Surf Arab States

Arab States Weekly Review 11th – 17th June 2011

At least 8,500 Syrians fled to Turkey after government troops entered the town of Jisr al-Shughour near the border. Demonstrations continued to spread across the country. Russian and Chinese governments seemed likely to block a UN Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown.

Five months after being nominated as prime minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, a Sunni supported by Hizbullah, at last got parliament to vote him formally into office.

Tunisia’s interim government said that ousted dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali will stand trial in absentia on charges ranging from corruption to drug-trafficking.

A party created by the Muslim Brotherhood agreed it would form a front together with the Wafd, an old liberal secular party that used to cooperate with the previous regime, to compete in Egypt’s general election scheduled for september.