Cairo- The new issue of Militant Leadership Monitor (MLM) was released today by the Jamestown Foundation and it is our strongest issue yet. In this issue: • The MILF’s Murad Ebrahim by Zachary Abuza (which is our gratis article this…
Month: March 2011
The View From Egypt
Alexandria- Nothing too, too much to report here from Alex. Just quietly working away on the next issue of Militant Leadership Monitor which is looking to be my best issue yet. Got a serious trick up my sleeve on this…
Walking Like An Egyptian
Cairo- I’ve been enjoying myself wandering around Cairo’s slightly Islamabad-esque (but way more lively) Zamalek island the last couple of days. Zamalek, the city’s diplomatic enclave, is a breezy oasis squeezed in the middle of the Arab world’s Mumbai. I’m…
“City of the Living!”
Cairo- Took a very leisurely journey from the relative calm of Alexandria’s Midan Saad Zaghloul and a week of regrouping after the previous two in the Libyan insurrection, to Cairo’s posh Zalalek island, a leafy, diplomatic enclave in the center…
Are You Ready To Referendum???
Alexandria- Had an exhausting, thrilling day covering the constitutional/presidential referendum here in Egypt today. It was a bit exhausting as I used the old heel-toe express to get around. It was amazing to see so many people genuinely psyched to…
In Revolutionary North Africa
Alexandria- Well, where to begin. In the big picture, the Western powers and Amr Moussa’s Arab League are finally getting things into gear and the Qaddaf’s keep playing the international community like a fiddle with ploys like this ceasefire announcement…
Not Ice Cold in Alex…
Alexandria- Relaxing away a few days here in this crusty, dusty Mediterranean port city. The curfew here imposed by the Egyptian army from midnight till 6am has everyone a little on edge. Needless to say this is a hard place…
My War Gone By, I Miss It So
Ajdabiya & Alexandria- I did one last trip toward the front on Sunday and it was a near disaster. I joined up with an Englishman working for AFP and an Andaluciana from El Periodico and we tried to make our…
When In Roman Libya…
Cyrene- Took a long, spectacular trip in the opposite direction of the fighting today to “the Athens of Africa,” an ancient Greek-and later Roman-city called Cyrene in the verdant Jebel al-Akhdar region about midway in between Benghazi and Tobruk. The…
The Honeymoon (in Libya) Is Over
Benghazi- Things are looking a bit bleak from here today. The Qaddaf’s are now making a serious push east while Seif is blabbing about never surrendering and never giving up the country. The rebels are backpedaling in high gear out…
Merci Beaucoup!
Benghazi- Well the Sarkozy government is the first to recognize the rebels and the Q man is none to happy about it. Britain is waffling and Hil is going to meet them either in France or one of the neighboring…
To Fly or Not to Fly
Benghazi- Thousands demonstrating in front of the courthouse on the corniche here today calling for an immediate no-fly zone while the Western powers continue to debate and Libyans live in fear of a demented despot. A speaker on a megaphone…
The Bang Bang Club
Ras Lanuf- Went down to Ras today with a veteran USA Today correspondent from D.C. The whole new generation bang bang club was there. Someone who I thought was my friend had a bizarre, irrational meltdown on me. It’s nice…
New Libya Articles
Benghazi- The net has been down for over 48 hours here and I am able to use a satellite connection at a rebel media center in downtown Benghazi across from the tumbledown corniche. Went to the front with some friends/colleagues…
War in Libya
Frontline Libya: Watch Out Q Man, the Rebels Are Gunning For You
Brega- Did a ridiculously exhausting trip to the town of Brega today, criss crossing the Sahara en route. It was a hot, loud, dangerous day. Don’t know how much longer I can go on pure adrenalin. This situation is being…
Into Libya’s Revolutionary Zone
Benghazi- After two ridiculously exhausting days, I made it to Benghazi deep inside Libya’s ‘liberated zone.’ I went from Cairo straight to Alexandria (Iskandariyya in Arabic), crashed two nights (barely) in a hotel in a run down art deco building…