Amr Moussa -- more manoeuvres The word manoeuvre is defined as a deliberate, coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill. Should the ability to retreat and to make U-turns also be added to this definition, then it might be the best word to describe Amr Moussa. Secretary-general of the Arab League since May 2001 -- and supposedly until May of next year -- Moussa has proven himself to be an expert at political manoeuvring. Throughout his years as a member of Egypt's permanent mission to the UN headquarters in New York, and then as head of the international organisations department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and minister of foreign affairs, a post that he occupied for 10 years before his present appointment, Moussa showed himself to be an artist when it comes to political manoeuvres. At the UN, it was resolutions that he manoeuvred to pass, or, at times, to withdraw. At the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, it was decisions he manoeuvred to promote or drop. He also manoeuvred among colleagues competing to get top diplomatic jobs. As foreign minister, it was among successive Israeli foreign ministers and US secretaries of state that Moussa endeavoured to manoeuvre. As secretary-general of the 60-year-old Arab League, Moussa's manoeuvres have persisted: manoeuvring to spare Iraq from foreign occupation, to keep Iraq linked to the Arab world, to ease inter-Arab differences and to defend the territorial unity of the Arab states. There has also been the continuing manoeuvring in dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict. While Moussa has not always been successful, and at times has even been out-manoeuvred, at 74 years old this year diplomacy has become his second nature. In spring last year, he was doing his best to manoeuvre his way out of his post at the Arab League, saying that 10 years were enough for anyone as head of this inter-Arab organisation. Some read this as a way for Moussa, a popular Egyptian politician, to launch a new period in his life, with many speculating that he has been looking for a way out of the Arab and back onto the Egyptian political scene. After all, it was only shortly before the beginning of the year that Moussa indicated in press interviews that if President Hosni Mubarak decided not to run in the presidential elections then he would contemplate running, if only to head off calls for him to join the presidential race. However, Moussa also went on record as suggesting that Mubarak seemed set to run for a further term in office, and so it may have been that instead of wanting to run for president he simply wanted to find a way out from a difficult job that has been getting more difficult in the absence of Arab consensus. It will be in the early weeks of the new year that the current Arab League secretary-general will need to find a way forward: either he will leave a job that has left quite a mark on him, or he will need to backtrack on comments he has made about his fatigue at the way inter-Arab relations are presently being conducted. He needs to find an exit, either onwards or outwards. Meles Zenawi -- a forceful character Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is the country's indisputable strongman. He is one of the most powerful and influential political personalities in Africa. Yes, he has many enemies both local and abroad. But, he is a forceful character and has a strong will. In power since 1985, he began his political career as the head of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The TPLF toppled the Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam and was instrumental in overthrowing the domination of the ethnic Amhara elite who controlled government, armed forces and the economy. Zenawi instituted the policy of ethnic federation, giving power to regional and non- Amhara forces. As head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), dominated by Zenawi's TPLF, he instituted radical economic reform and adopted a pro-Western policy and close ties with the United States. As a key ally of the US in the war against terrorism in the Horn of Africa region, Zenawi emerged as the staunchest combatant against militant Islam in East Africa and cultivated a policy of cooperation with the neighbouring states of Kenya and Uganda. He also maintained friendship with avowedly Islamist states such as Sudan. It was a tricky policy that demonstrated his political acumen and far- sightedness. At home, he fought Somali Islamists and separatists. He also worked with moderates within the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Oromia, the Oromo Liberation Front -- the largest ethnic Oromo political party. The Oromo people are by far the largest group in Ethiopia, but have historically been politically oppressed and peripheralised. The Oromo people are also divided into rival political groups and are divided equally between Muslims and Christians, Orthodox Christians, Protestant Christians and Roman Catholics. The Oromo, therefore, do not constitute a political threat to the Meles Zenawi administration, even though Addis Ababa has tried desperately to cultivate their loyalty and support for the EPRDF. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council declared that religious freedoms are compromised in Ethiopia with Muslims and Protestant Christians, in particular, being persecuted. The Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region also accuse the Ethiopian government of suppressing their rights. The major opposition parties are the Coalition for Unity and Democracy and the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement. Once of the most contentious issues in Ethiopia today is the control of water resources. Indeed, the Nile water has emerged as the major focus of the Meles Zenawi administration. In recent years, the Tekeze hydro-electric power project was constructed in the northern region of Tigray. Ethiopia's largest hydro-electric plant is the Achefer Woreda in the Amhara region. Such projects have aroused the suspicion and concern of neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Sudan as the view Ethiopia as determined to compete with them for water resources. The Ethiopians under Meles Zenawi have threatened to increase the country's share of the Nile water resources. Another controversial issue is the land use reform instituted by the Meles Zenawi administration. There are fears that the Ethiopian government is selling off the plots of land of small-holders to foreign agricultural investors in the name of land reform and agricultural development. The fact is that the land sold is not simply empty land. It belongs to the impoverished longsuffering peasants of Ethiopia. Erdogan -- the new Turkey Turkey has finally found its identity, its voice in world affairs. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, former mayor of Istanbul, has transformed Turkey's image from one of cautious, obedient Western wannabe to a truly independent, strong country, proud of itself as both European and Muslim. The stridently secular military had mayor Erdogan arrested in 1997 for reciting a poem used in high schools: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers." But this merely accelerated the discrediting of the old power formation and confirmed Erdogan, the pragmatic, successful mayor as Turkey's rising star. Prime minister since 2003, when restrictions on his political activity were lifted, with his Justice and Development Party (AKP) winning two-thirds of parliamentary seats, he moved quickly to bring the military under control. The most visible sign of this was the confirmation of his choice for president -- Abdullah Gul, whose wife wears her head scarf at public events. Soon, students were allowed to emulate her in schools. A controversial constitutional referendum in 2010 curbed the military's powers, allowing them to be tried in civilian courts, giving public servants the right to go on strike, introducing a privacy law, and allowing greater civilian control of the Constitutional Court. Foreign policies under Erdogan have changed dramatically: AKP's "zero-problems" foreign policy led to formal diplomatic relations with Armenia, a visa-free regime with Russia, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. At the same time, Israel's murder of nine Turkish passengers on the Mavi Marmara last May prompted Turkey to downgrade its relations with Israel and to provide greater support to Israel's neighbours, especially the Palestinians, in defiance of the US. His strength of character and confidence is the pride of Turks. This week, after the fifth trilateral summit the presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey, he spontaneously invited his president, President Hamid Karzai and President Asif Zardari to a mosque to pray, driving the illustrious group himself, without any security. This is a politician who knows where he is going and how to get there. George Galloway -- stalking the truth George Galloway is no stranger to controversy. He is not the usual politician but one who focuses on amending injustices. Emulating the Canadian government's embarrassing refusal to allow him in the country last March, the US has decided it too should shoot itself in the foot. The former MP and pro- Palestinian activist was due to speak in five US cities, but was bared from flying in from by US authorities. The Muslim Legal Fund of America, which organised the tour, said the ban was because of "visa problems". A blogger present at a venue where the controversial politician addressed a crowd via a video link, reported that Galloway said: "Nothing will stop me. Not the government of what they call Israel; not the government of Canada or the US." The tour was intended to follow a similar one in Canada earlier this month, which provoked anger from Jewish organisations. Despite the bar, Galloway said he would still try and attend an event in Michigan in January 2011. The contentious views of the man have always sparked debate since he first entered public office. In his early 20s, Galloway was a local representative in Dundee, and arranged for the city to be twinned with the Palestinian city of Nablus, flying the Palestinian flag from the council office. In speeches broadcast on Arab and Iranian television, Galloway describes Jerusalem and Baghdad as being "raped" by "foreigners", referring to Israel's illegal annexation of East Jerusalem, and the war in Iraq. Galloway apologised for describing George W Bush as a "wolf", saying that to do so defames wolves: "No wolf would commit the sort of crimes against humanity that George Bush committed against the people of Iraq." Galloway repeatedly met late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, a contentious act that triggered a wave of criticism, including in the US Senate. Galloway argues that he met Saddam "exactly the same number of times as US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns." He continued "I met him to try to bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war". Galloway instigated the Viva Palestina aid convoy less than a week after the 22-day Gaza carnage code-named Operation Cast Lead. On entering the besieged city, Galloway held a press conference attended by several senior Hamas officials: "We are giving you now 100 vehicles and all of their contents, and we make no apology for what I am about to say. We are giving them to the elected government of Palestine," adding he would personally donate three cars and 25,000 pounds to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. This was the last time Galloway was allowed in to Gaza. Ketermaya -- wild West justice An Egyptian worker is at the heart of a murderous crime in Lebanon. Ketermaya, once a serene village in South East Lebanon, became a well known place after the killing of a whole family, the two grandparents and their grandchildren, at the hands of an Egyptian worker. The murderer Mohamed Mosallam, 38 years, an Egyptian worker, was arrested shortly after the crime by Lebanese police. But a few hours after his arrest, dozens of residents intercepted a police Jeep carrying Mosallam to the reenactment site, dragged the killer out and attacked him with sticks and knives. Mosallam was rushed to hospital by police after he was badly wounded by the mob. But the locals chased the killer to Siblin hospital, dragged him out and beat him with sticks to death. After the killing, the crowd stripped Mosallam down to his underpants and dragged his body through Ketermaya. There, the residents tied a metal wire around his neck and hung him from an electric pole. "Let the criminal be hanged, to be a lesson for all others who think of killing like this," cried the crowd. Some called the action of the residents barbaric while some said the murderer got what he deserved. But what was clear is how people have become distrustful of the law and its ability to defend the people's rights. The crime was shocking and made headlines across the country. Social media was buzzing with details of the crime and the real reasons behind it -- details all bloody and full of vengeance and hatred. Videos and photos flooded the Internet in no time. Reenactment of the crime was a quick public trial that made its sentence even without any further investigation or waiting for the DNA results. The results of the DNA tests would have proved the guilt of Mosallam, but did anyone think what would have been the case if the tests proved otherwise? If any lesson can be derived from this crime, it is how vigilant people are becoming. People are taking the law into their own hands, becoming the prosecutor, the judge and the executor themselves without realising that they are playing a role they should not play.
