Five homemade bombs exploded on Monday in the Qudaibiya and Adliya districts of Manama, Bahrain's capital, killing two foreign workers and severely wounding a third. Police have been targeted on several occasions over the past year, but this was a rare attack on civilians, in what appeared to be coordinated explosions. The Bahrain News Agency called the blasts an "act of terrorism," and said an investigation is underway. A representative from the opposition Shiite party al-Wefaq, Matar Matar, said that he doubted opposition activists were responsible for the attack, mentioning that Shiite clerics have come out against escalating the conflict. Bahrain has been plagued by unrest since demonstrations broke out in February 2011, during which at least 60 people were killed and thousands were arrested. Bahrain's government announced a ban on rallies and public gatherings last week, a move that was condemned by human rights groups and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss regional issues, including unrest in Bahrain and Kuwait, which also banned public gatherings and rallies last week.

Syria

Amid heavy weekend violence, Syria's fractious opposition began meetings in the Qatari capital of Doha in efforts to form a new unity leadership for a possible transitional government. The talks between over 20 opposition leaders are set to take place over four days and are aimed at overhauling the structure of the opposition after the Syrian National Council (SNC) lost support, specifically from the United States. Abdulbaset Sieda, the current head for the SNC said, "The main aim is to expand the council to include more of the social and political components." The United States is pushing for the group to create stronger ties between commanders in the field and Syrian leaders in exile. To allay fears that the meeting would precede talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the group released a statement saying that the Assad regime leaving power is a precondition of any political dialogue. Meanwhile, opposition fighters reportedly seized an oilfield for the first time on Sunday, over taking al-Ward oilfield in Deir el-Zour province after three days of clashes. Also, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes near a Damascus security building. Syrian television reported a large explosion near the Dama Rose hotel in Damascus, which wounded several people. Additionally, the Syrian army reportedly shelled the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the southern outskirts of Damascus killing at least 20 people. Opposition fighters reportedly pulled back from an attack that began on Saturday on the large Taftanaz military airport in the northern Idlib province due to a shortage of ammunition. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that nearly 200 people died in weekend violence.

Headlines  

• For the first time in 40 years, Egypt's Coptic church has chosen a new pope, Bishop Tawadros, who said he will reverse the political role of the church espoused by the late Pope Shenouda.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sparked controversy and protests after a remark interpreted as a concession over the Palestinian "right to return."
• A Yemeni man and ten Saudi Arabians recently released from prison, who had been held on terrorism charges, were caught after two Saudi border guards were killed in an ambush.
• Kuwait's emir met with opposition representatives as thousands of Kuwaitis gathered Sunday to protest a new electoral law days after demonstrations were banned.
• An Israeli news channel reported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered an attack on Iran in 2010, but the effort was blocked.
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A retired British businessman and millionaire Christopher Tappin has pleaded guilty in a Texas court to charges of attempting to sell batteries to Iran for surface to air missiles. He admitted to aiding and abetting two business associates in attempting to sell "zinc/silver oxide Reserve Batteries" to Iran, which is used in Hawk Air Defense Missiles, defying export regulations. A U.S. federal indictment was filed in 2007 after a sting operation. Tappin was extradited from Britain in February. The case has brought extradition arrangements under scrutiny from opponents who claim harsh sentences force suspects to reach plea deals instead of standing trial. Tappin is expected to be sentenced on January 9, and will likely be sentenced to 33 months. Prosecutors said they would not oppose him serving his sentence in Britain. Had he not pleaded guilty, he could have faced up to 35 years in jail.

Syria

Syrian forces have reportedly withdrawn from their last base near the town of Saraqeb. The base is about 30 miles southwest of Aleppo at a junction between two major highways, one linking Damascus to Aleppo, and the other connecting Aleppo with the Mediterranean port of Latakia. After having lost the strategic town of Marret al-Numan to the opposition, the retreat has left the area "completely outside the control of regime forces" according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and will make it increasingly difficult for President Bashar al-Assad's forces to resupply troops in Aleppo. The move came after opposition fighters reportedly killed an estimated 28 soldiers in attacks on three checkpoints on the highway leading from Damascus to Aleppo. The attacks have come under severe scrutiny after a video allegedly showed 10 of the soldiers being summarily executed. The United Nations and Amnesty International have condemned the killings saying the opposition forces could be committing war crimes. Five opposition fighters were also reportedly killed in the associated clashes. Meanwhile, government forces continued air strikes across Syria on Thursday.

