History > 2011 > USA > International (VI)

Men wait to enter Tunisia from Libya on March 1, 2011.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Faces of the displaced        March 30, 2011

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/03/faces_of_the_displaced.html

Rare political protest held in Syria - witnesses

BEIRUT | Tue Mar 15, 2011
8:38pm GMT
Reuters

BEIRUT (Reuters) - About 40 people joined a Syrian protest Tuesday, briefly chanting political slogans, witnesses said, in the first challenge to the ruling Baath Party since civil unrest swept countries across the Arab world.

Witnesses said protesters marched through Hameediyeh market in Old Damascus before dispersing into side streets, making it difficult to be caught by Syrian secret police, who have beefed up their presence in the wake of the political tumult that overthrew the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father 11 years ago, has said there was no chance the political upheaval shaking the Arab Middle East would spread to Syria. The president also heads the Baath party, in power since 1963, bans opposition and imposes emergency law still in force.

A short YouTube video showed a few dozen people marching after noon prayer near the Umayyad Mosque, one of the holiest places in Islam, clapping and chanting "God, Syria, freedom -- that's enough."

The chant is a play on words of one of the government's main slogans "God, Syria, Bashar -- that's enough," in reference to the president.

The crowd chanted "Peaceful, Peaceful," heard in protests that brought down Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak last month.

One political activist said: "The numbers were small but the protest was significant because the security forces, which have prevented all the past gatherings, did not know what hit them this time."

A voice in the background of the Youtube video said: "The date is (March) 15 ... This is the first obvious uprising against the Syrian regime ... Alawite or Sunni, all kinds of Syrians, we want to bring down the regime."

Protests inspired by events in Egypt and Tunisia have led to bloody confrontations with authorities in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen.

RULING HIERARCHY CONFIDENT

In a sign that the authorities were keen to prevent the protest spreading, Damascus University closed early Tuesday. An event organised at campus by the Netherlands Institute for Academic Studies was cancelled. In the city of Aleppo, security increased around the main Saad al-Jabiri square, witnesses said.

There was no reaction from the Syrian government.

President Assad said in an interview published in January that Syria's ruling hierarchy was "very closely linked to the beliefs of the people" and that there was no mass discontent against the state.

Since mass uprisings overthrew Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Syrian authorities have intensified a long-running campaign of arrests of dissidents, independent writers and opposition figures.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has said Syria's authorities were among the worst violators of human rights in 2010, jailing lawyers, torturing opponents and using violence to repress ethnic Kurds.

Earlier this month the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 13 political prisoners had gone on hunger strike to protest against "political detentions and oppression" in their country.

One of the prisoners, 80-year-old lawyer and former judge Haitham al-Maleh, was later released under an amnesty marking the anniversary of the 1963 coup which brought the Baath party to power.

Officials say political prisoners in Syria have violated the constitution and that outside criticism of the state's human rights record is interference in Syria's affairs.

Syria has enjoyed some international rehabilitation after years in isolation due to disputes with the West over its role in Lebanon and Iraq and its backing for militant groups.

(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Elizabeth Fullerton)

    Rare political protest held in Syria - witnesses, R, 15.3.2011, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/uk-syria-protest-idUKTRE72E6UB20110315

Factbox: Key facts about Bahrain

Tue Mar 15, 2011
7:30pm GMT
Reuters

(Reuters) - Bahrain declared martial law on Tuesday as it struggles to quell an uprising by the island's Shi'ite Muslim majority, that has drawn in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbor Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain on Monday to help put down weeks of protests by the Shi'ite Muslim majority, a move opponents of the Sunni ruling family on the island called a declaration of war.

The Gulf Arab island kingdom has seen the worst unrest since the 1990s after activists from the Shi'ite majority launched protests against the Sunni-led government last month. Here are some facts about Bahrain:

* ECONOMY:

-- Bahrain is a regional financial and banking hub, however the tourism and financial sectors have been hit by the unrest and it may take a while before the kingdom restores its reputation for business-friendliness. Bahrain postponed the season opening of the Formula One Grand Prix, which draws over 40,000 people annually.

-- Before the protests, Bahrain's king had promised to spend $488 million more over the next two years, including subsidies for food, low-income families and social allowances.

-- The government had also planned to give 1,000 dinars ($2,650) to each Bahraini family. Overall, the package was estimated to be worth at least $700 million, or around 3.6 percent of GDP.

SOME NUMBERS:

GDP (2010 est.): $21.73 billion.

Real GDP growth rate (2009 est.) 3.1 percent.

Per capita GDP (2009 est.): $38,400.

Natural resources: Oil, aluminum, textiles, natural gas, fish, pearls.

TRADE:

Trade (2009 est): Exports - $12.5 billion: oil and other mineral products, aluminum, textiles. Major markets - Saudi Arabia (3.4 percent), United States (3 percent), India (2.7 percent), Japan (2.3 percent).

Imports - $10.37 billion: crude oil, machinery and appliances, transport equipment, foodstuffs.

* OIL:

-- Non-OPEC oil producer Bahrain has boosted its oil production to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 32,000 bpd after it started to overhaul its main oilfield, Abdul-Hussain bin Ali Mirza, head of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA), was quoted as saying in February. He said Bahrain is targeting output capacity of 100,000 bpd by 2017.

* COUNTRY DETAILS:

POPULATION: 1.2 million including 235,000 non nationals.

ETHNICITY: Bahrainis are Arab people. There are also Iranian, Indian and Pakistani immigrants.

RELIGION: Muslim 85 percent, predominantly Sunni in urban and Shia in rural areas. There is a Christian minority and smaller numbers of Jews, Hindus, Baha'i and others.

LANGUAGE: The official language is Arabic, with English the second most widely spoken language.

GEOGRAPHY: Bahrain, with an area of 711 square km (267 sq miles), is located in the middle of the Gulf and comprises an archipelago of 32 islands, 24 km (15 miles) from the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia and 28 km north of the Qatar peninsula. It is linked to Saudi Arabia by a 25-km causeway.

* POLITICAL SYSTEM:

-- Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy. The government is headed by a prime minister who is appointed by the king from the ruling al-Khalifa family. Both the king and the prime minister hold enormous authority.

-- Political parties are banned in Bahrain, but political groups have been formed after King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who came to power in 1999, initiated political and economic reforms.

-- Bahrain has a 40-member elected parliament and a 40-seat upper house consultative appointed by the government.

    Factbox: Key facts about Bahrain, R, 15.3.2011, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/us-bahrain-protests-profile-idUKTRE72E7SA20110315

Gaddafi forces seize key town

AJDABIYAH, Libya | Tue
Mar 15, 2011
7:14pm GMT
By Mohammed Abbas

AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's forces seized a strategic town in eastern Libya on Tuesday, opening the way to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi while world powers failed to agree to push for a no-fly zone.

The small town of Ajdabiyah was all that stood between the relentless eastward advance of Libyan government troops and the second city of Benghazi and lies on a road junction from where Gaddafi's forces could attempt to encircle the rebel stronghold.

"The town of Ajdabiyah has been cleansed of mercenaries and terrorists linked to the al Qaeda organisation," state television said, referring to the rebels fighting to end Gaddafi's 41 years of absolute power.

As his survival looks more likely, foreign powers face hard decisions over whether to isolate him or seek some form of rapprochement. They are united in condemning his bloody crackdown, but show little appetite or consensus for action to support an uprising inspired by the ouster of Egypt and Tunisia's presidents.

The international community has been discussing a no-fly zone for three weeks, while rebels have faced daily attacks from Gaddafi's war planes.

Government jets opened up with rocket fire on a rebel checkpoint at the western entrance to Ajdabiyah, then unleashed a rolling artillery barrage on the town and a nearby arms dump, following the same pattern of attack that has pushed back rebels more than 100 miles (160 km) in a week-long counter-offensive.

At least one missile hit a residential area. Residents and rebels piled into cars and pickups to flee town on highways towards Benghazi or Tobruk, which are still in rebel hands.

"The battle is lost. Gaddafi is throwing everything against us," said a rebel officer who gave his name as General Suleiman.

As well as the coastal road to Benghazi, there is also a 400 km (250 mile) desert road straight to Tobruk, near the Egyptian border, that would cut off Benghazi. But it was not clear whether Gaddafi's forces were strong enough to open a second front and if they could operate with such long supply lines.

Libyan League for Human Rights chief Soliman Bouchuiguir, said in Geneva if Gaddafi attacked Benghazi, a city with 670,000 people and the rebels' provisional National Council, there would be "a real bloodbath, a massacre like we saw in Rwanda."

The mood in the city was defiant but shaky.

"About the news from Ajdabiyah, everyone admits now we don't have the weapons to take on Gaddafi. We are all afraid, to be honest," Mohamed Yasiri, unemployed and 55, said.

Haitham Imami, 38, unemployed, listening to Yasiri, objected: "We are ready to fight him zenga, zenga (street by street). We have the weapons, even if we are left with daggers."

Gaddafi's planes, tanks and artillery have had few problems picking off lightly armed insurgents in the open desert, but have faced tougher resistance in towns that offer more cover.

The small oil town of Brega, with a population of just 4,300, 75 km (50 miles) southwest of Ajdabiyah, changed hands several times in three days of heavy fighting, but also succumbed to superior government firepower on Tuesday.

"We have lost Brega completely. We could not face Gaddafi's forces," said a rebel, who identified himself only as Nasser.

"MENTAL DISORDER"

Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight countries meeting in Paris could not agree to press the U.N. Security Council to back a no-fly zone to protect Libyan cities from aerial bombing.

Instead, the G8 said Libyans have a right to democracy and warned Gaddafi he faced "dire consequences" if he ignored his people's rights. The G8 urged the Security Council to increase pressure on Gaddafi, including further economic measures.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain have led calls to impose a no-fly zone. But Gaddafi dismissed the plan.

"We will fight and win. A situation of that type will only serve to unite the Libyan people," he told the Italian daily Il Giornale. Sarkozy, he said, has "a mental disorder."

In Washington, the White House said it was exploring ways to free up some of the billions of dollars of assets seized from Gaddafi's government to provide help for the rebels.

At the G8, Russia and Germany argued a no-fly zone could be counterproductive, while the United States, which is likely to have to shoulder much of the burden of policing Libyan skies, is still cautious over the idea.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "There is common ground here in the G8 and while not every nation sees eye-to-eye on issues such as the no-fly zone, there is a common appetite to increase the pressure on Gaddafi."

In New York, members of the U.N. Security Council are expected to receive a draft resolution later on Tuesday calling for a no-fly zone and stepped-up sanctions against Gaddafi and his inner circle, council diplomats told Reuters.

The 15-nation body is not expected to vote on the draft on Tuesday, as most member states will need time to consult with their capitals about the no-fly zone, the diplomats said.

Veto powers Russia, China and the United States, along with Portugal, Germany and South Africa are among the members that have doubts about the idea of a no-fly zone for Libya.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?

As the diplomatic debate drags on, there is now a very real possibility that by the time world powers agree on a response to the conflict, Gaddafi's forces may already have won.

NATO has set three conditions for it to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya; regional support, proof its help is needed and a Security Council resolution.

An Arab League call for a no-fly zone satisfies the first condition, but with access to most of Libya barred by Gaddafi's security forces, hard evidence that NATO intervention is needed to avert atrocities or a humanitarian disaster is scarce.

U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang said Gaddafi's government had "chosen to attack civilians with massive, indiscriminate force."

Growing numbers of Libyan are now crossing into Egypt fleeing Gaddafi's advance, the U.N. refugee agency said.

"Until this week, it was almost entirely migrant workers crossing into Egypt. But on Monday nearly half of the around 2,250 people were Libyans, including many families with children," said UNHCR spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes. "On the Egyptian side of Libya, we haven't seen that before."

In Misrata, the last major city in western Libya still in rebel hands, residents said water had been cut off to the city of 300,000 people, 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli.

Pro-Gaddafi forces took control of the small town of Zuwarah, west of Tripoli, late on Monday after sending in tanks.

A resident in Zuwarah said that on Tuesday security forces were trying to round up anyone suspected of links to the rebels.

"They have lists of names and are looking for the rebels. They also took a number of rebels as hostages," said the resident who did not want to be named.

(Additional reporting by Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi, Mariam Karouny in Djerba, Tunisia, Tarek Amara in Tunis, Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations, James Regan, Tim Hepher, Arshad Mohammed and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Louise Ireland)

    Gaddafi forces seize key town, R, 15.3.2011, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/uk-libya-idUKLDE71Q0MP20110315

Yemen tribal leader killed at opposition protest

SANAA | Tue Mar 15, 2011
3:43pm EDT
Reuters

SANAA (Reuters) - A Yemeni tribal leader was killed in clashes that broke out Tuesday between protesters demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his supporters, a local official said.

Naji Nasm, who backed the Islamist opposition Islah (Reform) party, was shot dead during a demonstration in the northern al-Jawf province, the official told Reuters.

The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been rocked by weeks of demonstrations that have undermined Saleh's 32-year grip on power, with both pro- and anti-government factions appearing to resort increasingly to violence in the struggle.

At least eight demonstrators and three soldiers have died since Saturday, raising the death toll from unrest to almost 40.

The United States, which has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a dynamic al Qaeda wing based in Yemen, has condemned the bloodshed and backed the right to peaceful protest. But it has also insisted only dialogue can end the political crisis.

In the province of Hudaida, gunmen torched the local headquarters of the main opposition Islah party and attacked its staff, injuring five people, two of them seriously, the party said on its website. It blamed Saleh loyalists for the incident.

In Sanaa, university officials postponed indefinitely the start of the second academic term, state media said.

Sanaa University has been the scene of bloody confrontations for weeks between protesters holding a sit-in outside the campus, police and Saleh loyalists.

The interior ministry sacked the commander of security forces in the restive southern port city of Aden, state media said, without giving a reason.

In the central province of Maarib, tribesmen prevented technicians from repairing an oil pipeline that was damaged in an attack Monday, officials told Reuters.

Austrian energy group OMV said it would not be able to transport oil through the export pipeline for the next few days. OMV usually gets 6,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Haban oilfield in the center of the country.

Tribal sources said kinsmen of a Yemeni mediator, who was killed last year in an errant airstrike targeting al Qaeda, were behind the attack on the pipeline, which has been repeatedly targeted in recent months.

Jaber al-Shabwani, who had been trying to persuade members of al Qaeda to surrender, died when his car blew up in a strike blamed on a U.S. drone.

Several oil and gas fields operated by international companies are located in the mountainous province. Tribesmen have previously attacked pipelines that ferry crude from Maarib, east of the capital Sanaa, to the Red Sea coast.

    Yemen tribal leader killed at opposition protest, R, 15.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/us-yemen-idUSTRE72E5VJ20110315

Bahrain declares martial law after Saudi troops arrive

MANAMA | Tue Mar 15, 2011
1:31pm GMT
Reuters
By Lin Noueihed and Frederik Richter

MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain declared martial law on Tuesday, looking to end weeks of protests by the island's Shi'ite Muslim majority, with Saudi troops on hand in the Sunni-ruled kingdom to help quell the unrest.

The three-month state of emergency will hand considerable powers to Bahrain's security forces, which are dominated by the country's Sunni elite, stoking sectarian tensions in one of the Gulf's most politically volatile nations.

In a sign of continued disturbances on the island, an opposition politician said a Bahraini man was killed in clashes with police in the Shi'ite Muslim area of Sitra and several others were wounded.

Bahrain TV said the king had "authorised the commander of Bahrain's defence forces to take all necessary measures to protect the safety of the country and its citizens."

It was not clear if a curfew would be imposed or whether there would be any clampdown on media or public gathering.

On Monday, more than 1,000 Saudi troops rolled into the kingdom in a long convoy of armoured vehicles at the request of Bahrain's Sunni rulers, flashing victory signs as they crossed the causeway that connects the two oil producers.

The United Arab Emirates said it also would send 500 police.

Analysts saw the troop movement into Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, as a mark of concern in Saudi Arabia that concessions by the country's monarchy could inspire the conservative Sunni-ruled kingdom's own Shi'ite minority.

Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites who complain of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family. Calls for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears that unrest could serve non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.

Iran, which sits across the Gulf from Bahrain, sharply criticised the Saudi intervention.

"The presence of foreign forces and interference in Bahrain's internal affairs is unacceptable and will further complicate the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly news conference in Tehran.

A Bahraini foreign ministry official called the remarks a "blatant interference in Bahrain's internal affairs," the state news agency BNA said, adding that Manama had recalled its ambassador to Iran for consultations.

SECTARIAN CLASHES

Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

Unlike those countries, where the mainly Sunni populations united against the regime, Bahrain is split along sectarian lines, raising the risk of a slide into civil conflict.

Sectarian clashes broke out in different parts of Bahrain overnight, with Sunnis and Shi'ites trading accusations in the media that they had been attacked by gangs of youths.

Violent clashes between youths wielding clubs, knives and rocks have become daily occurrences, forcing Bahrain University and many schools to close in order to avoid further trouble.

In a sign that Bahrain is heading for prolonged unrest, demonstrators camped out at Pearl roundabout, the focal point of weeks of unrest, remained defiant on the Saudi intervention.

"We reject this intervention and we consider it occupation. Any foreign intervention to crush the people is occupation," said Akeel Jaber, an activist at the roundabout.

The United States has urged Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and a key U.S. ally in the Gulf Arab region, to show restraint, though analysts said the escalation showed the limits of U.S. influence when internal security was threatened.

In a sign that security could deteriorate, the U.S. State Department advised against all travel to Bahrain due to a "breakdown in law and order."

Although Washington is a close ally of Bahrain, U.S. officials said they had been given any prior warning that Saudi or other forces from the region would deploy to the island.

MOB ATTACKS NEWSPAPER

A gang armed with clubs and butchers knives attacked the printing press of Bahrain's only opposition newspaper Al Wasat overnight in an effort to stop its publication.

Despite some reports that the protesters planned to reopen a main thoroughfare to Bahrain's financial district at dawn, metal barricades and piles of sand and rocks still blocked the road. At checkpoints near the roundabout, activists, some wearing yellow vests, checked identities and waved cars through.

"We are staying peacefully. Even if they attack we are peacefully," said Ali Mansoor, an activist at the roundabout.

"Saudi Arabia has no right to come to Bahrain. Our problem is with the government not Saudi Arabia."

Around Bahrain, residents have placed skips, bins and pieces of metal on the road, to prevent strangers from entering their neighbourhoods. In Sanad, a mixed area, residents heard clashes, shots and shouts. The street was covered in rocks at day break.

Young men, some wearing masks and carrying sticks, guarded the entrances to their areas. One person who declined to give his name for fear of revenge attacks, said he was stopped at night by masked men who held bird-hunting rifles to his head.

In a sign that the opposition and the royals may find an 11th-hour solution, the opposition groups said they had met the crown prince to discuss the mechanism for national dialogue.

Even if talks are successful however, the opposition is increasingly split and hardline groups may keep up protests.

Bahrain's largest Shi'ite party Wefaq wants a constitutional monarchy that vests the judicial, executive and legislative authority with the people. Republican demands by smaller parties have alarmed Sunnis.

(Additional reporting by Robin Pomeroy in Iran, Firouz Sedarat in Dubai)

(Editing by Crispian Balmer)

    Bahrain declares martial law after Saudi troops arrive, R, 15.3.2011, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/uk-bahrain-protests-idUKTRE72E24K20110315

As Diplomacy Falters, Qaddafi Tells Rebels: Surrender or Flee

March 15, 2011
The New York Times
By ANTHONY SHADID, KAREEM FAHIM and ALAN COWELL

AJDABIYA, Libya — As diplomacy faltered on Tuesday over the question of outside intervention in Libya, Col. Muammer el-Qaddafi told rebels trying to overthrow him that they had one choice: surrender or flee.

With Libya’s crisis now ending its fourth week, Colonel Qaddafi’s familiar, defiant posture seemed bolstered by recent military advances by his troops and he revealed no readiness either to retreat in face of pressure from outside powers or to heed calls at home for the end of his more than four decades of iron rule.

Far from the battlefields, as officials struggled to formulate a response to the crisis, diplomacy seemed in danger of being outstripped by events on the ground. Early on Tuesday, France said there had been no agreement at a meeting Monday of the Group of 8 powers on the contentious issue of enforcing a no-flight zone to ground the loyalist air force.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Giornale, published on Tuesday, Colonel Qaddafi expressed disappointment with onetime European partners — particularly Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, formerly his closest Western ally, and again depicted his adversaries in Libya as terrorists steered by Al Qaeda.

Asked if he was prepared to open a dialogue with them, he replied: “Dialogue with whom? The people are on my side.”

As for the rebels, regrouping toward their eastern stronghold in Benghazi as loyalist troops claimed advances, Colonel Qaddafi said: “They have no hope. Their cause is lost. There are only possibilities: to surrender or run away.”

The Libyan leader may have drawn some comfort from the disarray among outside powers seeking his ouster.

France and Britain are leading efforts to patrol Libya‘s airspace, as Western powers did in Saddam Hussein‘s Iraq. But after a meeting of the Group of 8 in Paris, the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said on Tuesday there had been no agreement.

“So far I have not convinced them,” Mr. Juppé told Europe 1 radio, according to Reuters, following resistance from two of the group’s members, Russia and Germany.

“If we had used military force last week to neutralize a certain number of airfields and the dozens of airplanes” available to Colonel Qaddafi, “perhaps the reversals suffered by the opposition would not have happened,” Mr. Juppé said. “But that is the past.” France is the only country to have recognized the rebels as the representatives of the Libyan people.

”Qaddafi is scoring points,” Mr. Juppé said. “We have perhaps missed a chance to re-establish the balance,” he said, since there was little to stop the Qaddafi forces from seizing Benghazi.

Mr. Juppé said that the foreign ministers agreed to “immediately relaunch a discussion at the U.N. Security Council, and that is underway today, to take up a resolution and raise the pressure against the Qaddafi regime.”

“Currently we do not have the military means because the international community has not decided to provide them,” Mr. Juppé said.

It has never been clear what role France expected to play in any no-flight zone, since Mr. Juppé had also ruled out using NATO as an instrument in Libya, claiming that it had an “aggressive” image in the Arab world.

Mr. Juppé later cited a sea embargo among possible alternative means of applying pressure. But it is air power that has provided Colonel Qaddafi with one of several forms of supremacy over his adversaries.

On Monday, government warplanes launched fresh strikes against this anxious town on the doorstep of Benghazi, and almost abreast of a highway crucial to recapturing the eastern border and encircling the rebels with heavy armor and artillery.

Residents of Zuwarah, an isolated city near the Tunisian border in the west, told Reuters that the pro-Qaddafi forces that surrounded them three days before had taken control. “Zuwarah is in their hands now,” said one resident, Tarek Abdallah. “They control it and there is no sign of the rebels. They are now in the center — the army and the tanks.”

The Libyan rebels have made increasingly anxious pleas for intervention that have, so far, produced none. The United Nations Security Council took up the contentious question of a no-flight zone on Monday, but no decision was reached.

In recent days, the rebels have asserted that the retreat of their forces is a tactical choice rather than a desperate measure, and that they are reorganizing to inject more experienced fighters into the ranks. At the same time, their unrelenting calls for a no-flight zone — at news conferences, on banners and even in the face paint of protesters — have made clear that the rebel leadership holds out little hope of its ragtag army defeating the colonel’s loyalists on its own.

In a welcome turn for the rebels, who have asked for military assistance, including airstrikes, from Western powers, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with unnamed opposition leaders in a Paris hotel room after the meeting of the foreign ministers of the countries in the Group of 8 — the first such high-level meeting.

In Benghazi, the vice chairman of the interim opposition ruling council, Abdul Hafidh Ghoga, said a rebel representative would use the meeting with Mrs. Clinton to demand quicker intervention. Inaction, Mr. Ghoga warned, “would have negative results on our future relations with the West.”

West of Tripoli, loyalists appeared to be tightening their siege of other rebel-held areas, following a brutal week of battle in which they recaptured — and nearly demolished — the strategically important town of Zawiyah. The legacy of that battle haunted the residents of Zuwarah, a Berber town of about 40,000 people.

“We know what happened in Zawiyah, and we think that the same thing is going to happen here soon,” one resident said, speaking anonymously to protect himself and his family from retribution.

“They say that if you take down the flag, we will let you live,” he added. “Maybe we will fight, but we will have a lot of casualties.”

On the eastern front, amid conflicting claims by the rebels and loyalist forces, the battle lines were hard to locate. The government said on state television that its troops controlled Brega, The Associated Press reported. At the same time, Mr. Ghoga said that rebel soldiers were still fighting in the city, particularly at night, and that on Sunday they had captured more than two dozen loyalist fighters there. But he did not provide any proof of that claim.

As the fighting nears Benghazi, Libya‘s second-largest city, rebel leaders, reacting to criticism of their battlefield performance, have contended that they may still have a chance: Colonel Qaddafi’s forces, they contend, are overextending their lines as they push rebels back and might be running short of fuel. Mr. Ghoga said the rebels were not facing a similar fuel shortage.

There was an eerie calm on Monday in Ajdabiya, a strategic town about 100 miles south of Benghazi that has braced for an attack by forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi. Some lines formed at bakeries, and a few cars were seen transporting residents out of the city.

Soviet-made warplanes struck a military barracks at the edge of Ajdabiya that has housed the rebels, who seem, at least anecdotally, to be making an effort to bring discipline to their unruly ranks. One blast struck a guard post at the barracks, spraying shards of green glass around the entrance. The other detonated just feet away from a pile of ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades, which did not go off.

Hospital officials said five people were wounded, one of them seriously.

At the entrance to Ajdabiya, marked by two metal arches, rebels have built dirt fortifications and filled hundreds of sandbags. Ammunition boxes scattered around a courtyard were moved inside or toward fighting near Brega. Rebel leaders repeatedly urged the civilians to leave the entrance, where reporters’ access was limited.

“If he takes Ajdabiya, he will win,” said Yunes Mohammed, an oil safety official milling about with a crowd at the town’s edge, where strong winds swept up sand.

“His people can go from here to Benghazi. But the people of Ajdabiya will fight because we know that if he takes the area, he will kill us all, and we know he has done this before.”

Anthony Shadid reported from Ajdabiya, Libya, Kareem Fahim from Benghazi, Libya, and Alan Cowell from London. David D. Kirkpatrick contributed reporting from Tripoli, Libya, and Steven Erlanger and Steven Lee Myers from Paris.

    As Diplomacy Falters, Qaddafi Tells Rebels: Surrender or Flee, R, 15.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/africa/16libya.html

Iran angered by Bahrain move

MANAMA | Tue Mar 15, 2011
11:26am GMT
Reuters
By Lin Noueihed and Frederik Richter

MANAMA (Reuters) - Iran denounced the arrival of Saudi troops in Bahrain as unacceptable on Tuesday and the United States urged its nationals to leave the island, which has been roiled by a Shi'ite uprising against the Sunni elite.

Analysts saw Monday's troop movement into Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, as a mark of concern in Saudi Arabia that concessions by the country's monarchy could inspire the conservative Sunni-ruled kingdom's own Shi'ite minority.

More than 1,000 Saudi troops rolled over the causeway that links it to the island kingdom and the United Arab Emirates also said it would send 500 police at the request of Bahrain's rulers after weeks of protests against the government and royal family.

Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites who complain of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni royal family. Calls for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears that unrest could serve non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.

Iran, which sits across the Gulf from Bahrain, sharply criticised the Saudi intervention.

"The presence of foreign forces and interference in Bahrain's internal affairs is unacceptable and will further complicate the issue," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly news conference in Tehran.

The United States has urged Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and a key U.S. ally in the Gulf Arab region, to show restraint, though analysts said the escalation showed the limits of U.S. influence when internal security was threatened.

In a sign that security in Bahrain could deteriorate, the U.S. State Department advised against all travel to the island due to a "breakdown in law and order."

REGIONAL CONFLICT

Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

Unlike those countries, where the mainly Sunni populations united against the regime, Bahrain is split along sectarian lines, raising the risk of a slide into civil conflict.

Sectarian clashes broke out in different parts of Bahrain overnight, with both Sunnis and Shi'ites trading accusations in newspapers and on local television that they had been attacked by gangs of youths.

Clashes using clubs, knives and rocks have become daily occurrences, forcing Bahrain University and many schools to close in order to avoid further violence.

The intervention by Gulf Arab troops is highly sensitive in a region where tensions soared after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq overthrew a Sunni dictator and ushered in a Shi'ite-dominated government.

Accusations already abound of Iranian backing for Shi'ite activists in Bahrain -- charges they deny.

Thousands of demonstrators are still camped out at Manama's Pearl roundabout, the focal point of weeks of unrest.

Despite some reports that the protesters planned to reopen a main thoroughfare to Bahrain's financial district at dawn, metal barricades and piles of sand and rocks still blocked the road. At checkpoints near the roundabout, activists checked identities and waved cars through.

In a sign that the opposition and the royals may find an 11th-hour solution, the opposition groups said they had met the crown prince to discuss the mechanism for national dialogue.

Even if talks are successful however, the opposition is increasingly split and hardline groups may keep up protests.

Bahrain's largest Shi'ite Muslim party, Wefaq, wants a new government and a constitutional monarchy that vests the judicial, executive and legislative authority with the people.

A coalition of much smaller Shi'ite parties is calling for the overthrow of the monarchy -- demands that scare Sunnis who fear this would benefit Iran.

(Additional reporting by Robin Pomeroy in Iran)

(Editing by Crispian Balmer)

    Iran angered by Bahrain move, R, 15.3.2011, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/uk-bahrain-protests-idUKTRE72E24K20110315

Oman protesters push political, wage demands

MUSCAT | Tue Mar 15, 2011
10:01am GMT
Reuters
By Saleh Al-Shaibany

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Protesters pressed for political and labour demands on Tuesday across the Gulf state of Oman, where a string of concessions from veteran ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said have failed to bring unrest to an end.

Qaboos, in power for 40 years, decided earlier this week to cede some legislative powers to the partially elected Oman Council, which is so far only an advisory body. At present, only the sultan and his cabinet can legislate.

The government also said it would double monthly welfare payments and increase pension benefits, making Oman the latest Gulf state to offer handsome incentives to citizens in the wake of protests that have rocked much of the Arab world.

On Tuesday, protesters added to their demands, saying the sultan's new police chief must investigate sacked ministers for alleged corruption. Qaboos has fired 12 ministers so far.

"The new inspector general must immediately do his job and investigate the sacked ministers for corruption when they were in power," said Khalfan Al Abri at a demonstration outside the Shura Council, the elected chamber of parliament.

The normally tranquil oil-producing nation at the mouth of the Gulf was stunned by protests last month that left at least one person dead in the industrial city of Sohar.

Activists have camped out nightly in tents in front of parliament in Muscat, outside the governor's office in Salalah in the far south and in Sohar. They are demanding better wages, more jobs, an elected parliament and a new constitution.

STRIKES BITE

The numbers present at the sit-ins vary from around 50 overnight to hundreds at other times of the day and over a thousand on weekends.

"We will celebrate when the Shura Council is granted real powers in the running of the government," said protester Hadi Suleiman.

A series of strikes have also hit many companies. Two have so far been resolved, at Bank Muscat, the country's largest financial institution, and government-owned Oman Air.

But staff are still protesting outside other firms including Oman International Bank, Oman Investment Finance Company and Muscat's government-owned Intercontinental hotel, where some guests have been turned away.

Adel Aktouf, a Thomson Reuters employee, had booked a room in the hotel this week but was forced to leave.

"There were at least 150 protesters when we arrived with a hotel car. Even the driver was surprised. They stopped us 10 meters from the hotel and said if we wanted to go in, we had to walk," he said. "Then some gathered around us and said 'whoever goes in, we'll beat him'. So we decided to find another hotel."

Oman's state news agency said on Tuesday the sultan had ordered a salary hike of up to 100 rials (162 pounds) a month from April 1 for civil servants, including the security forces.

Last week, wealthy Gulf Arab oil producers launched a $20 billion (12.5 billion pound) aid package for their less prosperous neighbours Oman and Bahrain -- a job-generating measure that should enable the two countries to upgrade their housing and infrastructure.

The ruling Gulf Arab dynasties, who have long been backed by Washington, are hoping the socio-economic aid will help stave off the demands for democratic reforms.

(Editing by Andrew Hammond and Crispian Balmer)

    Oman protesters push political, wage demands, R, 15.3.2011, http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/15/uk-oman-protests-idUKTRE72E2LP20110315

U.S.-Saudi Tensions Intensify With Mideast Turmoil

March 14, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON — Even before Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain on Monday to quell an uprising it fears might spill across its own borders, American officials were increasingly concerned that the kingdom’s stability could ultimately be threatened by regional unrest, succession politics and its resistance to reform.

So far, oil-rich Saudi Arabia has successfully stifled public protests with a combination of billions of dollars in new jobs programs and an overwhelming police presence, backed by warnings last week from the foreign minister to “cut any finger that crosses into the kingdom.”

Monday’s action, in which more than 2,000 Saudi-led troops from gulf states crossed the narrow causeway into Bahrain, demonstrated that the Saudis were willing to back their threats with firepower.

The move created another quandary for the Obama administration, which obliquely criticized the Saudi action without explicitly condemning the kingdom, its most important Arab ally. The criticism was another sign of strains in the historically close relationship with Riyadh, as the United States pushes the country to make greater reforms to avert unrest.

Other symptoms of stress seem to be cropping up everywhere.

Saudi officials have made no secret of their deep displeasure with how President Obama handled the ouster of the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, charging Washington with abandoning a longtime ally. They show little patience with American messages about embracing what Mr. Obama calls “universal values,” including peaceful protests.

When Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton were forced to cancel visits to the kingdom in recent days, American officials were left wondering whether the cause was King Abdullah’s frail health — or his pique at the United States.

“They’re not in a mode for listening,” said one senior administration official, referring to the American exchanges with Saudi officials over the past two months about the need to get ahead of the protests that have engulfed other Arab states, including two of Saudi Arabia’s neighbors, Bahrain and Yemen. In recent days, Washington has tried to focus on the areas where its strategic interests and those of Saudi Arabia intersect most crucially: counterterrorism, containing Iran and keeping oil flowing.

The Americans fear that the unrest sweeping the Middle East is coming at a bad time for the Saudis, and their concerns have increased in recent weeks, partly because of the continued tumult in Bahrain. Many of the issues driving the protests elsewhere are similar to those in Riyadh: an autocratic ruling family resistant to sharing power, surrounded by countries in the midst of upheaval. At the same time, Saudi Arabia’s leadership is in question. King Abdullah, 87, is, by all accounts, quite ill, as is the crown prince.

The latest tensions between Washington and Riyadh began early in the crisis when King Abdullah told President Obama that it was vital for the United States to support Mr. Mubarak, even if he began shooting protesters. Mr. Obama ignored that counsel. “They’ve taken it personally,” said one senior American familiar with the conversations, “because they question what we’d do if they are next.”

