Surf Arab States

Arab States Weekly Review 2nd – 8th July 2011

Two bombs in Taji, north of Baghdad, killed at least 35 people. Violence in Iraq is on the rise, six months before the planned departure of American troops.

Around 98.5% of Moroccan voters approved a new constitution proposed by King Mohammed VI, who faced pro-democracy protests earlier this year.

Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the former dictator of Tunisia, was again convicted in absentia, this time of illegally possessing drugs and weapons. Ben Ali fleed Tunisia in January and now resides in Saudi Arabia.

The German parliament questioned the sales of 200 tanks to Saudi Arabia because of the country’s poor human rights record and participation in the crackdown on protesters in Bahrain in March.