Headlines  

• Kuwait has warned it will be stricter on demonstrators breaking the ban on protests after authorities allowed the release of former opposition MP Mussallam al-Barrak on bail.
• Dozens of gunmen have occupied Libyan's Parliament over cabinet appointment disputes.
• After years of speculation, Israel has admitted to the 1988 killing of former Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's deputy, Khalil al-Wazir, in a raid in Tunisia.
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Nearly a year after former President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed a transition agreement, Yemen risks significant localized violence and territorial fragmentation. While politicians and the international community in the capital prepare for national dialogue, Zaydi rebels, known as the Houthis, and Salafi fighters associated with the Islamist party, Islah, are positioning for further skirmishes in the North. Already, clashes during the last months have killed dozens of people and inflammatory rhetoric by both sides is a harbinger of violence to come. In the South, separatist sentiment remains high and there is no agreement on how to effectively include the southern movement, a loose and divided coalition calling for immediate southern independence or at a minimum greater autonomy, into the dialogue process. Attacks by al Qaeda and its local affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, are on the rise, with assassinations of over 60 military-security personnel in 2012 alone. The minister of defense has escaped assassination on at least six different occasions.

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For decades, "human rights in the Middle East" was a subject of scrutiny, debate, and mobilizations spearheaded from outside of the region. Western governments including successive U.S. administrations frequently took up the region's dire human rights conditions and funded a variety of human rights initiatives to remedy them, in many ways as a substitute for forgoing economic and military alliances with highly repressive regimes. These foreign governments' human rights talk was heavy in its emphasis on women's rights and other violations for which backward cultural and religious belief were designated as the key culprits and light on its emphasis on civil and political rights violations. During the post-9/11 era, as highlighting the Middle East's deplorable human rights conditions added a veneer of moral purpose to military interventions in the region, the "human rights in the Middle East" line of inquiry took on a life of its own and created a cottage industry of Western-driven human rights assessments and prescriptions. All the while, local voices promoting human rights were largely silenced by authoritarian rulers simultaneously paying lip service to human rights and undermining it by arguing that it served foreign, Western, imperialist agendas. Cumulatively, there dynamics resulted in minimal Middle Eastern agency in defining the nature and scope of its own predicament vis-à-vis the human rights paradigm.

Today, the region's myriad of human rights mobilizations and contests are increasingly being spurred from within the Middle East, not abroad.

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During his recent visit to the United States, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi of Yemen expressed his concerns that if the National Dialogue -- a forum supposedly representing the major political players in Yemen -- fails, Yemen could slide into a civil war that will be worse than those in Somalia or Afghanistan. Part of this rhetoric was strategic, intended to nudge the so-called "Friends of Yemen" to commit to much needed (although potentially pernicious) aid. Nevertheless, Hadi is only slightly exaggerating the dangers Yemen could face, and recent developments -- such as the delay of the National Dialogue -- make his predictions more worrisome.

Hadi, who ran unopposed in February, was elected after a prolonged stalemate since January 2011. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-engineered compromise that ensured the transfer of power from then President Ali Abdullah Saleh to Hadi helped avert the civil war that Yemen was dangerously skirting at that time. Many groups in Yemen, however, view the GCC deal as a failure and an imposition that ensured that formal and informal power remain in the hands of old elites. As the International Crisis Group (ICG) reports, Yemeni elites have kept their hold on power as they continue to play musical chairs with government positions. Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels in the North, the Hiraaki separatists in the South, as well as various youth groups who were the backbone of the early days of the revolution, are left out of the deal. 