Since then, the American message to the Saudis, the official said, is that “no one can be immune,” and that the glacial pace of reforms that Saudi Arabia has been engaged in since 2003 must speed up.

But the Saudi effort to defuse serious protests appears to take a different approach: a huge police presence, which smothered relatively small demonstrations in Riyadh and the Eastern Province last Friday; an appeal to the innate religious conservatism of the country; and an effort to throw more cash at Saudi citizens, who have become accustomed to the ultimate welfare state.

This month, Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, the interior minister and No. 2 in the line of succession, publicly underscored the kingdom’s ban on demonstrations. The government called in top Saudi newspaper editors to dictate how to report on protests foreign and domestic. The country’s senior religious clerics condemned public protests for not conforming to Islamic law. These steps built on $36 billion in pay raises, housing support, unemployment benefits and other subsidies that King Abdullah promised to keep the peace.

“All this is about social control in Saudi Arabia,” said Christopher Boucek, who studies the Middle East at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “People have been forecasting the fall of Saudi for a long time, and they’ve always been proved wrong. It’s a pretty resilient place.”

One of President Obama’s top advisers described the moves as more in a series of “safety valves” the Saudis open when pressure builds; another called the subsidies “stimulus funds motivated by self-preservation.”

Saudi officials, who declined to comment for this article to avoid fueling talk of divisions between the allies, said that the tensions had been exaggerated and that Americans who criticized the pace of reforms did not fully appreciate the challenges of working in the kingdom’s ultraconservative society.

Even as Libya has occupied much of the public debate, White House officials have said they have been focused most intently on the two Arab allies whose fates are most tied to American strategic interests: Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In a briefing for reporters last Thursday, Thomas E. Donilon, the national security adviser, said that “the success of the democratic transformation under way in Egypt is absolutely critical,” and described his own conversations with its interim leadership. Mrs. Clinton will be visiting Cairo this week.

But Mr. Donilon, like other administration officials, said very little about the conversations they have held with Saudi leaders. Those have been strained in part by the slow-motion transition of power: King Abdullah, a popular monarch who just returned to the country after months of medical treatment in New York and Morocco, has been described by Saudi specialists as reform-minded but constrained by more conservative family members; the country’s next in line, Crown Prince Sultan, is also severely ill.

“We’ve focused on Nayef and a next generation, who seem to understand a lot better what’s got to happen,” said one American official, referring to the Saudi interior minister, whom some Saudi experts view as a conservative who would take the kingdom backward, while others say that is a misreading and that he is more aligned with members of the next generation of Saudi princes who favor reforms.

In a relationship where the United States hardly has the upper hand, so far the discussions have largely steered clear of democratization and focused on safer subjects: energy and foreign threats.

Saudi Arabia has helped stabilize world energy prices by increasing its crude-oil production to make up for the loss of Libya’s oil.

In the case of Bahrain, the senior official said, the administration’s goal has been to enlist the Saudis’ help to open up the Bahraini political system without overthrowing the government. Instead, the arrival of the Saudi-led troops underscored the approach advocated by Riyadh: Crack down and allow no room for dissent.

At a press briefing on Monday, the White House spokesman, Jay Carney, carefully avoided direct criticism of the Saudi-led entry of gulf forces into Bahrain, telling reporters that, in the view of the White House, “this is not an invasion of the a country.” But he added: “We’re calling on the Saudis, the other members of the G.C.C. countries, as well as the Bahraini government, to show restraint. And we believe that political dialogue is the way to address the unrest that has occurred in the region in Bahrain and in other countries, and not to, in any way, suppress it.”

Some officials say that in some ways the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia may grow closer, particularly on security and counterterrorism issues, where there has been increased cooperation in the months before the protests began in the Middle East.

John O. Brennan, President Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, speaks regularly with Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, his Saudi counterpart and the son of the interior minister, most recently last week about the political tumult in Yemen and the threat from Al Qaeda, an administration official said.

In the past several months, the Saudis have played a pivotal role in helping to thwart several terrorist plots. Prince Nayef alerted the Obama administration last October that bombs might be on cargo flights bound for the United States. A frantic search turned up two shipments containing printer cartridges packed with explosives, sent from Yemen by a Qaeda affiliate, and addressed to synagogues in Chicago.

The American military’s longstanding ties to the Saudi armed forces have also weathered the recent diplomatic tempest. More than 4,100 Saudi and American soldiers conducted a training exercise in northwestern Saudi Arabia last week.

Demonstrating to Iran that the Saudi-American alliance remains strong has emerged as a critical objective of the Obama administration. King Abdullah, who was widely quoted in the State Department cables released by WikiLeaks as warning that the United States had to “cut off the head of the snake” in Iran, has led the effort to contain Iran’s ambitions to become a major regional power. In the view of White House officials, any weakness or chaos inside Saudi Arabia would be exploited by Iran.

For that reason, several current and former senior American intelligence and regional experts warned that in the months ahead, the administration must proceed delicately when confronting the Saudis about social and political reforms.

”Over the years, the U.S.-Saudi relationship has been fraught with periods of tension over the strategic partnership,” said Ellen Laipson, president of the Stimson Center, a public policy organization. “Post-September 11 was one period, and the departure of Mubarak may be another, when they question whether we are fair-weather friends.”

Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Paris.

    U.S.-Saudi Tensions Intensify With Mideast Turmoil, NYT, 14.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/middleeast/15saudi.html

Provincial Governor Stabbed During Clash in Yemen

March 14, 2011
The New York Times
By LAURA KASINOF

A Yemeni provincial governor was stabbed in a melee with antigovernment protesters on Monday, the official news agency Saba reported. Local reports said the stabbing occurred after the governor’s bodyguards opened fire on the protesters, injuring dozens.

The clash was the most violent of several reported around Yemen in the widening uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In a sign that the government was ratcheting up its efforts to control news coverage of the unrest, four Western journalists said they were seized in an armed raid on their apartment in the Yemeni capital early Monday and expelled from the country.

The injured governor, Naji al-Zaidi of tribal-dominated Marib Province, was taken to the capital, Sana, and hospitalized.

In Al Jawf, a desperately poor northern province also dominated by tribes, local reports said that security forces open fire, injuring about 15 protesters.

The growing sit-in in Sana remained relatively peaceful, though pro-government supporters have begun surrounding the perimeters of the demonstration area, some armed with guns.

The Yemeni government stopped issuing visas to journalists last month, when the political unrest began. No major news organizations keep bureaus in Yemen, leaving the country largely covered by a handful of freelance correspondents.

Among them were the journalists expelled Monday. Two are Americans: Haley Sweetland Edwards, who writes for The Los Angeles Times; and Joshua Maricich, a photographer. Two are British: Portia Walker, who writes for The Washington Post; and Oliver Holmes, who writes for The Wall Street Journal and Time magazine.

A spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.

The State Department had warned Yemen against deporting reporters, issuing a statement expressing concern about “infringements of press freedom in Yemen” and citing “threats of deporting correspondents, and mistreatment of journalists covering protests.”

Journalists in Yemen typically enjoy greater freedoms than those in most other Arab countries, with many independent news outlets freely criticizing government policies.

The four expelled journalists had extensively covered antigovernment protests over the last three weeks, including video documentation of violence used against them.

But local journalists who are trying to cover the protests have reported facing threats, intimidation and attacks by supporters of Mr. Saleh. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate said it had received alerts on more than 50 cases of harassment, including threatening phone calls and serious physical attacks.

One of the expelled foreign journalists, Ms. Edwards, was interviewed by telephone as she waited for a flight to Istanbul at Sana International Airport. She said five armed security officers entered the apartment in the old city of Sana and took the four to the immigration authority. During the drive, they called their embassies and some journalist friends.

They were detained for several hours at the immigration authority, and their phones and passports were taken, she said. Eventually, a man who identified himself as Colonel Mohsin said that they would be expelled for “national security reasons,” she said.

The four were allowed back in their apartment to gather their belongings, and were then escorted to the airport by a half-dozen armed soldiers.

“We’ve all been to the Ministry of Information, and they know us, and they said it’s all right to work as journalists here,” said Mr. Holmes, 24, speaking by phone from the airport. “I’m positive that this is related to the fact that all four of us have been reporting about the upswing of violence against protesters.”

While Ms. Edwards, like most freelance reporters here, entered the country on a tourist visa, she said the Yemeni Embassy in Washington was aware that she had come as a reporter. Ms. Edwards lived in Yemen for a year from late 2009 through 2010.

“Deporting us is an indication that the crackdown is going to increase,” Ms. Edwards said, “and there’s no one here who’s going to see it.”

    Provincial Governor Stabbed During Clash in Yemen, NYT, 14.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/middleeast/15yemen.html

Clashes Erupt as Protests Continue in Yemen’s Capital

March 13, 2011
The New York Times
By LAURA KASINOF

SANA, Yemen — In a sign of increasing tensions here in the Yemeni capital, clashes broke out on Sunday for the second consecutive day at an antigovernment demonstration, a continuous sit-in that has lasted for about three weeks.

During clashes in the southern port city of Aden on Sunday, security forces shot and killed one protester, according to local news reports.

In Sana, government supporters in plain clothes threw rocks and attacked demonstrators with jambiyas, traditional curved daggers, according to witnesses. They then fired at the protesters with automatic weapons. Nearby, security forces used tear gas and fired into the air to break up the fighting.

Volunteer doctors at a makeshift medical clinic in a nearby mosque said that 10 protesters had injuries from live ammunition on Sunday, and about 10 others had other types of injuries. Dozens suffering from the effects of tear gas were lying on rugs around the mosque courtyard.

Security forces used CN grade tear gas, which is stronger than the more common CS grade used by the United States. Some protesters have experienced severe symptoms like muscle spasms from its use.

Sana’s sit-in, which has swelled to include more than 10,000 protesters camped out in tents in front of Sana University, is one of many demonstrations throughout the country calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

On Saturday, Mr. Saleh ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the attacks, according to the official news agency Saba.

The Yemeni government has said that residents in areas surrounding the sit-in have complained that the demonstration has disrupted their lives.

Yemen’s political opposition, which has officially joined the protesters in calling for the president to leave, released a statement on Sunday that condemned the attacks and said it held the president “personally fully responsible for the crimes and attacks.”

The American ambassador here, Gerald M. Feierstein, said the United States was “opposed to the use of violence or force to interfere with the right of people to gather or to demonstrate or to express their views.”

    Clashes Erupt as Protests Continue in Yemen’s Capital, NYT, 14.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/world/middleeast/14yemen.html

Violent protests across Yemen, 3 soldiers dead

SANAA | Mon Mar 14, 2011
6:38pm EDT
Reuters
By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohamed Sudam

SANAA (Reuters) - Scattered clashes broke out across Yemen on Monday, with three soldiers killed in the north, as military forces were deployed to check nationwide protests demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been rocked by weeks of demonstrations that have undermined Saleh's 32-year grip on power, with both pro- and anti-government supporters appearing to resort increasingly to violence in the struggle.

Seven demonstrators and three soldiers have died in clashes since Saturday, raising the death toll from unrest above 30.

The United States, which has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a dynamic al Qaeda wing based in Yemen, has condemned the bloodshed and backed the right for peaceful protest, but has insisted only dialogue can end the political crisis.

Two soldiers and an officer were killed as clashes broke out in the northern al-Jawf province, which borders oil giant Saudi Arabia, Yemen's state news agency Saba said.

Fighting intensified after protesters stormed a municipal building. Security forces fired on them, wounding 10, but could not stop them seizing the building, a local official said.

PIPELINE BLAST

In the central Maarib province, where several oil and gas fields operated by international companies are located, a blast damaged an oil pipeline late on Monday, a tribal official said.

The pipeline has been repeatedly blown up. Disgruntled tribesmen and al Qaeda militants have been suspected of carrying out the attacks.

Earlier a man stabbed Maarib's governor, critically wounding him as he and police tried to break up a crowd at a sit-in. A local official blamed the attack on an opposition supporter.

In the province of Shabwa, an official at Austrian oil firm OMV said the company had suspended its transports of crude by trucks from an oil field to the pumping station of a pipeline because of the unrest.

"The suspension is temporary and due to the current security instability," the official told Reuters, without saying how much oil was carried by trucks and what portion of it was for export.

Yemen is a small oil producer pumping about 300,000 barrels per day of crude.

As tensions in Yemen rose, three journalists and a researcher from Britain and the United States were abruptly deported on Monday. An airport official said they had all entered on tourist visas and were not entitled to work there.

Saleh has made promised to step down in 2013 and offered a new constitution giving more powers to parliament, but he has refused his critics' main demand to quit immediately.

Soldiers and armored vehicles tried to cut off an area in the capital, where around 20,000 have held a sit-in for weeks.

"We're expecting an attack at any minute, but we're not leaving until the regime falls, " said protester Taha Qayed.

Crowds chanted: "Leave, leave you murderer."

Police fired in the air to try to break up tens of thousands of protesters in Taiz, 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital Sanaa. Three were hurt, but protesters continued demonstrating.

A string of Saleh's allies have recently defected to the protesters, who are frustrated by rampant corruption and soaring unemployment. Some 40 percent of the population live on $2 a day or less in Yemen, and a third face chronic hunger.

Activists said the former religious endowments minister, sacked a day earlier, joined protests in Sanaa on Monday.

"We call on all ministers and all noble people to resign and join the revolution in Sanaa," leading activist Mohammed al-Sharfi told Reuters.

Thousands were also protesting in al-Hawta, the regional capital of southern Lahej province, residents said.

"Al-Hawta is in a state of paralysis. The opposition has called for a general strike to protest at the repression of demonstrators," a resident told Reuters by phone.

Popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia have inspired this latest wave of unrest in Yemen, but the country was already seething with intermittent rebellions in the north and south.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Ralph Boulton)

    Violent protests across Yemen, 3 soldiers dead, R, 14.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-yemen-idUSTRE72C0Y320110314

Libya jets bomb rebels, French press for no-fly zone

AJDABIYAH, Libya | Mon Mar 14, 2011
3:59pm EDT
Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas

AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's jets bombed Libyan rebels Monday in a counter-offensive that has pushed them back 100 miles in a week, far outpacing diplomatic efforts to impose a no-fly zone to help the rebels.

There is now a very real possibility that by the time world powers agree on a response to the conflict, Gaddafi's forces may already have won.

"Fundamental questions need to be answered, not just what we need to do, but how it's going to be done," said Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin.

"If there is a no-fly zone, who is going to implement (it) ... Without those details or answers to those questions, it's very hard to make a responsible decision."

Meanwhile, Libyan government artillery and tanks retook the small town of Zuwarah, 120 km (70 miles) west of Tripoli, after heavy bombardment, resident Tarek Abdallah said by telephone.

Perhaps more significantly, they were shrinking the swathe of eastern Libya still held by revolutionary forces.

They took the important eastern oil terminal town of Brega late Sunday, and Monday flew behind rebel lines to bomb Ajdabiyah, the only sizeable town between Brega and the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

ROAD TO BENGHAZI

Ajdabiyah commands roads to Benghazi and Tobruk that could allow Gaddafi's troops to encircle Libya's second city and its 300,000 inhabitants.

Soliman Bouchuiguir, president of the Libyan League for Human Rights, said in Geneva that if Gaddafi's heavily armed forces broke through to attack Benghazi "There will be a real bloodbath, a massacre like we saw in Rwanda."

France was lobbying foreign ministers of the Group of Eight big powers in Paris, as well as members of the U.N. Security Council in New York, to impose a no-fly zone

Saturday's endorsement from the Arab League satisfies one of three conditions set by the Western NATO alliance for it to police Libyan air space, that of regional support. The other two are proof its help is needed and a Security Council resolution.

"Now that there is this Arab League statement, we do hope that it's a game changer for the other members of the council," said French U.N. ambassador Gerard Araud in New York.

Lebanese Ambassador Nawaf Salam, sole Arab representative on the council, said Lebanon wanted it to act as fast as possible.

"We think it is not only a legitimate request, it is a necessary request," he said. "Measures ought to be taken to stop the violence, to put an end to the ... situation in Libya, to protect the civilians there."

"The international community is dragging its feet," said Saad Djebbar, a London lawyer and expert on Libyan affairs.

News of humanitarian suffering or atrocities could be taken as a sign that help is needed. But while Human Rights Watch has reported a wave of arbitrary arrests and disappearances in Tripoli, hard evidence is so far largely lacking.

U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said Kyung-wha Kang said in Geneva that Gaddafi's government had "chosen to attack civilians with massive, indiscriminate force."

"Everyone here is puzzled as to how many casualties the international community judges to be enough for them to help," said rebel spokesman Essam Gheriani in Benghazi.

"Maybe we should start committing suicide to reach the required number. It is shameful."

U.S. UNDECIDED

If the Security Council eventually moved on to discussing a no-fly zone draft and approved it, enforcement would almost certainly fall largely to the United States.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told MSNBC television that a no-fly zone was an option under consideration, but added:

"That is a decision, a political decision ultimately, that has not been taken."

Russia and China are even less enthusiastic, but U.N. diplomats said they would find it hard to veto a no-fly zone when the Arab League had requested it, and might abstain.

President Dmitry Medvedev Monday barred Muammar Gaddafi and his family from conducting financial transactions in Russia, a move that brings Moscow more in line with Western policy.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters Russia would consider any proposal that comes before the Security Council.

He said Arab League leaders had indicated a zone could be imposed "with some restrictions, primarily with full respect for the sovereignty of Libya and without the use of weaponry to suppress air-defense facilities."

NATO member Turkey was more categorical.

"Military intervention by NATO in Libya or any other country would be totally counter-productive," Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an international forum in Istanbul.

Philip Robins, a politics lecturer at Oxford University specializing in the Middle East, said the threshold for involvement in Libya was so high because there is a feeling that the Iraq war was a bad, unreasonable and illegitimate war."

"It is a big misfortune for the Libyan people," he said.

As the diplomatic wrangling continues, Gaddafi's tanks and warplanes have been more than a match for the rag-tag rebel force, especially in the desert terrain between major towns.

The only major city held by insurgents outside the east is Misrata, 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital. Rebels and residents there say an assault has been held up by infighting within the ranks of the besieging government forces.

"The fighting has stopped now. Early Monday we heard five shells after a fierce night of fighting and now it has stopped," Mohammed, one of Misrata's 300,000 residents told Reuters.

"We are not sure why it has stopped. Maybe they got tired or maybe one group won over the other. Things are not clear."

The government strongly denies the reports and it is impossible to verify them, but Gaddafi's troops do appear to have held off attacking Misrata for the last three days.

(Additional reporting by Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi, Mariam Karouny in Djerba, Tunisia, Tarek Amara in Tunis, James Regan in Paris, Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Jon Hemming and Kevin Liffey; Editing by Matthew Jones)

    Libya jets bomb rebels, French press for no-fly zone, , 14.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110314

Saudi sends troops, Bahrain Shi'ites call it "war"

MANAMA | Mon Mar 14, 2011
2:23pm EDT
Reuters
By Lin Noueihed and Frederik Richter

MANAMA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain on Monday to help put down weeks of protests by the Shi'ite Muslim majority, a move opponents of the Sunni ruling family on the island called a declaration of war.

Analysts saw the troop movement into Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, as a mark of concern in Saudi Arabia that concessions by the country's monarchy could inspire the conservative Sunni kingdom's own Shi'ite minority.

About 1,000 Saudi soldiers entered Bahrain to protect government facilities, a Saudi official source said, a day after mainly Shi'ite protesters overran police and blocked roads.

"They are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) force that would guard the government installations," the source said, referring to the six-member bloc that coordinates military and economic policy in the world's top oil-exporting region.

Bahrain said on Monday it had asked the Gulf troops for support in line with a GCC defense pact. The United Arab Emirates has said it would also respond to the call.

Witnesses saw some 150 armored troop carriers, ambulances, water tankers and jeeps cross into Bahrain via the 25-km (16-mile) causeway and head toward Riffa, a Sunni area that is home to the royal family and military hospital.

Bahrain TV later showed footage it said was of advance units of the joint regional Peninsula Shield forces that had arrived in Bahrain "due to the unfortunate events that are shaking the security of the kingdom and terrorizing citizens and residents."

Analysts and diplomats say the largest contingent in any GCC force would come from Saudi Arabia, which is worried about any spillover to restive Shi'ites in its own Eastern Province, the center of its oil industry.

Bahraini opposition groups including the largest Shi'ite party Wefaq said the move was an attack on defenseless citizens.

"We consider the entry of any soldier or military machinery into the Kingdom of Bahrain's air, sea or land territories a blatant occupation," they said in a statement.

"This real threat about the entry of Saudi and other Gulf forces into Bahrain to confront the defenseless Bahraini people puts the Bahraini people in real danger and threatens them with an undeclared war by armed troops."

The move came after Bahraini police clashed on Sunday with mostly Shi'ite demonstrators in one of the most violent confrontations since troops killed seven protesters last month.

After trying to push back demonstrators for several hours, police backed off and youths built barricades across the highway to the main financial district of the Gulf banking hub.

Those barricades were still up on Monday, with protesters checking cars at the entrance to the Pearl roundabout, the focal point of weeks of protests. On the other side of the same highway, police set up a roadblock preventing any cars moving from the airport toward the financial area.

In areas across Bahrain, vigilantes, some armed with sticks or wearing masks, guarded the entrances to their neighborhoods.

"We will never leave. This is our country," said Abdullah, a protester, when asked if Saudi troops would stop them. "Why should we be afraid? We are not afraid in our country."

SECTARIAN CONFLICT

Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

Thousands are still camped out at the Pearl roundabout, having returned since the army cleared out the area last month.

Washington has urged Bahrain to use restraint and repeated the call to other Gulf nations on Monday.

"We urge our GCC partners to show restraint and respect the rights of the people of Bahrain, and to act in a way that supports dialogue instead of undermining it," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

The cost of insuring Bahraini sovereign debt against default rose further on Monday, approaching 20-month highs after Saudi troops entered Bahrain.

Any intervention by Gulf Arab troops in Bahrain is highly sensitive on the island, where the Shi'ite Muslim majority complains of discrimination by the Sunni Muslim royal family.

Most Gulf Arab ruling families are Sunni and intervention might encourage a response from non-Arab Iran, the main Shi'ite power in the region. Accusations already abound of Iranian backing for Shi'ite activists in Bahrain -- charges they deny.

"Shi'ites in states with large Shi'ite populations, in particular Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, may intensify their own local anti-regime demonstrations," said Ghanem Nuseibeh, partner at consultancy Cornerstone Global.

"The Bahraini unrest could potentially turn into regional sectarian violence that goes beyond the borders of the particular states concerned."

In a sign that the opposition and the royals may find an 11th-hour solution, the opposition groups said they had met the crown prince to discuss the mechanism for national dialogue.

Crown Prince Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa offered assurances on Sunday that dialogue would address key opposition demands including giving parliament more power and reforming government and electoral districts.

Even if talks are successful however, the opposition is increasingly split and hardline groups may keep up protests.

Wefaq is calling for a new government and a constitutional monarchy that vests the judicial, executive and legislative authority with the people. A coalition of much smaller Shi'ite parties are calling for the overthrow of the monarchy -- demands that scare Sunnis who fear this would benefit Iran.

(Additional reporting by Ulf Laessing in Riyadh)

(Editing by Samia Nakhoul and Sonya Hepinstall)

    Saudi sends troops, Bahrain Shi'ites call it "war", R, 14.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/us-bahrain-protests-forces-idUSLDE72D0KH20110314

Bahrain protesters block roads, royals push for talks

MANAMA | Sun Mar 13, 2011
7:58pm EDT
Reuters
By Frederik Richter and Lin Noueihed

MANAMA (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas and water cannon Sunday at demonstrators protesting against Bahrain's royal family in one of the most violent confrontations since troops killed seven protesters last month.

Bahrain's crown prince offered the mainly Shi'ite opposition assurances that national dialogue would address their demands, hours after the protesters, mainly youths, built barricades across the highway leading to Bahrain Financial Harbour.

"Investment in Bahrain is for everyone not just one person," said Ali, a protester at the Financial Harbour which has become a symbol of what protesters say are royal excesses. "That's why we have problems. It's not about Sunnis and Shi'ites."

One protester showed a red mark on his chest, which he said was from a gas canister shot directly at him. Others showed a Reuters reporter rubber bullets they said were fired by police.

Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

The kingdom has seen weeks of rallies by its Shi'ite majority, which says it is discriminated against by the Sunni royal family. The unrest is being closely watched in Saudi Arabia, where Shi'ites are some 15 percent of the population.

The White House urged Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, to show restraint and engage in dialogue.

Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa promised national dialogue would look at bolstering the power of the parliament and that any deal could be put to nationwide referendum.

In a statement, he said talks would also look at reforming electoral districts and the makeup of the government, as well as fighting corruption and sectarian discrimination. The talks would also address accusations by the Shi'ite majority that the state naturalizes Sunni foreigners to tip the sectarian balance.

"We have worked actively to establish contacts to learn the views of various sides ... which shows our commitment to a comprehensive and inclusive national dialogue," he said.

"NO DIALOGUE"

Moments later, a speaker at Pearl roundabout, focal point of the protests, said "no dialogue, no dialogue" to cheers from the crowd.

"This is no step forward," said Ibrahim Mattar, a spokesman for the largest Shi'ite Muslim party Wefaq. "We want to know what is the mechanism for dialogue? Who will take part?"

Bahrain's rulers offered dialogue last month. Wefaq has asked the government to offer good will gestures such as removing the cabinet in which key posts are dominated by royals.

Mattar told Reuters earlier that two protesters had been taken to hospital with serious head wounds while dozens had collapsed after inhaling tear gas Sunday.

The Interior Ministry said riot police had moved to clear protest tents from Bahrain Financial Harbour after one policeman was stabbed and another was taken to hospital with head wounds.

Protesters had cut off the main road to prevent employees from reaching their offices.

A Western banker who declined to give his name said the protesters had stopped him from entering the Financial Harbour: "They didn't let me through and they were very aggressive. This is not peaceful any more. It's time for police to stop this."

There have been few major confrontations between protesters and police since last month, but there have been clashes between mainly Shi'ite opponents of the government and Sunni supporters.

In Hidd, near Bahrain's airport, Sunni residents checked the identities of those entering the area. In some areas, vigilantes wore orange vests to identify each other.

In another incident, police fired tear gas to separate a group of Shi'ite protesters at Bahrain University from a group of Sunnis. Witnesses said several people were wounded in the clashes.

"This sensitive situation that the kingdom is passing through cannot stand any more tension and escalation as the biggest loser from this ... is the national economy that has been exposed to major losses in the recent period," the Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

(Reporting by Warda Al Jawahiry; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

    Bahrain protesters block roads, royals push for talks, R, 13.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/13/us-bahrain-protest-financial-idUSTRE72C2MS20110313

Two dead as Yemen police fire on protesters

SANAA | Sun Mar 13, 2011
3:04pm EDT
Reuters
By Mohamed Sudam

SANAA (Reuters) - Two people died and scores were hurt on Sunday when Yemeni police fired live rounds and tear gas at protesters in Sanaa and Aden demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule, medical sources said.

Witnesses said most of the injured in the capital were suffering severe effects from tear gas but some were hit by bullets. Two were thought to be in serious condition in the clashes near Sanaa University, site of a weeks-long sit-in.

In the southern port of Aden one person died after being shot as protesters clashed with police, a hospital doctor said.

Al Jazeera television showed medics treating Yemenis, covered in blood and coughing from tear gas exposure in a makeshift hospital where protesters have set up an encampment by the university, the epicenter of protests in the capital.

Several thousand people gathered there early on Sunday, setting up barricades in an effort to separate themselves from riot police who used water cannon.

They carried banners branding Saleh "Chemical Ali" in reference to the police use of an apparent tear gas that doctors have said affects the nervous system. The Interior Ministry has denied the accusation.

Abdul-Malek al-Marwani, a Supreme Court judge, resigned and expressed support for protesters, saying the judiciary had lost its independence and corruption was rampant, news websites said.

WHITE HOUSE CRITICISM

The White House chided U.S. allies Yemen and Bahrain on Sunday for violence used against protesters and urged both to exercise restraint.

The United States sees Saleh as an important ally in its fight against a highly active regional wing of al Qaeda based in impoverished Yemen, but has grown increasingly alarmed by the escalating violence and has called for dialogue.

"We urge the governments of (Yemen and Bahrain) to show restraint, and to respect the universal rights of their people," the White House said in a statement.

The United States has called for a "peaceful transition" of power in Yemen and urged Sanaa to probe the deaths and injuries.

Seven protesters were wounded during protests in al-Maafir in Taiz province and a protester died from shots fired by police during protests in the southern port of Aden on Saturday.

Late on Sunday, Saleh named a new youth minister, and replaced the religious guidance and endowments minister, without giving a reason.

Abdelbari Dugheish, an Aden member of parliament from Saleh's ruling party, said he now supported the opposition. "The security forces are responsible for the loss of lives. They are firing at random and using excessive violence," he said.

Four people, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed in protests around Yemen on Saturday, bringing the total number of dead during two months of unrest to more than 30.

On Sunday, a soldier was killed and two wounded in an ambush on a patrol near Zinjibar in south Yemen, a security source said. He blamed the attack on militants linked to al Qaeda.

The wave of protests, inspired by popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia, has weakened Saleh's grip on Yemen. But he has steadfastly refused calls for his resignation, offering instead to re-write the constitution and transfer powers to parliament.

Protesters in the faction-riven country, complain of rampant corruption and soaring unemployment.

(For an analysis on Yemen click on)

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam, and Khaled Abdullah in Sanaa and Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; Editing by Crispian Balmer and Matthew Jones)

    Two dead as Yemen police fire on protesters, R, 13.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/13/us-yemen-idUSTRE72C0Y320110313

Dozens of Saudis gather at protest in Riyadh

RIYADH | Sun Mar 13, 2011
11:56am EDT
Reuters
By Ulf Laessing

RIYADH (Reuters) - Dozens of Saudis gathered outside the interior ministry in Riyadh on Sunday to demand the release of jailed relatives, activists said, two days after a planned day of protests fizzled amid a heavy police presence.

Protests are banned in Saudi Arabia and the interior ministry denied one was taking place. Journalists could not get close to the heavily guarded ministry but saw dozens of men in traditional white robes standing there, while dozens of security forces stood by next to parked buses and police cars.

The men were asking to see Saudi counter-terrorism chief, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, to demand the release of prisoners they say are being held too long without trial, activists said.

"A couple of us came already last week. We were told today that the prince is not here," said an activist who said he took part in the gathering and declined to be identified.

A call via social media for a day of anti-government protests went unheeded on Friday in Riyadh as police stepped up their presence to enforce a strict ban of demonstrations.

Small protests by minority Shi'ites, who have long complained of marginalisation, have taken place in the east.

Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally, has avoided unrest that toppled rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and spread to other Gulf countries, but dissent has built up in the world's top oil exporter, an absolute monarchy without an elected parliament.

Protests in Riyadh, even small ones, pose a challenge to the Saudi government as it tries to show the country is unaffected by protests raging over its borders in Bahrain, Yemen and Oman.

With more than $400 billion in foreign reserves Saudi Arabia is in a more comfortable position than other Arab countries to alleviate any social pressures such as high youth unemployment.

Last month, King Abdullah unveiled handouts worth an estimated $37 billion to ease social pressures.

Saudi Arabia has guaranteed Western energy supplies for decades, and the calls for protests have put markets on edge.

PROTESTS

Pictures circulating on Twitter showed dozens of men dressed in traditional white robes and red headdresses gathered peaceably outside the ministry in central Riyadh. They did not appear to be shouting slogans or holding protest signs.

"There is nothing going on in front of the ministry. I just left the ministry and there was nothing there," Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki told Reuters.

Activists say two similar though smaller gatherings have taken place in the past five weeks. The government denies this.

Amnesty International and other human rights activists have accused Saudi Arabia of having detained a large number of people without trial in its sweep against al Qaeda, which staged a campaign inside the kingdom from 2003-06. Riyadh denies this.

Late on Saturday, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the king's half-brother, said loyal Saudis had foiled protest plans by "evil people," state media said.

"Some evil people wanted to spread chaos in the kingdom yesterday and called for demonstrations that have dishonourable goals," said the veteran security chief, whose ministry warned last week that protests were un-Islamic and illegal.

The Saudi royal family dominate government in the country. Senior princes occupy key government posts, political parties and protests are banned, and the country has an advisory parliamentary body whose members are appointed by the king.

Sunni Muslim religious scholars, who have wide powers, uphold absolute obedience to the ruler.

The Eastern Province, where most Saudi oil fields are, was the only region that saw protests on Friday -- the latest in a series of demonstrations there in recent weeks. What they are demanding mostly is the release of prisoners held for years without trial.

Two protesters and one policeman were injured as police fired in the air after shots were fired by a group of Shi'ite protesters on March 10, according to the interior ministry.

Weeks of protests by majority Shi'ites in neighbouring Bahrain have inspired their Saudi peers.

On Sunday, the government unveiled plans to create more jobs in a less-developed region near the border with Yemen, Iraq and Jordan.

(Writing by Cynthia Johnston and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Louise Ireland)

    Dozens of Saudis gather at protest in Riyadh, R, 13.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/13/us-saudi-protest-idUSLDE72C0AM20110313

Israel to build settler homes after Palestinian attack

JERUSALEM | Sun Mar 13, 2011
11:37am EDT
Reuters
By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday it would build several hundred homes for settlers in the occupied West Bank, a day after a Palestinian attack killed an Israeli couple and three of their children in a settlement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a special session of a ministerial committee on settlement to approve the step after pledging publicly the stabbings on Saturday would not deter Israel from building more homes for Jews in the West Bank.

Troops searched outside the settlement of Itamar, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, for the attacker or attackers who snuck into the home of Ehud and Ruti Fogel at night and knifed them and three of their children, aged 11, 4 and 3 months, as the family slept.

A 12-year-old daughter found their bodies after returning home from an evening youth group meeting.

With anger high in Israel and among settlers, Netanyahu's office said in a statement that "ministers decided to authorize construction" of several hundred housing units in the Etzion bloc of settlements and in Maale Adumim, Ariel and Kiryat Sefer.

The move was likely to draw international dismay and harden Palestinian resolve not to return to peace talks frozen over Netanyahu's refusal to extend a 10-month moratorium that expired in November on housing starts in West Bank settlements.

"This decision is wrong and unacceptable and will only create problems," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Expanded construction in West Bank settlements could bolster Netanyahu within his governing coalition, which is dominated by pro-settler parties, including his own right-wing Likud.

CONDEMNATION

No group claimed responsibility for the attack but the Hamas Islamists who rule the Gaza Strip said they offered their "full support" to any actions taken against settlers.

A senior figure in Hamas's exiled leadership, Izzat al-Rishq, said on Saturday: "We had nothing to do with it."

A funeral for the family was to be held later on Sunday.

