Surf Arab States

Arab States Weekly Review Jan 28th – Feb 3rd 2012

74 people were killed in clashes between spectators from rival teams at a football match in the Egyptian city of Port Said. The police came under sharp criticism for failing to stop the trouble. The Egyptian cabinet called an emergency meeting.

The Arab League suspended an observer mission to Syria that was meant to aid a peaceful end to an increasingly-violent conflict between the government and protesters.

Iraq’s main Sunni party returned to parliament and will resume talks with Shia leaders, following a protest over an arrest warrant for the country’s Sunni vice-president.

Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt’s Sinai region released 25 Chinese workers they had kidnapped.