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A ceasefire has come into effect for Eid al-Adha on Friday, although several accounts of fighting have been reported. Late Thursday the Syrian government agreed to a four-day truce proposed by U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, but said it reserved the right to retaliate against opposition attacks. The opposition Free Syrian Army said it would comply as long as the government adheres to it. However, other opposition factions said they would not stop fighting. Syria has appeared much calmer although clashes have broken out in several locations. Protesters have taken to the streets across the country calling for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. Clashes broke out Friday morning at an army base near Maaret al-Numan, where opposition fighters have been trying to overtake the military installation along a strategic highway connecting Damascus and Aleppo. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Syrian army fired six rockets at the Khalidiya district of Homs. According to other reports, Syrian troops have hit Hajar al-Aswad, a poor district of Damascus, and violence was reported in the Damascus suburb of Harasta. In Aleppo, opposition forces were reported to have made significant gains. An earlier ceasefire negotiated by Brahimi's predecessor, Kofi Annan, failed to take hold, but did reduce the casualty count for several days. Brahimi has said he hopes that the temporary truce will allow for a sustainable political process.

Headlines  

• Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has formed a coalition with Avigdor Lieberman's nationalist party, Yisrael Beiteinu, widening the divisions between Israel's left and right camps.
• Intelligence officials have reported Iran is nearing completion of its underground nuclear enrichment plant, Fordo, despite unprecedented sanctions and a plummeting economy.
• A French poll has found a majority of people in the country believes Islam plays too significant a role in French society and threatens the national identity showing a hardening of public opinion.
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After two days of fighting, Egypt has brokered a tentative ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza. According to Israel, no rockets have been fired since Wednesday night and the unofficial truce is appearing to hold. Fighting began on Tuesday after a landmark visit from Qatar's emir to Gaza, when Hamas militants fired rockets into Israel drawing retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, which killed four Palestinians including three militants. Israeli officials said around 80 rockets and mortar shells were fired into Israel injuring six people, including two Thai workers who were critically wounded. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he hoped the truce would stand, but said over 600 rockets had been fired into Israel since the beginning of 2012 and that the struggle was far from over. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton is visiting with Israelis and Palestinians in attempts to revive stalled peace talks. 

Syria

The Syrian government is expected to give its decision Thursday on a ceasefire for the Eid al-Adha holiday brokered by U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakdar Brahimi. Brahimi announced Wednesday that President Bashar al-Assad agreed to the temporary truce beginning Friday, but that was immediately thrown into question when Syria's foreign ministry said the military was still studying the proposal. In a meeting with the U.N. Security Council, Russia said it had "indications" that the Syrian government would approve the plan, and the Security Council members expressed their support for Brahimi's proposal. The opposition Free Syrian Army said it would adhere to a ceasefire if the government does, but expressed doubts. Other groups within the opposition said that no one is taking the ceasefire proposal seriously. Meanwhile, a day ahead of the truce deadline, violent clashes have broken out in the Sunni dominated Damascus suburb of Harasta. Fighting began when opposition fighters overran a roadblock on a highway connecting Damascus to the north. Syrian forces have retaliated with fierce tank and rocket fire, killing five people. Fighting also continued in the Damascus suburb of Douma, the town of Maarat al-Numan, along the highway between Damascus and Aleppo, and in the city of Homs near the Lebanese border with over 100 people reported killed across the country on Wednesday.

Headlines  

• A man suspected of involvement in the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi has been killed in Cairo. Meanwhile, Tunisia has arrested a Tunisian man linked to the attack.
• Sudan has blamed Israel for carrying out air strikes on an arms factory in Khartoum that was hit by several explosions late Tuesday and said it reserves the right to retaliate.

Arguments and Analysis

Meet the Israelis (Gideon Levy, Haaretz)

"Nice to make your acquaintance, we're racist and pro-apartheid. The poll whose results were published in Haaretz on Tuesday, conducted by Dialog and commissioned by the Yisraela Goldblum Fund, proved what we always knew, if not so bluntly. It's important to recognize the truth that has been thrown in our faces and those of the world (where the survey is making waves ). But it's even more important to draw the necessary conclusions from it.

Given the current reality, making peace would be an almost anti-democratic act: Most Israelis don't want it. A just, egalitarian society would also violate the wishes of most Israelis: That, too, is something they don't want. They're satisfied with the racism, comfortable with the occupation, pleased with the apartheid; things are very good for them in this country. That's what they told the pollsters."