Several hours after the attack, Abbas put out a statement condemning "all acts of violence against civilians, regardless of who carried them out and their motives."

Netanyahu, who spoke with Abbas by phone, said the statements by the Palestinian leadership were not strong enough and it must move to end what he termed incitement against Israelis in Palestinian schools, mosques and media.

No starting date was given for the new housing projects, in settlements Israel has said it intends to keep in any future peace deal with the Palestinians. Israel's left-leaning Haaretz newspaper put the number of planned homes at 500.

The World Court has deemed illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank, territory captured along with the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war.

Some 500,000 settlers live among 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinians fear the enclaves will deny them a viable state.

Violence in the West Bank has dropped significantly since its peak during a Palestinian uprising a decade ago, although tensions had risen earlier in the week when Israeli troops fired live rounds at Palestinians after they clashed with settlers.

Ten Palestinians and one Israeli were wounded in the confrontation.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah)

    Israel to build settler homes after Palestinian attack, R, 13.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/13/us-palestinians-israel-settlements-idUSTRE72C0PK20110313

Gaddafi threatens offensive, ignores diplomatic moves

TRIPOLI | Fri Mar 11, 2011
12:02am EST
By Michael Georgy and Maria Golovnina

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son told rebels on Thursday they faced a full-scale assault to crush their three-week-old uprising as troops, tanks and warplanes punched into the rebel-held east of the country.

"It's time for action. We are moving now," Saif al-Islam told Reuters in an interview. "Time is out now...we gave them two weeks (for negotiations)."

As he spoke, Gaddafi's forces intensified their counter-attack on the insurgent heartland, bombarding rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanuf. Warplanes also hit Brega, another rebel-held oil hub further east.

Gaddafi forces and rebels also fought in the streets of the western town of Zawiyah, close to Tripoli, which has changed hands several times in recent days. Residents described scenes of carnage, with women and children among the dead.

As the military momentum appeared to turn against the rebels, who had set their sights on advancing to the capital, foreign powers were at odds over how to end the turmoil and force Gaddafi out.

Gulf Arab countries said Gaddafi's government was no longer legitimate and France and Britain jointly called on the European Union to recognize the rebel council based in Benghazi.

Despite a flurry of meetings, foreign governments came no closer to deciding on action. The United States and NATO's head expressed doubt over the wisdom of imposing "no-fly zones" without full international backing and a legal justification.

The African Union rejected any form of foreign intervention but said it was sending a delegation of five heads of state to Libya soon to try to arrange a truce in the hostilities.

In a sobering view of the bloodiest of the uprisings now shaking the Arab world, U.S. National Intelligence chief James Clapper said in Washington that Gaddafi was "in this for the long haul" and was likely to prevail.

London-educated Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, previously seen as a potential reformer, said in the interview that Libya would defeat the rebels even if Western powers intervened.

"We will never ever give up. We will never ever surrender. This is our country. We fight here in Libya," he said, speaking in a compound in Tripoli. "Libya is not a piece of cake."

He described rebels fighting to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule as terrorists and armed gangsters and said thousands of Libyans had volunteered to fight them. But in less belligerent mode, he also professed his own desire for democracy and freedom.

"We want to have a new structure, a new system, new parliament, new government, we have a draft ready," he said.

BOMBARDED FROM AIR AND SEA

More than 500 km (300 miles) east of Gaddafi's stronghold, warplanes and gunboats bombarded rebels in Ras Lanuf. Missiles crashed near a Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company building.

Rebel fighters said Ras Lanuf's residential district, including the hospital area, weathered a bombardment and one said government forces advanced into the area.

Rebels also reported an air strike on Brega, another oil port 90 km (50 miles) east of Ras Lanuf, indicating that Gaddafi loyalists had not only halted the insurgents' western push but were making inroads into their eastern rearguard.

The rebels fired anti-aircraft guns toward warplanes and rockets out to sea toward naval ships, without visible effect.

State television said rebels were ousted on Thursday from the port and airport of Es Sider, another oil terminus about 40 km (25 miles) west of Ras Lanuf.

The poorly equipped rebels conceded they were struggling to hold ground against the government's vastly superior firepower.

"(Gaddafi) might take it. With planes, tanks, mortars and rockets, he might take it," said rebel fighter Basim Khaled.

"A no-fly zone would be great," rebel fighter Salem al-Burqy said, echoing the view of many comrades.

In the west, Gaddafi's troops laid siege to Zawiyah to try to starve out insurgents clinging to parts of the shattered city after see-saw battles this week.

One fighter said rebels had retaken the heart of Zawiyah from the army overnight. Authorities have kept journalists away from the town, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli.

The rebels received a boost in their quest for international legitimacy when France recognized their Libyan National Council. An aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy said an ambassador would go to Benghazi and a Libyan envoy would be received in Paris.

Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron said Gaddafi and his clique had lost legitimacy and must step down.

In a joint declaration sent to the president of the European Union Council, they said plans must be made to help the insurrection, including a no-fly zone over Libya. They urged the European Union to recognize the rebel national council.

URGING BUT NO ACTION

But EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels could not agree whether the bloc as a whole should recognize the Benghazi-based rebel council, although they did decide to tighten sanctions on Gaddafi's government.

In separate talks, NATO foreign ministers discussed imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to stop the government using air power against the outgunned rebels.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said this could happen only with a demonstrable need, a clear legal basis and firm regional support, not all of which now apply. This would require evidence of war crimes against civilians.

"We strongly urge the government of Libya to stop violence and allow a peaceful transition to democracy," he said.

The United States, scarred by costly and controversial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, appeared to be backing away from military action in another Muslim country.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said international consensus was needed for the next steps on Libya.

"Absent international authorization, the United States acting alone would be stepping into a situation whose consequences are unforeseeable," Clinton said.

She also expressed doubts about proposals to set up a no-fly zone over Libya, saying previous such zones set up over Iraq and Serbia had had little effect.

But Gulf Arab ministers meeting in Riyadh called on the Arab League to take measures to stop the bloodshed, including the imposition of a no-fly zone to protect civilians.

In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Libya had descended into civil war with increasing numbers of wounded civilians arriving in hospitals in the east.

(Additional reporting by Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi, Luke Baker, David Brunnstrom, Missy Ryan and Lucien Toyer in Brussels, Paul Eckert and Tabassum Zakaria in Washington, Stefano Ambrogi and Olesya Dmitracova in London, John Irish in Paris, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; writing by Angus MacSwan; editing by Tim Pearce)

    Gaddafi threatens offensive, ignores diplomatic moves, R, 11.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110311

Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East

March 10, 2011
Reuters
By MARK LANDLER and HELENE COOPER

WASHINGTON — In the Middle East crisis, as on other issues, there are two Barack Obamas: the transformative historical figure and the pragmatic American president. Three months after a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself aflame and ignited a political firestorm across the Arab world, the president is trumping the trailblazer.

With the spread of antigovernment protests from North Africa to the strategic, oil-rich Persian Gulf, President Obama has adopted a policy of restraint. He has concluded that his administration must shape its response country by country, aides say, recognizing a stark reality that American national security interests weigh as heavily as idealistic impulses. That explains why Mr. Obama has dialed down the vocal support he gave demonstrators in Cairo to a more modulated call for peaceful protest and respect for universal rights elsewhere.

This emphasis on pragmatism over idealism has left Mr. Obama vulnerable to criticism that he is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the Arab street protesters. Some say he is failing to bind the United States to the historic change under way in the Middle East the way that Ronald Reagan forever cemented himself in history books to the end of the cold war with his famous call to tear down the Berlin Wall.

“It’s tempting, and it would be easy, to go out day after day with cathartic statements that make us feel good,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, who wrote Mr. Obama’s soaring speech in Cairo to the Islamic world in 2009. “But ultimately, what’s most important is achieving outcomes that are consistent with our values, because if we don’t, those statements will be long forgotten.”

On Thursday, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, deflected calls for more aggressive action in Libya, telling reporters what American officials have been saying privately for days: despite pleas from Libyan rebels for military assistance, the United States will not, at least for now, put its pilots in harm’s way by enforcing a no-flight zone over the country.

Not only is intervention risky, officials said, but they also fear that in some cases, it could be counterproductive, provoking a backlash against the United States for meddling in what is a homegrown political movement.

A senior administration official acknowledged the irony of Mr. Obama’s dilemma; he is, after all, the first black president, whose election was hailed on the Arab street, where many protesters identify their own struggles with the civil rights movement.

“There is a desire for Obama — not the American president, but Obama — to speak to their aspirations,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. But, he added, “his first job is to be the American president.”

So Mr. Obama has thrown his weight behind attempts by the royal family of Bahrain, the home of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, to survive, although protesters say their demands have not been met. He has said little about political grievances in Saudi Arabia, a major oil supplier, where there were reports on Thursday of a violent dispersal of Shiite protesters. And he has limited White House critiques of Yemen, where the government is helping the United States root out a terrorist threat, even after that government opened fire on demonstrators.

The more cautious approach contrasts sharply with Mr. Obama’s response in North Africa, where he abandoned a 30-year alliance with Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and has demanded the resignation of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya. But Mr. Obama is balancing his idealistic instincts against his reluctance to use military action in Libya, where the United States does not have a vital strategic interest. Mr. Donilon noted that the administration needed to keep its focus on the broader region, where allies like Egypt loom large.

The time is coming, administration officials said, for Mr. Obama to make another major speech taking stock of the upheaval. But its central message is not yet set, and there is likely to be lively debate about questions like whether the president should admit American complicity in propping up undemocratic governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

“I don’t honestly think it would change much,” said a second senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “It isn’t going to change the perception of the United States one way or the other. What will continue to affect the perception of the United States is what we do now.”

The White House will send Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Egypt and Tunisia next week, where officials said she would congratulate the protesters for sweeping out their leaders peacefully and offer aid to revive the nations’ economies. She had planned to stop in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, but canceled, officials said, because King Abdullah is too ill to meet her.

This underscores one of the difficulties the United States faces in dealing with Saudi Arabia, a crucial ally that is run by an aging, infirm ruling family that has refused to open the political system. Instead, the king tried to mollify his people by doling out $36 billion worth of pay raises, unemployment checks and housing subsidies.

Bahrain poses a different problem. There, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has pledged to enter a dialogue with the protestors, after having unleashed its security forces on them. Officials said Mr. Obama persuaded King Hamad to pull back his forces, which they said won the United States goodwill from the mostly Shiite demonstrators. But the talks have failed to get off the ground, and now some Shiites feel the Americans have sided against them.

“There is a sense among many Bahraini reformers that the U.S. is a bit too eager to praise progress toward dialogue and reform that has not yet happened, and that the premature praise is easing pressure on the government,” said Tom Malinowski, the head of the Washington office of Human Rights Watch.

“Striking a very balanced, and in many ways, neutral approach is recognized by many people in the region as not being with them, or on their side,” said J. Scott Mastic, the head of Middle East and North Africa for the International Republican Institute. “It’s very important that we be seen as supporting the demands of the people in the region.”

How Mr. Obama manages to do that while also balancing American interests is a question that officials acknowledge will plague this historic president for months to come. Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”

Elisabeth Bumiller and Stephen Castle contributed reporting from Brussels, Steven Erlanger and Alan Cowell from Paris and Judy Dempsey from Berlin.

    Obama Seeks a Course of Pragmatism in the Middle East, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/africa/11policy.html

U.S. Escalates Pressure on Libya Amid Mixed Signals

March 10, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — The White House announced a five-point program on Thursday of steps to isolate Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and ultimately drive him from power, all stopping well short of military action, but distanced itself from the assessment of the nation’s top intelligence chief, who said Thursday that “over the longer term” Colonel Qaddafi’s superior firepower “will prevail” over the opposition.

The steps that the White House announced include a partial embrace of the opposition movement as well as threats to track and prosecute, in international courts, loyalists to Mr. Qaddafi who commit atrocities. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would meet with Libyan opposition leaders next week, and President Obama’s national security adviser made it clear that Washington was looking for ways to aid the Libyan leader’s opponents.

“We’re coordinating directly with them to provide assistance,” said the adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, though the United States has stopped short of recognizing them as the legitimate government of Libya. The help, he added, consisted of humanitarian aid and advice on how to organize an opposition government.

But on a day when military momentum moved back toward Mr. Qaddafi’s forces, it was not evident that the efforts the White House announced would be enough to ensure an end to Mr. Qaddafi’s 41-year-long rule, or even to slow the pace of his attacks.

In Brussels, NATO deferred until at least next week any decision on establishing a no-flight zone over Libya, amid hesitations in Washington and several European capitals over being drawn into a civil war in a country the West does not consider critical to its security. Both Mrs. Clinton, speaking in Washington, and Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, in Brussels, warned about the potential dangers of American military involvement, unless it was authorized by the United Nations and unless neighboring countries joined in the effort.

“It’s not enough for them to just cheer us on,” one senior administration official said Thursday. “They have to put some skin in the game. The president has made clear it can’t just be us.”

The White House campaign to convince both Colonel Qaddafi’s loyalists and NATO allies that the Libyan dictator’s days are numbered were undercut by a military assessment given earlier in the day by the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper. Responding to questions, Mr. Clapper told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that Colonel Qaddafi had a potentially decisive advantage in arms and equipment that would make itself felt as the conflict wore on.

“This is kind of a stalemate back and forth,” he said, “but I think over the longer term that the regime will prevail.”

Mr. Clapper also offered another scenario, one in which the country is split into two or three ministates, reverting to the way it was before Colonel Qaddafi’s rule. “You could end up with a situation where Qaddafi would have Tripoli and its environs, and then Benghazi and its environs could be under another ministate,” he said.

The White House was clearly taken aback by the assessment that Mr. Qaddafi could prevail, and Mr. Donilon, talking to reporters a few hours later, suggested that Mr. Clapper was addressing the question too narrowly.

“If you did a static and one-dimensional assessment of just looking at order of battle and mercenaries,” Mr. Donilon said, one could conclude that the Libyan leader would hang on. But he said that he took a “dynamic” and “multidimensional” view, which he said would lead “to a different conclusion about how this is going to go forward.”

“The lost legitimacy matters,” he said. “Motivation matters. Incentives matter.” He said Colonel Qaddafi’s “resources are being cut off,” and ultimately that would undercut his hold on power.

A senior administration official, driving home the difference in an e-mail on Thursday evening, wrote, “The president does not think that Qaddafi will prevail.”

Such differing assessments rarely surface in public in the midst of a crisis, although in the early days of the Egypt uprising there were conflicting assessments of the stability of President Hosni Mubarak’s government. Mr. Clapper’s job, created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, was intended to conduct exactly the kind of all-source analysis that Mr. Donilon talked about. But the White House said later Thursday that it retained full confidence in Mr. Clapper.

One prominent Republican senator, however, said that the intelligence director should lose his job. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a statement that Mr. Clapper’s assessment “will make the situation more difficult for those opposing Qaddafi,” adding, “It also undercuts our national efforts to bring about the desired result of Libya moving from dictator to democracy.”

In Brussels, meanwhile, NATO all but rejected a no-flight zone over Libya and agreed only to reposition warships in the region and plan for humanitarian aid.

Mr. Gates, who has been resistant to a no-flight zone, said in a news briefing after a two-hour meeting of NATO defense ministers that planning for a possible no-flight zone would continue, “but that’s the extent of it.”

Both Mr. Gates and the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, stressed that NATO would agree to a no-flight zone only with “a clear legal basis” — in short, authorization from the United Nations. Both also said in nearly identical statements that NATO would not take military action unless there was “a demonstrable need” and strong support from neighboring Arab nations.

Europe is also riven by disagreements on how to force Mr. Qaddafi out. When France stepped ahead of the rest of the military alliance on Thursday morning to become the first country to recognize the rebel leadership in Benghazi, Britain took exception. In comments at the European Union in Brussels, Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, said that the Libyan rebels “are legitimate people to talk to, of course, but we recognize states rather than groups within states.”

Mrs. Clinton held her first meeting with one of Colonel Qaddafi’s opponents later on Thursday when she met at the State Department with Libya’s ambassador to the United States, Ali Suleiman Aujali. Mr. Aujali previously announced that he no longer recognized the Libyan government, leaving him in a diplomatic limbo after Libya’s foreign ministry effectively fired him in a fax sent to the State Department.

Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington, and Elisabeth Bumiller

    U.S. Escalates Pressure on Libya Amid Mixed Signals, NYT, 10.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/africa/11diplomacy.html

Qaddafi Forces Bear Down on Strategic Town as Rebels Flee

March 10, 2011
The New York Times
By ANTHONY SHADID

RAS LANUF, Libya — The momentum shifted decisively Thursday in an uprising that has shaken Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s four decades of rule, as rebels fled from this strategic refinery town under a sustained land, air and sea assault by government forces.

The fighting was a stark illustration of the asymmetry of the conflict, pitting protesters turned rebels against a military with far superior arms and organization and a willingness to prosecute a vicious counterattack against its own people.

Usually ebullient rebels acknowledged withdrawing Thursday, even as the fledgling opposition leadership in Benghazi scored diplomatic gains with France’s recognition of it as the legitimate government and senior American officials’ promise to talk with its leaders.

“We are coming,” Colonel Qaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, told reporters in Tripoli.

Western nations took new steps to isolate the Qaddafi government, but the measures stopped well short of any sort of military intervention and seemed unlikely to be able to reverse the momentum.

The cautious response underscored what is at stake in a race against time in the most chaotic and unpredictable of the uprisings to shake the Arab world — whether the opposition can secure more international recognition and a no-flight zone to blunt Colonel Qaddafi’s offensive before rebel lines crumble in the coastal oil towns west of Benghazi.

“It’s tough these days,” said Mohammed al-Houni, a 25-year-old fighter at the front. “There is no comparison between our weapons and theirs. They’re trained, they’re organized. They got their training in Russia and I don’t know where. We’re not an army, we’re the people and even if we had weapons, we wouldn’t even know how to use them.”

Only days ago, rebels were boldly promising to march on Surt, Colonel Qaddafi’s hometown, then on to Tripoli, where opposition leaders predicted its residents would rise up. But the week has witnessed a series of setbacks, with a punishing government assault on Zawiyah, near the capital, and a reversal of fortunes in towns near Ras Lanuf, whose refinery makes it a strategic economic prize in a country blessed with vast oil reserves.

There was a growing sense among the opposition, echoed by leaders in opposition-held Benghazi and rebels on the front, that they could not single-handedly defeat Colonel Qaddafi’s forces.

“We can’t prevail unless there’s a no-fly zone,” said Anis Mabrouk, a 35-year-old fighter. “Give us the cover and we’ll go all the way to Tripoli and kill him.”

That seemed unlikely, though. Even without warplanes, Colonel Qaddafi’s government could still marshal far superior tanks, armor and artillery, along with the finances and organization to prosecute a counteroffensive. Given the disarray, some rebels took pride in their success in holding the lines at Ras Lanuf as long as they had. Soviet-made warplanes struck Brega, more than 100 miles from the front line on the road that resupplies the rebels, as well as several spots on the way to Ras Lanuf.

At noon, a rocket slammed into an unfinished mosque there, sending clouds of dust over dozens of worshipers and incensing fighters who condemned it as a sacrilege.

“God is greater than the bombs!” people recalled shouting after the rocket detonated. “God is greater than Muammar el-Qaddafi. God is greater than any criminal!”

From the minaret, the mosque’s loudspeaker, unsilenced by the attack, blared the words of the cleric. “When you side with God,” he intoned, “he will support you.”

At the same time, a bomb detonated just yards from the hospital, unleashing scenes of chaos. Fighters shot randomly — and ineffectually — into clear skies, sirens howled and two ambulances speeding from the hospital crashed into each other. Doctors and staff evacuated the hospital, leaving behind the body of a civilian who they said was shot in the head by snipers loyal to Colonel Qaddafi’s forces firing from the beach.

“We only die once,” Hweidi Trabulsi shouted, trying to rally his fellow fighters, dressed in a mishmash of berets, camouflage and track suits. But his pleas fell on deaf ears, as rebels scrambled to fall back to a makeshift checkpoint at the edge of town.

Scores of trucks fled down the coastal road, barreling past the largely deserted refinery and fighters praying on pieces of cardboard that read, “Fresh vegetables.” Shell casings fell off a pickup bed, as the vehicle lurched ahead. Passing it was a truck with a gun mounted in back, vainly camouflaged with a few branches of a eucalyptus tree.

“Everyone is targeted,” said Salem Langhi, an orthopedic surgeon helping with the evacuation. “We have no idea what they’re bombing. Chaotic? Yes, this is chaos.”

In Benghazi, Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, the deputy leader of the Libyan National Council, a kind of government in waiting, said reports of Ras Lanuf’s fall were not accurate. An opposition spokesman, Essam Gheriani, said even if the reports were true, “It’s not a permanent setback.” He contended that the attack on the city was joined by Libyan Navy ships and commercial vessels carrying artillery. The reality of Ras Lanuf’s fate was more ambiguous. Even though rebels pulled back from the city, it did not appear that government forces had actually entered.

As each day passes, anger among the rebels grows at what they have described as inaction on the part of the international community and in particular, the United States.

“Obama and Qaddafi are the same!” one fighter, Mohamed Mgaref, shouted at a medical clinic about an hour from the front, as ambulances ferried some of the four dead and dozens wounded in the fighting. More scenes of chaos unfolded there. “Clear the way!” volunteers shouted as ambulances swerved into the clinic’s driveway. At each rumor of an airstrike, people fled for cover. “Spread out,” one man shouted at them.

In a rare piece of encouraging news for the opposition, France on Thursday became the first country to recognize the opposition leadership and said it would soon exchange ambassadors with the movement in Benghazi. The move put France ahead of the United States and other European powers seeking ways to support the opposition.

France’s stance was viewed as a savvy gesture to show commitment to the uprisings and wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa after President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted Paris was slow to recognize the strength of the movements in Egypt and Tunisia. It might also position France favorably in future oil deals if the opposition movement somehow manages to expel Colonel Qaddafi and take control of the country.

Libyan officials denounced the move as “illegal and illegitimate.”

“All the options will be considered in our response,” Khalid Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, said in a news conference in Tripoli after the decision was announced, including Libya’s withdrawing recognition for France.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that at least seven journalists in Libya were unaccounted for. The most recent to vanish was Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a correspondent for The Guardian newspaper, whose disappearance was reported Thursday.

Mr. Abdul-Ahad was last known to be on the outskirts of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, scene of some of the heaviest fighting between rebels and Colonel Qaddafi’s forces.

Reporting was contributed by Kareem Fahim from Benghazi, David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Alan Cowell from Paris and Steven Lee Myers from Washington.

    Qaddafi Forces Bear Down on Strategic Town as Rebels Flee,, NYT, 10.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/africa/11libya.html

Qaddafi Reaches Into Schools but Some Youths Elude His Grasp

March 10, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

TRIPOLI, Libya — The crackdown by the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi against the rebels trying to unseat him has extended even into Tripoli’s schools, where students talk about visits from military officers warning them to watch only state television, payments of 200 Libyan dinars a day to attend pro-Qaddafi rallies and their fears that confiding in the wrong friend may mean interrogation by the secret police.

“I can give you a certainty that there was killing,” whispered a 14-year-old girl at a Tripoli school, saying anxiously that she could not name the killers, “but I think you know.”

“I think I am going to jail for that,” she added.

On a government-sponsored tour of a Tripoli school and other trips for a small group of foreign journalists, she and other students braved watchful teachers and official tour guides to explain that as schools here have reopened — some of them after a hiatus of three weeks — the government’s violent crackdown on the revolt has already left a deep impression on Libyan children and young adults. And like much of the Middle East, Libya is a nation of young adults: a third of the population is under 15 years old and 70 percent is under 35.

The few students who talked openly described their horror at the violence and the sleepless nights they had endured trying to forget about the eruptions of gunfire. A 17-year-old boy said the military had detained his 7-year-old neighbor at a protest and then deposited him a week later at a Tripoli soccer stadium; his father and teenage brother are still missing.

“It is terrifying,” the 17-year-old said. The names of the students were withheld to protect them from retaliation.

But they also expressed a remarkable optimism about the future. The 14-year-old girl, for example, said she wanted to make “a big statement” — a rebuttal to Colonel Qaddafi’s warnings that tribal strife would mire the country in an intractable civil war pitting western Tripoli against the rebels’ eastern stronghold of Benghazi.

“I, for myself, I wouldn’t want a single dude from Benghazi to die,” she said, speaking in English. “I even cried for them. We are really, really close to each other.”

“The problem,” she said, “is that some of the people are sold by money and they go against their own people.

“I am sure people are watching and I may be, like, dead or something, but I shouldn’t lie at this point, because there are a lot of lives at stake.”

The school’s principal tried to interrupt the girl’s account of her anxiety. “We were afraid of the news from Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya only, but here in Tripoli there was no problem, there was no problem at all, believe me,” the principal said. “They are telling lies, all the news are lies.”

But the girl said she and her friends were not afraid of the international media. (She said she had learned English mainly from American movies — Angelina Jolie is a favorite.)

The state news channel “is always green and talking about the same thing, ‘Libya is fine, Libya is fine,’ ” she said, referring to Colonel Qaddafi’s representative color. “I got it, so I don’t watch that anymore.”

The 17-year-old boy, forced to wear a military uniform to school, said he and his friends rolled their eyes at the officer who visited their school to warn them about the evils of the pan-Arab television channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. “We have eyes and we can see what we want,” he said.

The students said that classes had still not fully resumed since schools shut down around Feb. 17, when the unrest that started in Benghazi broke out in Tripoli, the capital. Students at one Tripoli school said only about half of the students had returned, because many families had fled to the safety of their hometowns and tribes. At a school in a small town nearby, students said that the teachers no longer bothered to teach and that they mainly talked about the unrest.

“Maybe because the teachers are scared, too,” the 17-year-old said. “Only one teacher is with the regime — everyone else is against it.”

When the school reopened, “Our head teacher told us, ‘There is nothing going on, don’t be scared, just study hard,’ ” the student said. “No one believed him.”

He said only two students in his school supported the government, naming two girls whose fathers, he said, worked in the administration. His sister, he said, was caught talking to a journalist about her views and was taken to the principal’s office. “They told her they would take marks off, she might go to prison and her family might go to prison as well,” he said.

He said that a friend who opposes Colonel Qaddafi decided to take the 200 Libyan dinars, or about $162, to spend the day at a pro-Qaddafi rally. “He doesn’t even like Muammar el-Qaddafi, but he got 200 dinars and he said, ‘I am going every day,’ ” the student said. “It is shameful.”

The 14-year-old girl said of other students, “Some of them are scared, some of them really want Muammar, which is scary.” She interrupted herself — “I should go to jail for that!” — before adding that after 40 years some older people “just can’t see anybody else but Muammar.”

After the uprising started things went “upside down” in Tripoli, she said, with rioting in the streets.

In those first weeks, she said, she saw what she believed to be mercenaries from other African countries near her house. “People hired to kill people for money,” she said. “We were really scared that day. We had to close the door and lock it up.”

For more than a week, her parents would not let her go outside. “I am a girl and I am still a kid,” she said, “and my mother is too scared of what they hear about all the death cases around us.”

A family friend reported that there had been “some killing incidents” after protesters left Friday Prayer services at mosques in neighborhoods around the city, she said. Then, last Saturday, her parents let her visit a friend near the Feshloom neighborhood, where security forces had cracked down on a protest.

“She told me there were big shootings the past scary week when things went upside down,” she said of her friend. “Her family got really scared and even started to save resources for the bad times.” Her own father had started stocking away provisions as well — “the main stuff, like macaroni, Libyans’ favorite food.”

By now the other students in the school had erupted into raucous chants about their love for Colonel Qaddafi, replicating the scene that greets foreign journalists everywhere in Tripoli. The student said her biggest problem was that she had missed three weeks of classes, but faced the same exam date. But as for the country, she said, “The problems in Libya are very well known.” In a country rich with oil, many are still poor, and the school system lags. “A lot of cheating and mixed-up stuff, you give money and they give you scores,” she said.

And, she said, she worried about what might happen on Friday, when Libyans again come together for prayers. “It is really calm now,” she said, “but on Friday it may get upside down again.”

    Qaddafi Reaches Into Schools but Some Youths Elude His Grasp, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/world/africa/11tripoli.html

Analysis: Mideast unrest flattens U.S. crude curve

NEW YORK | Thu Mar 10, 2011
9:27pm EST
Reuters
By Jeffrey Kerr and Janet McGurty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unrest in the Middle East is adding a fear premium to prompt spot U.S. crude oil supplies although there appears no end to a contango that has existed for over two years.

The contango, in existence since November 2008 is the result of the weaker economy which has cut demand and increased inventories.

The price of April crude futures relative to May started to narrow mid-February when tension in Egypt spread to other Middle Eastern countries and escalated to civil turmoil in OPEC producer Libya.

As unrest in Libya cuts output from Africa's third largest oil producer, April futures settled $1.10 per barrel lower than May futures on Thursday, tightening the contango from nearly $5 two weeks ago and threatening to flip into backwardation, despite minimal U.S. imports of Libyan crude.

The market has tested backwardation several times during the last few months, but has not settled there since November 2008. If backwardation holds, it could signal the economy is recovering and oil demand is catching up with supply, sending a signal to speculators to sell stored barrels.

Carl Holland, general manager of Energy Trading Solutions put the current narrowing spread between the two months down to short-covering coupled with "fear buying outright" as the unrest in oil producing Libya creates supply uncertainties.

But many market makers say the contango, which prices prompt barrels lower than further forward will remain the status quo as a record amount of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude has topped off storage in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. oil futures, making it necessary for producers to sell barrels as they produce them.

The amount of oil stored in Cushing hit a record 40.3 million barrels, out of working capacity of 45.88 million barrels for the week ended March 4, according to U.S. government data.

The forward curve moving toward backwardation "is a constructive global crude story, but WTI is still underpinned by a structurally challenged regional story," said CIBC commodity strategist Katherine Spector, referring to the growing glut of crude oil in the U.S. Midwest.

As long as WTI remains landlocked in the oil hub and unable to reach the refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, prompt prices will hold below further forward prices and backwardation would not hold.

"Backwardation would be a surprise to me, given my bearish view of the status of PADD II (Midwest) crude avails," said Energy trading Solutions' Holland.

CURVE FLATTENS

Jan Stuart, Global Oil Economist at Macquarie Securities, noted while backwardation was unlikely to be sustained, a flattening of the curve was in order owing to the greater risk premium on the market with growing Middle East unrest as a backdrop.

"The Midwest supply situation is still a concern, and will be a concern for some time to come, so it will still likely pay to store barrels at Cushing," he said.

Looking at the first six months of the forward curve for WTI, the spread has narrowed to an approximate $2 contango, from $5 just a few weeks ago.

Trade sources use monthly averages of 45 cents per barrel as a rule of thumb to make storage profitable.

"Well, that puts to rest fears about Cushing and limited storage," Carl Larry, president of Houston-based Oil Outlooks, said of the flattening of the curve.

With high demand and brimming inventories, storage capacity at Cushing is expected to grow by 8.8 million barrels by the end of 2011.

"We can safely assume that the talk of an additional 3 million barrels (of storage) by the end of March is about accurate," Larry said.

However, if the markets holds in backwardation, storage holders might look into scrapping older tanks in favor of the new ones, thus limiting storage growth.

Larry said credit issues are making U.S. refiners store or "bank" crude as they run their plants in the low 80 percent range -- lower than the historical average -- making just enough gasoline and diesel to keep profit margins strong.

"I'm not sure we will see real backwardation considering the heavy managed length in the market, but we are starting to see refiners play the "bank the asset" game with crude this high. We will probably see backwardation eventually, storage allowable," he added.

(Reporting by Janet McGurty and Jeffrey Kerr; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

    Analysis: Mideast unrest flattens U.S. crude curve, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/businesspro-us-oil-usa-futures-idUSTRE72A0DR20110311

Saudi police fire in air to disperse protest

By Ulf Laessing and Cynthia Johnston RIYADH | Thu Mar 10, 2011
7:45pm EST
Reuters

By Ulf Laessing and Cynthia Johnston RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi police fired in the air to disperse protesting Shi'ites on Thursday, and three people were injured in the melee on the eve of a day of protests called for on social media, witnesses and activists said.

Shots were heard near the protest by around 200 Shi'ites in the town of Qatif in Eastern Province, home to some of the world's largest oil fields and a large Shi'ite minority.

The clampdown was a sign that the Saudi government was serious about enforcing a ban on protests called for Friday by Internet activists emboldened by protests that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia before spreading to the Gulf.

"There was firing, it was sporadic," one witness said, adding that the sound of gunfire was interspersed with the noise from stun grenades.

A spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry said police fired over the heads of the crowd after they attacked a police officer who was documenting the protest, and said two protesters and a police officer were injured.

Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of whether police in the Sunni-dominated kingdom, an absolute monarchy where protests are forbidden as being against Islam, used rubber or live bullets.

Witnesses said at least two injured protesters appeared to have been shot, but had few other details about their injuries.

"They were not targeting the people directly. It was indirect firing," said one Shi'ite activist who asked to be identified by only his first name, Hussein.

"It seems they don't mean to kill. We think this is a message not for Qatif but for all Saudis about tomorrow," he added.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Shi'ite protesters have been demonstrating in small numbers for around three weeks in Qatif and other eastern towns, mainly demanding the release of prisoners. In some cases the protests were tolerated even as others were broken up, activists said.

But it was not clear if small protests that have erupted in the east could be replicated in Riyadh, a wealthier and more developed city in Saudi Arabia's conservative Sunni heartland.

A Facebook page calling for nationwide protests in Saudi Arabia gathered more than 30,000 followers. In Riyadh police boosted their presence, parking with their lights flashing at major junctions and patrolling the roads.

Brent oil prices jumped by $3 per barrel on news of the firing in Saudi Arabia, fully erasing earlier losses to trade close to $116 a barrel at 1900 GMT. Earlier in the day, oil was falling on the back of Europe's debt woes.

A loose coalition of liberals, rights activists, moderate Sunni Islamists and Shi'ite Muslims has called for political reform. Saudi rulers say their country, as an Islamic state applying sharia (Islamic law), has no need for protests or political parties.

Leaders of the Shi'ite community met King Abdullah and the governor of Eastern Province to seek the release of some 26 Shi'ites detained for taking part in protests.

Saudi Shi'ites, who make up about 15 percent of the population, often complain they struggle to get senior government jobs and the same benefits as other citizens.

The government denies these charges.

The U.S. government said it was aware of protests being dispersed in Saudi Arabia and reiterated its support for the right to peaceful assembly.

Earlier this week, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said protests were not the way to seek change and that foreign meddling in his country's affairs was not welcome.

"The principle of dialogue, I believe, is the best way to address the issues facing society," Prince Saud, a nephew of the king, said. "Change will come through the citizens of this kingdom and not through foreign fingers, we don't need them."

