Photo: Lobot (Galactic Empire Times)From The Galactic Empire Times:
CORUSCANT — Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mastermind of some of the most devastating attacks on the Galactic Empire and the most hunted man in the galaxy, was killed in a firefight with Imperial forces near Alderaan, Darth Vader announced on Sunday.
In Wednesday's LiveBlog, we posted an audio from France24, reportedly of a member of a special unit of the Syrian security forces. The man describes orders he and his colleagues received before they were sent to suppress anti-regime protests in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus on 29 April.
The full testimony:
My name is Abu Hussein and I’m part of the Syrian Defence Ministry’s special security force.
First of all, I would like to apologise for not disclosing my full identity, as well as for the quality of the sound. I had to take these precautions because of the risk I’m taking by delivering this account.
Uskowi on Iran reports on the latest challenge to the Ahmadinejad Government from Fars, a leading newspaper within the Iranian establishment:
The managing director of Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency Hamid Reza Moqadam-Far today [Wednesday] offered a detailed description of the ideological and political beliefs of the “deviationist” group, used to describe an inner circle of politicians and thinkers around president Ahmadinejad, led by his chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie. Below are the highlights of Moqadam-Far's speech (read the complete speech in Farsi):
Moqadam-Far said the group’s deviationist line is unprecedented in the history of the Islamic Republic. He emphasized their lack of belief in velayat faghih and the supreme leader during the preparation period for the imminent arrival of the Mahdi and their ideological belief in gaining the ultimate political power in the country.
Jafari and Ahmadinejad2045 GMT: So You Thought the Battle Was Over (one to end the evening)? President Ahmadinejad hits back at Ali Larijani in the Government v. Parliament battle over the merger of ministries (see 0800 GMT): "The respected speaker of the Majlis believes that he is the law, which is not true."
2005 GMT: So You Thought the Battle Was Over (continued even more)? And now the conflict expands to take in supporters of Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf....
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 10:12 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Demonstration in Aleppo in Syria tonight:
2000 GMT: A woman wails as she films the shooting of a protester in Taiz in Yemen today:
I was prompted to write this by a question on another website, trying to come to grips with the political conflict inside Iran: "At least several high officials appear to believe Khamenei could simply have 'ordered' Ahmadinejad to retain [Minister of Intelligence Heydar] Moslehi whether Ahmadinejad wanted to or not. If push comes to shove and the President simply stands his ground, the Supreme Leader may simply overrule his decision on a matter that’s plainly within the President’s authority under the constitution?"
Re: “Khamenei could simply have ‘ordered’ Ahmadinejad to retain Moslehi whether Ahmadinejad wanted to or not."
Effectively, that is what the Supreme Leader’s office did, through the letter to Moslehi and through Khamenei’s public statements. The Supreme Leader was supported by the leadership of the Revolutionary Guards (see snap analysis opening today's LiveBlog), by clerics from Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi to Tehran Friday Prayer leader Kazem Seddiqi, by prominent legislators such as Deputy Speaker of Parliament Bahonar and the 90 MPs who called for questioning of Ahmadinejad, and by the judiciary with the arrests of some in Ahmadinejad’s office (including provocative claims such as “sorcery” and “exorcism”).
This power play by the Supreme Leader’s office might have been countered if some of those groups had given support to Ahmadinejad. None of them did, pointing to his narrow (and arguably shrinking) base for power within the establishment.
Three “red lines” have been set down for the President: 1) no more moves over the Ministry of Intelligence; 2) no manipulation of 2012 Parliamentary elections; 3) no anointing of his right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai as a successor
Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters, seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites, fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
Nothing, however, has struck harder at the fabric of this nation, where Shiites outnumber Sunnis nearly 4 to 1, than the destruction of Shiite worship centers.
You are a respected Damascus lawyer. And yet you are wanted by the Syrian secret police. Why?
The wanted list is very long these days; many of my friends have been arrested or are in hiding like me. The regime is arresting activists, but also ordinary people in large numbers. Many are tortured to break their spirits. The “ordinary” prisoners are released, so they tell of their fate and spread fear. Those with a leading role in the protests remain in custody.
Maya Nayestani captures both the question and the challenge for the Iranian opposition:
Maya Nayestani 
Israel should understand that its state policy of collective punishment has cracked, if not come to an end: Egypt’s announcement that it will permanently open the border crossing with Gaza and plans for a new Gaza flotilla in June are only the drops of a shower washing away West Jerusalem's approach.
If the terms of the Shalit deal are made public, with Hamas offers a relatively "better" deal --- which it will do to increase the international pressure on Israel --- the Gaza group will not only advance in the hearts and minds of millions of Arabs, and possibly some Israelis, as well as boosting its credibility in the eyes of Western capitals.