Hezbollah uses its military power in a contradictory manner (David Hirst, The Daily Star)

"Nobody, neither its friends nor its foes, ever questions Hezbollah's military prowess. During its last major engagement, the July war of 2006, an Israeli general ruefully called it "the greatest guerilla organization in the world today," and the entire Arab world thrilled at its exploits, not only in classical guerilla warfare, but in higher-tech forms of combat, such as the sea-borne missile which very nearly sank the Israeli navy's flagship.

The really contentious question is: What does it use its prowess, and its weapons, for? In the past two weeks, it has given two dramatic, and profoundly contradictory, answers.

One came in the shape of the drone that Hezbollah launched over Israel on Oct. 6. In a subsequent speech, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called it an "Iranian-built," "Hezbollah-assembled" device which, during its three-hour, 300 km mission, conducted reconnaissance of sensitive sites, including that "holy of holies," the ultra-secret nuclear facility at Dimona."

--By Jennifer Parker and Mary Casey 

As gunfights have continued to flare, primarily in Beirut and Tripoli, the Lebanese Army is working to restore order. At least six people have been killed, 27 wounded, and 50 arrested since clashes rooted in the Syrian crisis began on Sunday. Most of the people reported dead were killed in the northern city of Tripoli in fighting between the Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the Alawite district of Jebel Mohsen. Additionally a resident of a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut was killed after he reportedly fired at Lebanese forces. Violence was sparked on Sunday after a funeral for slain intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan. The U.S. State Department confirmed that it is sending a team from the F.B.I. to assist in investigating the bombing that killed Hassan Friday. Jordan is also working to contain spillover from Syria; authorities reported they have seized a group of Jordanian extremists who obtained arms from Syria. The Jordanian military saw its first casualty in related violence when a corporal was killed in clashes with suspected Islamist militants traveling along the Syrian and Jordanian border. Meanwhile, the U.N. Refugee agency has reported that Lebanon has registered over 100,000 Syrian refugees, joining Jordan and Turkey.

Syria

The United Nations is putting together a peacekeeping force for Syria, hoping the regime and opposition fighters will implement a proposed ceasefire for the holiday Eid al-Adha beginning Friday. U.N. peacekeeping head Herve Ladsous stated, "We are getting ourselves ready to act if it is necessary and a mandate is approved." However, the prospects for a temporary truce appear slim as deadly clashes continue across Syria. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, over 115 people were killed across Syria on Monday. Aleppo saw fighting in several districts with warplanes bombing the Katergi quarter. Clashes were also reported in Damascus, Daraa, and Deir el-Zour. Government forces and opposition fighter have continued the battle over the strategic town of Maaret al-Numan, which is on a strategic supply route between Damascus and Aleppo. On Tuesday, Syrian warplanes reportedly bombed the town as fighters clashed over a nearby Syrian military camp.

Headlines  

• Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani has arrived in Gaza as the first head of state to visit since Hamas came to power in 2007 set to launch a $254 million assistant program.
• After clashes at demonstrations over election law, Kuwait has banned gatherings of over 20 people ahead of the December 1 election.
• Egypt's Administrative Court has referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court the decision of whether to disband the Constituent Assembly, which is tasked with drafting the constitution.
• A man has released an audio message claiming to be Saeed al-Shihri, al Qaeda's number 2 in Yemen, countering accounts that he was killed in a drone strike.
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When a presidential campaign is in full swing, we probably should not be surprised that the challenger's team throws everything and the kitchen sink at the incumbent. Still, it seems strange that Republicans want to remind voters that President Barack Obama extricated the United States from a difficult and unpopular war in Iraq. But that is just what Peter Feaver did in the Foreign Policy blog Shadow Government on October 12. He said that the president had opened up a "civil-military problem" for himself, because "significant portions of the military believe the administration abandoned them on Iraq." He went on to accuse the administration, and Vice President Joe Biden specifically, of blowing the chance to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Iraq, either through incompetence or a lack of serious commitment, that would have permitted the United States to keep tens of thousands of troops in Iraq. Those are some pretty stiff charges. (Full disclosure: Feaver and I went to graduate school together. He is a great guy, but just plain wrong here.)

We can set aside, for this discussion, the big question about whether keeping that many U.S. troops in Iraq would have been a good thing. It is pretty clear what the American people think the answer is. The interesting thing about Feaver's thumbnail account of the supposed failure of the administration on this issue is the utter absence of Iraqis from the story. When the United States fails to achieve a goal, it must be either because we really were not committed to it, or we messed up. The other guys just are not that important. It really is all about us.