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing and Cynthia Johnston; writing by Martina Fuchs; editing by Tim Pearce)

    Saudi police fire in air to disperse protest, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/11/us-saudi-protests-idUSTRE7296DP20110311

Clinton to meet Libya opposition, warns on next steps

WASHINGTON | Thu Mar 10, 2011
5:19pm EST
Reuters
By Andrew Quinn

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday she plans to meet representatives of Libya's opposition groups but warned against unilateral U.S. action over the crisis, saying it could have unintended consequences.

Clinton met Tripoli's former ambassador to Washington, who has joined a growing number of Libyan diplomats who have denounced leader Muammar Gaddafi, and said she would meet more opposition figures during a trip next week to France, Egypt and Tunisia.

"We are in direct contact with members of the opposition, here in the United States, in Libya, in other countries, and we are working with them to determine what assistance they are actually able to use," Clinton told reporters after meeting Chile's foreign minister.

While saying she recognized the urgency of the situation, Clinton said calls for a quick U.S.-led military response to the crisis were premature -- underscoring that a no-fly zone and any other moves would require international support.

"Absent international authorization, the United States acting alone would be stepping into a situation whose consequences are unforeseeable," Clinton told a congressional hearing, stressing that NATO and the United Nations should take the lead in planning the next steps.

Clinton said the United States was focusing on humanitarian relief and building links to Libya's opposition groups, which are largely unknown in Washington.

She met Libya's former ambassador Ali Aujali, who now says he speaks for the opposition, and said the United States would accept no future envoys from Gaddafi as he engages in an increasingly brutal effort to put down the rebellion.

"We are suspending our relationships with the existing Libyan Embassy, so we expect them to end operations as the embassy of Libya," she said.

She did not specify which other opposition representatives she planned to meet.

CAUTIOUS ON NEXT STEPS

Clinton said the United States and its NATO allies were actively planning for options on Libya. NATO said on Thursday it would move ships closer to Libya but that a no-fly zone would take more planning.

"Trying to plan is the first and most important undertaking and there is an enormous amount of planning going on. But it's very challenging and I think we ought to have our eyes open as we look at what is being bandied about, and what is possible, in order to make good decisions," she said.

Clinton stressed the United States would consider "every option imaginable" for the next steps but suggested the proposed a no-fly zone, which has been backed by several prominent U.S. lawmakers, may not be the best one.

"I want to remind people that we had a no-fly zone over Iraq. It did not prevent Saddam Hussein from slaughtering people on the ground and it did not get him out of office," Clinton said.

"We had a no-fly zone and then we had 78 days of bombing in Serbia. It did not get Milosevic out of office. It did not get him out of Kosovo until we put troops on the ground with our allies," she added. "I really want people to understand what we are looking at."

"I can assure you that the president is not going to make any decision without a great deal of careful thought and deliberation."

(Reporting by Andrew Quinn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

    Clinton to meet Libya opposition, warns on next steps, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/10/us-libya-usa-clinton-idUSTRE7297ZR20110310

Sarkozy and Cameron: Gaddafi must step down now

PARIS | Thu Mar 10, 2011
4:28pm EST
Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his ruling clique have lost legitimacy and must step down to end violence in the country, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday.

In a letter signed by both leaders and addressed to the president of the European Union Council, Herman von Rompuy, they called for plans to prepare to help the Libyan rebellion and said these could include imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.

"It is clear to us the (Libyan) regime has lost any legitimacy that it could have," the letter said. "To end the suffering of the Libyan people, Muammar Gaddafi and his clique must leave."

Sarkozy and Cameron, who have been working together to draft a United Nations Security Council resolution about Libya, also urged the EU to recognize the rebellion's National Libyan Council as a viable political entity.

"We need to send a clear political signal that we consider the Council as a viable political counter-party and an important voice for the Libyan people at this time," the letter said.

France became the first country to recognize the rebel group earlier on Thursday, and Sarkozy has raised the idea of a limited air campaign against forces loyal to Gaddafi, three party sources told Reuters after a lunch with the president.

Sarkozy will present concrete plans for a response to the crisis at a European Union summit on Friday in Brussels. The sources said that the possibility of strikes was among the options to be discussed.

The U.N. Security Council is split on whether to authorize a no-fly zone over Libya, an option Paris and London have pushed as they seek ways to limit Muammar Gaddafi's ability to mobilize his forces against rebels.

The British and French leaders also called on the international community to enforce an arms embargo on Libya.

"We call on all countries to enforce completely the embargo on weapons, including on supplies for armed mercenaries," they said in the letter, which outlined seven points to be raised at the European meeting on Friday.

(Writing by Nicholas Vinocur; editing by Robert Woodward)

    Sarkozy and Cameron: Gaddafi must step down now, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/10/us-france-britain-libya-idUSTRE7297FV20110310

Surge in Arab protests expected on Friday in Gulf

DUBAI | Thu Mar 10, 2011
3:01pm EST
Reuters
By Andrew Hammond

DUBAI (Reuters) - Arab uprisings that have spread to the conservative Gulf region face a crucial test this week in Saudi Arabia where activists have made unprecedented calls for mass protests against the kingdom's absolute monarchy.

Gulf leaders are struggling to hold back an Internet-era generation of Arabs who appear less inclined to accept arguments appealing to religion and tradition to explain why ordinary citizens should be shut out of decision-making.

Protests are planned in other Gulf countries such as Yemen, Kuwait and Bahrain Friday, the region's weekend. The time after Friday prayers has proved to be crucial in popular uprisings that have brought down Tunisian and Egyptian rulers who once seemed invulnerable.

Saudi Arabia, the largest country in the Gulf, is home to Islam's holiest sites and a long-time U.S. ally that has ensured oil supplies for the West.

More than 32,000 people have backed a Facebook call to hold two demonstrations in the country, the first of them Friday. Saudi police dispersed a protest by a Shi'ite minority in the OPEC member's oil-producing Eastern province near Bahrain on Thursday with one to four people wounded as shots were heard, witnesses said.

It was the latest of a series of small protests by Eastern Province Shi'ites over the past three weeks and clerics are trying to dissuade Sunnis in the major cities from joining in by branding the demonstrations a Shi'ite phenomenon.

"Secret Shi'ite hands want to corrupt this country," messages sent to mobile phones this week said.

Riyadh has tried to counter the call with promises of money and other measures including a pro-government Facebook page "against the revolution" with 23,000 supporters.

"There is no fear but much anticipation. I don't necessarily think much will happen tomorrow, but the most important thing is that an idea has appeared," said former Saudi judge Abdelaziz al-Gassem, adding small numbers could set off a chain reaction.

"(Gulf rulers) are deluded in thinking they can ignore the demands," he said. "They are facing their biggest test ever, bigger than al Qaeda -- the people demanding justice, equality, the rule of law, supervision of government. This cannot be dealt with through violence."

Saudi Arabia has tried to present itself over the years as immune to the kind of activism now sweeping the Arab world. But al-Gassem, a campaigner for reforms, said these arguments were "nonsense."

SHI'ITES LEAD THE WAY

"What the regime is worried about is setting a precedent for protests, that when people have problems they're going to feel more comfortable and more willing to take to the streets," said Shadi Hamid, an analyst with the Brookings Institute in Qatar.

Washington -- which has buttressed the Gulf dynasties as a counterbalance to Iran -- raised the stakes in comments this week calling peaceful assembly a universal right that must be respected even in a country that claims unique status as an Islamic state like Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal slammed "foreign intervention" in a news conference Wednesday that seemed to highlight the problems facing a family that monopolizes political life in a country named after them.

"The called-for reform does not come via protests and (the clerics) have forbidden protests since they violate the Koran and the way of the Prophet," said Prince Saud, who has occupied the foreign minister portfolio since 1975.

STARTED IN YEMEN AND SPREAD

The protest movements hit populous Yemen a month ago and spread to the Gulf states where dynasties who secured their rule in colonial times and have bought their people's acquiescence by dispensing petrodollars.

Bahrain has been the most vulnerable. Majority Shi'ites who resent domination by the al-Khalifa dynasty have staged pro-democracy protests and analysts say Saudi pressure has been heavy on Manama to stamp them out.

This week hardline Shi'ite groups formed an alliance to ditch the monarchy and turn Bahrain -- an island state whose rulers look to Riyadh for support -- into a republic. They are planning a march on the royal palace Friday.

Yemen is also set for an escalation after opposition groups, who have held pro-democracy marches for the past month, rejected veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh's offer of reforms Thursday.

A small number of Kuwaitis held protests this week, while activists and intellectuals in the United Arab Emirates petitioned the rulers for democratic elections. Last week Omanis clashed with police over jobs and corruption in government.

Several Gulf rulers seem to hope more money will solve their problems.

Saudi King Abdullah has vowed to distribute some $37 billion in handouts to students, the unemployed and other low-income Saudis via a series of pay bonuses and benefits announced as he returned in February after a three-month absence for medical treatment.

Gulf Arab oil producers launched a $20 billion aid package Thursday for poorer Gulf countries Bahrain and Oman.

"For most of us, it's not about money, it's about having a share in our government," said Mohammed al-Mansoori, a rights activist in the United Arab Emirates. "In other places people have dignity, here, people don't."

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

    Surge in Arab protests expected on Friday in Gulf, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/10/us-gulf-protests-saudi-idUSTRE7294IX20110310

Yemen president vows reform as protests continue

SANAA | Thu Mar 10, 2011
10:21am EST
Reuters
By Mohamed Sudam and Mohammed Ghobari

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh, hoping to defuse increasingly violent protests against his 32-year rule, said Thursday he would draw up a new constitution to create a parliamentary system of government.

An opposition spokesman swiftly rejected the proposal, and called for the continuation of anti-government rallies, which kicked off in January and have claimed almost 30 lives.

Impoverished Yemen, a neighbor of oil giant Saudi Arabia, is one of several Arab states that have seen mass protests this year, with Saleh looking increasingly weakened by the unrest.

Speaking to thousands of cheering supporters gathered in a soccer stadium, the autocratic Saleh said he wanted to form a unity government to help put in place a new political system.

"Firstly we will form a new constitution based on the separation of powers. A referendum on this new constitution will be held before the end of this year," he said, speaking beneath a large portrait of himself.

"I'm already sure that this initiative won't be accepted by the opposition, but in order to do the right thing, I am offering this to the people and they will decide," he added.

Yemen is a presidential republic, where the head of state wields significant powers. But as water and oil resources dry up, it has become increasingly difficult to fuel the patronage system that kept his tribal and political backers loyal.

The rotating president of Yemen's umbrella opposition coalition, Yassin Noman, said his plan was too little, too late, and would not put an end to calls for Saleh's resignation.

"These proposals have been overtaken by realities on the ground," he said. "Had the ruling party offered this six months ago, it would have been different. It's too late now."

LACK OF TRUST

Saleh has already made several concessions to protesters, but has refused to bow to their central demand that he relinquish power immediately, saying he wanted to see out his term which expires in 2013.

"What president Saleh doesn't realize is that in the past 32 years he's really racked up a trust deficit and people just don't believe him anymore," said Gregory Johnsen, a Yemen scholar from Princeton University.

Tens of thousands of anti-Saleh protesters took to the streets of Sanaa, Taiz and Ibb as Saleh pitched his initiative to his own supporters. South of the capital in Dhamar, one of the 68-year old leader's political strongholds, thousands rallied against the government Thursday.

"This initiative doesn't satisfy our ambitions now. Our demand is clear, the regime must go," said Bushra al-Maqtari, a youth activist in Taiz.

Saleh also offered to regroup Yemen's 22 provinces into larger regional blocs. An official told Reuters this would allow wealthier provinces to support poorer ones, and said the plan would ensure there was an airport and a seaport in every region.

"Where exactly would Yemen be getting money to develop or build those? It seems like a speech that in many ways is divorced from the economic reality of the situation in Yemen," said Princeton scholar Johnsen.

A string of allies have recently defected to the protesters, who are frustrated by rampant corruption and soaring unemployment in Yemen, where 40 percent of the population live on $2 a day or less and a third face chronic hunger.

"We want the regime to go, then we can solve our other problems," said Samia al Aghbari, a leading Sanaa activist.

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Dubai; Writing by Crispian Balmer and Erika Solomon; Editing by Sophie Hares)

    Yemen president vows reform as protests continue, R, 10.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/10/us-yemen-protests-president-idUSTRE7291EK20110310

Washington’s Options on Libya

March 8, 2011
The New York Times


The Obama administration is throwing out so many conflicting messages on Libya that they are blunting any potential pressure on the Libyan regime and weakening American credibility. It’s dangerous to make threats if you’re not prepared to follow through. All of the public hand-wringing has made it even worse.

President Obama was talking tough again on Monday, warning that the West is considering all options, including military intervention. Just a day before, his chief of staff, William Daley, complained that “lots of people throw around phrases like no-fly zone; they talk about it as though it’s just a video game.” A few days earlier, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said a no-fly zone could require a huge, prolonged operation, an argument challenged by some military planners.

We are not eager to see the United States involved in another conflict in the Muslim world. Sending in American troops would be a disaster. But some way must be found to support Libya’s uprising and stop Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi from slaughtering his people. On Tuesday, his forces appeared to be gaining momentum as they again turned warplanes against the opposition.

Even with overwhelming air superiority, preventing Libyan warplanes from flying would entail some risk for American and NATO pilots. And what happens if Colonel Qaddafi holds on? Will the United States and its allies continue to patrol the skies?

When the United States, Britain and France imposed an air cap over Iraq after the 1991 gulf war, they grounded airplanes and helicopters and stopped the massacres of Kurds in the north and Shiites in the south. It went on for 12 years.

The United States must not act on its own. As Mr. Obama and his team weigh the military options, they also need to be working diplomatic channels hard to see if they can rally a strong international endorsement.

Britain and France are drafting a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a no-flight zone. Whether it can pass is unclear. Russia said it opposes military action; China has been cool to the proposal.

NATO is consulting all week on Libya, with defense ministers planning to meet in Brussels on Thursday. Turkey and some other allies are balking at a no-flight zone.

A credible endorsement from the Arab world seems absolutely essential. For too long Arab leaders have privately urged the United States to act — against Saddam Hussein, against Iran — while denouncing American action in public.

On Monday, the Gulf Cooperation Council demanded that the Security Council impose a no-flight zone. Arab League foreign ministers should follow suit when they meet in an emergency session on Saturday. Egypt and some other member states have the military resources to participate.

There is more that the United States and its allies can do right now. NATO has expanded its air surveillance over Libya from 10 hours to 24 hours a day to gather information on Libyan troop movements. It should find a way to share relevant information with the rebels. Without firing a shot, it can sow confusion among Libyan forces by jamming their communications. All of the big states need to agree on ways to enforce the United Nations-imposed arms embargo.

The United States and its partners have taken important steps to pressure Colonel Qaddafi and his cronies to cede power, including an assets freeze and a travel ban. We doubt that Colonel Qaddafi will ever get the message. But with enough pressure, his cronies and his military might abandon him — to save their own skins.

The courageous protesters who overthrew Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia have inspired the world and left autocrats fearful — just look at China. It would be a disaster if Colonel Qaddafi managed to cling to power by butchering his own people.

    Washington’s Options on Libya, NYT, 8.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/opinion/09wed1.html

Hollywood Feels Ripples From Libya

March 8, 2011
The New York Times
By MICHAEL CIEPLY

LOS ANGELES — Things have gotten chilly here for Natural Selection, the film production company backed by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s son Saadi.

On its office line, a recorded message has been the only answer for much of the last week.

Outside the company’s suite on Sunset Boulevard — across the street from the Hustler store and under a billboard promoting the Jerry Weintraub documentary “His Way” — a parking spot identified as Natural Selection’s is blocked by a battered white van with four flat tires. (An attendant’s notice taped to the back is dated Feb. 2.)

And Mathew Beckerman, the producer who made a splash in Variety last year with word that he had rounded up $100 million in financing for the company from Mr. Qaddafi and others, is suddenly getting a very cold shoulder.

Over the weekend, Mr. Beckerman’s name was deleted from the producer credits of a documentary, “Live at Preservation Hall: Louisiana Fairytale,” on the official Web site of the South by Southwest festival, which begins this week in Austin, Tex.

In an e-mail on Saturday, Theresa Vibberts, who works with the movie’s director, Danny Clinch, said simply, “Natural Selection is not involved in the film.” Neither Ms. Vibberts nor Mr. Clinch responded further to queries about the sudden disappearance of Mr. Beckerman’s credit, or a listing that shows Natural Selection among the movie’s backers on the Internet Movie Database.

So it goes when Hollywood begins to suspect it has made a mistake.

Speaking through an intermediary on Monday, Mr. Beckerman declined to discuss his company, or a Qaddafi investment that had been treated as routine here until the uprising against the Qaddafi regime in Libya turned bloody.

In recent days, the pop stars Nelly Furtado, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé and Usher all said they were giving away money they had received for entertaining at Qaddafi events. Hollywood, meanwhile, has pretty much joined Mr. Beckerman in doing what it does best when trouble crops up — hiding out.

The writer David McKenna and the actors Mickey Rourke and Eva Amurri, who is Susan Sarandon’s daughter, have all been connected to some extent with film projects financed by Natural Selection since Saadi el-Qaddafi signed on.

A spokesman for the Paradigm agency, which represents Mr. McKenna, said on Tuesday that the writer could not be reached. A representative of One Talent Management, which represents Ms. Amurri, and a spokeswoman for International Creative Management, which represents Mr. Rourke, had no comment.

But several people who have been involved with Mr. Beckerman’s list of films — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid conflict — described a scramble by major Hollywood players and institutions to distance themselves from projects in which Mr. Qaddafi might be involved.

William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, which had been identified in several reports as a distribution partner on Natural Selection’s planned crime film “The Ice Man,” for instance, is now unlikely to get involved because of concerns about the Qaddafis, according to two people connected to the situation. A spokesman for the agency said its policy was not to comment on individual projects.

Kevin Iwashina, whose Preferred Content has been lined up as a sales agent for “Isolation,” which has already been shot and stars Ms. Amurri, declined to comment. Schuyler Moore, an entertainment lawyer who was identified in a 2009 news report as having helped Mr. Beckerman assemble the Qaddafi deal, did not respond to queries.

Meanwhile at 42West, a high-powered entertainment public relations firm, a letter to the news media that identified Natural Selection as handling the “Preservation Hall” documentary at South by Southwest is now being described — in conversations conditioned on anonymity to minimize conflict — as having been in error.

According to people familiar with the go-round, 42West planned to help Mr. Beckerman when insiders thought his involvement with the documentary was purely personal. But it backpedaled when it appeared that Natural Selection, backed by Mr. Qaddafi, might have a role.

As Mr. Beckerman has not been returning calls, the company’s future remains unclear, as does the extent of Mr. Qaddafi’s involvement with its various films.

Two people who have dealt closely with Mr. Beckerman said they were introduced to Saadi el-Qaddafi at film festivals abroad, though never in Los Angeles. Both said they found Mr. Qaddafi, a former professional soccer player, to be vibrant, forthcoming and committed to the notion of building rapport between Libya and the United States.

Neither expressed qualms about past allegations that Libya had backed terrorists or abused its people. Both pointed out that Hollywood had routinely welcomed investors whose peripheral connections might not be the purest.

In a September posting, The Daily Beast reported that Mr. Beckerman, who once worked in the music business, was introduced to Mr. Qaddafi on a beach in Mauritius at a time when he was looking for funds.

Indeed, the Qaddafis are not even the first among African strongmen to have flirted with the film world. In 1990, the Italian financier Giancarlo Parretti was trying to line up the Liberian government as an investor in a company he was using to buy MGM/UA Communications. But the relationship ended when Mr. Parretti’s ally, the Liberian president Samuel K. Doe, was tortured and killed by opponents. During the current uprising, Mr. Qaddafi has given speeches and appeared on television defending his father’s regime.

In 2009, Natural Selection made “The Experiment,” a psychological drama that starred Forest Whitaker and Adrien Brody, and released the film on video through Sony Pictures. It shot “Isolation” early last year and has been selling distribution rights to the movie through what appears to be a shifting team of partners since then.

(At one point, William Morris Endeavor was asked to handle foreign sales, but ultimately did not, according to people involved with the matter.)

In perhaps its most prominent move, the company also bought rights to Philip Carlo’s book “The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer,” about Richard Kuklinski.

Filming was to have begun as early as this spring. But the script is still being written, according to people who were briefed on the project.

Mr. Rourke, one of those people said, had expressed interest in the lead role but had made no formal deal and will not face any decision about working with a Qaddafi-backed company until the screenplay is done.

Until then, and a world away, Mr. Beckerman’s major backer has a lot on his mind.

    Hollywood Feels Ripples From Libya, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/09beckerman.html

Exposed: Egypt's spies dragged from shadows

CAIRO | Tue Mar 8, 2011
10:29pm EST
Reuters
By Dina Zayed and Sarah Mikhail

CAIRO (Reuters) - New evidence of spying and torture by an Egyptian security agency has piled pressure on military rulers to abolish a hated and feared symbol of Hosni Mubarak's era.

Reformists at the heart of the mass uprising that toppled Mubarak have turned their attention to the agency known as state security, a body with a reputation for carrying out abuses that helped galvanize opposition to his 30-year rule.

After breaking into its premises and ransacking archives, activists posted videos and documents online which they say are proof the security agency must be dissolved by the military council that took over from Mubarak.

The posts include what was described as a torture chamber with a blood-stained floor and equipped with chains, and security files showing the extent of the agency's intrusion into citizens' lives.

The protests against state security culminated on Sunday in an attempt to storm its Cairo headquarters. Outside, activists were set upon by men in plain clothes armed with knives, swords, petrol bombs and bricks.

"I can't think of anyone who has an interest in that (organizing the attack) other than state security officers who are linked to the former ruling party and were serving it," said Gamal Eid, a human rights activist.

For Egyptians, the documents that have surfaced confirm what many already believed: that for years they have been watched, listened to and monitored in detail by agents.

With a license to do almost whatever they wanted under emergency laws, state security officers abused their position for personal reasons. One had his girlfriend followed by agents and her phone tapped.

Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, the woman said a colleague of her former suitor had supplied her with a security report compiled on his orders.

"It literally had things like 'she drank a cup of tea at 2:30' and 'looked for a parking spot for 25 minutes'," she said.

"They knew which friends dropped by my apartment and how long they stayed. They even had details about the color of the scarf one of my friends was wearing on one day.

"All this happened to me because he wanted to make sure I would make 'a good wife'. Who gives them this kind of authority and how can he justify spying on private citizens in this disgusting fashion?"

SHREDDING AND BURNING

As with the Stasi in East Germany and the KGB in Russia, state security had sweeping powers, intervening in everything from university elections to public sector appointments and the issuing of licenses for music concerts.

Its main mission was to work secretly to protect Mubarak's administration from potential threats.

Activists uncovered documents including security files on opposition activists such as Mohamed ElBaradei, regarded as likely to be a candidate in the presidential election, and a manual on how to spy on Islamist groups Mubarak saw as a threat.

Even some Mubarak associates were being watched, documents posted online showed. Their authenticity could not be verified.

Footage posted online showed activists examining a metal frame that appeared to be designed to put detainees in stress positions and testing a stun gun disguised as a mobile phone.

News that state security officers were shredding and burning documents triggered break-ins by activists concerned that evidence of human rights abuses was being destroyed, as well as documents that might incriminate former officials.

State security accused activists of starting the fires.

The activists entered 11 state security buildings around the country, illustrating how little fear Egyptians now had of an agency that came into existence before Mubarak took office in 1981.

The military has asked activists to return the documents.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said on Monday it was guarding state security buildings, a statement understood to mean the security agency was now under full military control.

"THE STATE OF STATE SECURITY"

The prosecutor general ordered the detention of 47 state security officers accused of burning documents.

The state-owned al-Ahram newspaper declared the death of the agency altogether. "The state of state security falls," it said in a banner headline on Monday.

Hassan Nafaa, a political scientist and leading member of the reform movement, said the military was now in full control of state security. It would be difficult for the military to ignore state security's attempts to destroy paperwork and the documents exposed by activists in recent days, he said.

"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces acknowledges that this apparatus was a danger to society and was not working in the interests of society," he said.

"I have no hope in the idea of restructuring this apparatus. What is required is its entire dissolution and the establishment of a new one with a new ideology."

The country's new interior minister has said state security's role should be limited to fighting terrorism and not interfering in Egyptians' lives. He has yet to say whether the agency will be dissolved.

Reformists say they will continue to press that demand.

They are still awaiting justice for Khaled Said, an online activist killed last year and whose death is seen as a milestone on the road to the uprising against Mubarak. Two state security policemen are on trial in the case.

"The protests will never end until all of the people's demands are met. Closing down state security is at the forefront of them and I don't see why this should not be done and quickly," said 23-year-old activist Islam Godah.

"This establishment has done nothing but torture, harassment and abuse. I can't find anything good it did for the people and I can't find anything wrong in closing it down."

(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh; Marwa Awad and Tom Perry; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Peter Millership and Andrew Dobbie)

    Exposed: Egypt's spies dragged from shadows, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/us-egypt-security-idUSTRE7280HJ20110309

Yemeni police fire on protest, 65 hurt: hospital

SANAA | Tue Mar 8, 2011
6:17pm EST
By Mohammed Ghobari

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni police opened fire on protesters in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday, wounding at least 65 people demonstrating for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year-old rule, hospital sources said.

Six of the wounded were in a serious condition, they said.

Policemen and security agents in civilian clothes opened fire as they tried to prevent people from joining thousands of protesters who have camped out for weeks in front of Sanaa University, witnesses told Reuters earlier.

The state news agency Saba blamed the shooting on gunmen linked to a tribal leader and said three demonstrators and three policemen were injured. It said police were hunting the gunmen.

Earlier police brought out water cannon and placed concrete blocks around Sanaa University, after weeks of fierce clashes across the country between government loyalists and protesters that killed at least 27 people.

Around 10,000 protesters marched in the city of Dhamar, 60 km (40 miles) south of Sanaa, residents said by telephone. Dhamar is known for ties to Saleh and is the hometown of Yemen's prime minister, interior minister and head judge.

"Leave! leave!" the protesters shouted in Dhamar, two days after Saleh loyalists there held a similar-sized rally. Protesters pelted a municipal official with rocks.

Burgeoning protests fueled by anger over poverty and corruption, and a series of defections from Saleh's political and tribal allies, have added pressure on him to step aside this year even as he pledges to stay on until his term ends in 2013.

"Across the board, what you're seeing is that more and more people are really starting to crystallize around this single call for the president to step down," Princeton University Yemen scholar Gregory Johnsen said.

Yemen, neighbor to oil giant Saudi Arabia, was teetering on the brink of failed statehood even before recent protests. Saleh has struggled to cement a truce with Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north and curb secessionist rebellion in the south, all the while fighting al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing.

 

MINISTER BLAMES POOR ECONOMY

Analysts say protests may be reaching a point where it will be difficult for Saleh to cling to power.

In what could add to popular anger, two Yemeni rights groups said two prisoners had died after security forces on Monday used live ammunition and tear gas to halt a prison riot in Sanaa.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi blamed growing protests on poor economic conditions. Some 40 percent of Yemen's 23 million people live on $2 a day or less and a third face chronic hunger. Qirbi said he wanted foreign donors to inject up to $6 billion to fill a five-year budget gap.

"What we need is really development and economic growth because the present political crisis is really as a result of the economic situation in Yemen," he said at a Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers' meeting in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Protesters are demanding greater participation in a government largely led by Saleh's closest allies. They say they are frustrated by rampant corruption and soaring unemployment, which is at 35 percent or higher.

Princeton's Johnsen said calls for foreign aid were a tactical move by Saleh to buy time to divide the protesters.

"Yemen wants more money to come in and Saleh wants to try and fragment the protesters as much as he can. President Saleh is trying to string this out as long as possible in the hopes he can pit different interest groups against one another," he said.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Sudam and Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Sanaa, Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden and Mahmoud Habboush in Abu Dhabi; Additional reporting and writing by Erika Solomon and Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Andrew Roche)

    Yemeni police fire on protest, 65 hurt: hospital, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-yemen-idUSTRE7262E120110308

Obama and UK's Cameron urge quick exit for Gaddafi

WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 8, 2011
6:04pm EST
Reuters
By Caren Bohan and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed on Tuesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi must leave power quickly and weighed steps to stop the bloodshed, including a no-fly zone.

As Obama faces growing calls at home to help Libyan rebels seeking Gaddafi's ouster, he and Cameron discussed a "full spectrum of possible responses" during their telephone call, the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders would work on planning for several options, including surveillance of Libya with spy planes, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of a United Nations arms embargo and a no-fly zone, it said.

"They agreed that the common objective in Libya must be an immediate end to brutality and violence; the departure of Gaddafi from power as quickly as possible; and a transition that meets the Libyan peoples' aspirations for freedom," the White House said.

As the international community tries to reach consensus on what to do about Libya, Britain and France are working on a U.N. Security Council resolution for a no-fly zone that could be put forward if they believe conditions warrant it.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday a no-fly zone was a practical possibility but would require "a clear legal basis, a demonstrable need and strong international support and broad support in the region and a readiness to participate in it."

Cameron told the BBC that planning was needed in case Gaddafi refuses to step down.

"I think now we have got to prepare for what we might have to do if he goes on brutalizing his own people," he said.

LITTLE EFFECT ON HELICOPTERS

Obama is facing criticism, especially from Republicans, that he has been too cautious during the turmoil in Libya.

But the Obama administration is reluctant to get drawn into the conflict while the United States is entangled in Iraq and Afghanistan, stressing the need for international backing for any foreign military intervention.

U.S. officials have voiced concerns about the effectiveness of a no-fly zone.

Marine General James Amos told U.S. lawmakers that Libya's helicopter forces represent its strongest air power threat.

"There are several things that will give (Gaddafi's forces) enormous advantage. One is the ground movement of forces, vehicles," Amos said. "I think it's more than just aviation. I think it's very complex."

Senator John McCain, a vocal proponent of a no-fly zone, said he could not understand why Obama was resisting growing pressure to impose one.

"People are dying. The facts are very clear," McCain told Reuters as he left the hearing where Amos testified. "President Obama has said that Gaddafi has got to go. Wouldn't a no-fly zone be a very important way to make that happen?"

Senator John Kerry, a close Obama ally, has called for the United States to prepare for a no-fly zone and has floated the idea of bombing Libyan runways to ground Gaddafi's warplanes.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Alister Bull and Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Caren Bohan; Editing by John O'Callaghan and Eric Walsh)

    Obama and UK's Cameron urge quick exit for Gaddafi, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-libya-usa-britain-idUSTRE7275VT20110308

One dead as Muslims, Christians clash in Cairo

CAIRO | Tue Mar 8, 2011
5:09pm EST
Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - One Christian youth was shot dead Tuesday during a protest between 1,300 Christians and Muslims who were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at each other, a security source said.

The fighting erupted when a group of Christians blocked a main highway south of Cairo and clashed with Muslims who wanted to pass through, a security source said.

Christians were protesting for the second day over a church in Helwan on the outskirts of the capital that was set on fire Sunday after a row sparked by a relationship between a Christian man and a Muslim woman, witnesses and a security source said.

The army fired gunshots in the air to break up the riot but was unable to quell the fight straight away, witnesses said. An army statement said it "successfully handled riots Tuesday."

One 18-year old Christian was killed by a bullet that struck him in the back but it was unclear who had fired the shot or whether it had been aimed intentionally, the security source said. Some witnesses said they saw protesters carrying weapons.

"They (the Christians and the Muslims) began fighting because people in their cars wanted to pass through and the protesters had blocked the highway," the security source said.

About 20 people were injured and five cars were burned during in the latest sectarian flare-up.

In downtown Cairo hundreds of Christian protesters, carrying wooden crosses and some wearing glow-in-the-dark crucifixes brought another major highway to a halt.

There have been previous flashpoints between Muslims and Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the 80 million population.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council that is governing the country after Hosni Mubarak quit, said the army would rebuild the church before the Easter holidays.

(Reporting by Shaimaa Fayed; Writing by Marwa Awad; Editing by Matthew Jones)

    One dead as Muslims, Christians clash in Cairo, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-egypt-clash-idUSTRE7276SC20110308

Analysis: Obama faces no good choices over Libya

WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 8, 2011
1:28pm EST
Reuters
By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama may have told Muammar Gaddafi his time is up but the real question is whether U.S. rhetoric will be matched by action forceful enough to get the Libyan leader to relinquish power.

That looks doubtful for now as Obama faces "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't" options that range from imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to arming the rebels. None is guaranteed to push out Gaddafi or ensure stability in North Africa.

Aides insist Obama's cautious approach is helping marshal international opposition to Gaddafi, who has launched fierce counterattacks on opponents seeking to end his 41-year rule.

Obama's critics, mostly Republican politicians and conservative pundits, accuse him of failing to lead and say he could miss a chance to oust an entrenched dictator who has been a thorn in Washington's side for decades.

"Whatever you do, the risks are great," said Stephen Grand, an expert at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. "But you can't just walk into a civil war and expect to stop it ... Still, doing nothing is not a viable alternative."

Accounts of ragtag rebels and civilians being assaulted by Gaddafi's loyalists, along with fears of a humanitarian crisis, make for compelling reasons for Obama to act -- not least because the last remaining superpower could be denounced for staying on the sidelines.

But the costs of any major intervention are high for a president trying to wind down wars in two Muslim countries while confronting the domestic priorities of jobs and economic recovery that are crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.

That could be reason enough to avoid any hasty response.

Obama must also be mindful of inflaming tensions in the oil-producing Middle East or undermining relations with Europe, the Arab world and the United Nations. How events in Libya play out have implications for the global economy, U.S. prestige and Obama's own foreign policy legacy.

TOUGH WORDS, LIMITED ACTION

When the uprising erupted last month and Gaddafi responded with violence, Obama was reluctant to call outright for his ouster until U.S. citizens were safely evacuated from Libya.

Obama and his top aides have since spoken out strongly for Gaddafi to step down -- coupling that with sanctions and an asset freeze -- and have started talking openly about some of the specific military options under consideration.

But with the White House still crafting its strategy, the risk is that a defiant Gaddafi will consolidate his grip and hunker down for a protracted civil war.

"The president made a big mistake when he said 'Gaddafi must go' when he had no idea how to make him go," said Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former deputy national security advisor under Obama's Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. "That depreciates the value of an American leader's words."

Obama has come under growing pressure from some lawmakers, including fellow Democrats, for a more aggressive response amid a debate on U.S. intervention -- a topic that traditionally cuts across party lines.

Obama's spokesman Jay Carney spoke on Monday of a sense of urgency but said: "We need to not get ahead of ourselves in terms of the options we're pursuing."

The administration has made clear it will not be rushed into decisions that could draw the U.S. military, already working to extricate itself from Iraq and still bogged down in Afghanistan, into a new war that could fuel anti-Americanism.

