By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Social-networking websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have played a major role in Arab anti-government movements that have grown into major revolts.

The number of Facebook users in the Arab world has risen by 78 percent in 2010, according to a report published by the Emirati Dubai School of Government. Lebanon and Gulf Cooperation Council states Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the site’s fastest-growing markets.
Arab users of the social-networking site jumped from nearly 12 million in January last year to around 21 million by the end of 2010, the report said.

In Saudi Arabia, youth seeking political, social and economic reforms have created a Facebook group that, by Tuesday, had nearly 2,000 members.

“The people want to reform the regime” group calls for a constitutional monarchy, transparency, legislative elections, an independent and fair judicial system, anti-corruption measures and respect for human and women rights.
It also stands for “the equal distribution of wealth” and addresses the problem of unemployment” in the oil-rich monarchy.

In Kuwait, the Fifth Fence group reported late Monday on Twitter that they had decided to delay an anti-government rally in “response to the acceptance of the interior minister’s resignation.” The youth group has postponed the protest that was planned Tuesday until March 8 but insisted it will continue its campaign to unseat the Cabinet.

“As a youth group, we still believe that the departure of this government is the only step that fulfills our demands,” the statement underlined.

Kuwait’s ruler accepted Sunday the resignation of Sheikh Jaber Khaled al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, as interior minister over his responsibility for the death of a Kuwaiti man under torture. He had been due to appear in Parliament Tuesday to be questioned about the death of the Kuwaiti citizen.
The Fifth Fence has stressed that the proposed protest was not linked to any external events, a reference to the anti-regime demonstrations raging in Egypt.

In Syria, Internet users declared Tuesday that Facebook and YouTube were available for the first time in three years amid signs Damascus may be lifting its ban on the popular social networking websites.
The Syrian government has not commented on its Internet restrictions. Several Web users in Syria reported that the sites were accessible without having to tunnel through proxy servers.

The head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, Mazen Darwish, explained he had “semiofficial confirmation” the ban was being lifted. He did not elaborate.

The gesture could be seen as a concession to stave off unrest but it is not President Bashar Assad’s major compromise as many Syrians accessed the sites anyway using proxy servers.
An online campaign calling for a “Day of Rage” against Assad’s regime last weekend fell flat when no protesters showed up in Damascus.

Assad keeps a tight lid on any form of political dissent, closely controls the media and routinely jails critics of the regime. – AFP, AP