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Oman's Basic Law (Implemented November 6, 1996)

Article 18: Personal freedom is guaranteed according to the Law, and it is unlawful to arrest, search, detain, or imprison any person or have his place of residence or freedom of movement or residence restricted except in accordance with the provisions of the Law.

Article 29: The freedom of opinion and expression thereof through speech, writing or other forms of expression is guaranteed within the limits of the Law.

Article 32: The citizens have the right to assemble within the limits of the Law.

It started with a road trip.

On May 31, two Omani human rights activists, Ismail al-Muqbali and Habeeba al-Hina'i, and a prominent local lawyer, Yaqoub al-Kharousi, drive to Fahud, a major oil facility about 217 miles southwest of Muscat.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of oil workers had taken part in strikes across the country demanding better working conditions and pay over the previous few days, and they were keen to see for themselves how the strikers were being treated by the police.

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Long in the making, the embers of a dormant showdown between President Mohamed Morsi and the Egyptian judiciary have started glowing hotter in the past few weeks. Observers smelled traces of smoke when Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud failed to convict 24 prime suspects in the Battle of the Camel, the February 2011 attack on anti-government protesters in Cairo. More recently, members of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), the court responsible for the Supreme Council of the Armed Force's (SCAF) legal cover to dissolve the Islamist-dominated parliament, held a press conference rejecting all articles of the draft constitution concerning the powers of the court. Lastly, the administrative court set to rule on the validity of the second constituent assembly, elected by the disbanded parliament, postponed the case yet again before issuing a verdict, which is planned for next week. These events could be taken at face value -- insufficient evidence, an ambiguous constitutional framework, and more time needed to deliberate, respectively -- but the political implications behind each step suggest an institution issuing subtle warnings to restore its clout on the Egyptian stage or suffer the chaotic mess of a renewed constitutional process. 

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Recent developments in Jerusalem pose a threat to the stability of the city and to the region. The world saw a preview over the recent Jewish holidays, when activists challenged the Israeli-imposed ban on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif. Sensitivities at the site tend to peak during any holiday season; however, these latest challenges cannot be dismissed as routine or benign. The radicalization in the political discourse in Israel and the growing power of an emboldened group of Israeli activists focused on the Temple Mount are today coalescing into concrete initiatives that aspire to alter the status quo at the site for the first time since 1967. With Israeli elections approaching, the temptation of right-wing politicians to pander to Temple Mount activists will grow. In parallel, as the radicalization trend within Israel continues a settler-inspired "price tag" incident at the site becomes increasingly likely.

The site at the center of this brewing crisis is revered in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. For Jews, it is the Temple Mount, site of the ancient first and second Jewish Temples. For Muslims, since 705 AD the same spot has been home to the third holiest site in Islam, al Aqsa Mosque. For some dispensationalist Christians, restoration of Jewish contol over the site is an essential component in bringing about the "end of days."

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken responsibility for security failures in the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans. In an interview with CNN on Monday, Clinton said that she is in charge of over 60,000 people working for the State Department across the world. The statement came as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have come under increasing criticism over the Benghazi attack by the Mitt Romney campaign coming into the November 6 presidential election. Republicans have questioned the handling of security prior to the attack, and have accused the Obama administration of shifting explanations afterward. Clinton said, "The president and the vice president wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They're the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision." Her remarks came the day before the second presidential debate, during which Romney is likely to use the Benghazi attack against Obama's foreign policy. Earlier this week, the father of Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was killed in the attack, said it would be "abhorrent" for his son's death to be politicized.