The dilemma is that the longer it takes to decide on a course of action with Washington's allies, the more blood could be spilled in Libya and the more Obama could face criticism for acting too slowly to avert a humanitarian disaster.

At the same time, failure to stem the turmoil could sustain upward pressure on oil prices already driven higher as upheaval sweeps the broader Middle East.

MILITARY OPTIONS

Even with Washington's assertion that all options remain on the table, Obama's room to maneuver appears limited.

An idea pushed by some lawmakers is a "no-fly" zone -- patrolled by Western warplanes in the style used in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and against Saddam Hussein in Iraq -- to stop Gaddafi's aircraft from targeting rebels and their supporters.

But even as Britain and France seek a no-fly resolution at the United Nations, U.S. officials like Defense Secretary Robert Gates have expressed misgivings. Russia and China could use their U.N. veto power to block the measure.

Sending ground troops is also an option but is considered unfeasible for a president who took office vowing to end the war in Iraq and who wants to avoid feeding into al Qaeda's narrative of Western powers grabbing Arab oil.

The U.S. hope is still that a popular democratic movement will coalesce in Libya as it did to topple rulers in Egypt and Tunisia, even though Gaddafi has struck back more violently.

U.S. military planners will also be wary because of searing memories of how a humanitarian mission in Somalia went wrong during the Clinton era, with soldiers' bodies dragged through the streets after a firefight.

There have been mixed messages about the logistics and legality of arming the rebels but intelligence officials say so little is known about the opposition groups and their leaders that it would be unwise, for now, to send them weapons.

Obama also has made clear he will not act militarily without broad international support. Since taking office in early 2009, he has signaled a break with what was perceived as Bush's go-it-alone approach in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Critics say a failure to deal decisively with Libya could stain Obama's record, especially if Gaddafi prolongs his rule in a bloody stalemate.

"Prudence is one thing," said Michael Singh, an expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies and a Bush-era Middle East adviser. "But the administration can't afford to be left behind by events."

(Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by John O'Callaghan and John Whitesides.)

    Analysis: Obama faces no good choices over Libya, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-libya-obama-idUSTRE72752620110308

Factbox: Libya's military: what does Gaddafi have?

Tue Mar 8, 2011
12:38pm EST
Reuters

(Reuters) - Libya's military before the insurrection was on paper made up of some 100,000 troops, backed by heavy artillery, tanks, warplanes and a small navy.

Since the rebellion there have been defections by members of the armed forces and some military hardware has fallen into rebel hands.

The level of rebel strength is difficult to ascertain, but the best equipped and trained units have remained loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi because they are outside the regular army structure and are commanded by family members or people in his inner circle.

Here are some details of Libya's armed forces, officially totaling about 76,000 active personnel, plus a reserve or people's militia of some 40,000.

GROUND FORCES - STRENGTH ON PAPER:

Numbers: 50,000 including 25,000 conscripts.

Main Battle Tanks - 800, although many are thought to be inoperable.

Reconnaissance vehicles - 120.

Armored Infantry Fighting vehicles - 1,000.

Armored personnel carriers - 945.

Artillery pieces 2,421 (including 444 self-propelled, 647 towed).

Mortars - 500.

Air Defense surface-to-air missiles - at least 424.

GROUND FORCES - REALITY:

Even before the uprising, Libya's military strength was seen as having been seriously undermined by sanctions and neglect although Western powers had just began to sell it weapons again. Much of the equipment is seen as poorly maintained or unusable, leaving it hard to estimate genuine numbers.

Analysts say Gaddafi tried to emasculate the regular army to avoid the emergence of commanders who might rival his immediate family, relying instead particularly on three loyal "regime protection" units often of his own tribe.

That leaves him with what most estimate to be some 10-12,000 loyal Libyan troops. The most reliable formation is seen to be the 32nd Brigade commanded by Gaddafi's son Khamis.

Repeated reports from witnesses, rights groups and others talk of African mercenaries flown in by Gaddafi to help put down the revolt. Exact numbers are impossible to obtain.

In Libya's east around the city of Benghazi, regular military forces appear to have either defected to the opposition or melted away. Citizen groups also have taken up arms.

But analysts say the opposition lacks much in the way of command and control or even any form of centralized leadership.

NAVY - STRENGTH ON PAPER

Numbers: 8,000 including coast guard.

Submarines - 2 patrol submarines.

Surface vessels - 3

Patrol and coastal ships - 16

NAVY - REALITY

Libya's two surviving Foxtrot class diesel submarines were delivered by the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, but outside experts have long questioned their reliability. According to IHS Jane's, in 2003 one was reported to be in dry dock and one was sea going -- although unlikely to be fully operational. It suggested both might already have been abandoned.

AIR FORCE - STRENGTH ON PAPER

Numbers: 18,000.

Combat capable aircraft - 394 (many non-operational, in store)

Seven bombers -- Tu-22

187 fighters -- 75 MiG-23, 15 MiG-23U, 94 MiG-25, 3 MiG-25U

180 fighter-ground attack -- 45 MiG-21, 40 MiG-23BN, 4 Mirage 5DP30, 14 Mirage F-1A, 3 Mirage F-1B, 15 Mirage F-1E, 53 Su-17M-2, 6 Su-24MK

Seven intelligence/surveillance -- 7 MiG-25R

Transport 85

Helicopters

35 Attack -- 23 Mi-25, 12 Mi-35

11 Maritime reconnaissance

35 Reconnaissance/Transport

55 Transport -- 4 CH-47C, 5 Bell 206, 46 PZL Mi-2

AIR FORCE - REALITY

Analysts estimate many of Libya's fast jets are in fact no longer airworthy. Gaddafi has so far also lost at least four aircraft in the course of this uprising with two jets defecting to Malta, one being shot down and the crew of a third ejecting over the desert rather than bomb opposition targets as ordered. There have been reports that rebels brought down a helicopter.

OTHER FORCES:

There are also Air Defence Command forces which possess at least 216 surface-to-air missiles and 144 towed and 72 self propelled missiles.

Again, maintenance may be an issue. Most analysts believe Libya's armed forces would not be able to seriously threaten outside air forces attempting to enforce a no-fly zone, saying Gaddafi's defense capabilities probably lag behind those of Iraq's Saddam Hussein before the US-led 2003 invasion.

The BBC reported a British RAF Hercules transport aircraft evacuating foreign nationals came under small arms fire but was not seriously damaged. Some suggested the attack might have come from opposition forces who mistook the plane for one of Gaddafi's aircraft on a bombing raid.

CHEMICAL WEAPONS:

According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Libya destroyed its entire stockpile of chemical weapons munitions in early 2004 as part of a rapprochement with the West that also saw it abandon a nuclear program.

The OPCW told Reuters Libya did retain some 9.5 tonnes of deadly mustard gas at a secret desert location but no longer had the capability to deliver it.

Sources: Reuters/IISS Military Balance 2011

(Additional reporting by David Cutler)

    Factbox: Libya's military: what does Gaddafi have?, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-libya-military-idUSTRE7274QI20110308

Gaddafi forces strike rebels in west and east Libya

TRIPOLI/RAS LANUF, Libya | Tue Mar 8, 2011
12:00pm EST
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Alexander Dziadosz

TRIPOLI/RAS LANUF, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan government troops, tanks and warplanes attacked rebels on the western and eastern fronts on Tuesday, pressing their campaign to crush an insurrection against Muammar Gaddafi.

Government artillery pounded Zawiyah, the closest rebel-held city to the capital Tripoli as trapped residents cowered from the onslaught, witnesses said.

In the east, a swathe of which is under rebel control, air strikes targeted rebel positions behind the frontline around the oil town of Ras Lanuf on the Mediterranean coast.

Apparently undeterred by Gaddafi's renewed show of force, the rebel leadership said that if he stepped down within 72 hours it would not seek to bring him to justice.

Earlier, the rebels said they rejected an offer from the Libyan leader to negotiate his surrender of power. The government denied any such talks had taken place.

On the international front, foreign governments struggled to agree on a united strategy for dealing with the turmoil in the oil-producing country, which Gaddafi has ruled in an autocratic and quixotic style since seizing power in a 1969 military coup.

Britain and France led a drive at the United Nations for a no-fly zone over Libya, a move that would prevent Gaddafi from unleashing air raids or from flying in reinforcements. But Russia and China, who have veto power in the U.N. Security Council, were cool to the idea.

The U.S. government, whose interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan enraged many of the world's Muslims, said it was weighing up what military options could achieve.

Gaddafi's forces launched a concerted attack with tanks and artillery on Tuesday to recapture Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli and near an important oil refinery.

Rebels still control the central square and were using loud hailers to urge residents to help defend their positions, said a witness, a Ghanaian worker who fled the town on Tuesday.

Zawiyah, the closest rebel-held town to Tripoli, has been the focus of heavy fighting for days and the exiled opposition group Libyan Human Rights Solidarity said government forces were tightening their encirclement.

"The rebels are in control but there is an exchange of fire going on," said the Ghanaian. "They are in the square."

A government spokesman said troops were now in control but a small group of rebel fighters was still putting up resistance.

"Maybe 30-40 people, hiding in the streets and in the cemetery. They are desperate," he told Reuters in Tripoli.

A Libyan man who lives abroad said he spoke by phone on Tuesday to a friend there who described desperate scenes.

"Many buildings are completely destroyed, including hospitals, electricity lines and generators," he said.

"People cannot run away, it's cordoned off. They cannot flee. All those who can fight are fighting, including teenagers. Children and women are being hidden."

Tanks were firing everywhere, he said.

The reports could not be verified independently as foreign correspondents have been prevented from entering Zawiyah and other cities near the capital without an official escort.

HOMES HIT

The airstrikes in the east hit at rebels behind the no-man's land between the coastal towns of Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad, 550 km (340 miles) east of Tripoli and the site of oil terminals.

One strike smashed a house in a residential area of Ras Lanuf, gouging a big hole in the ground floor.

Mustafa Askat, an oil worker, said one bomb had wrecked a water line and this would affect water supplies to the city.

"We have a hospital inside, we have sick people and they need water urgently," he said.

The rebel army -- a rag-tag outfit largely made up of young volunteers and military defectors -- had made swift gains in the first week of the uprising which saw them take control of the east and challenge the government near Tripoli.

But their momentum appears to have stalled as Gaddafi's troops pushed back using war planes, tanks and heavy weapons.

Rebels said government forces had dug in their tanks near Bin Jawad while rebels retreated to Ras Lanuf. The two towns are about 60 km (40 miles) apart on the strategic coastal road along the Mediterranean sea that leads to Tripoli.

No casualty toll from either front was available.

72 HOUR DEADLINE

Gaddafi has poured scorn on the rebels, denouncing them variously as drug-addled youths or al Qaeda-backed terrorists, and said he will die in Libya rather than surrender.

The head of the rebel National Libyan Council said on Tuesday it would not hound Gaddafi if he stepped down in the next 72 hours,

"If he leaves Libya immediately, during 72 hours, and stops the bombardment, we as Libyans will step back from pursuing him for crimes," Mustafa Abdel Jalil, an ex-justice minister, told Al Jazeera television by telephone from the rebels' eastern stronghold, Benghazi.

A rebel spokesman said earlier the council had spurned an overture from Gaddafi's camp for talks but a Libyan ministry official dismissed reports of the offer as "absolute nonsense."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday that London was talking to its allies on a resolution for a no-fly zone, including an "appropriate legal basis." A French source said France also was working on such an initiative.

The Arab League and several Gulf states have also called for a no-fly zone, important support given suspicions in the Muslim world about Western intentions.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said action should be taken only with international backing. The White House said all options were on the table, including arming rebels.

Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto powers, said it opposed foreign military intervention and China was also cool to the no-fly zone proposal.

"We believe Libya's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence should be respected," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said in Beijing.

The Libyan uprising is the bloodiest of a tide of pro-democracy protests against autocratic rulers and monarchs in North Africa and Middle East which has already seen the longtime leaders of Tunisia and Egypt dethroned this year.

The phenomenon has left the West struggling to formulate a new direction for a region that sits on vast reserves of oil and where stability was until now the political priority.

Brent crude dropped to below $113 per barrel on Tuesday before creeping back to $114.00, $1.04 lower on the day, by 9:00 a.m. EST (1400 GMT).

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Alexander Dziadosz in Ajdabiya, Mohammed Abbas in Ras Lanuf, Stefano Ambrogi in London, Writing by Angus MacSwan: Editing by Giles Elgood)

    Gaddafi forces strike rebels in west and east Libya, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110308

Libyan Government Presses Assault in East and West

March 8, 2011
The New York Times
By KAREEM FAHIM and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

RAS LANUF, Libya — Government warplanes taunted rebels with flyovers and repeatedly bombed their positions near this coastal city’s oil refinery on Monday and Tuesday, seeking to drive the opposition forces back farther to the east, as Libya continued what appeared to be a slide into civil war.

The air attacks, which wounded a family of five, added a note of urgency to a growing debate in Western capitals about imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.

The bombing runs began on Monday morning, sending huge plumes of smoke into the air around 10 a.m. With every roar of a jet engine, the rebels opened fire with what sounded like every weapon available, from heavy artillery to pistols. In the evening, a warplane swooped low and on two separate occasions dropped bombs near a heavily defended rebel checkpoint, striking a car carrying the family and sending rebel fighters fleeing for cover in chaotic scenes.

On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported, loyalists launched two more airstrikes, maintaining an effort to block the rebels’ advance westward toward Tripoli. The bombs did not seem to hit any rebel fighters.

There were conflicting reports about the casualties after the airstrikes. Witnesses had said a man died when the car was hit, but doctors at a local hospital said the man, along with four relatives, survived.

The steady attacks from the air helped further turn the momentum of the conflict in eastern Libya, where opposition fighters had made strong gains recently in their drive to the west, toward Surt, a stronghold of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and on to Tripoli. But on Sunday, troops loyal to Colonel Qaddafi stormed the town of Bin Jawwad, just to the west of Ras Lanuf, backed by fierce air power, and sent the fighters holding it into retreat.

Those troops remained on the outskirts of Ras Lanuf on Monday evening, taking no immediate steps to try to recapture it or its strategic refinery from the rebels, who took control three days ago in their westward push.

In addition, the elite Khamis Brigade continued on Monday to batter the opposition-held city of Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, with tanks, artillery and snipers, residents there said. With cellphone and Internet communications cut off, virtually the only source of information on events there was a lone reporter for Sky TV, a British television channel. She said the heavily armed government troops attacked in the morning and inexplicably withdrew after several hours, even though their tanks seemed to have taken control of the city’s central square.

Government forces also attacked the rebel-held city of Misurata, Libya’s third largest, which lies about 100 miles east of Tripoli.

The rebels have rejected any foreign invasion of the country but would welcome a no-fly zone, saying they can handle Colonel Qaddafi’s soldiers, tanks and rockets, but not his warplanes and helicopter gunships. On Monday, Britain and France said they would seek United Nations authority for a no-fly zone, but Russia, which holds veto power, has already rejected any form of military intervention.

The United States ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, said the organization had established 24-hour surveillance of Libya with Awacs reconnaissance aircraft.

In Tripoli, the Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, held an extraordinary news conference in which he accused the United States and Britain of “yearning for the colonial era” and seeking to divide the country. Continuing the government’s string of improbable claims, he maintained that a force of about 300 Qaeda fighters formerly held by the United States at Guantánamo Bay was backing rebel forces.

“They are now fighting in eastern Libya. Their methods and approaches are clear,” Mr. Koussa said. “When they were released, they started moving again, and they have taken weapons.”

Mr. Koussa also became the first government official to admit that the government was meeting resistance in Zawiyah. But whereas news reports and interviews with residents have described a grim, large-scale battle, he said the violence was caused by a group of 30 to 35 rebels who were “hiding in the streets.”

The correspondent for Sky News — the only news organization present in Zawiyah for the height of the battle on Friday — reported Monday in a British newspaper on what appeared to be a massacre there. She said she had seen government snipers killing residents at a funeral, a column of 25 tanks shelling the town for three hours and a young rebel boy learning how to fire a rocket-propelled grenade in defense. The correspondent, Alex Crawford, said government forces had shot at an ambulance she was riding in.

In a second attack Saturday morning, Ms. Crawford reported that government soldiers were firing randomly into buildings. “There were horrific injuries,” she wrote. “A boy of 10 was hit by several bullets outside his house. One young man came in with an antitank grenade in his thigh, the fins sticking out. He was still conscious.”

She added: “An hour later, we saw the military column racing away — another attack had been beaten off. It was the third in two days. When we left, there were eight tanks destroyed or captured, and the rebels still held the center.”

The streets of Ras Lanuf were quiet on Monday, troubled only by cars and minivans filled with families leaving the city, including many foreign workers. On Sunday, troops loyal to Colonel Qaddafi attacked rebel troops in Bin Jawwad and pushed them east. Rebel fighters expected those troops to continue on toward Ras Lanuf.

On a grassy hill overlooking the sea, teenagers — volunteers from Benghazi — placed branches around an antiaircraft gun as a young rebel soldier watched. Hamed Sardina, a retired harbormaster, drank tea with a friend next to the gun and said he was not planning to leave. “We’re here to defend the area,” he said, pointing to the white houses across the street. And in case the fighting became too fierce, he owns a few boats, he said.

Nearby, opposition soldiers replaced the staff at the city’s main hotel on Monday morning. In a cafe with a view of the sea, a rebel fighter tried, in vain, to prepare a cappuccino. His comrades commandeered smart-looking rooms where they could shower and watch the news on television. Outside, a young rebel from the town of al-Marja, in eastern Libya, watched the scene inside.

“We are the richest country, and we have the poorest people,” he said.

At an intersection at the entrance to the town, rebel fighters with itchy fingers manned antiaircraft guns, firing them sporadically all day, then furiously when they heard the airplanes. Filipino workers wheeling suitcases walked past young men napping in cars and a man making tuna sandwiches for the fighters. On the road east, graffiti on a wall, not far from the site of an airstrike, said: “Army of the People.”


Kareem Fahim reported from Ras Lanuf, and David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Libya. Lynsey Addario contributed reporting from Ras Lanuf, Ellen Barry from Moscow, and Mark Landler from Washington.

    Libyan Government Presses Assault in East and West, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/world/africa/09libya.html

Yemeni Prisoners Riot, Call for President's Ouster

March 8, 2011
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — About 2,000 inmates staged a riot at a prison in the Yemeni capital after taking a dozen guards hostage and joined calls by anti-government protesters for the country's president to step down, a security official said Tuesday.

The unrest in the central prison in Sanaa erupted late Monday, when prisoners set their blankets and mattresses ablaze and occupied the facility's main courtyard, the official said.

The guards fired tear gas and gunshots into the air but failed to subdue the prisoners, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. He said troops beefed up security outside the prison on Tuesday and that a number of inmates were hurt in the unrest. According to the official, the prison revolt was still going on Tuesday.

Yemen has been rocked by weeks of protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh, inspired by recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia that ousted those nations' leaders.

A crowd of women joined a demonstration Tuesday in the southern port city of Aden after a young protester was critically wounded by a bullet to the head during a rally there the previous day. Local officials said 25 protesters were arrested during Monday's demonstration.

Also, tens of thousands took to the streets in the cities of the southern Ibb province on Tuesday, calling on the government to bring to justice those responsible for a deadly attack there Sunday by what opposition activists said were "government thugs" who descended on protesters camped out on a main square. One person was killed in that violence and 53 people were hurt.

There have been calls for widespread demonstrations Tuesday all across Yemen in support of the demands of Ibb protesters.

In the southeastern Dhamar province, which witnessed small demonstrations in the past two weeks, thousands took to the streets Tuesday calling for Saleh's ouster.

There were large demonstrations also in the mountainous province of Shabwa, where the U.S-Yemeni radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is believed to be hiding, and in the provinces of Hadramawt and Taiz.

In Sanaa, the capital, security measures were tight Tuesday and the army deployed armored cars at the main streets junctions and those leading to the president's office, the Central Bank, Sanaa University and sensitive government buildings.

The prisoners rioting in Sanaa also demanded better prison conditions, permission to receive food parcels, medicine and money from their families and demands that they be allowed to make unfettered telephone calls to relatives.

In an attempt to quell escalating protests, the embattled president called for national dialogue after meetings Monday with the country's top political and security chiefs. The state-run news agency said the conference would be held Thursday and would include thousands of representatives from across Yemen's political spectrum.

But the Yemeni opposition swiftly rejected the call, with opposition leader Yassin Said Numan saying there would be no dialogue unless Saleh agreed to step down by year's end.

Saleh has held on to power for 32 years and has failed to quell the protests with a pledge not to run for re-election in 2013.

Even before Yemen was hit by the wave of protests that began in mid-February, it was increasingly chaotic, with a resurgent al-Qaida, a separatist movement in the south and an off-on Shiite rebellion in the north.

    Yemeni Prisoners Riot, Call for President's Ouster, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/03/08/world/middleeast/AP-ML-Yemen-Protest.html

Yemen Protests Spread to Leader’s Stronghold

March 8, 2011
The New York Times
By REUTERS

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni protests demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule spread to a tribal area considered his political stronghold Tuesday, and military vehicles deployed in the capital.

Around 10,000 protesters marched in the city of Dhamar, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Sanaa, residents said by telephone. Dhamar is known for its ties to Saleh and is the hometown of Yemen's prime minister, interior minister and head judge.

"Leave! leave!" the protesters shouted, just two days after Saleh loyalists there held a similar-sized pro-government rally.

Rising protests in the Arabian Peninsula state, and a series of defections from Saleh's political and tribal allies, have added pressure on him to step aside this year even as he pledges to stay on until his current term ends in 2013.

Protesters in Dhamar pelted a municipal official with rocks, causing several injuries, local members of the ruling party said, as demonstrators ended their march and began a sit-in they said would continue until Saleh fell.

In the capital Sanaa, where thousands of protesters have been camped out for weeks, military vehicles with armed soldiers spread across streets in what appeared to be a response to calls by youth activists for a march to the presidential palace.

Police also brought out water cannon and placed concrete blocks around Sanaa University, the rallying point for anti-Saleh protest that had been quiet in recent days, after weeks of fierce clashes across the country between government loyalists and protesters killed at least 27 people.

Yemen, neighbor to oil giant Saudi Arabia, was teetering on the brink of failed statehood even before recent protests. Saleh has struggled to cement a truce with Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north and curb secessionist rebellion in the south, all while fighting al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing.

In further unrest, men on motorbikes shot and wounded a senior intelligence officer in the southern city of Zinjibar in what appeared to be an assassination attempt by al Qaeda militants, a local official said.

MINISTER BLAMES POOR ECONOMY

Analysts say the recent protests, inspired by unrest that has toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia and stirred insurrection in Libya, may be reaching a point where it will be difficult for Saleh, an astute politician, to cling to power.

Yemen's foreign minister blamed burgeoning anti-government protests on poor economic conditions in the impoverished state where 40 percent of its 23 million people live on $2 a day or less and a third face chronic hunger.

He said he wanted foreign donors to inject up to $6 billion to fill a five-year budget gap and would present a development plan later this month to donor nations including European and Gulf Arab allies as well as the United States.

"What we need is really development and economic growth because the present political crisis is really as a result of the economic situation in Yemen," Abubakr al-Qirbi told Reuters after meeting Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) foreign ministers late Monday in Abu Dhabi.

Last week, Saleh rejected a plan by the opposition coalition which would have implemented political and electoral reforms paving the way for him to step down in 2011, instead accepting a more modest reform package from religious clerics.

Tens of thousands of protesters remain camped out in major Yemeni cities, staying awake through the night to hear speeches and sing national songs. Their tone has hardened by the day, with the opposition vowing Monday to escalate protests.

South of the capital in Ibb, protesters marched through the streets to denounce a Sunday attack in which Saleh loyalists set upon an anti-government protest camp with clubs and stones. Around 60 demonstrators were hurt.

One of those wounded, Omar Atta, 18, died from his injuries Monday night, doctors said.

"My son sacrificed himself, this is my family's gift to the revolution in Yemen," his father said in a tearful speech to protesters in Ibb Tuesday.

Student activists in Ibb called on their peers to drop their studies and join them in the streets. "No studying, no teaching until the president falls," they chanted.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Ralph Boulton)

    Yemen Protests Spread to Leader’s Stronghold, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/03/08/world/middleeast/international-us-yemen.html

Afghan leader steps up criticism during Gates trip

KABUL | Tue Mar 8, 2011
6:53am EST
reuters
By Abdul Saboor

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai stepped up criticism of Western institutions and military forces on Tuesday, accusing them of acting at crossed purposes and deepening rifts reopened by a spate of civilian casualties.

The criticism came on the second day of a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates intended to assess security progress but clouded by Afghan anger over the mistaken killing of nine boys in a NATO air strike last week.

With ties between Washington and Kabul at their lowest point in more than a year -- and Afghanistan facing a series of security milestones within weeks -- Gates arrived in Afghanistan on Monday to be met by a storm of complaints.

Karzai says that civilian casualties are the greatest strain on relations with Washington and that international concern has also grown, the fallout from recent incidents threatening to hamper peace and reconciliation efforts.

Karzai has come under criticism from the West lately over corruption and governance issues, most specifically over his government's handling of a private banking crisis that has put hundreds of millions of dollars at risk and could lead to the International Monetary Fund withdrawing its support for Afghanistan.

With Gates visiting troops in the Taliban heartland in southern Afghanistan, Karzai ratcheted up his complaints, repeating criticism that "parallel institutions" like reconstruction teams were undermining Afghan efforts.

Likening tribal police units being set up by NATO-led forces to "militias," he also singled out private security firms and military/civilian provincial reconstruction teams as impediments to the development of Afghan institutions.

"These institutions are against the progress of the Afghan government. If you really want a strong government, then you should remove these obstacles," Karzai said in a speech.

U.S. and NATO-led forces are working to build up Afghan security forces so that foreign combat troops can leave by 2014, an ambitious timetable set by Karzai and agreed to by NATO leaders at a summit last year.

Gates said on Monday progress made against Taliban-led insurgents in recent months meant U.S. and coalition forces would be well-positioned to meet U.S. President Barack Obama's pledge to begin a gradual withdrawal of troops from July.

The scale and timing of that district-by-district withdrawal is still being discussed. Karzai is due to announce the transition timetable on March 21.

But the controversy over civilian casualties, which flared up last week when NATO helicopters accidentally gunned down nine Afghan boys collecting firewood, has clouded discussions about the security transfer, peace and reconciliation.

Obama, Gates and General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, have all apologized over the killing of the boys. Gates described it as a "setback."

"WE DON'T LISTEN ENOUGH"

Karzai said apologies were not enough and casualties caused by foreign forces hunting insurgents were "no longer acceptable."

"I don't think we listen to President Karzai very well," Gates told FOX news channel's Special Report late on Monday.

"Many of the issues he eventually takes public are issues he has been addressing with us in private for a long time. Civilian casualties, for example, he was raising when I first came to this job four years ago," Gates said.

Relations between Kabul and Washington all but broke down completely after a similar spate of civilian casualties in late 2009, forcing U.S. and NATO commanders to tighten rules governing the use of air strikes and night raids for its troops.

U.N. figures show that insurgents cause more than three-quarters of civilian casualties, but it is those caused by foreign forces which upset ordinary Afghans the most.

Violence is at its worst across Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted in late 2001 despite the presence of about 150,000 foreign troops, two-thirds of them Americans.

Gates visited U.S. Marines in Sangin in southern Helmand province, where many of an extra 30,000 troops ordered into Afghanistan by Obama were sent last year.

"In the five months since you arrived, you've killed or captured or driven away most of the Taliban," Gates told a unit from which about two dozen Marines have been killed.

U.S. commanders, however, expect a renewed spring offensive from the Taliban. Colonel Jason Morris, commander of a unit in Sabit Qadam in Sangin, said insurgents would try to push U.S. forces back out "as soon as the leaves are back on the trees."

(Additional reporting by Missy Ryan in SANGIN, Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Paul Tait and Yoko Nishikawa)

    Afghan leader steps up criticism during Gates trip, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-afghanistan-idUSTRE7271VS20110308

Iran's Rafsanjani ousted as head of state body

TEHRAN | Tue Mar 8, 2011
6:47am EST
Reuters
By Parisa Hafezi and Reza Derakhshi

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani lost his position as head of an important state clerical body on Tuesday after hardliners criticized him for being too close to the reformist opposition.

The defeat for one of the great survivors of Iranian politics since the 1979 Islamic revolution highlighted how opponents of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are being isolated and sidelined.

It follows reports by relatives of reformist opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi -- denied by the government -- that they have been placed in detention at a secret location to stop them orchestrating pro-democracy protests inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Opposition websites have called on people to take to streets in fresh demonstrations on Tuesday, International Women's Day, despite an official ban.

An ambush challenge by arch hard-liner Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani forced Rafsanjani to withdraw from running for re-election as chairman of the Assembly of Experts.

The 86-member clerical body has the authority to appoint and dismiss Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 71, but it has never exercised that power since the Assembly was established in 1983.

The vote will not have an immediate practical impact on Iran's complex political structure but analysts said the hardline triumph at the Assembly would further homogenize the clerical establishment by removing any semblance of dissent.

Rafsanjani, who had chaired the body since 2007, said he had no intention of causing discord.

"I regard division at the Assembly as detrimental ... I had said before that should he (Mahdavi-Kani) stand for the position, I would withdraw to prevent any rift," Rafsanjani told the Assembly in a speech, the students news agency ISNA said.

Iranian media reported last week that more than 50 members of the Assembly supported the candidacy of Mahdavi-Kani, but the challenger played coy up to the last minute over whether he would run.

The defeat was a blow to Rafsanjani's attempt to play a bridging role between dominant Islamic hardliners and the increasingly marginalized reformist opposition since Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009.

"THE AGILE CLERIC"

The 2009 vote, which authorities denied rigging as the opposition claimed, jolted Iran with the biggest anti-government street unrest in the past three decades, creating a deepening rift within the Islamic elites.

Rafsanjani has faced persistent accusations of corruption and his family has been harassed since he criticized a harsh crackdown on opposition protests in 2009.

His daughter Faezeh, a former lawmaker and a women's rights activist, was briefly detained on February 14 at a banned opposition rally, the first anti-government street protest since December 2009 that was crushed by the elite Revolutionary Guards.

His son, Mehdi, risks arrest for his alleged role in the 2009 protests if he returns from self-exile in London; another son, Mohsen, resigned from his job as head of the Tehran Metro on Friday, ending a lengthy dispute with Ahmadinejad.

Rafsanjani still heads the Expediency Council, an unelected arbitration body that resolves disputes between parliament and a clerical vetting body, the Guardian Council.

Some analysts still believe the agile cleric may still bounce back by using residual influence in some layers of the Revolutionary Guards and among top clerics, who see him as a pillar of the Islamic revolution able to defuse crisis.

"The system needs him ... particularly when the Middle East region is boiling and opposition unrest has re-emerged," said an analyst who asked not to be named.

Rafsanjani, with a political career spanning more than half a century, has held most of the top positions in Iran's political structure including parliament speaker, armed forces commander and president from 1989 to 1997.

He has also been at the heart of almost every key moment in the 32-year-old Islamic republic's life, including decisions to prolong and then end the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, as well as covert arms-for-hostages deals with Washington in the 1980s.

(Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Writing by Parisa Hafezi Editing by Paul Taylor)

    Iran's Rafsanjani ousted as head of state body, R, 8.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-iran-politics-rafsanjani-idUSTRE72716E20110308

Discord Fills Washington on Possible Libya Intervention

March 7, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID E. SANGER and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — Nearly three weeks after Libya erupted in what may now turn into a protracted civil war, the politics of military intervention to speed the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi grow more complicated by the day — for both the White House and Republicans.

President Obama, appearing Monday morning with Australia’s prime minister, tried to raise the pressure on Colonel Qaddafi further by talking about “a range of potential options, including potential military options” against the embattled Libyan leader.

Despite Mr. Obama’s statement, interviews with military officials and other administration officials describe a number of risks, some tactical and others political, to American intervention in Libya.

Of most concern to the president himself, one high-level aide said, is the perception that the United States would once again be meddling in the Middle East, where it has overturned many a leader, including Saddam Hussein. Some critics of the United States in the region — as well as some leaders — have already claimed that a Western conspiracy is stoking the revolutions that have overtaken the Middle East.

“He keeps reminding us that the best revolutions are completely organic,” the senior official said, quoting the president.

At the same time, there are persistent voices — in Congress and even inside the administration — arguing that Mr. Obama is moving too slowly. They contend that there is too much concern about perceptions, and that the White House is too squeamish because of Iraq.

Furthermore, they say a military caught up in two difficult wars has exaggerated the risks of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, the tactic discussed most often.

The American military is also privately skeptical of humanitarian gestures that put the lives of troops at risk for the cause of the moment, while being of only tenuous national interest.

Some of these critics seem motivated by political advantage. Others, including the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, who is among Mr. Obama’s closest allies, warn of repeating mistakes made in Iraqi Kurdistan, Rwanda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina by failing to step in and halt a slaughter.

The most vocal camp, led by Senators John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, and Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent and another hawk on Libyan intervention, say the central justification for establishing a no-fly zone over Libya is that the rebel leaders themselves are seeking military assistance to end decades of dictatorship.

It is hardly an effort to impose American will in the Muslim world, Mr. Lieberman argued in an interview on Monday.

“We have to try and help those who are offering an alternative future to Libya,” Mr. Lieberman said, sounding much like Mr. Obama at the White House on Monday. “We cannot allow them to be stifled or stopped by brutal actions of the Libyan government.”

But even the critics acknowledge that the best outcome would be for the United States not to go it alone, but join other nations or international organizations, in particular NATO, the Arab League or the African Union.

Mr. Lieberman and others argue that the risks of waiting may be far greater than the risk of an early, decisive military intervention. He acknowledged that as in Iraq, the United States might unleash an uncertain future of tribal rivalry and chaos, in a country that has no institutions prepared to fill the vacuum if Colonel Qaddafi is driven from power.

Yet, he argued: “It’s hard to imagine any new government growing out of this opposition that is worse than Qaddafi.”

On television Mr. McCain has made similar points, and portrayed Mr. Obama as indecisive and weak. But curiously, in a sign of the uncertainties about how the politics of an American intervention would play out, few of the potential nominees for the 2012 Republican presidential ticket have expressed a strong opinion.

For the administration, Mr. Kerry’s view is more troublesome, given that he is a normally a strong ally on foreign policy issues. He was a fierce critic of the war in Iraq, but he sees Libya as a different matter.

He has pushed the White House to do more — including “cratering” Libya’s airfields so the planes cannot take off.

Mr. Kerry, who was openly siding with officials who want the president to take a stronger public stance, said he was pushing the administration to “prepare for all eventualities” and warned that “showing reticence in a huge public way is not the best option.”

“You want to be prepared if he is bombing people, and killing his own people,” he said, referring to Colonel Qaddafi. The Libyan people, he said, would “look defenseless and we would look feckless — you have to be ready.”

