Syria Snapshot: The Regime's "Jihadist" Disinformation? (Mqayed)

Caption from Al-Akhbar: "A man wearing a black shirt bearing an Al-Qaeda flag (L) speaks with a UN observer as monitors meet with rebels and civilians in the village of Azzara in the province of Homs on 4 May 2012. (Photo: AFP- Joseph Eid)"

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the above photo made the rounds on the usual regime-owned & regime-sympathetic outlets --- initially featured on the state-owned daily al-Watan, where it was depicted as “proof” for the regime’s claims about “Salafi terrorist gangs” and even as a basis for accusing UNSMIS observers of “collaboration” with them. The photo also made an appearance in an article by Sharmine Nawrani on al-Akhbar claiming “a growing Jihadi presence in Syria”.

The only, and perhaps most damning, caveat is that the man in the above photo is in fact the exact opposite of what the regime claims.

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Algeria Latest: At Least 3 Dead in Friday's Protests

1755 GMT: Protests took place today in the Kabylie region east of Algiers on Saturday, including in the cities of Tizi Ouzou and Bejaia.

The Government continues to combine denunciation and reassurance. Abdelaziz Belkhadem, a representative of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, condemned protesters. He said oil revenues were improving living standards for Algeria's 35 million people, but improvements would take time as there had been no investment during fighting between the government and Islamist groups in the 1990s.

Minister of Trade Mustapha Benbada said urgent measures would be taken and promised, "From the start of next week, the situation will get better." Possible measures included fixed profit margins on goods such as cooking oil and sugar.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in his third term, has not made any public comment on the protests.

1410 GMT: Minister of Interior Daho Ould Kablia has issued his first statement on this week's protests.

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Iran Special: The Latest on the Non-Release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

Information from EA sources indicates that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condemned to death for adultery, has NOT been released from prison.

The news that she had been freed followed images of Ashtiani and her son Sajad Ghaderzadeh --- who has also been detained since September --- in their home in northwestern Iran. Soon, however, another story emerged: Sakineh had been escorted from prison to home to make another televised "confession" of adultery and complicity in the murder of her husband.

Here is what we have learned:

The pictures of Ashtiani and Ghaderzadeh are from a trailer (commercial) for the Iran Today programme, which is broadcast on Fridays, on Press TV. EA sources in the Iranian state media say Ashtiani was taken "temporarily" out of prison for the programme, which will report how she contributed to the murder of her husband. (Thus, the report last night that she is saying in the trailer, "We planned to kill my husband.")

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Iran Update: Mahmoud's Road Show and the "Dazzled" US Media

If the Iranian President was less than successful today in the first of his talks at the United Nations, he could console himself that he got his talking points out through the US and "Western" media. 

I guess The New York Times should at least get credit for recognising what was going on: 

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran ran through his standard talking points at his annual gathering with American journalists on Tuesday — denying that dissidents languish in jail or that economic sanctions were biting, and rejecting the idea that Tehran deserves anything less than a gold star for its nuclear inspection record. 

This does not mean, however, that the Times interrogated the talking points, you know, by offering any consideration of the political prisoners. Instead, the Times is carried away because Ahmadinejad "embroidered his remarks with a little fresh bluster". And what dazzled them?

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