Syria

The U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said he welcomes "ideas from all sides" as he appealed to Iran and Iraq for help in negotiating a Syrian ceasefire for the Eid al-Adha holiday. As tensions with its neighbor have recently escalated, Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss the situation in Syria. Additionally, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Luxembourg with EU ministers. Russia has traditionally been an ally of Syria, and along with China, has repeatedly blocked U.N. Security Council resolutions against the government of Bashar al-Assad. British Foreign Minister William Hague said, "I can't say that we made any progress." Meanwhile, clashes continue in Aleppo. According to the British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, government forces bombarded two opposition controlled districts in northeast Aleppo, al-Shaar and Karm al-Habal. Additionally, opposition fighters and Syrian troops clashed in Jdeideh, north of the ancient citadel. Syrian warplanes reportedly bombed several towns in the northwestern Idlib province. As violence progresses, the United States has expressed concern over weapons flows into Syria after the New York Times reported that arms sent through Saudi Arabia and Qatar to the Syrian opposition are going to jihadist groups. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told the U.N. Security Council that Lebanon's militant group, Hezbollah, has been increasingly involved in the Syrian conflict and actively supporting the Assad regime.

Headlines  

• About 120 prisoners escaped from Libya's al-Judaida prison on Monday after a policeman threw a set of keys into a cell, according to security officials. Nearly half have been recaptured.
• The EU approved new sanctions on Iran, the most severe since July, aimed at pushing Iran into negotiations on its contested nuclear development program.
• Israel's parliament dissolved itself and approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's January 22, 2013 date for elections, originally scheduled for October 2013.
• Egypt's state prosecutor is investigating allegations that two Muslim Brotherhood leaders provoked violence against anti-Morsi protesters on Friday.
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The European Union is set to increase sanctions on Iran on Monday after failed negotiations over Iran's contested nuclear development program. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said they will continue to increase pressure on Iran until negotiations succeed. EU Foreign Policy head Catherine Ashton said sanctions that were imposed in July are "quite clearly having an effect" and the heightened sanctions are "to persuade Iran to come to the table." Riots broke out earlier this month due to the dramatic fall of Iran's currency, the rial, which is down by about 80 percent since the beginning of the year. The new sanctions are expected to target Iran's banks, as well as trade and gas imports. Additionally, 30 more companies will be subject to an EU assets freeze. Meanwhile, the United States and EU are working to close loopholes in sanctions on Iran after discovering that Tehran has been covertly using offshore tax havens in order to maintain crude oil shipments. The National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC), Iran's largest oil-vessel operator, has reportedly registered ownership of some of its tankers in Central America. The NITC claims it is privatized but the United States classifies it as a government entity. Despite severe sanctions, U.S. exports to Iran have risen by 32 percent this year up to $199.5 million. Exports were comprised primarily of wheat and other grains, dairy products, and medical, dental, and surgical products. However, some humanitarian goods have declined including medicinal and pharmaceutical products.

Syria

Tensions between Turkey and Syria have increased with both banning all respective aircraft from their air space. The escalation was prompted by Turkey's forcing down a Syrian jet last week that Syria maintained was a passenger aircraft headed to Russia, while Turkey said there was illegal cargo on the plane. Armenia agreed to land a cargo plane carrying humanitarian aid to Syria for investigation in Turkey. Meanwhile, according to the Turkish disaster management agency (AFAD), the number of Syrians taking refuge in camps in southern Turkey has exceeded 100,000. Turkey has said it would struggle to accommodate over 100,000 refugees, and has been calling for the United Nations to build camps in a "safe zone" within Syria's borders. Over 348,000 people have been registered as refugees in Syria's neighboring countries, and many more have fled and remained unregistered. Human Rights Watch has accused Syrian government air forces of dropping cluster bombs in the past week, primarily in fighting over a highly contested highway running from Aleppo to Damascus, and the strategic town of Maarat al-Numan, which was recently captured by opposition forces. Cluster bombs, indiscriminate scattershot munitions, have been banned by most countries because of the severe threat they pose on civilians. As the conflict in Syria rages on, U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with Iranian officials appealing for help to implement a ceasefire for the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Brahimi hopes a ceasefire would open up space for a political settlement to the conflict.

Headlines  

• Libya's national congress has elected Ali Zidan, a human rights lawyer formerly living in exile, as the country's new prime minister tasked with naming a new cabinet within two weeks.
• Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has reversed the decision to remove Mubarak era chief prosecutor, Abel Maguid Mahmoud, after Friday protests in Tahrir turned violent.
• Bahrain's king has said the "door for dialogue is open" while opposition groups are calling for a representative parliament and after protesters clashed with police on Friday.
• Attacks targeting Iraqi security forces north of Baghdad have killed at least six people on Monday.
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