He added: “What haunts me is the specter of Iraq 1991,” when former President George Bush “urged the Shia to rise up, and they did rise up, and tanks and planes were coming at them — and we were nowhere to be seen.”

“Tens of thousands were slaughtered,” Mr. Kerry said.

President Bill Clinton, he said, “missed the chance in Rwanda, and said later it was the greatest regret of his presidency, and then was too slow in Bosnia,” where the United States ended up using air power, also in the defense of a Muslim population.

Administration officials make the case that the focus on no-fly zones is overdone. “No-fly zones are more effective against fighters, but they really have limited effect against helicopters or the kinds of ground operations we’ve seen” in Libya, Ivo Daalder, the American ambassador to NATO, said Monday.

He added that “the overall air activity has not been the deciding factor” in fights between rebels and the loyalists and mercenaries surrounding Colonel Qaddafi.

It is possible that the mere talk of no-fly zones had some effect. Pentagon and military officials confirmed that sorties by aircraft loyal to the Qaddafi government had dropped by half over the past three days. There was no explanation for the change; it could have to do with maintenance, or a decision to fly helicopters, which are less provocative and harder to track.

The biggest voice of caution has been the most prominent Republican in Mr. Obama’s cabinet, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. It was Mr. Gates who laid out last week the strongest case against intervention — a case that even some in the White House say privately they think may have been overstated to make a point about how military actions that look easy can quickly become complicated.

Mr. Gates forcefully warned Congress during budget testimony that the first act in imposing a no-fly zone would be an attack on Colonel Qaddafi’s air defenses, and that the step should only be taken if the United States was ready for a prolonged military operation that could cover all of Libya. He cautioned it might drain resources that are already overstretched in Afghanistan and Iraq, because Libya is such a large territory.

In interviews this week, even some military officials called Mr. Gates’s portrayal extreme. Executing a no-fly zone would not require covering the whole country. Most of the Libyan action would be along the coast, where the major cities now held by rebels are. Even so, the opening mission of imposing a no-fly zone would almost certainly include missile attacks on air defense sites of a sovereign nation, which some would indeed regard as an act of war.

Tactical issues aside, Mr. Gates is concerned, Pentagon officials say, about the political fallout of the United States’ attacking yet another Muslim country — even on behalf of a Muslim population. But he is cognizant of the No. 1 lesson of Iraq: That once the United States plays a major role in the ouster of a Middle Eastern leader, it bears responsibility for whatever state emerges in its place.

    Discord Fills Washington on Possible Libya Intervention, NYT, 7.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/world/middleeast/08policy.html

Libya War Traps Poor Immigrants at Tripoli’s Edge

March 7, 2011
Reuters
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and SCOTT SAYARE

TRIPOLI, Libya — As wealthier nations send boats and planes to rescue their citizens from the violence in Libya, a new refugee crisis is taking shape on the outskirts of Tripoli, where thousands of migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa have been trapped with scant food and water, no international aid and little hope of escape.

The migrants — many of them illegal immigrants from Ghana and Nigeria who have long constituted an impoverished underclass in Libya — live amid piles of garbage, sleep in makeshift tents of blankets strung from fences and trees, and breathe fumes from a trench of excrement dividing their camp from the parking lot of Tripoli’s airport.

For dinner on Monday night two men killed a scrawny, half-plucked chicken by dunking it in water boiled on a garbage fire, then hacked it apart with a dull knife and cooked it over an open fire. Some residents of the camp are as young as Essem Ighalo, 9 days old, who arrived on his second day of life and has yet to see a doctor. Many refugees said they had seen deaths from hunger and disease every night.

The airport refugees, along with tens of thousands of other African migrants lucky enough to make it across the border to Tunisia, are the most desperate contingent of a vast exodus that has already sent almost 200,000 foreigners fleeing the country since the outbreak of the popular revolt against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi nearly three weeks ago.

Dark-skinned Africans say the Libyan war has caught them in a vise. The heavily armed police and militia forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi who guard checkpoints along the roads around the capital rob them of their money, possessions and cellphone chips, the migrants say. And the Libyans who oppose Colonel Qaddafi lash out at the African migrants because they look like the dark-skinned mercenaries many here say the Libyan leader has recruited to crush the uprising.

“Qaddafi has brought African soldiers to kill some of them, so if they see black people they beat them,” said Samson Adda, 31, who said residents of Zawiyah, a rebellious city, had beaten him so badly that he could no longer walk.

Sub-Saharan Africans make up a vast majority of the estimated 1.5 million illegal immigrants among Libya’s population of 6.5 million, according to the International Organization for Migration. Many were desperately poor people made even more so by investments of up to $1,000 each to pay smugglers to bring them across Libya’s southern border for a chance at better work in its oil economy.

Their flight has emptied the streets of thousands of day laborers who played a crucial, if largely unheralded, role in sustaining Libya’s economy. Their absence has played a role in halting construction projects that had been rising across the skyline.

They are trapped in part because most lack passports or other documents necessary to board a plane or cross the border. Few can afford a plane ticket. They say they are afraid to leave the airport or try their luck on the roads to the border for fear of assaults by Libyan citizens or at militia checkpoints.

They complain bitterly of betrayal by their home governments, which have failed to help evacuate them even as Egyptian, Bangladeshi and Chinese migrant workers who crowded the airport a week ago have found a way out.

And international aid workers, who have raced to minister to the hundreds of thousands camped on the borders, say the migrants trapped at the airport remain beyond their reach. The Libyan government’s tight security and the threat of violence on the streets of Tripoli have apparently prevented any international aid groups from reaching the makeshift camps.

“We are operating out of Benghazi,” said Jean-Philippe Chauzy of the International Organization for Migration, referring to the eastern Libyan city that is the headquarters of the rebellion. “But unfortunately because of the conditions we can’t help them out of Tripoli.”

The outbreak of violence in Tripoli around Feb. 20 sent migrants of all kinds fleeing for the airport. Until recently, desperate hordes of all nationalities were sleeping packed together on the floors of the terminals or in the fields and parking lots outside. Guards with whips and clubs beat them back to clear the entrance.

Despite Colonel Qaddafi’s brotherly pan-African rhetoric, racial xenophobia is common here. Many Libyans, ethnically Arab, look down on Chinese, Bangladeshis and darker-skinned Africans, in that order. Many African refugees here and in the camps on the Tunisian border say Libyans often addressed them as “abd,” or slave.

“Even if someone stabs you with a knife and you go to the police to report it, they won’t do anything about it,” said Paul Eke, 34, a Nigerian who was camped out at the Tunisian border, displaying a mangled arm as evidence of his firsthand experience. “In the hospitals, no one will care for you. They just don’t like blacks.”

But many said it was the presence of mercenaries from other African countries that made the situation unbearable. “Qaddafi brought the mercenaries who are black, so the people are chasing us,” one 30-year-old Nigerian said.

Perhaps as many as 100,000 refugees, most of them sub-Saharan Africans, have made it to the Tunisian camps, where groups like the Red Crescent, the Muslim counterpart to the Red Cross, care for the sick. The United States has lent planes to fly Egyptian refugees home from Tunisia.

But the crowds left at the airport, now almost exclusively African, have no such support. Some have been there for two weeks or more.

Several said that someone — perhaps with a local charity, perhaps with the Libyan government — had given them each a biscuit. On Monday refugees holding bottles lined up at the back of a tanker truck dispensing water.

But an exploitative economy has also sprung up. A group of burly, well-dressed men stood by a sport utility vehicle in the parking lot holding thick stacks of dollars, euros and Libyan dinars and offering to change money at usurious rates.

Many of the workers had been paid in foreign currency but need to change it to buy a Coke, a candy bar, or perhaps an emaciated chicken from the vendors who have turned up to profit from the camps. Several refugees said a live chicken cost about $8 in the camp, more than four times what it might have cost before the crisis.

Bathing is another problem. A Ghanaian woman said angrily that she had not washed in nine days.

“Some women try to wash naked in the bushes,” a Nigerian man said. “It is an abomination.”

But many said the worst indignity was being robbed of their few possessions either by soldiers with machine guns or by young civilians carrying knives.

“The most painful thing is this: A lot of people buy things, for more than two years they are gathering their own money to keep their own things that they will take to Nigeria,” the Nigerian man said. “But the little things that you have — like tele, plasma, clothes, shoes, bags, all your assets — they take everything.”

Another man added: “Just imagine: We are poor people, and they are robbing us. They are taking our dinars, our euros, our pounds. They are taking our mobile phones and SIM cards.”

The loss of the cellphones — the Libyan government is confiscating them apparently to prevent the circulation of cellphone pictures of the unrest — means that many of the refugees have been unable to tell their families they are alive, several said.

Many said that after waiting days for people from their embassies to help arrange their travel papers, they had given up hope in their home countries.

“We are somebody and we are from somewhere,” said Abru Razak, 35, a Nigerian with two daughters, 2 and 5, at the airport. “Even when we get into the airport they are beating us and pushing us. We are dying. Tell the United Nations they should get us away from here — to anywhere, just to save our lives.”

    Libya War Traps Poor Immigrants at Tripoli’s Edge, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/world/middleeast/08refugees.html

Diverse Character in City Qaddafi Calls Islamist

March 7, 2011
The New York Times
By ANTHONY SHADID

DARNAH, Libya — This fiercely independent port city on the Mediterranean coast, once the center of a simmering Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, is now branded by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi as an Islamic emirate infiltrating his embattled country.

The charge, uttered again on Monday by Libya’s foreign minister, is familiar in the Arab world, where strongmen have long presented a stark choice to their subjects and their American backers: either dictatorship or Islamists, repression or chaos.

But Darnah offers a more complex reality: a mélange where secular currents are intersecting with religious ones, drawn together by nationalist opposition to Colonel Qaddafi’s four decades of often bizarre rule. This old Barbary port, with a reputation as one of Libya’s most pious cities and, in the words of a WikiLeaks cable, a “wellspring for foreign fighters in Iraq,” suggests a more nuanced picture of what role militant Islam may play in a city and country fumbling to forge a body politic in a land without one.

No one knows what will emerge in Libya, or in Egypt or Tunisia for that matter. But so far in each place, in a remarkable legacy of the uprisings, Islamist groups are collaborating with secular counterparts to call for democratic constitutions and the rule of law. Both groups seem to believe pluralism, if won, may best guarantee their survival.

A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, imprisoned for years by Colonel Qaddafi’s government, who praises Osama bin Laden’s “good points,” but denounces the 9/11 attacks on the United States, runs Darnah’s defenses, and no one seems all that frightened by him. A secular leader of the impromptu City Council has welcomed the stand of clerics here. Young Islamists mingle with elderly diplomats at the Sahaba Mosque, plotting the revolt that for now has focused not on competing agendas, but on what kind of state might emerge.

Across the region, Islamists demonstrate a new-found sensitivity to how the West views them. They claim to be part of a national struggle and are careful in the words they choose. It is the case even in Libya, one of the world’s most isolated places, though far less so than 15 years ago.

At the mosque, Al Jazeera was on throughout the day, and the Internet has brought an alternative to the mind-numbing propaganda of state television. “There’s a change in the mind-set, and that’s more important than the revolution,” said Ashour Abu Rashed, a lawyer and one of Darnah’s three transitional leaders.

As with many cities in eastern Libya, Darnah still bears the scars of Colonel Qaddafi’s brutality, in particular the notorious massacre at Abu Salim prison in Tripoli in June 1996, when human rights advocates say as many as 1,200 inmates were killed. Nearly 100 were from Darnah, and their portraits paper the stucco walls of the Sahaba Mosque.

So do pictures of five men killed Feb. 17, whose deaths ignited the revolt here. “It was like a flame skipping from place to place,” said Sirraj Shinnib, a professor of linguistics at Omar Mukhtar University. “This place had simmered for 20 years.”

In Darnah, there is at least a passing resemblance to the aftermath of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Tribes and clerics emerged forcefully after authority collapsed, especially in more conservative regions.

Here, leaders of tribes like the Obeidat, Zliten, Tajjoura and Misratah already exercise authority, along with judges and a three-member council: Mr. Abu Rashed, a judge and a former diplomat, all secular figures.

Other than them, only the Muslim Brotherhood and more militant strands thought to number in the hundreds show signs of organization, many having forged bonds in prison or fighting the government in the 1990s. One of those men is Abdul-Hakim al-Hasidi, who fought for five years in Afghanistan, ended up in Colonel Qaddafi’s jails for four years and now, with hundreds of armed men, runs the defenses of Darnah and its hinterland.

He helps run much of the city’s rump bureaucracy as well, drawing on a formidable talent for logistics recognized by many in the town.

“If I answered every call, I’d be talking on the phone even if I was in the bathroom,” Mr. Hasidi joked, as he ignored a cellphone that rang incessantly.

Since the revolt began, he has fought in the town and in Brega, down the coast, and said he had helped secure hundreds of Kalashnikov rifles for the fight. But he disavows any political ambition, and it is a refrain of him and others that Libya could never be a Taliban-like state.

“Impossible,” he quipped.

“People are already Muslims, and we don’t need an Islamic state to tell us that,” he added. “If I had extremist thoughts, then people wouldn’t have sided with me.”

Libyan officials have singled out Mr. Hasidi as the head of a supposed emirate here, part of the government’s narrative that militant Islamists have hijacked the revolt.

“This group is now leading the military operations,” Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa said Monday. “Where did they come from? They came from Al Qaeda.”

Mr. Hasidi laughs at the charge. He promised to lay down his arms once victory is won and return, he said, to teaching.

“Politicians,” the 45-year-old Mr. Hasidi added, “can deal with the politics.”

Secular figures here were adamant in endorsing the Islamists’ right to form parties and, at the Sahaba Mosque, slogans were markedly bereft of religious sentiment. “Freedom, dignity and national unity,” read one.

A leaflet circulated there pronounced demands almost identical to those uttered in Egypt: a transitional government, a constitution approved by referendum, parliamentary and presidential elections and a democratic state built on pluralism, the peaceful transfer of power, the rule of law and guarantees of human rights and the protection of freedoms.

Mr. Abu Rashed, who is 66, called his generation “the generation of fear.”

“In the shadow of a new democratic system, everyone should now have their space, and every opinion should be heard,” he said. “In the end, there will be dialogue.”

Next to him was a cleric, Shukri Abdel-Hamid, who had spent 10 years in prison.

“We want a civil state, pluralism, with freedom enshrined by law,” he said, before echoing a sentiment heard often in Egypt and Tunisia. “Extremism was a reaction to oppression and the violence of the state. Give us freedom and see what happens.”

Libya’s rebellion is young, and some residents warned that Islamists may grow more radical the longer it lasts. Some at the mosque warned that foreign intervention in the conflict would be resisted. But in the town, it was tribal divisions that seemed to frighten people more than the longstanding secular and religious divide.

“There are some Islamists here, but so what,” said Marwan Saud, a pharmacist. “Let them form a party and then we’ll see. That’s their right, the freedom to speak.”

Ibrahim Badawy contributed reporting from Darnah, and David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Libya.

    Diverse Character in City Qaddafi Calls Islamist, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/world/middleeast/08darnah.html

Oil markets well supplied, Algerian oil minister says

HOUSTON | Mon Mar 7, 2011
10:10pm EST
Reuters
By Bruce Nichols

HOUSTON (Reuters) - OPEC member Algeria is concerned about Libyan supply disruptions but sees no physical crude oil shortages globally, the country's oil minister said on Monday.

"We are very concerned about the situation," Algeria's Oil and Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi told Reuters. "But for the time being, I think there is no physical deficit in the market."

Yousfi said that current prices are "short term" and are not likely to slow global economic growth.

"I think it is more psychological effect than physical deficit of oil in the market," he said. "I don't think really there is a deficit."

Middle East unrest has sent U.S. crude oil futures to their highest level in 2- years this week.

Yousfi was in Houston to attend IHS CERA's CERAWeek conference, a high-profile energy conference that gets underway on Tuesday. The North African country is the world's eighth-biggest crude oil exporter.

NO OPEC MEETING PLANNED

There are no plans for an extraordinary meeting of the OPEC nations at this time, Yousfi told Reuters Insider. "I do not think the oil price will affect the market stability," he said.

Oil prices have surged $12 in just over two weeks protests in OPEC member Libya turned into open warfare threatening to leave a lasting scar on the oil sector, also fueling fears unrest could spread to top producers like Saudi Arabia.

The outlook for Libyan production remained uncertain. Government forces seeking to dislodge rebels from Libya's strategically important coast struck at the Ras Lanuf oil town while Britain and France said they were seeking U.N. authority for a no-fly zone.

U.S. crude futures for April delivery rose $1.02 to settle at $105.44 on Monday, the highest close since September 2008.

(Additional reporting by Rhonda Schaffler; writing by Edward McAllister and Chris Baltimore; Editing by Ed Lane)

    Oil markets well supplied, Algerian oil minister says, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-opec-oil-algeria-idUSTRE7270GC20110308

A million Libyans need aid as UK, France seek no-fly zone

RAS LANUF, Libya | Mon Mar 7, 2011
9:33pm EST
Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas

RAS LANUF, Libya (Reuters) - Britain and France said they were seeking U.N. authorization for a no-fly zone over Libya, as Muammar Gaddafi's warplanes counter-attacked against rebels and aid officials said a million people were in need.

Al Jazeera television said rebels had rejected an offer by Gaddafi to hold a meeting of parliament to work out a deal under which he would step down.

With civilians surrounded by forces loyal to Gaddafi in two western towns, Misrata and Zawiyah, fears grew of a rising humanitarian crisis if the fighting continued.

U.N. aid coordinator Valerie Amos said more than a million people fleeing or inside the country needed humanitarian aid.

"Humanitarian organizations need urgent access now," she said. "People are injured and dying and need help immediately."

The U.N. appealed for $160 million to fund an operation over the next three months to get shelter, food and medicines ready.

MILITARY OPTIONS

"We are working closely with partners on a contingency basis on elements of a resolution on a no-fly zone, making clear the need for regional support, a clear trigger for such a resolution and an appropriate legal basis," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.

A French source said France was "working with our partners in New York on a no-fly zone resolution." Gulf states called for a no-fly zone and an urgent Arab League meeting.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Afghanistan where foreign forces have struggled for a decade, warned action should be taken only with international backing. The White House said all options were on the table, including arming rebels.

Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto powers, said it opposed foreign military intervention.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed the need for U.N. authorization. "I can't imagine the international community and the United Nations would stand idly by if Gaddafi and his regime continue to attack their own people," he said.

"We have asked our military to conduct all necessary planning so that we stand ready at short notice," he added.

NATO has launched 24-hour surveillance of Libya with AWACS reconnaissance aircraft, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said.

Ivo Daalder added NATO representatives were discussing other possible moves ahead of a meeting of NATO ministers on Thursday.

Western leaders, however, are anxious to avoid another drawn-out military commitment after the Iraq and Afghan wars.

President Barack Obama said he wanted to "send a very clear message to the Libyan people that we will stand with them in the face of unwarranted violence and the continuing suppression of democratic ideals."

CITY UNDER SIEGE

In the rebel-held city of Misrata, the wounded were being treated on hospital floors because of a catastrophic shortage of medical facilities in the besieged city, a resident said.

Misrata is the biggest city in the west not under the control of Gaddafi, and its stand against a militia commanded by his own son has turned it into a symbol of defiance.

Zawiyah, just 50 km (30 miles) from Tripoli, remained in rebel hands despite a push by government forces into the town, according to a Sky television report. It showed wounded fighters and civilians in Zawiya's hospital, including a 10-year-old boy reportedly shot on his doorstep by government troops.

In the east, warplanes launched air strikes on the rebel-held oil terminal town of Ras Lanuf 600 km (400 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, witnesses said. One ripped through a car carrying a family.

Shipping sources said the fighting had closed the oil ports of Ras Lanuf and Brega. Brent crude prices rose above $118 a barrel on Monday before falling back to $115 and U.S. prices pushed to their highest level since September 2008.

The fighting has been erratic, with small groups engaging each other, guerrilla-style, in hit and run raids. Air attacks have been fitful and bombing often inaccurate.

The resilience of Gaddafi's troops and their ability to counter-attack has raised the prospect of prolonged bloodshed.

The United Nations and the European Union are dispatching fact-finding missions to the north African nation, where reports by residents of attacks on civilians by security forces have triggered a war crimes probe and provoked global outrage.

The rebels have called for U.N.-backed air strikes against what they say are African soldiers-for-hire used by Gaddafi to crush the uprising against his four-decade rule.

The Libyan government says it is fighting against al Qaeda terrorists and maintains its security forces have targeted only armed individuals attacking state institutions and depots.

COUNTER-ATTACK

Government forces' advance on Ras Lanuf forced residents to flee and rebels to hide weapons in the desert.

One man complained of the rebels' inexperience, as a fighter fired an automatic weapon ineffectually at a warplane.

"Look at the way they're firing at the plane," he said. "They have no experience, no leadership and no strategy."

Al Jazeera quoted sources from the rebel interim council as saying it rejected Gaddafi's proposal to quit because it would have been an "honorable" exit for him.

The channel said Gaddafi had wanted guarantees of safety for him and his family and a pledge they not be put on trial.

Jadallah Azous Al-Talhi, a former prime minister, earlier appeared on state television to urge rebels to "give a chance to national dialogue to resolve this crisis."

Ahmed Jabreel, an aide to rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said: "Any negotiations must be on the basis that Gaddafi will step down. There can be no other compromise."

Two Arabic newspapers said the Libyan leader had begun looking for a safe haven outside Libya.

One of Gaddafi's sons, Saadi, said Libya would descend into civil war if his father stepped down, Al Arabiya television reported, adding that Libya would turn into a new Somalia and that the country's tribes would fight each other.

In an interview with France 24 television, Gaddafi said Libya was an important partner for the West in containing al Qaeda and illegal migrants trying to reach Europe.

"There are millions of blacks who could come to the Mediterranean to cross to France and Italy, and Libya plays a role in security in the Mediterranean," he said.

So far tens of thousands of migrant workers have fled but few Libyans. "If we get a massive outflow of Libyans, this would create a refugee situation, so we appeal to all countries to keep their doors open and be ready to provide assistance as humanitarian law requires," United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said.

A British team reported to include special forces left Benghazi on Sunday after rebels captured and then released them.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa said 300 al Qaeda fighters formerly held in Guantanamo Bay were supporting rebel forces.

"It's clear there is a conspiracy to divide Libya," he said.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Alexander Dziadosz in Ajdabiya, Mohammed Abbas in Ras Lanuf, Stefano Ambrogi in London, Nick Vinocur in Paris and Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi; writing by Andrew Roche; editing by Myra MacDonald)

    A million Libyans need aid as UK, France seek no-fly zone, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-libya-protests-idUSTRE71G0A620110308

Civil war looms in Libya, Gaddafi's son says

CAIRO | Mon Mar 7, 2011
6:56pm EST
Reuters
By Ali Abdellati

CAIRO (Reuters) - One of Muammar Gaddafi's sons, Saadi, said on Monday his father had not yet thrown his army into full battle against rebels, saving it to shield Libya against foreign attack, and civil war could erupt if he did.

In an interview with Al Arabiya television, Saadi Gaddafi also said the Libyan leader could not resign as demanded by the rebels because that could also lead to civil war.

Saadi blamed some of the unrest on one of his brothers, Saif al-Islam, who he said had sought economic reforms but failed to address the problems of ordinary Libyans.

"The tribes are all armed, there are forces from the Libyan army and the eastern region is armed. The situation is not like Tunisia or Egypt," said Saadi, who was briefly a professional footballer in Italy before turning to business.

Protests in Tunisia and Egypt have toppled the presidents of both countries since the start of the year.

"The situation is very dangerous," he said. The leader must play a very, very big role in calming Libya and convincing people to sit together. "If something happened to the leader, who would be in control? A civil war would start."

He said the Libyan army had so far only intervened to protect "sensitive sites" and a wider war would result if his father ordered them into an all-out fight.

"The leader has given special instructions to the army not to intervene, save for the protection of sensitive sites, and to be ready to repel foreign intervention."

The military was just waiting for Gaddafi's orders, Saadi said. "So far it has not moved. When it does, a civil war may erupt," he said in the full broadcast of the interview, which Al Arabiya had excerpted earlier in the day.

"ANOTHER SOMALIA"

The news channel said that Saadi Gaddafi warned that Libya would turn into a new Somalia and that tribes would fight against each other.

He said Tripoli was holding a dialogue through the tribes to answer the demands of the people, without making clear which demands he was referring to.

"But there are armed groups that pursue the path of killing and violence, which I think leaves only the choice of confronting them," he added.

Saadi's criticism of his brother Saif al-Islam hinted at strains within the Gaddafi family as the unrest continued.

"The leader told them (Saif al-Islam and the ministers) on a daily basis that you are facilitating matters and the budget, but there are things they did not do."

Those shortcomings included failing to address issues like prices of basic commodities that concerned Libyans, Saadi said.

The reforming efforts of Saif al-Islam were stymied by opposition from inside the ruling elite and, some analysts had said, family members. Educated at a British university, Saif al-Islam has acted a spokesman for his father during the unrest.

Saadi had a brief career in Italy's Serie A soccer league between 2003 and 2007, though he had little time on the field.

Saadi, who qualified as an engineer and also holds military rank, later turned to business. He told Reuters in an interview last year he was behind a project to set up a free trade zone on the Mediterranean coast west of Tripoli.

When violence engulfed Libya's eastern city of Benghazi in mid-February, Saadi spoke on local radio to say he had been appointed commandant of the city. Soon after, residents took control of Benghazi and forced out Gaddafi's forces.

(Reporting by Ali Abdellati and Sohail Karam, writing by Edmund Blair and Tom Heneghan)

    Civil war looms in Libya, Gaddafi's son says, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/us-libya-gaddafi-son-idUSTRE72652T20110307

Protest Organizers Ordered to Shut Offices in Iraq

March 7, 2011
The New York Times
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and JACK HEALY

BAGHDAD — Two political parties that led demonstrations in Baghdad over the past two weeks said on Monday that security forces controlled by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki had ordered them to close their offices.

The actions came amid growing concerns that Mr. Maliki’s American-backed government is using force and other measures to stifle dissent in this fragile democracy, where tens of thousands of demonstrators have seized on the upheaval sweeping the Arab world to rally for government reforms and better services.

Officials for the Iraqi Nation Party and the Iraqi Communist Party said in interviews that dozens of armed security forces had come to their offices here Sunday, two days after another round of demonstrations.

Though the parties do not have any seats in Parliament, they are outspoken critics of Mr. Maliki’s government. They called the evictions illegal efforts to weaken them.

“He is breaking the Constitution; he is breaking the law,” said Mithal al-Alusi, the leader of the Iraqi Nation Party and a former member of Parliament, referring to Mr. Maliki.

Mr. Maliki’s cabinet said there was no political motive behind the evictions, which it called part of a long-standing plan to return publicly owned buildings to government use.

“The Constitution guarantees the activity of all political parties, and what was said about banning the Iraqi Communist Party is untrue,” the cabinet said in a statement.

One of Mr. Maliki’s top advisers, Ali al-Moussawi, said the Ministry of Defense was “in the need of these buildings now.”

The party officials said that members of Iraq’s federal police force, on orders from Mr. Maliki’s office, arrived at their offices on Sunday and ordered them to leave.

Although the Communists were told their buildings were being requisitioned for government use, Mr. Alusi said he received no explanation why he was being evicted. He said he would try to persuade Mr. Maliki and his cohorts to reconsider the order.

Mr. Alusi said that senior members of Mr. Maliki’s Dawa Party spoke with him five days ago and urged him to align with them. But Mr. Alusi demurred, saying that he had already given interviews standing behind the protesters and had sent his members into the streets to march with them.

“We support the demonstrations,” he said. “We are in the streets with our people.”

Jassin Helfi, a Communist Party leader, said that at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday about 60 security personnel came to the party’s headquarters and the office of the party’s newspaper.

They said they had received an order from the Baghdad Operation Command, a special brigade controlled by Mr. Maliki, saying that the party had to close its offices within 24 hours, Mr. Helfi said.

The security officers, Mr. Helfi said, did not have any documentation and did not provide an explanation for why the party had to close its offices.

Party officials demanded some sort of documentation and the forces returned about an hour later with a letter signed by Mr. Maliki, he said.

Last week, Mr. Maliki met privately with Communist leaders and echoed his public statements about the protests, saying that insurgents and terrorists were using the protests to undermine the government.

“The objective of the meeting was to try and convince us not to participate in the demonstrations and when we did, our punishment was the order to close our offices,” Mr. Helfi said. “That doesn’t reflect Maliki’s speech about the right of the Iraqis to protest.”

Critics said the orders from Mr. Maliki appeared to be his latest effort to crack down on dissenting voices behind demonstrations that have called for anticorruption reforms, better public services and more accountability from leaders. Scores of reporters and demonstrators were beaten or arrested after nationwide rallies earlier this month.

“This is part of the violations of public freedoms and human rights,” said Hanaa Edwar, an activist with the civil society group Al-Amal. “They feel that these demonstrators are terrorists. Political parties not loyal to their policies are being attacked. And for what?”

The evictions came as a few hundred protesters in Baghdad observed the first anniversary of Iraq’s national elections with a “day of regret.” Violent “day of rage” rallies earlier this month ended with nearly 20 demonstrators dead and dozens wounded and arrested.

In Tahrir Square here, a traffic circle and park that has become a focal point for the protesters, about 200 people stood behind yellow police tape and shouted “We want our rights!” and vented their disillusionment at Iraq’s leaders and the problems plaguing this troubled democracy.

“We had a hope for the best” said Rana Hadi, 24, who said she voted for Mr. Maliki and his coalition. “But we were wrong. Nothing happened. Nothing changed.”

Although bombings and power outages are still daily occurrences, violence has dropped sharply over the past year, with 184 people killed across the country last month. Electricity production and oil output have both ticked up.

But a year after the elections and three months after Iraq’s leaders ended a long political standoff and formed a government, Mr. Maliki has not finalized his government and is still personally overseeing the powerful army and police forces.

Cracks continue to form that could undermine the partnership government. On Monday, eight members of the multisectarian Iraqiya coalition announced they were splitting off to form their own party, a new fracture in a large coalition backed by many of Iraq’s Sunni minority.

In Tahrir Square, some demonstrators dyed their index fingers red and thrust them into the air, a bitter echo of the purple-stained fingers that smiling Iraqi voters, emerging from the polling stations, had waved on Election Day.

Yasir Ghazi, Duraid Adnan and Khalid D. Ali contributed reporting.

    Protest Organizers Ordered to Shut Offices in Iraq, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/world/middleeast/08iraq.html

New Warnings From Obama as Qaddafi Forces Attack Again

March 7, 2011
The New York Times
By KAREEM FAHIM

AL UQAYLAH, Libya — Government forces began a new air attack on rebels on Monday in the coastal town of Ras Lanuf, where they had withdrawn after Sunday’s assaults, as President Obama again warned that the West was considering all its options in Libya, including possible military intervention.

The rebel forces were seeking to regroup but needed reinforcements, Mohamad Samir, an army colonel fighting with the rebels, told The Associated Press.

The rebels have said they would welcome Western help in the form of a no-fly zone, and President Obama said Monday that the United States was conferring with its NATO allies about possible military action. “We’ve got NATO as we speak consulting in Brussels around a wide range of potential options, including potential military options, in response to the violence that continues to take place inside of Libya,” he said.

On Monday RIA Novosti reported that the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said Moscow was against any form of foreign intervention in Libya, casting doubt on United Nations-backed action. But Russia is not a member of NATO.

Mr. Obama also had a warning for high-ranking Qaddafi loyalists. “I want to send a very clear message to those who are around Colonel Qaddafi,” he said at the White House, after a meeting with Australia’s prime minister, Julia Gillard. “It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward and they will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place there.”

On Sunday, troops loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi attacked rebel troops in the coastal town of Bin Jawwad using tanks, helicopters and fighter planes, and pushed them east, stalling, for the moment, hopes by the antigovernment fighters of a steady march toward Tripoli.

That attack began at about 9 a.m. on Sunday, said rebel fighters, who had to retreat down the main coastal road under a barrage of artillery shells, missiles and sniper bullets. Outgunned, the rebels fanned out in the desert and fought back, only to be forced to retreat again.

By 9 p.m., the road east from the city was full of fleeing rebel cars, including several pickup trucks mounted with heavy weapons. More than a dozen ambulances, ferrying wounded and dead rebel fighters, sped toward a hospital in a nearby town. Ambulance drivers and doctors said at least 10 people had been killed, though they expected that number to rise once they were able to reach Bin Jawwad.

A journalist for France24 television was wounded during the fighting, according to a photographer who saw him at a local hospital.

Outside of nearby Ras Lanuf, weary fighters gathered at gas stations, drank milk distributed by volunteers and tore at loaves of bread. Mahmoud Bilkhair, an army second lieutenant fighting with the rebels, sat in his car with other fighters, exhausted and staring out the window.

“We’re trying,” he said. “We’re not advancing. We can’t do anything about it.” But he and other fighters said they would regroup and return to Bin Jawwad.

The rebel defeat, just a day after they celebrated a major victory in taking the oil port at Ras Lanuf, fit into the emerging, grueling rhythm of a conflict where the combatants claim no clear advantage and fight, repeatedly, over a handful of prizes.

In the east, the rebels, full of enthusiasm but short on training and organization, are trying to capture Surt, a stronghold of Colonel Qaddafi that blocks the rebel path to Tripoli. They are also fighting to hold onto the city of Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, where they have accused the loyalists of committing a massacre.

Government troops, having ceded large, strategic parts of the country in recent days, are better armed but still on the defensive as they try to undo rebel gains.

The standoff in Zawiyah continued there on Sunday, a day after forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi waged a heavy assault toward the city center, then pulled back to close off all roads out.

Rebels in nearby towns said mobile phone service to Zawiyah had been cut off completely and landline service was intermittent, making it hard to gather information. Secondhand reports through rebel networks on Sunday indicated Libyan Army tanks had once again moved into the center of the town.

A correspondent for the British television program Sky News — the only news organization present in Zawiyah for the height of the battle on Friday — reported Monday in a British newspaper on what appeared to be a massacre. She said she had watched Qaddafi snipers killing residents at a funeral, a column of 25 tanks shelling the town for three hours and a young rebel boy learning how to fire rocket propelled grenade in defense. The correspondent, Alex Crawford, said Qaddafi forces had shot at an ambulance she was riding in.

In a second attack Saturday morning, Ms. Crawford reported that government soldiers were firing randomly into buildings. “There were horrific injuries,” Ms. Crawford wrote. “A boy of 10 was hit by several bullets outside his house. One young man came in with an antitank grenade in his thigh, the fins sticking out. He was still conscious.”

She added: “An hour later, we saw the military column racing away — another attack had been beaten off. It was the third in two days. When we left, there were eight tanks destroyed or captured, and the rebels still held the centre.”

