You shall not see this story in your Western media. Layth Shubaylat (the most famous Jordanian dissident and critic of the regime) was beaten by a group of goons yesterday. This is a new tactic by Arab regimes: they send armed goons to beat up somebody and then deny that they did that: it is what Mubarak goons did to `Abdul-Halim Qandil in Cairo 2 years ago. The Egyptian regime denied involvement then, just as the Jordanian regime denies involvement now. Notice how the propaganda mouthpiece of Prince Salman (Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat) covered the story and gave the headline to the account of the Jordan secret police, claiming bizarrely that this was a non-political fight between Shubaylat and others). Will your stylish Queen of Jordan be tweeting about that? Will she include a reference to that in her latest Youtube contribution? (thanks Yusuf) (Al-Quds Al-Arabi)PS Kamal corrects me that Qandil was beaten by Mubarak goons five years ago. I told him that it was five years ago, but it feels like two. Time flies.
