Middle East Today: Iraq --- Results from Provincial Elections Inconclusive

See also Bahrain Special: How British Government Helped Regime Denounce Press Freedom...on World Press Freedom Day

Syria Today: Israel Airstrikes "Hit Military Research Centre"
Saturday's Middle East Today: Libya --- Tensions Continue Over Post-Qaddafi Laws

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Bahrain: Protestors Sentenced

A court has sentenced 31 protesters to 15 years in prison each for alleged roles in firebomb attacks against security forces during a demonstration last year, according to defence layer Mohamed al-Tajir.

The defendants, aged 16 to 34, all come from Sitra Island, a centre of protests since the rising began in February 2011.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Policemen on Strike

A woman runs for cover during clashes in Port Said in Egypt on Thursday (Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP)

See also US Audio Feature: Drones and Senator Paul's "False Drama" Filibuster --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Leaders Cancel Trip to Washington --- Why?
Thursday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Court Suspends Parliamentary Elections

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2011 GMT:Iraq. Minister of Agriculture Ezz al-Din al-Dawla quit today over the killing of a protester in the northern city of Mosul.

Police said they fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd of stone-throwing demonstrators.

Ezz al-Din al-Dawla is the second Iraqi minister to announce his resignation over the handling of mainly-Sunni protests, staged daily against the al-Maliki Government since December.

"I announce my resignation before the Iraqi people and my people in Mosul because there is no way to continue any longer with a government that does not respond to my people's demands," said Dawla, a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiyya Bloc, in a televised news conference.

Minister of Finance Rafa al-Issawi, whose home and offices were raided by security forces in December, quit earlier this month.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets again in the cities of Mosul, Samarra, and Kirkuk and in Anbar Province on Friday. They again demanded the release of detainees and the scrapping of anti-terrorism laws they say are unfairly used against them.

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Iraq Feature: Prime Minister Maliki Provokes the Kurds (Van Wilgenburg)

Photo: AFPRecently I mentioned the possibility that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would try to unsettle current good relations between his rivals in the Iraqiyya faction and the Iraqi Kurds, break down Iraqiyya’s base of support in Kirkuk.

Maliki’s recent decision to hold a Cabinet meeting in the city bore out the prediction, albeit not through an appeal to the Kurds. Instead, he played the Iraqi nationalist card, especially against Massoud Barzani, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader and President of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

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