An hour before dawn on Sunday, Tripoli also erupted in gunfire, the sounds of machine guns and heavier artillery echoing through the capital. It was unclear what set off the gunfire, but quickly, Qaddafi supporters took to the streets, waving green flags and firing guns into the air. Crowds converged on Green Square for a rally, with many people still shooting skyward.

Refugees continued to flee to neighboring countries, sometimes with tragic consequences. The authorities in Crete said that at least three Bangladeshi evacuees from Libya died Sunday after they tried to swim from a Greek ferry toward the island.

As of Friday, about 192,000 people had fled the country, according to the International Organization for Migration. Of those, 104,000 people had crossed into Tunisia and about 87,000 had fled to Egypt. More than 5,000 people are stranded at Libya’s border with Egypt, the organization said, including many Bangladeshis and Sub-Saharan Africans.

Eight British Special Forces soldiers were briefly taken captive by Libyan rebel forces in the east of the country, according to British news reports on Sunday.

The soldiers, from the elite Special Air Service, had been part of a team escorting a British diplomat to meet with Libyan rebels, according to The Sunday Times of London, which first reported on the incident. The newspaper cited anonymous Libyan and British sources and said the men had been held at a military base over the weekend.

Further reports later Sunday suggested that the eight men had been released and were aboard the Cumberland, a Royal Navy ship off the coast of Libya.

The British foreign secretary, William Hague, confirmed in a statement that “a small British diplomatic team” in Benghazi, a rebel-held city in eastern Libya, tried to “initiate contacts with the opposition” but “experienced difficulties, which have now been satisfactorily resolved.”

“They have now left Libya.” Mr. Hague said. The government declined to immediately provide further details.

As rebel leaders have pressed their efforts to form a shadow government in recent days, the focus of the revolutionaries, and their supporters, has shifted from Benghazi toward the fighters making their way west.

After successfully capturing Ras Lanuf, hundreds, and perhaps more than 1,000 rebel fighters were in Bin Jawwad overnight on Saturday. They managed to briefly push farther west, but came under a fierce attack about 9 a.m., the fighters said.

For most of the day, the battle raged in a small area east of the city. Rebel fighters fanned out along the sides of a road, sending squad-size units into the rocky terrain and small hills along the two-lane road in an effort to keep the loyalists from flanking them.

By nightfall, government forces seemed to have firm control of a small town and factory about a half mile east of Bin Jawwad. With mortars, heavy machine guns and tanks, they bombarded rebel positions for hours.

Air strikes pounded the area through the day, and attack helicopters fired on rebel gatherings. There were lingering questions about the intentions of some of the pilots, who seemed to have missed easy targets in recent days. Early on Saturday, a warplane dropped a bomb east of Ras Lanuf, but it did not explode. Later, the plane bombed the same position again, but missed.

On the outskirts of Ras Lanuf on Sunday, the bodies of two pilots could be seen in the wreckage of their downed jet, which the rebels claimed they shot down on Saturday. The debris was scattered for hundreds of yards around the pilots, and one of them appeared to still be wearing his Libyan Air Force uniform.

In interviews, rebel fighters said the loyalists were using residents of Bin Jawwad as human shields, making women stand next to their houses. The rebels said they held back their fire as a result. But witnesses said that the rebels seemed to use every weapon at their disposal, including Katyusha rockets, multiple grenade launchers and antiaircraft guns as they tried to dislodge the loyalists. It was not enough.

Rebels have said they have been attacked repeatedly by foreign mercenaries hired by Colonel Qaddafi. But after the battle in Bin Jawwad, several rebel fighters said that though they saw mercenaries, many of the soldiers they faced were Libyans, wearing army uniforms. They said that for much of the day, it had been hard to determine who was firing at them, as they ran from repeated shellings.

As the rebels fell back, witnesses reported seeing bodies on the road. Rebels gave their own estimates of the dead: one man said he had seen two bodies, another said he had seen seven. Throughout the afternoon, there were rumors that reinforcements would be coming from Benghazi to help retake Bin Jawwad.

As the rebels retreated, they stopped to pick up about a half-dozen Filipino factory workers from the small town as the government advanced. The workers got into a pickup truck and were driven to safety.

Reporting was contributed by David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Libya; Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario near Bin Jawwad, Libya; Ravi Somaiya from London; Ellen Barry from Moscow; and Mark Landler from Washington.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: March 7, 2011

An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford as a male reporter. Ms. Crawford is female.

    New Warnings From Obama as Qaddafi Forces Attack Again, NYT, 7.3.2001, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/08/world/africa/08libya.html

Libya plane hits town, over one million need aid

RAS LANUF, Libya | Mon Mar 7, 2011
11:06am EST
Reuterts
By Mohammed Abbas

RAS LANUF, Libya (Reuters) - Government forces struck at rebels in Libya's east and were reported attacking a town near Tripoli on Monday as concern grew over civilian suffering and a growing refugee exodus.

The United Nations said more than one million people fleeing Libya and inside the country needed humanitarian aid, and conditions in rebel-held Misrata town were particularly worrying following attacks on it by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Offering a potential olive branch to rebels seeking to end Gaddafi's long rule, one of his associates appealed to opposition chiefs for dialogue, in a sign the aging autocrat may be ready to compromise with the unprecedented revolt.

The offer, rapidly dismissed by rebels, coincided with warnings by Gaddafi that if he fell thousands of refugees from Libya would "invade Europe".

Swiss-based exile group Libyan Human Rights Solidarity said forces loyal to Gaddafi had launched a new attempt to capture Zawiyah, a rebel-held town 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital.

It was impossible to verify the report because residents in the town who had been speaking to journalists by telephone were no longer reachable.

In the east, a warplane launched an air strike on the outskirts of the rebel-held oil terminal town of Ras Lanuf 600 km (400 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, witnesses said.

"There was an aircraft, it fired two rockets there were no deaths," Mokhtar Dobrug, a rebel fighter who witnessed the strike, told Reuters.

The attack fitted the pattern of much of the fighting, which has been erratic, with small groups engaging each other, guerrilla-style, in hit and run raids. Air attacks have been fitful and the bombing often inaccurate.

In some areas, advantage on the ground has swung back and forth without conclusive result.

But the resilience of Gaddafi's troops in the face of protests which started in mid-February and their ability to launch a counter-attack has raised the prospect that the country is heading for prolonged bloodshed.

"It's clear the government feels a sense of momentum on its side," said military analyst Shashank Joshi, an associate fellow at Britain's Royal United Services Institute.

"Government forces have more mobility than the rebels thanks to airlift and a decent amount of road transport.

"That's blunted by the fact that we are seeing extremely poor fighting skills by government forces, and reasonably competent fighting by the rebels."

The United Nations and the European Union are dispatching fact-finding missions to the north African nation, where reports by residents of attacks on civilians by security forces have triggered a war crimes probe and provoked global outrage.

Tens of thousands have fled across the border to Tunisia since the uprising prompted a violent crackdown by security forces.

In Geneva, U.N. aid coordinator Valerie Amos said more than a million people fleeing Libya and inside the country need humanitarian aid.

Amos made clear that her first priority was Misrata, a town of 300,000 which residents said had been attacked at the weekend by government forces with tanks and missiles.

"Humanitarian organisations need urgent access now," said Amos, who was in areas of Tunisia along the Libyan border at the weekend. "People are injured and dying and need help immediately."

The rebels have called for U.N.-backed air strikes against what they say are African soldiers-for-hire used by Gaddafi to crush the uprising against his 41-year-old rule.

The government says it is fighting against al Qaeda terrorists and maintains that its security forces have targeted only armed individuals attacking state institutions and depots.

Witnesses said government forces advanced on rebel-held Ras Lanuf in a counter-attack that forced residents to flee and rebels to hide their weapons in the desert.

"READY TO DIE"

In Ras Lanuf, one angry man told rebels to go home, arguing that they were bringing fighting closer to oil terminals.

Another complained of the rebels' inexperience, as one opposition fighter lay on his back and fired an automatic weapon at a government warplane flying overhead.

"I believe these youths are ready to die, but they won't make a difference," he said. "Look at the way they're firing at the plane. They have no experience, no leadership and no strategy."

The army was moving down the Mediterranean coastal road east of the recaptured town of Bin Jawad, heading toward Ras Lanuf which is about 60 km (40 miles) away, witnesses told Reuters.

Residents of Ras Lanuf, fearing assault by the army, were leaving in cars laden with belongings on Monday and rebels said they had moved weapons into the desert for safekeeping.

APPEAL LAUNCHED

As the rival combatants prepared to resume battle, the authorities launched an appeal to the rebels in the east for dialogue, in the clearest overture yet to their opponents.

Jadallah Azous Al-Talhi, a Libyan prime minister in the 1980s who is originally from eastern Libya, appeared on state television reading an address to elders in Benghazi.

He asked them to "give a chance to national dialogue to resolve this crisis, to help stop the bloodshed, and not give a chance to foreigners to come and capture our country again."

Ahmed Jabreel, an aide to rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, said: "Any negotiations must be on the basis that Gaddafi will step down. There can be no other compromise."

In an interview with the France 24 television station, Gaddafi said Libya was an important partner for the West in containing al Qaeda and illegal migrants trying to reach Europe,

"There are millions of blacks who could come to the Mediterranean to cross to France and Italy, and Libya plays a role in security in the Mediterranean," he said.

In the West, after what residents said was fierce fighting on Sunday with artillery, rockets and mortar bombs, rebel forces announced they had fought off Gaddafi's forces in the towns of Zawiyah, to the immediate west of Tripoli, and Misrata to the east.

As the conflict escalated in Libya, U.S. crude oil rose to a 2-1/2-year high on Monday.

U.S. crude for April rose as much as $1.90 to $106.32 a barrel, the highest price since September 2008, heightening concerns that high energy prices may derail the global economic recovery. The U.S. government reiterated that it could tap its strategic oil reserves to safeguard economic growth.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Alexander Dziadosz in Ajdabiya, Mohammed Abbas in Ras Lanuf, Stefano Ambrogi in London, Nick Vinocur in Paris and Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi; Writing by William Maclean; editing by Ralph Boulton)

    Libya plane hits town, over one million need aid, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/us-libya-protests-idUSTRE71G0A620110307

Yemen opposition vows "escalation" against president

SANAA | Mon Mar 7, 2011
9:39am EST
Reuters
By Mohammed Ghobari

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's opposition coalition vowed Monday to escalate protests that have swept the country demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, after he rejected a plan that would have him step down in 2011.

Tens of thousands of protesters are camped out in major Yemeni cities, staying awake through the night to hear speeches and sing national songs, as their tone against Saleh hardens.

Saleh, a U.S. ally against al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, rejected a plan proposed by an opposition coalition last week, which would have implemented political and electoral reforms while paving the way for his resignation within the year.

"Recent events have proven that the regime is incapable of answering the demands of the people, and for that reason it needs to go," said the coalition's spokesman, Mohammed al-Sabry.

"The protesters are studying several options for an escalation, including organizing a day when all Yemenis will take to the streets, a 'Friday of No Return' protest, and other options," he told Reuters.

Yemen, neighbor to oil giant Saudi Arabia, was teetering on the brink of failed statehood even before recent protests. Saleh has struggled to cement a truce with Shi'ite Muslim rebels in the north and curb secessionist rebellion in the south.

CORRUPTION, UNEMPLOYMENT

The growing Yemeni protests, and a series of defections from Saleh's allies, have added to pressure on Saleh to end his three-decade rule in the Arabian Peninsula state. But neither side appears willing to compromise to end the deadlock.

Saleh rejected the opposition plan, which would have also required him to remove family members from key posts, and reiterated his pledge to resign when his term is set to expire in 2013. He also adopted a proposal by religious leaders for revamping elections, parliament and the judicial system.

Protesters are frustrated with corruption and soaring unemployment in Yemen, where 40 percent of its 23 million people live on $2 a day or less and a third face chronic hunger.

Half of Yemen's population is armed, and experts worry that as protests continue, sporadic clashes between Saleh loyalists and anti-government demonstrators could evolve into greater violence. The United States and Britain have warned citizens against travel in Yemen due to recent unrest.

(Writing by Erika Solomon; editing by Ralph Boulton)

    Yemen opposition vows "escalation" against president, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/us-yemen-idUSTRE7262E120110307

Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libyan rebels

TRIPOLI | Mon Mar 7, 2011
1:38am EST
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched counter-offensives against rebel-held towns on Sunday, increasing fears that Libya is heading for a civil war rather than the swift revolutions seen in Tunisia and Egypt.

The Gaddafi government proclaimed sweeping overnight victories over what it called terrorist bands.

But after what residents said was a day of fierce fighting with artillery, rockets and mortar bombs, rebel forces announced they had fought off Gaddafi's forces in the towns of Zawiyah, to the immediate west of Tripoli, and Misrata to the east.

"Today Misrata witnessed the toughest battle since the beginning of the revolution. Horrible attacks," one resident, who did not want to give his name, told Reuters by phone.

"They came from three sides and managed to enter the town from the west and south but when they reached the center of Misrata the rebels pushed them back," he said.

Misrata, with a population of 300,000, is the largest town controlled by rebels outside the rebel-held east of the country.

If rebel soldiers were able to continue their fitful advance westwards, Misrata could be a stepping stone to reaching the capital, Gaddafi's principal stronghold.

Rebel council spokesman Hafiz Ghoga told a Benghazi news conference: "We would like to put the people of this great nation at ease...because the regime is spreading rumors.

"Both Zawiyah and Misrata are secured, liberated cities."

Gaddafi's troops, backed by tanks, artillery, warplanes and helicopters attacked positions near the oil port of Ras Lanuf, 660 km (410 miles) east of the capital.

Rebels were forced to retreat from Bin Jawad which is on the road to Sirte, the hometown of Gaddafi who has ruled the OPEC oil and gas producer for 41 years.

"Gaddafi's cut us to pieces. He's firing on us with tanks and missiles. I don't know what we're going to do now," Momen Mohammed told Reuters.

One fighter returning wounded to Ras Lanuf from Bin Jawad was asked what he had seen.

"Death," he replied, too distraught to say any more.

Rebels said they planned another attack on Bin Jawad, which is only 160 km (100 miles) from Sirte, on Monday morning.

Rebel commanders told Reuters Gaddafi's forces were reinforcing Sirte where they had more than 20,000 fighters. They said the city houses the Saadi (a son of Gaddafi) battalion which includes four brigades, as well as armed tribe members.

Loyalists had poured into the streets of Tripoli at dawn on Sunday firing into the air and holding portraits of Gaddafi.

"These are celebrations because government forces have taken control of all areas to Benghazi and are in the process of taking control of Benghazi," spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said, referring to Libya's second city, situated in the far east.

But the celebrations appeared to be premature as Benghazi remained firmly under rebel control while insurgents stood their ground at Zawiyah and Misrata.

FIGHT BACK

Rebels surrounded by troops near the center of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, faced another attack after repelling two assaults by tanks and infantry the day before.

"This morning, there was a new attack, bigger than yesterday. There were one and a half hours of fighting ... Two people were killed from our side and many more injured," spokesman Youssef Shagan said by telephone.

Elite brigades under Gaddafi's son Khamis also launched an assault on Misrata, 200 km (125 miles) east of the capital.

"The brigades tried to reach the center of the town but revolutionaries managed to repel them. They retreated to the airbase," said a resident who declined to be named.

"The revolutionaries captured 20 soldiers and seized a tank. The town is now fully in the control of the youths," he said.

At least 18 people, including a baby, were killed in the fighting in Misrata on Sunday, a doctor told Reuters by phone.

"We have 18 martyrs but the figure is not final. We also have many people wounded, I cannot even count them," said the doctor, who works at Misrata main hospital, adding that the dead included rebels and civilians.

Doctors at Ras Lanuf hospital said two dead and 22 wounded had arrived from the fighting. A French journalist was shot in the leg, a doctor said, and four rebels were seriously wounded and unlikely to survive.

BRITISH TROOPS SEIZED

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday that what he called a British diplomatic team that had been captured in the eastern city of Benghazi had now left Libya.

The Sunday Times earlier reported a British Special Air Service (SAS) unit had been captured during a secret diplomatic mission to make contact with opposition leaders backfired.

"They (the rebel army) did capture some British special forces. They could not ascertain if they were friends or foes. For our safety we are holding them and we expect this situation to be resolved soon," a rebel source in Benghazi said earlier.

Western leaders have denounced what they call Gaddafi's brutal response to the uprising, and the International Criminal Court said he and his inner circle face investigation for alleged targeting of civilians by his security forces.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a newspaper on Sunday that the United Nations security council should launch fresh sanctions against Gaddafi.

"Selective sanctions are necessary against those who are responsible for crimes against the Libyan people," he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "The flow of money must be cut off."

The International Energy Agency said the revolt had blocked about 60 percent of Libya's 1.6 million bpd oil output. The drop, due largely to the flight of thousands of foreign oil workers, will batter the economy and have already jacked up crude prices abroad..

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Alexander Dziadosz in Ajdabiya, Mohammed Abbas in Bin Jawad, Stefano Ambrogi in London, Nick Vinocur in Paris and Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi; Writing by Diana Abdallah; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

    Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libyan rebels, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/us-libya-protests-idUSTRE71G0A620110307

China says U.S. must stop Taiwan arms sales

BEIJING | Mon Mar 7, 2011
1:37am EST
Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States will put improved relations with Beijing at risk if it does not stop selling arms to Taiwan, China's Foreign Minister said on Monday.

The world's two biggest economies have sought to steady ties after a year that exposed strains over human rights, Taiwan, Tibet and the gaping U.S. trade deficit with China. Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the White House in January.

"The atmosphere at the moment in Sino-U.S. relations is good," Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told a news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing meeting of China's parliament.

Vice President Joe Biden will visit China in the middle of this year, after which Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will go the United States at "an appropriate time", Yang said.

"Of course, it is an objective reality that China and the United States have some differences or even friction over some issues," he added. "What's important is to properly handle these differences on the basis of mutual respect."

Early last year, Beijing reacted with fury to the Obama administration plans for a new round of weapons sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China deems an illegitimate breakaway province, threatening to sanction the U.S. companies involved.

"We urge the United States to ... stop selling arms to Taiwan and take concrete actions to support the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. This is very important in upholding the overall interests of China-U.S. relations," Yang said.

The United States is obliged under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help in the island defend itself.

While China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's promotion of closer economic ties with Beijing has reduced the risk of military conflict, the island is nonetheless seeking to shore up the balance of power against China.

Beijing has threatened to attack if the island tries to declare independence, and China has been outpacing it in its military build-up.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ken Wills and Alex Richardson)

    China says U.S. must stop Taiwan arms sales, R, 7.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/us-china-npc-usa-taiwan-idUSTRE7260MT20110307

A Libyan Leader at War With Rebels, and Reality

March 6, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

TRIPOLI, Libya — Residents here were awakened before dawn on Sunday by the sound of artillery and gunfire in the streets. When they tuned into state television broadcasts, they heard stunning news: the Libyan military had routed the rebels seeking to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The gunfire, they were told, was in celebration.

“Before I turned on the television I was very worried and very scared,” said Noura al-Said, 17, a student who went to celebrate in Green Square in central Tripoli. “But it was the best news I had ever heard. We had taken the whole country back!”

But Sunday was just another day spent through the looking glass of the oil-financed and omnipresent cult of personality that Colonel Qaddafi has spent 41 years building in Libya. Few of the claims by the Libyan state media lined up with the facts — there was no decisive victory by his forces — and the heavy firing in Tripoli on Sunday morning was never persuasively explained.

But accuracy and logic have never been the tenets of Colonel Qaddafi’s governing philosophy, and their absence is especially conspicuous now, as rebels pose the greatest challenge to his four decades of enigmatic rule.

Not a day passes in Tripoli without some improbable claim by Colonel Qaddafi or the top officials around him: there are no rebels or protesters in Libya; the people who are demonstrating have been drugged by Al Qaeda; no shots have been fired to suppress dissent. In an interview broadcast on Monday with the France 24 , Col. Qaddafi called his country a partner of the West in combating Al Qaeda, insisting that loyalist forces were confronting “small groupings” and “sleeper cells” of terrorists.

He put the death toll on both sides at “some hundreds,” disputing estimates that the tally ran to several thousand.

A segment of the Libyan population appears to admire his defiant promotion of his world view, and confusion and obfuscation help explain how he keeps his rivals off balance.

Foreign news organizations were reporting, based on firsthand observations, that rebel forces were under fire but remained in control of the eastern half of the country, as well as many pockets in the west. The government’s main victory over the weekend appeared to be driving the rebels from the town of Bin Jawwad, which they had taken Saturday night. And both sides continued to prepare for a decisive battle in the Qaddafi stronghold of Surt.

But many Tripoli residents seemed happy to ignore such reports on Sunday and chose to accept Colonel Qaddafi’s narrative — that his loyalists were at the gates of the rebels’ headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi, or were in control of it already, or had captured the rebels’ top leader.

For more than four hours, Qaddafi supporters fired triumphant bursts of machine gun fire into the air from cars and among crowds in the downtown area. As many as 2,000 of them waved bright green flags and bandannas — and, in many cases, guns — as they rallied in Green Square, and several hundred of the pro-Qaddafi demonstrators were still at it at sunset.

Many of the people in Green Square lashed out at the Arabic news channels Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, calling them liars that had confused and inflamed Libya’s young people. The crowd’s fist-pumping ardor was a testament to the strength of the mythology of epic heroism that Colonel Qaddafi has instilled since he seized power at the age of 27.

He did it in part by making sure that his was virtually the only voice in public life. News reports try not to refer to other top government officials, or even soccer players, by name, ensuring that Colonel Qaddafi is virtually the only public figure in Libya.

Colonel Qaddafi has also built a persona, in particular as a revolutionary still tilting at distant colonial powers, that in some ways resonates with Libyans who remember their bitter experiences under Italian rule. His personal mythology has helped him stay on top of a fractious, tribal and deeply divided society for longer than any other living leader in North Africa or the Middle East.

“He may have been mad,” said Prof. Diederick Vandewalle, of Dartmouth, a Libya specialist. “But there was certainly a method.”

It is hard to know what combination of fear, opportunism and sincere adoration drives supporters to attend the Qaddafi rallies that have erupted across Tripoli this week — the manic crowds chanting “God and Muammar and Libya, enough.” But the cult of Qaddafi began to take shape in 1975, just six years after the bloodless coup that brought him to power, when he published the Green Book, a grandiose and quasi-coherent work of a Stalin who aspired to become a Marx.

Government institutes were set up for its exegesis. A generation of Libyans grew up studying it as a great work of social and political theory. Tabletlike statues of its three volumes were erected in seemingly every town.

And in keeping with its precepts, Colonel Qaddafi eventually gave up any official title in the Libyan government, giving rise to one of the prime examples of Libyan doublespeak. While everyone in Libya regards Colonel Qaddafi as the all-powerful ruler behind every decision of state, he often answers critics calling on him to surrender power by saying it is too late — he already has.

After he led the revolution, he said in a speech last week, “I went back to my tent.”

Behind his aloof and flamboyant public image, though, Colonel Qaddafi has remained not only in charge but intimately involved in even minor details of the Libyan government. Cables from the United States Embassy in Tripoli that were published by WikiLeaks reported that he personally managed the cases of high-profile political prisoners, and even dictated the response to a specific travel request from the embassy.

He personally vets every Libyan government contract worth more than $200 million and examines many of much less value as well, the cables said. He doles out “plum contracts” to loyalists who can extract various fees for themselves, in part to buy their support, the cables said. He also displayed a mastery of details involved in complicated transactions, like an attempt to revive an aborted 1970s deal to buy C-130 cargo planes from the United States.

“Al-Qadhafi’s mastery of tactical maneuvering has kept him in power for nearly 40 years; however, the unholy alliance of corruption and cult-of-personality politics on which the system has been based is ultimately limiting,” Ambassador Gene Cretz wrote in one cable, adding, “The reality is that no potential successor currently enjoys sufficient credibility in his own right to maintain that delicate equilibrium.”

What’s more, Colonel Qaddafi maintains a strong interest in American books about public affairs. In one cable, the embassy reported that Colonel Qaddafi assigned trusted aides to prepare Arabic summaries of Fareed Zakaria’s “The Post-American World,” Thomas Friedman’s “The World Is Flat 3.0,” George Soros’s “The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror” and President Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope.” Another of Zakaria’s books, “The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad,” was said to be a Qaddafi favorite.

At least until his brutal efforts to crush the Libyan uprising drew reprimands from Washington, Colonel Qaddafi seemed to be a big Obama fan. The Libyan leader repeatedly sought to meet with the new American president, the embassy reported, and wrote him a gushing note “on behalf of all Africa” and “in the name of all Arab leaders as I am their dean.”

“The black man is not less competent than the white man,” Colonel Qaddafi told Mr. Obama. “I salute the American people who have chosen you in these historical elections for such a high position, so that you may lead the change that you have promised them.”

Since the uprising began Feb. 16, Colonel Qaddafi has repeated a series of wildly false assertions. In a speech to the Libyan General People’s Congress, for example, he declared there had been no demonstrations against him and that he was beloved by all the Libyan people.

He blamed the protests on drugs distributed by Osama bin Laden, and he has insisted that a radical Islamist emir had taken over a city in the east, imposed Islamic law and begun daily executions of those who violated it.

But in the same speech, he demonstrated the peculiar bond he maintains with his most fervent supporters. At several points during the three-hour address, he paused to ask the audience for help with his memory — the name of a certain newspaper, for example, or a reminder to return to the subject of the drugs. His audience readily obliged.

His canniness is hard to gauge, but certainly some of his predictions have proved to be farsighted. In his first response to the uprising, long before the rebels had armed themselves, he declared the unrest was sure to become a civil war. And he warned that such strife would invite Western interference; he can now point to American warships off the coast, reports of British Special Forces in eastern Libya and a debate about Western airstrikes to enforce a no-flight zone.

At other times he has appeared to put perhaps too much trust in his own propaganda. His government invited some 130 foreign journalists to Tripoli last week and promptly bused them to areas where anti-Qaddafi protesters have burned buildings or taken over towns. Perhaps Libyan officials expected the reporters to corroborate the government’s view that the insurgents were violent Islamic extremists.

But there was no evidence of an Islamist connection, and the rebels described far greater violence from Colonel Qaddafi’s forces. By Friday, the government appeared to be struggling to ride herd on the journalists.

What started the gunfire in Tripoli early Sunday could not be determined. Protesters suggested that there had been a fight between members of his security forces, since they are the only ones with guns in the capital. But the heavy celebratory gunfire that continued for four hours — and occurred again sporadically throughout the day — was an effective show of force to anyone who might have thought to challenge Colonel Qaddafi.

At the hotel housing the visiting journalists, government employees and hotel staff members could be seen hugging and even crying over the state media’s news of the government victories. And near twilight at Green Square, many in the crowd of several hundred were pushing forward to tell journalists how happy they were. “The cities that were in control of the gangs — they were set free!” said Souad Monsour, a 19-year-old student. “People from everywhere are here to celebrate.”

Muhammad Said, 38, interrupted. “All the bloodshed in Libya has been because of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya,” he said, echoing Colonel Qaddafi. “These bad channels are confusing people and turning them into trouble.”

Discerning friends from enemies can be difficult in a police state. One young man at the Qaddafi rally had been seen at an antigovernment protest the day before. His true allegiance was unclear.

Several of those at the rally insisted, as Colonel Qaddafi has, that the rebels were organized by Al Qaeda. One supporter, Adle el-Ageli, wanted to talk about the Libyan leader: “Muammar is a hawk. He is unique. There is no alternative to him.”

And if the state media reports of great victories prove false on Monday? Ms. Said would not answer directly: “I have a big trust in Muammar Qaddafi.”

Moises Saman contributed reporting.

    A Libyan Leader at War With Rebels, and Reality, R, 6.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/world/middleeast/07qaddafi.html

Saudi Arabia detains Shi'ites as clerics ban protests

DUBAI | Sun Mar 6, 2011
6:06pm EST
Reuters
By Andrew Hammond

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi security forces have detained at least 22 minority Shi'ites who protested last week against discrimination, activists said on Sunday, as the kingdom tried to keep the wave of Arab unrest outside its borders.

Saudi Shi'ites have staged small demonstrations in the Eastern Province, which holds much of the oil wealth of the world's top crude exporter.

The province is near Bahrain, the scene of protests in recent weeks by majority Shi'ites against their Sunni rulers.

"Twenty-two were arrested on Thursday plus four on Friday ... This was all in Qatif," said rights activist Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, who heads the independent Saudi-based Human Rights First Society. He later said one had been freed.

Mugaiteeb said the interior ministry had released Shi'ite cleric Tawfiq al-Amer, arrested last week.

A Shi'ite activist in the province's main town of Qatif, who did not want to be named, also said he knew of 22 arrests. Interior Ministry officials could not be reached for comment.

Protests started in the area of Qatif and neighbouring Awwamiya and spread to the town of Hofuf on Friday. The demands were mainly for the release of prisoners demonstrators say are held without trial.

Saudi Shi'ites complain they struggle to get government jobs and benefits given to other citizens.

The government of Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy without an elected parliament that usually does not tolerate public dissent, denies the charges.

SCHOLARS FORBID PROTESTS

The kingdom's Council of Senior Clerics issued a statement on Sunday backing an interior ministry warning on Saturday that said demonstrations violated Islamic law. They also said signing reform petitions "violates what God ordered."

The authorities are used to Shi'ites taking to the streets in their communities but fear protests catching on in major cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah.

"Reform and advice should not be via demonstrations and ways that provoke strife and division, this is what the religious scholars of this country in the past and now have forbidden and warned against," said the statement carried by state media.

Democracy activists say peaceful protests are their right.

"We are really worried by the detentions and harassment that people who take part in protests are facing," a statement by 15 rights activists said on Sunday.

"These practices conflict with the right of peaceful association that the kingdom committed to ... at the U.N. Human Rights Council."

The activists said wives and other relatives of men detained since a 1996 attack on U.S. military in Khobar were ejected from the office of the local governor, Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, on Saturday when they tried to petition for their release.

"They met first on Wednesday with an official and he promised they would have a meeting with the governor. But when they went, he declined to meet and security guards intervened," the Shi'ite activist said.

The Shi'ite website Rasid said they were verbally abused, as an official told them they were lucky the detainees had not been executed. The women started chanting "freedom, freedom."

The unrest has toppled regimes in Egypt and Tunisia and has spread to Saudi neighbours Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan and Oman.

More than 17,000 people backed a call on Facebook to hold two demonstrations in Saudi Arabia this month, the first one on Friday.

A loose alliance of liberals, moderate Islamists and Shi'ites have petitioned King Abdullah to allow elections in the kingdom.

Last month, Abdullah returned to Riyadh after a three-month medical absence and announced $37 billion in benefits for citizens in an apparent bid to curb dissent.
 

(Reporting by Andrew Hammond; editing by Andrew Roche)

    Saudi Arabia detains Shi'ites as clerics ban protests, R, 6.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/us-saudi-protests-idUSTRE7251HM20110306

Knives and petrol bombs return to Cairo streets

CAIRO | Sun Mar 6, 2011
4:28pm EST
By Tom Perry and Marwa Awad

CAIRO (Reuters) - Men in plain clothes armed with swords and petrol bombs attacked protesters in Cairo on Sunday night during a demonstration demanding reform of security services with a reputation for brutality, witnesses said.

Dozens of men wielding knives and machetes and hurling bricks and petrol bombs confronted protesters at the headquarters of Egypt's state security, a force whose abuses fueled an uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, they said.

It appeared to be the first time armed men in plain clothes had deployed in force against reform activists in central Cairo since Mubarak was forced to step down and hand power to the military, which has charted a course to democratic elections.

The scenes evoked attacks on protesters in Tahrir Square by men claiming loyalty to Mubarak during the 18-day uprising that led to his downfall. Since then, activists have pressed demands for deeper reform, including a major shake-up of the police.

Egyptian soldiers, on the streets since the start of the uprising, fired into the air for several minutes to disperse the protesters. As they ran, the protesters were confronted by men they described as thugs.

The state news agency said the demonstrators were trying to break into the building.

A branch of the Interior Ministry, critics of the state security apparatus say it functions as a domestic spy agency.

Its networks penetrated deep into society, monitoring citizens and tapping phone lines. Emergency laws give its officers wide powers to act against government opponents.

In the last two days, protesters have broken into 11 offices belonging to the state security apparatus across the country, seizing documents which they feared would be destroyed by officers to cover up abuses perpetrated by the force.

"The army started firing in the air to disperse us," said Mohammed Fahmy. "We tried to run away but we were met by 200 thugs in plain clothes carrying sharp weapons on the other side," he said, putting the number of protesters at 2,000.

Fahmy said there were 15 injuries, none of them serious.

The military council which has ruled Egypt since Mubarak stepped down warned against publication of documents taken from state security offices and urged their return.

NEW GOVERNMENT

Redeploying the police force, which largely disintegrated in the early days of the uprising, and building public confidence in the internal security forces is one of the main challenges confronting a new government unveiled on Sunday. New ministers of the interior, foreign affairs and justice were announced in a reshuffle that met some of the demands of reformists in a purge of officials chosen by Mubarak.

Nabil Elaraby, a former International Court of Justice judge, was named minister of foreign affairs, replacing Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the face of Mubarak's foreign policy since 2004 and the most prominent minister to hang on this long.

The reshuffle marks the latest reforms enacted by the ruling military council, which has appeared ever more responsive to the demands of groups that rose up against Mubarak.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces last week appointed a prime minister with the backing of youth protest groups to replace Ahmed Shafiq, whom Mubarak appointed to the post in his last weeks in power. The new cabinet will require the approval of the council headed by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

The council has charted a course toward parliamentary and presidential elections within six months so it can hand power back to a civilian, elected government.

Essam Sharaf, the new premier, met new ministers on Sunday.

"This goes a long way in satisfying the demands of the revolutionary groups," Mustapha Kamal al-Sayyid, a political scientist told Reuters, talking about the reshuffle.

Elaraby was Egypt's former permanent representative at the United Nations. He is remembered for expressing reservations about the Camp David peace treaty with Israel which he helped to negotiate, Sayyid said.

He was also a member of the independent council of "Wise Men" which formed after the eruption of the uprising against Mubarak to urge his administration to make reforms.

The military council hopes the new government will find acceptance among Egyptians and restore confidence that will allow the economy to start moving again.

Mansour el-Essawy, the new interior minister, vowed to work to improve the image of the police force.

"I have spoken of the need to shrink the role of the state security apparatus, so that it is only focused on fighting terrorism," the state news agency quoted him as saying.

Essawy had not been associated with State Security in his former role as a senior Interior Ministry official, Sayyid said.

Neither was he seen as part of the inner circle of Habib al-Adli, who held the post for 13 years until Mubarak removed him from his job at the start of the protests against his rule. Adli is on trial, charged with money laundering.

