A R A B I C A ???????
IS IT HIM?
*@Mar-bahrain tweets a picture of what purports to be the corpse of Bin Laden: “A picture of Bin Laden’s body before being thrown in the sea...smiling.”
*Fadhilhoum tweets, “There is no plausible proof that Osama Bin Laden died. This is a bad play by the Americans. Whoever wants to believe it can do so, but we want proof.”
WAS IT NOW?
*@Tonyjuju writes, “They’re trying to sell the lie of killing Osama Bin Laden now - they had him for years in prison.”
*Shaima Abdalnoor says, “Osama Bin Laden truly died the day the Arab revolutions were born. The revolutions have achieved what he did not in 20 years.”
WHO ARE WE?
*A new facebook group called “We are all Osama Bin Laden” has 295 members. In the information section, the group is about “American barbarism.” Featuring pictures and video of Bin Laden, the administrator writes that “we are all the hero Osama Bin Laden.”
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
*BBC Arabic visited the quiet, upper-middle-class suburb of Abbottabad where Osama Bin Laden lived his final years. Known for its moderate climate, a number of generals from the Pakistani Army choose to retire in Abbottabad, where almost all the residents live in modern homes and own their own cars. Zuhair Abbas, Bin Laden’s neighbor, said he had no idea who lived inside the “mysterious” compound. There was no sign of women or children or any sort of social life within, he said. The security gates would only open to let cars in or out and would immediately close. The compound’s seemingly few residents “were keen to avoid any sort of relationship with those living in the village,” the network reported. Over the past two months, men dressed in civilian clothes came to the village saying they were looking to buy land in the area. They inquired about a price for Bin Laden’s compound. Neighbors now believe these were intelligence agents sent to gather information about the compound.
SEIGE IN SYRIA
*A young Syrian woman named Eman Toujeh Nida recorded a video clip posted on YouTube pleading for anyone outside Daraa to insist that the city be unsealed. Daraa is surrounded by tanks, and “not a single person has been granted access to it to provide aid,” she says. It is old people and children who are suffering most, as there is no food, water, electricity or medicine allowed in.
NET SUPPORT
*Wael Ghonim tweeted a link to a professionally produced video montage of Syria that ends with a flashing graphic that reads: “The Syrian people are bringing down the regime.” Ghonim tweeted, “We do not give up… win or die… this is a tribute to the brave people of Syria.”
May 3, 2011
photo credit: illustir
