Egypt was plagued by further sporadic violence as the Arab spring of 2011 failed to bring stability. Mohamed Morsi won the presidential election and became the first elected Islamist head of state in the Arab world. He proposed a new constitution that critics say is excessively Islamist and endangers minorities.

The National Transitional Council in Libya handed over power to an elected congress, though factional fighting continued. The American ambassador to Libya was killed on the 11th of September in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

A week-long war in Gaza was sparked by Israel’s air strike which killed the head of Hamas’ military wing, which left 140 Palestinians and six Israeli’s dead. Egypt brokered a ceasefire.

Forces loyal to the Libyan government took control of most of Bani Walid, a former stronghold of Qaddafi.

A United Nations envoy said that the Syrian government and most rebel leaders have agreed to abide by a ceasefire during the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al Adha.

Libya’s fledgling parliament elected a new prime minister. Ali Zidan is a former career diplomat who served under Muammar Ghaddafi until going into exile in 1980.

The electoral commission in Jordan said there would be an election on January 23rd 2013. The oppostion Islamic Action Front, a group affiliating itself to the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would boycott the poll.

Egypt’s president Mohamed Morsi pardoned all political prisoners arrested since the start of the revolt last year against Hosni Mubarak, except for those convicted of murder.

Tensions between Turkey and Syria remain high as they continue to shell each other following a spillover effect from the Syrian uprising. Turkish jets forced a Syrian passenger plane en route to Moscow to land in Turkey because there was “objectionable material” on board according to the foreign minister.

In Jordan a group close to the Muslim Brotherhood organised protests against what it claimed was King Abdullah’s failure to make adequate reforms in the run-up to an election expected next year.

Several of Libya’s Islamist militias, including the one believed to have killed US Ambassador to Libya on September 11th, were disbanded or brought under command of the armed forces.

The defence minister in Yemen survived an assassination attempt that left 12 people dead, when a bomb exploded near his office in the capital Sana’a.

Tareq Al-Hashemi, Iraq’s vice-president, was sentenced to death in absentia for alleged murder. He blames the prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki, denouncing the trial as being politically motivated.

The National Forces Alliance, a broad secular party led by former Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, won 39 of the 80 seats in Libya’s first election in four decades. An Islamist party won 17, while the remaining 120 are reserved for individuals without party affiliations.

Opposition leaders in Syria met in Moscow to discuss a political solution to the crisis. Nawaf al-Fares, the Syrian ambassador to Iraq, defecting.

Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court rejected President Mohamed Morsi’s move to reinstate the parliament. It was dissolved last month after the court ruled the election was partially unconstitutional.

Preliminary results suggested that a party deemed to be secular and fairly liberal won the most votes in Libya’s firt post-Qaddafi general election.

Libya postponed its elections because it needs another six weeks to organise them. It also arrested lawyers from the International Criminal Court who allegedly shared forbidden information with Muammar Gaddafi’s son, Saif al Islam.

A ceasefire plan drafted by Kofi Annan seemed to be holding up in Syria. According to rebels and activists, dozens still die daily at the hands of government forces.