the popular protests.

Reporter, Male #1
In response to the slogan "the week of continuing the revolution," dozens of popular protests began in Bahraini villages and towns defying the repressive policy that the authorities are practicing against them. They reject the dialogue which they say was born dead. These people see the dialogue merely as a maneuver to buy time as the ruling authorities continue to arrest prominent nationalist figures and take arbitrary measures against the protestors who peacefully demand their legitimate rights. Al-Diraz, Akkar, Samaheej, Bani Jamrah, and villages on Sitra Island and other regions witnessed nightly protests and candlelight vigils demanding to change the regime and release detainees. They also demanded the Saudi and Emirati occupation forces leave the country. The Bahraini security forces did not use grenades to confront the civilian protestors but used stun grenades and tear gas. This scene reflects the level to which the situation has escalated.

Reporter, Male #1
For its part, the February 14 Youth Coalition said in a statement that the dialogue conference initiated by the Bahraini king was a failure and described it as a farce because it was held in light of the Saudi occupation and repression. The coalition demanded the United Nations send an independent fact-finding committee to investigate the violations against the Bahraini people. They implore the religious associations, the UN, the EU, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and human rights organizations to stop the repression campaigns and crimes against humanity in Bahrain.

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Israel-Lebanon maritime border dispute deepens [IBA, Israel]

The dispute between Israel and Lebanon over maritime borders in the Mediterranean Sea has intensified. Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour today announced his intention to file a complaint with the United Nations that the border delineated by Israel and Cyprus infringes on its own territorial waters. Israel and Lebanon remain in a formal state of war with no agreed upon sea border. The issue is now depended over hydrocarbon exploration in the eastern Mediterranean with tens of billions of dollars worth of natural gas and oil fields off the coast of both nations. Beirut said it will file an appeal with the United Nations to take measures to ensure that Israeli drilling plans will not threaten its off-shore reserves after having submitted its own version of where the border is to the UN last November.

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Peres thanks Greek president for help stopping flotilla [IBA, Israel]

Greek President Karolos Papoulias arrived in Jerusalem today for a short diplomatic visit. Papoulias met with President Shimon Peres who thanked him for Athens' help in preventing the sailing of a Gaza-bound flotilla from its ports. Peres and his counterpart both praised existing economic ties between the two countries. The Greek head of state said a delegation of financial experts will come to Israel in the coming day for a series of talks on further advancing business cooperation. During his three day visit, Papoulias will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and opposition leader Tzipi Livni. He is also planning a trip to the West Bank for a meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas.