Tunisia (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Sitting In for Change

1930 GMT: Picture of the Day? Army Chief of Staff Rachid Ammar addressing protesters in Tunis today (see 1720 and 1755 GMT):

1920 GMT: In Egypt, a man tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists as about 20 people gathered in front of the Supreme Court to commend the police’s work and criticize protests planned for Tuesday.

Civil servants have received a written warning not to participate in the demonstrations for a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment". Those who defy the instruction could lose their jobs.

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Lebanon Interview: State Department's Feltman Plays with Beirut as a Pawn

A depressing interview in The Washington Post with the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey D. Feltman.

It's depressing because almost none of Feltman's words --- and thus, I presume, the State Department's attention --- are about Lebanon. There's no recognition here of the concerns of the Lebanese people, of the relationship amongst Shia, Sunni, Christian, and Druze communities, of the economic, social, and religious issues in the country, of the initiatives to bring some agreement amongst factions and thus some progress. Indeed, the only Lebanese whom Feltman specifically notes --- apart from a fleeting reference to President Michel Suleiman (not even a mention for Prime Minister Saad Hariri) --- are "Hezbollah".

That is because Feltman's concern is not about Lebanon but about Syria and Iran, to the point where he drops all pretence of "Lebanon" at one point and talks about the situation in Iraq. The interviewer is no better: note the concluding question, "So you don't think Lebanon is about to fall into Iran's hands?":

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