Desde que o Miguel Portas chegou ao Parlamento Europeu...

Palestinian Authority
The post-Arafat era has begun. Palestinians voted for a new president in January?s free elections and a parliamentary poll is set for July. New leader Mahmoud Abbas is raising hopes of peace but it is still unclear whether he will be able to exert control over militant groups and negotiate a territorial deal with Israel.

Lebanon
Assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri acted as a catalyst for change. Syria today begins withdrawing its forces to the eastern Bekaa Valley. Free elections may take place in May after protests brought Black down the pro-Syrian Sea government. Not known when a final pull-out of Syrian forces will take place.

Syria
Washington and Damascus are locked in a dialogue of the deaf. President Bashar Assad refuses to relinquish his trump cards (support for Hizbollah and radical Palestinians) as long as conflict with Israel over Golan Heights continues. Blamed for the murder of Rafik Hariri, Assad has reluctantly ordered his forces in Lebanon to pull back.

Iraq
Bush and his allies believe democracy is finally flowering in Iraq. Eight million voted to elect government in January. A constitution enshrining personal, political and religious freedoms is to be drawn up by October. But a bloody insurgency continues to mar progress. The under-representation of Sunnis in the new government will be a problem.

Egypt
President Hosni Mubarak ? unopposed in power since 1981 ? surprised the West in February announcing multi-candidate presidential elections for September. Health troubles have sparked succession worries though Mubarak has denied a plan for dynastic succession by his son Gamal. A close US ally, Egypt receives $3bn a year in tied aid.

Saudi Arabia
Fearful of change, accustomed to a system in which it holds enormous power and privileges, the Saudi royal family views serious reform as a risk not worth taking, although the greatest risk to its survival comes from doing nothing at all. Elections for local councils were recently held for the first time, but women were barred from voting.

Libya
No sign yet of democracy arriving in the Great Socialist People?s Libyan Arab Jamiriyah. Although once regarded by the West as a pariah state, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi?s decision to take responsibility for the Lockerbie bombings and renounce WMD brought it back into the fold. However it remains a dictatorship.

Yemen
Yemen is a fragile not a failed state. A nascent democracy with the most open political system in the Arabian Peninsula, its government has shown a general commitment to developing the instruments of a modern state and has cooperated with international efforts to uproot the al-Qa?ida network. Presidential elections planned for this year.

Kuwait
Kuwait?s parliament has agreed to speed up moves towards a law to grant women the same political rights as men. The decision came amid noisy street rallies by women activists. The country?s ruler, Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Sabah, is moving slowly towards giving women the vote. But political parties remain outlawed.

Bahrain
Voted in 2001 to become a constitutional monarchy with elected parliament and independent judiciary.

Qatar
Greater political openness since current head of state came to power in 1995. Democratic elections were held in 1999.

(Fonte via Little Green Footballs)



P.S. Há 6 meses atrás, os cidadãos árabes podiam participar livremente em eleições, formar partidos e eleger representantes para o parlamento num único país do Médio Oriente.

P.S2. O Afeganistão não fica no Médio Oriente e a sua população não é árabe (com excepção de algums membros de uma associação de beneficiência liderada por um milionário saudita).