"Essawy is known for fighting corruption," Sayyid said.

(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed and Amr Abdullah; writing by Tom Perry; editing by Andrew Roche)

    Knives and petrol bombs return to Cairo streets, R, 6.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/us-egypt-idUSTRE70O3UW20110306

Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libya rebels

TRIPOLI | Sun Mar 6, 2011
1:33pm EST
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi launched counter-offensives against rebel-held towns Sunday, increasing fears that Libya is heading for a protracted civil war rather than the swift revolutions seen in Tunisia and Egypt.

The Gaddafi government proclaimed sweeping overnight victories over what it called terrorist bands.

But after what residents said was a day of fierce fighting with artillery, rockets and mortar bombs, rebel forces announced they had fought off Gaddafi's forces in the towns of Zawiyah and Misrata to the immediate west and to the east of Tripoli.

"We would like to put the people of this great nation at ease...because the regime is spreading rumors," opposition rebel council spokesman Hafiz Ghoga told a Benghazi news conference.

"Both Zawya and Misrata are secured, liberated cities."

Gaddafi's troops, backed by tanks, artillery, warplanes and helicopters also attacked positions near the oil port of Ras Lanuf, 660 km (410 miles) east of the capital.

Misrata, with a population of 300,000, is the largest town controlled by rebels outside the rebel-held east of the country.

If rebel soldiers were able to continue their fitful advance westwards, Misrata could be a stepping stone to reaching the capital, Gaddafi's principal stronghold.

Loyalists had poured into the streets of Tripoli at dawn on Sunday firing into the air and holding portraits of the leader who has headed the OPEC oil and gas producer for 41 years.

"These are celebrations because government forces have taken control of all areas to Benghazi and are in the process of taking control of Benghazi," spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said, referring to Libya's second city, situated in the far east.

But the celebrations appeared to be premature as Benghazi remained firmly under rebel control and insurgents at Zawiyah and Misrata said they had repulsed assaults and were now fighting to take back the town of Bin Jawad, west of Ras Lanuf.

Government troops pushed the insurgents out of Bin Jawad which they had captured Saturday.

But the rebels regrouped around Ras Lanuf and moved back to the outskirts of Bin Jawad, a small, dusty town sandwiched between the coastal highway and the Mediterranean Sea, 160 km (100 miles) east of Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

One fighter returning wounded to Ras Lanuf from the government assault on Bin Jawad was asked what he had seen.

"Death," he replied, too distraught to say any more.

FIGHT BACK

Rebels surrounded by troops near the center of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, faced another attack after repelling two assaults by tanks and infantry the day before.

"This morning, there was a new attack, bigger than yesterday. There were one and a half hours of fighting ... Two people were killed from our side and many more injured," spokesman Youssef Shagan said by telephone.

"We are still in full control of the square," he added.

Elite brigades under Gaddafi's son Khamis also launched an assault on Misrata, 200 km (125 miles) east of the capital.

"The brigades tried to reach the center of the town but revolutionaries managed to repel them. They retreated to the airbase," said a resident who declined to be named.

"The revolutionaries captured 20 soldiers and seized a tank. The town is now fully in the control of the youths," he said.

At least 18 people, including a baby, were killed in the fighting in Misrata Sunday, a doctor told Reuters by phone.

"We have 18 martyrs but the figure is not final. We also have many people wounded, I cannot even count them," said the doctor, who works at Misrata main hospital, adding that the dead included rebels and civilians.

Rebels first took Bin Jawad Saturday, but later withdrew. Army units then occupied local homes and set up sniper and rocket-propelled grenade positions for an ambush.

"It's real fierce fighting, like Vietnam," rebel fighter Ali Othman told Reuters. "Every kind of weapon is being used. We've retreated from an ambush and we are going to regroup."

When the rebels returned, a fierce exchange of rockets and mortar bombs ensued just outside Bin Jawad with the army also using heavy artillery. Behind rebel lines, hundreds of fighters armed with machine guns and assault rifles waited to advance.

"The firing is sustained, there is the thud of shells landing, the whoosh of rockets, puffs of smoke and heavy machine gun fire in the distance," a Reuters correspondent there said.

The rebels said they had shot down a helicopter Sunday and Reuters was shown the wreckage of a warplane Saturday near Ras Lanuf that rebels said they had brought down.

Doctors at Ras Lanuf hospital said two dead and 22 wounded had arrived from the fighting. A French journalist was shot in the leg, a doctor said, and four rebels were seriously wounded and unlikely to survive.

BRITISH TROOPS SEIZED

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday that what he called a British diplomatic team that had been captured in the eastern city of Benghazi have now left Libya.

The Sunday Times earlier reported a British Special Air Service (SAS) unit had been captured after a secret diplomatic mission to make contact with opposition leaders backfired.

"They (the rebel army) did capture some British special forces. They could not ascertain if they were friends or foes. For our safety we are holding them and we expect this situation to be resolved soon," a rebel source in Benghazi said.

Western leaders have denounced what they call Gaddafi's brutal response to the uprising, and the International Criminal Court said he and his inner circle face investigation for alleged targeting of civilians by his security forces.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a newspaper Sunday that the United Nations security council should launch fresh sanctions against Gaddafi.

"Selective sanctions are necessary against those who are responsible for crimes against the Libyan people," he told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "The flow of money must be cut off."

The International Energy Agency said the revolt had blocked about 60 percent of Libya's 1.6 million bpd oil output. The drop, due largely to the flight of thousands of foreign oil workers, will batter the economy and have already jacked up crude prices abroad.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Alexander Dziadosz in Ajdabiya, Mohammed Abbas in Bin Jawad, Stefano Ambrogi in London, Nick Vinocur in Paris and Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Michael Roddy)

    Gaddafi launches counter-offensive on Libya rebels, R, 6.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/us-libya-protests-idUSTRE71G0A620110306

U.S. warns citizens on Yemen

SANAA | Sun Mar 6, 2011
9:52am EST
By Mohamed Sudam

SANAA (Reuters) - The United States warned citizens in Yemen Sunday to consider departing as protests seeking the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh gather momentum, saying the security risk in the impoverished state was extremely high.

Tens of thousands of protesters have camped out in major Yemeni cities, their tone hardening daily, and protests turned to clashes in the town of Ibb Sunday when government loyalists attacked demonstrators with sticks and stones.

Violence also flared in outlying provinces, where six security men were killed in attacks blamed on al Qaeda.

"The Department (of State) urges U.S. citizens not to travel to Yemen. U.S. citizens currently in Yemen should consider departing," the U.S. State Department said in a travel warning.

"The security threat level in Yemen is extremely high due to terrorist activities and civil unrest," it added.

Britain has also warned against travel, advising those without a pressing need to stay to leave by commercial flights.

The growing Yemeni protests, and a series of defections from Saleh's allies, have added pressure on Saleh to end his three-decade rule in the Arabian Peninsula state. But neither side appears willing to compromise to end the deadlock.

Protesters want Saleh to step down by the end of this year, if not sooner, while the president is sticking to an earlier pledge to leave office only when his current term ends in 2013.

Yemen, a neighbor of Saudi Arabia, was teetering on the brink of failed statehood even before recent protests, with Saleh struggling to cement a truce with Shi'ite rebels in the north and quell a secessionist rebellion in the south.

Analysts say the recent protests, inspired by unrest that has toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia and sparked an insurrection in Libya, may be reaching a point where it will be difficult for Saleh, an astute politician, to cling to power.

"The country is on the brink of imploding," said Dubai-based security analyst Theodore Karasik. "This popular uprising is going to hit some kind of crescendo and you might have an outbreak of more violence. We might be looking at a Libya situation emerging in Yemen."

UNREST BUBBLING

Washington said its ability to help citizens in a crisis could be restricted, and evacuation options would be "extremely limited." It authorized the voluntary departure of the family members of U.S. embassy staff and non-essential personnel.

Yemeni protests, relatively peaceful in recent days, turned to violence in the town of Ibb when Saleh loyalists marched on an anti-government protest site in a park where thousands were camped out, attacking demonstrators with stones and batons.

"There were a large number who tried to storm the park carrying clubs and pelting us with stones and shouting: 'No to destruction and chaos'," said protester Ahmed Saleh, citing a slogan widely used by Saleh supporters.

Police fired in the air to disperse the protesters. At least 47 people were hurt in the melee, six critically, including a youth protest leader, an activist and witnesses said. Some 26 people have been killed since protests surged in early February.

Opposition leader Yassin Said Noman said there was currently "no dialogue or even discussion" with the government and that so long as street protests continued, any future talks would be only about bringing down the government.

Saturday, protesters blocked Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Megawar from arriving at Sanaa University to hold talks with protesters there.

Protesters say they are frustrated with corruption and soaring unemployment in Yemen where 40 percent of its 23 million people live on $2 a day or less and a third face chronic hunger.

Elsewhere in Yemen, suspected al Qaeda assassin teams shot dead two high ranking intelligence officials in separate marketplace attacks in two provinces, officials there said.

One intelligence officer, Abdel-Hamid al-Sherbani, was killed in the southern town of Zinjibar. He was one of around 50 security officers thought to be on an al Qaeda hit list. The second officer was killed in the eastern province of Hadramout.

In Maarib, east of the capital Sanaa, suspected al Qaeda militants killed four police officers in a shooting ambush, a local official said. The police vehicle had been delivering supplies to forces when it was attacked.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa and Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden; Writing by Cynthia Johnston; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

    U.S. warns citizens on Yemen, R, 6.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/us-yemen-idUSTRE72338020110306

Bahrain promises government jobs, protests continue

MANAMA | Sun Mar 6, 2011
9:01am EST
Reuters
By Frederik Richter

MANAMA (Reuters) - Plans by Bahrain to create 20,000 jobs in its security apparatus could be a move to open up government jobs to the country's disgruntled Shi'ites and appease protesters against the Sunni-led government.

Bahrain has seen its worst unrest since the 1990s after a nascent youth movement emboldened by similar protests elsewhere in the Arab world took to the streets last month and were met with heavy-handed police violence that killed seven.

The country, an ally of the United States and top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, is ruled by the Sunni al-Khalifa family and its majority Shi'ites have complained of discrimination in government jobs. The government denies this.

Bahrain's Minister of Interior Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa told local newspaper editors on Saturday that King Hamad bin Isa had ordered a round of new hires in a number of government institutions, including 20,000 jobs in his ministry.

"We hope this step will have a positive effect on the safety and security of citizens," al-Wasat daily quoted the minister as saying. "The minister said national dialogue was the way to achieving political stability and of raising demands."

The opposition said it interpreted the announcement as an attempt to appease Shi'ite protesters who say government jobs have been shut to them.

"I think it's mainly meant for Shi'ites, in particular for the coming graduates. Unequal opportunities is one reason why we're having people in the street," Jasim Husain of Wefaq, the main Shi'ite opposition group, said.

"The Ministry of Interior has been slow in creating jobs, in particular for Shi'ites."

There is no official figure of how many are employed by Bahrain's armed forces and its police and security forces. Officials at the Ministry of Interior declined to comment but said details of the plans would be released later this week.

Bahrain has granted citizenship to Sunni foreigners serving in its armed forces, limiting the number of secure government jobs its Shi'ite population can potentially access.

The practice has long been a bone of contention for the opposition who see it as an attempt to alter the sectarian balance, an accusation the government denies.

The government says all naturalization is done in full transparency and in accordance with Bahrain's immigration policies. Bahrain's king said last year the government would start to limit the practice.

Clashes erupted last week between residents in Hamad Town, an area where both Shi'ites and Sunni live, including foreigners who were granted citizenship.

It was not clear what sparked the clashes that were contained by police forces, but residents said that Syrians were involved in the fighting with metal sticks and batons.

Husain said the new jobs could potentially be funded by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that is currently discussing a joint fund to back Bahrain and Oman, which also has seen unrest.

Bahrain's opposition groups, including Wefaq, demand the resignation of the government and a new constitutional monarchy. Currently, parliament has little powers, cabinet is appointed by the king and most ministers are from the ruling family.

But many of the thousands in Bahrain's youth movement who are occupying Manama's Pearl Square and staging daily protests want the complete ouster of the ruling family.

Hundreds staged an hours-long sit-in on Sunday outside the palace in Manama that serves as an office to Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the world's longest serving head of government.

(Reporting by Frederik Richter; editing by Andrew Hammond and Michael Roddy)

    Bahrain promises government jobs, protests continue, R, 6.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/06/us-bahrain-jobs-idUSTRE72512X20110306

Analysis: No quiet or quick exit seen for Gaddafi

ONDON | Thu Mar 3, 2011
7:24pm EST
Reuters
By Samia Nakhoul

LONDON (Reuters) - Anyone who thought that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi would go quietly like his fellow dictators in Tunisia and Egypt may have to think again.

He has never shied from spilling blood, and his end may well prove a bloody affair.

Gaddafi has shown this week that he clearly intends to fight on and leading Libyan analysts say regime change will only come if those close to him force him aside.

The Libyan leader, experts say, believes so profoundly that he is the embodiment of his country that he is willing to bring Libya down rather than give in a two-week-long revolt against his 41-year autocratic rule.

"There is a real danger that Libya is sliding toward a long, protracted civil war," said Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern politics at the London School of Economics.

"From everything we have seen so far Gaddafi is cornered, his back is to the wall and he has no exit strategy. He will most likely fight to the bitter end," he added.

On the ground, Gaddafi appeared to have taken the initiative by launching a ground and air attack on rebels in control of the eastern oil terminal town of Brega. Both rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces are arming and positioning themselves for a longer fight and residents and tribes are being armed as well by both sides.

SOMALIA-LIKE CHAOS?

"In the last 48 hours Gaddafi seemed to have absorbed the first shock. He is consolidating his limited power base," said Gerges.

"The Gaddafi regime is positioning itself for a prolonged fight. He has adequate military and financial assets to fight.

Even though Gaddafi has lost control over large swathes of Libya he seems ready to reduce the country to Somalia-like ruins rather than surrender power, experts say.

"Gaddafi reduced the Libyan people to his persona," said Saad Djebbar, a London-based Algerian lawyer who was involved in the negotiations over the Lockerbie bombing.

"Gaddafi's aim will be to create chaos and put the country through civil war or Somalisation -- no central power, a divided country in which he will remain a force," said Djebbar.

"Gaddafi has containers of dollars, he has guns to arm people and he has loyalists, the more chaos he creates the better (for him)," Djebbar added. "His message is: apres moi le deluge. You force me out of power and I will leave either a divided country or a country in civil war like Somalia."

The uprising, the bloodiest yet against despotic rulers in the region, was sparked by the arrest of a human rights lawyer in Benghazi on February 14.

Revolt quickly spread, with Libyans from all walks of life -- professionals, academics, tribesmen, former soldiers and students -- demanding an end to Gaddafi's repressive rule.

Libyans have not experience democracy since he ousted King Idris and created a police state in 1969.

The mercurial leader has managed to cling to power through a carefully constructed security apparatus. The press remains gagged, despite a slight easing of curbs in recent years, freedom of speech is unheard of and political parties are illegal.

But 41 years of repression have brought simmering discontent to the boil.

Added to that, for many Libyans and world leaders, the former army officer is the evil hand behind terrorism inside and outside his country. Gaddafi has spent much of Libya's oil cash financing terrorists responsible for hijacks and killings and groups seeking to kill dissidents and destabilize pro-Western governments in Africa.

ETHNIC WAR

The Libyan upheaval has not only proven to be bloodier and costlier but more protracted than Tunis and Egypt, raising the risks of ethnic war that could fragment the country, trigger a humanitarian crisis and further jeopardize oil supplies.

In Egypt and Tunisia, powerful military elites ultimately decided the outcome of the revolutions, easing unpopular leaders Hosni Mubarak and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from office. But in Libya it is more opaque and complex tribal power structures could decide how events play out.

Having risen through the military himself, Gaddafi emasculated the army to prevent its commanders from threatening him following periodic failed coup attempts.

"He knows from his own experience that coup d'etats come from the army so he closed the way for any potential coup d'etat a long time ago. He dismantled the army and set up instead what he called the popular army," said Djebbar.

He created well-armed and tightly knit brigades led by his own al-Gaddadfa tribe and by al-Magarha, another tribe headed by Abdullah Sanussi, Gaddafi's brother-in-law and chief enforcer.

Experts agree that part of the explanation for Gaddafi's survival is linked to having his sons in charge of his security and his own tribe occupying the most important positions.

"His units are die-hard loyalists, based on skin and kin, blood ties which for Gaddafi are more important than ideology. He has his son Khamis who is in charge of a special army unit," Djebbar said.

Those familiar with Gaddafi say he is the only decision-maker, a man with absolute authority who does not delegate power to anybody, not even to his own sons.

On the ground, the balance of power looks equal. Gaddafi and his forces control the capital Tripoli and some nearby towns as well as his birthplace Sirte further east, the site of large arsenals and bases designed to guard oil infrastructure.

The rebels hold Benghazi, Misrata and Zawiyah and Jebel Nafusa southwest of Tripoli.

"Gaddafi has not given up, the attack he launched on Brega is an indication that he intends to carry on, " said George Joffe, a Middle East expert at Cambridge University.

GADDAFI "WON'T END NICELY"

Despite the defection of large numbers of tribes some still support him including his own Gaddadfa community.

"The forces on the ground might be quite well balanced. It really can go on for quite some time. If you control Benghazi you control (the eastern region of) Cyrenaica," said Joffe.

"If you control Tripoli you control Tripolitania. In those circumstances you could have two forces relatively well balanced who can confront each other for a long time."

On the table is a peace plan devised by from Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, according to Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Venezuela says Gaddafi has accepted it, but there has been no confirmation. Rebels have said they would not negotiate with Gaddafi, and their reaction to the plan is not known.

One scenario for a peaceful exit is to have some sort of tribal deal.

This might see a combination of the sons of Gaddafi, his daughter and Sanussi push him aside and allow the Gaddadfa tribe and al-Magarha, former officers and dignitaries to enter into talks with tribes in the east to grant Gaddafi safe passage to retire in his hometown of Sirte.

They in turn could make commitments to guarantee the security of the family.

The other option is for him to go abroad with immunity from prosecution. But this option may not be possible after the International Criminal Court said Gaddafi and members of his inner circle could be investigated for alleged crimes committed against civilians by security forces.

Joffe said he suspected Gaddafi would eventually be overthrown in a palace coup.

"The way it will come to an end is if his domestic support ends from his family, tribes, his own battalion or army unit -- if they remove their support he is finished..."

"It wont end nicely.

(Editing by William Maclean)

    Analysis: No quiet or quick exit seen for Gaddafi, R, 3.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/04/us-libya-gaddafi-idUSTRE7224XW20110304

Egypt's PM quits as army seen responding to demands

Thu, Mar 3 2011
3:44pm EST
Reuters
By Marwa Awad

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigned on Thursday and the military asked a former transport minister to form a new government which pro-democracy activists want to be purged of Hosni Mubarak's old guard.

Shafiq was appointed prime minister by Mubarak in his final days in office before he was ousted on February 11 after an 18-day popular uprising which shook the Middle East. There have since been protests and political pressure for Shafiq to step down.

Reform campaigner Mohamed ElBaradei told Reuters Shafiq's resignation showed the military was responding to popular demands. He said it should now also adjust the timetable for elections to give candidates more time to prepare.

One Shafiq aide said appointing Essam Sharaf prime minister was timed to defuse calls for another mass demonstration on Friday after a first modest reshuffle by Shafiq failed to mollify protesters who want a clean break with the Mubarak era.

"There was fear of Friday's protests and how big they may be. He actually wanted to leave before this week as well and does not want to agitate the people," the aide said.

An army source said Sharaf was meeting with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to discuss the new cabinet he will announce early next week.

The Muslim Brotherhood and other political groupings had also been calling for Shafiq and his government to step aside and the army, in an apparent response had vowed to halt any "counter-revolution" from hijacking Egypt's revolution.

The uprising in Egypt, a key U.S. ally with a peace treaty with Israel, fueled revolts against other autocrats in the region. Progress toward democracy in the Arab world's most populous nation will also have an effect on its neighbors.

The key jobs of foreign, interior and justice ministers were also likely to be reshuffled shortly, an army source said, to cleanse the government of remaining links to Mubarak.

Since Mubarak's overthrow, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have turned out in Cairo's Tahrir Square and other cities to celebrate his downfall and send a message to the military that the people will not be ignored.

Protesters, some of whom have erected tents in Tahrir Square, greeted the news of Shafiq's resignation with jubilation and relief. They applauded the armed forces for meeting their demands and chanted: "The people and the army are united."

The Council of the Protectors of the Revolution, a body of technocrats and political figures, welcomed Sharaf as premier. But not everyone was as positive.

"This is a change for the worse not for the better," said Hassan Nafaa, a political scientist at Cairo University who also actively campaigned against Mubarak, adding:

"Shafiq left but the one who has been installed has no political vision or anything to do with politics. There are other interests being secured that are thwarting change."

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

Shafiq, a former air force commander, has been tipped by one military source as a potential contender for the presidency in a forthcoming election. Since 1952, all of Egypt's presidents have been drawn from the armed forces.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian foreign minister, has emerged as an early frontrunner after announcing his candidacy. ElBaradei is also seen as a candidate.

"This is a question I do not have to answer today," he said when asked by Reuters whether he would run. "I need to complete what I set to do which is to shift Egypt from a dictatorship to a liberated Egypt. We will see as we go along."

Activists had demanded a new line up of technocrats as ministers after 30 years of Mubarak's rule. The cabinet will act as an interim government while Egypt holds a referendum on constitutional amendments in March before a parliamentary vote and then a presidential election, according to current plans.

But with more and more political reformers demanding a longer period to get ready for parliamentary elections, the military council could be forced to change its plans.

"When the military took this on they had hoped it would be a one, two, three: 'You get your amendments, we'll have these two elections and we're gone'," a Western diplomat said.

"But it seems the people of Egypt need more, so bit by bit, we are seeing the Supreme Council having to grapple with this.

"What they are finding out is that this period of transition requires much more of them than perhaps they initially thought. There has been this constant back and forth with the opposition," the diplomat said.

Reform to the constitution will make it much easier for Egyptians to run for the presidency, removing requirements which made it almost impossible for anyone but the ruling party and representatives of weak opposition parties to field candidates.

Some opposition figures are concerned that a rush toward elections is not in the best interests of democratic change. Mubarak's administration had suppressed opposition groups for decades and they say they need time to regroup.

They say only the Muslim Brotherhood, which was formally banned under Mubarak, is in the position to mount an election campaign, though the group says it will not seek a majority in parliament or the presidency.

A quick election would also suit the remnants of the National Democratic Party, the ruling party which had dominated parliament under Mubarak and whose headquarters on the bank of the Nile were burned down during the revolution.

(Additional reporting by Sarah Mikhail, Patrick Werr: Writing by Edmund Blair, Peter Millership and Tom Perry)

    Egypt's PM quits as army seen responding to demands, R, 3.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/03/us-egypt-idUSTRE70O3UW20110303

Libyan rebels and Gaddafi forces battle for oil sites

AL-UQAYLA, Libya | Thu Mar 3, 2011
12:57am EST
Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas

AL-UQAYLA, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan rebels prepared for further attacks by forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi on Friday as both sides struggled for control of a strategic coast road and oil industry facilities.

Rebels holding the port city of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli, said they had been launching counter-attacks against Gaddafi's forces massing in the area and warned supplies of medicines and baby milk were running low.

"Women and children are at home while the men are armed and roam the streets and city limits in anticipation of a major attack by pro-Gaddafi forces tonight," resident Ibrahim told Reuters by telephone.

In eastern Libya, witnesses said a warplane bombed Brega, an oil terminal town 800 km (500 miles) east of Tripoli, for the second day on Thursday. Warplanes also launched two raids against the nearby rebel-held town of Ajbadiya, witnesses said.

The popular uprising against Gaddafi's 41-year rule, the bloodiest yet against a long-serving ruler in the Middle East or North Africa, has knocked out nearly 50 percent of the OPEC-member's 1.6 million barrels of oil per day output, the bedrock of its economy.

Gaddafi's government took foreign journalists on a tour of western Libya as part of efforts to show he remained in control.

Towns and villages erupted in jubilation as the convoy passed through. Crowds of supporters shouted "God, Muammar, Libya, together" and children kissed portraits of Gaddafi.

Yet signs of resistance were apparent. In several towns, buildings had been torched and many house fronts were covered with anti-government slogans, a Reuters reporters said.

The roads were heavily fortified with Gaddafi's army tanks, anti-aircraft guns and truck-mounted rocket launchers.

In Zawiyah, residents said Gaddafi's forces had deployed in large numbers over the past days. "We estimate there are 2,000 on the southern side of town and have gathered 80 armored vehicles from the east," resident Ibrahim said, adding a battalion had also come from the west side.

"But our youths are not sitting idle. We killed two of their men last night and operations like these allow us to build up our arsenal. We have already seized 10 to 15 of the army's tanks and a large number of Kalashnikovs," he said.

His account could not immediately be verified.

The government says it is not using military force to retake rebel-held cities although one official did not rule it out if all other options were exhausted.

"Workers at Zawiyah's public hospital went today (Thursday) to Tripoli to get some (medical supplies) for the civilians wounded during clashes ... but the administration there that supplies public hospitals refused to hand them any simply because it was destined for Zawiyah," Ibrahim said.

Another resident, Ali, told Reuters by telephone: "We are starting to have problems with supplies for some medicines as well as getting baby formula ... Libya needs help from the international community. We only want our freedom."

MEDIATION PLAN?

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said reports indicated two Libyan Red Crescent ambulances were shot at on Thursday in Misrata, west of Benghazi, and two volunteers were wounded. The ICRC has 12 staff in Benghazi including a medical team visiting areas outside the city in cooperation with the Libyan Red Crescent.

On Thursday, Venezuela said Gaddafi had agreed to its proposal for an international commission to negotiate an end to the turmoil in the world's 12th largest oil exporting nation.

But Gaddafi's son Saif al Islam said there was no need for foreign mediation in the crisis, a leader of the uprising rejected talks with the veteran leader and the Arab League said cautiously the plan was "under consideration".

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France and Britain would support the idea of setting up a no-fly zone over Libya if Gaddafi's forces continued to attack civilians.

U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States and the international community must be ready to act rapidly to stop violence against civilians. He expressed outrage at the bloodshed, called on Gaddafi to step down and emphasized the importance of humanitarian efforts.

But Juma Amer, secretary for African affairs at the Libyan Foreign Ministry, told journalists: "Media reports that civilian areas were bombed are false."

Saif said Brega was bombed to scare off militia fighters and to gain control of oil installations. "The bombs (were) just to frighten them to go away," he told Britain's Sky News.

On the ground, rebels leading the unprecedented popular revolt pushed their front line west of Brega. They said they had driven back troops loyal to Gaddafi to Ras Lanuf, site of another major oil terminal, 600 km (400 miles) east of Tripoli.

In The Hague, International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Gaddafi and members of his inner circle could be investigated for possible war crimes committed since the uprising broke out in mid-February.

Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim told BBC radio: "No fact-finding mission has been sent to Libya. No diplomats, no ministers, no NGOs or organizations of any type were sent to Libya to check the facts ... No one can be sent to prison based on media reports."

An aide to Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebels' National Libyan Council, called for foreign help to set up a no-fly zone to protect civilians and help rebels topple Gaddafi.

Save The Children and Medecins Sans Frontieres said they were struggling to get medicine and care to Libya's needy, with gunmen blocking roads and civilians too scared to seek help.

The upheaval is causing a humanitarian crisis, especially on the Tunisian border where tens of thousands of foreign workers have fled to safety. But an organized international airlift started to relieve the human flood from Libya as word spread to refugees that planes were taking them home.

(Additional reporting by Maria Golovnina, Yvonne Bell and Chris Helgren in Tripoli, Tom Pfeiffer and Alexander Dziadosz in Benghazi, Souhail Karam and Marie-Louise Gumuchian in Rabat, Yannis Behrakis and Douglas Hamilton on Tunisia border; Christian Lowe and Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; Writing by Janet Lawrence; Editing by Robert Birsel)

    Libyan rebels and Gaddafi forces battle for oil sites, NYT, 3.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/04/us-libya-protests-idUSTRE71G0A620110304

Rebels in Libya Win Battle but Fail to Loosen Qaddafi’s Grip

March 2, 2011
The New York Times
By KAREEM FAHIM and ROBERT F. WORTH

BREGA, Libya — From the feeble cover of sand dunes, under assault from a warplane overhead and heavy artillery from a hill, rebels in this strategic oil city repelled an attack by hundreds of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s fighters on Wednesday. The daylong battle was the first major incursion by the colonel’s forces in the rebel-held east of the country since the Libyan uprising began.

The battle began at daybreak, when government fighters stormed the airport and the area around the city’s oil refinery. By the early afternoon, hundreds of men from this city, wielding Kalashnikov rifles and knives — joined by confederates from neighboring cities with heavier artillery — fought Colonel Qaddafi’s men, who were backed by air power and mortars.

But as night fell, the government fighters were on the run and the rebels were celebrating in Brega and all along the road north to Benghazi, the seat of rebel power, where fireworks lighted up the sky.

The attack seemed to spearhead a broader effort by the government of Colonel Qaddafi to reassert control over strategic oil assets in the eastern part of the country, which have been seized by rebel forces. And what appeared to be a victory by the rebels continued a string of recent successes in beating back those attacks, as they did in the western city of Zawiyah earlier this week. But the rebels have not been able to shake the colonel’s hold on power.

That quandary was apparent as the fighters celebrated their victory in a Brega square: the warplane reappeared and attacked the gathering.

“Yes, they won,” said Iman Bugaighis, a spokeswoman for the rebel governing authority, which asked Western nations to conduct airstrikes against Colonel Qaddafi’s strongholds on Wednesday. “We don’t know how long it will last. He’s getting stronger.”

Eastern Libya, where opposition fighters forced out Colonel Qaddafi’s loyalists 10 days ago, remains chaotic. Rumors come and go, with fears of fresh airstrikes and advances by pro-government forces, followed by bold but so far empty talk of a final assault on Colonel Qaddafi’s Tripoli stronghold. The military here is leaderless, the towns governed by ad hoc councils.

The battle of Brega was a ragged affair. There were no orders, no officers, no plans: most of the men said they had simply jumped in cars to defend their freedom after hearing that government loyalists, whom the rebels call mercenaries, had begun a dawn raid on Brega.

Fighters carried every kind of weapon. Some manned big antiaircraft guns, wearing black military berets and saluting as they rode past. Others drove beat-up old taxis, clutching rifles, pistols, anything they could find, even butcher knives.

“We fought them barefoot,” said Erhallem Jedallah, a burly man who wore crossed belts of ammunition across his shoulders. “So with these weapons we can defeat Qaddafi.”

He was reassembling a big black antiaircraft gun — taken from a military supply depot — at a dusty checkpoint on the road to Brega. At his feet was a plastic crate full of gasoline bombs in soda bottles and a half-eaten piece of bread. Inside the gatehouse next to him were stacks of rocket launchers and boxes of ammunition.

“Victory or death!” the men around him shouted.

If the opposition lacks a plan for victory, Colonel Qaddafi’s strategy is equally murky. His militiamen, traveling in 50 all-terrain vehicles, attacked at dawn, and later took dozens of local people hostage at the city’s university, using them as human shields, witnesses said. Fighter planes bombed the area, leaving craters and shrapnel in a road near the university. The town has an oil and gas company and pipelines, and a small airport that might be a useful staging point.

But the attack, which left at least nine people dead and scores wounded, appeared to have succeeded only in further outraging people. “This man is a butcher!” shouted Imraja Saeed, who stood outside Brega’s university at dusk on Wednesday. “His soldiers ran away disgraced. If they tried to land their planes here, we would kill them.”

In Tripoli, Colonel Qaddafi spent much of the day delivering a rambling and defiant speech in which he renewed accusations that Islamist forces outside Libya were responsible for the uprising.

But in Brega, his forces simply found citizens and workers, said Lameen al-Thabah, 30, a resident. “They are regular people. They are not Al Qaeda. He is a liar.”

Ali Muhammad Saleh, 23, lying in a hospital in the nearby town of Ajdabiya on Wednesday afternoon with gunshot wounds in the thigh and leg, said the attack started at about 5 or 6 a.m. “The mercenaries came in cars from the airport,” he said.

“They shot at us with heavy artillery and guns, it seemed randomly. Three of my cousins were hit while walking down the street, unarmed,” he said. “I wasn’t fighting, I was trying to help the wounded. They shot me from the back.”

Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, said he joined the antigovernment fighters on the dunes at about 11 a.m., as they came under heavy shelling from the university. At least twice while he was with the fighters, a warplane — possibly a French Mirage — swooped low and dropped bombs. Bullets whistled past the fighters, and mortar shells landed around them, or flew past into the sea.

Nearby, a group of spectators cheered the fighters on, and made sure they were fed. “They brought out hot tea,” Mr. Bouckaert said. “They had rice and chicken. There were water bottles all along the road.” Ambulances idled nearby, waiting for injured people.

By 3 p.m., Mr. Bouckaert said, the battle had turned, as the rebels pointed the antiaircraft weapons not at the sky but toward the university. Working in small groups, they cut off the university from the rest of the city.

“There was no kind of organizational command,” Mr. Bouckaert said. “They didn’t even have binoculars.”

All day the roads were clogged with fighters racing to Brega, and ambulances speeding in the other direction, sirens blaring.

At a hospital in a town east of the fighting, screaming broke out as an ambulance arrived and doctors loaded bloodied fighters onto gurneys. Here, too, no one was in charge: dozens of television cameramen and reporters crowded into a surgery ward in their filthy boots. Relatives shouted, doctors pushed past. One of the wounded men cried out in pain, his thigh slashed open by a bullet. Nurses stripped off his sweaty clothes.

Cameras clicked and flashed.

Among the dead was Hassan Ahmed Mokhtar, who doctors said was a government soldier. He was dressed in green fatigues, wore a gray T-shirt and had a ribbon of gauze that a nurse wrapped around his toe. In his pocket, doctors found a set of keys, a one-dinar bill and his identification card, which said he was born in 1969, on New Year’s Day. It also said that Mr. Mokhtar was born in Niger, which confirmed for everyone there that mercenaries were attacking them. But that was far from clear.

Even after the fighting appeared to be over, at about 5:30 p.m., the government fighter plane swooped down for a final sortie, unleashing two bombs or missiles that exploded near the university’s main gate. Men stood near the craters afterward, filled with fury and disbelief.

“Is it possible to kill people like this and then say, ‘The Libyan people love me’?” said a man who gave his name as Qassim. “He is crazy! He should be admitted!”

As dusk fell, the anguish gave way to relief. Colonel Qaddafi’s fighters and his warplane had retreated. A long line of rebel cars and pickup trucks began driving back east, their occupants shouting and whooping as they went. The heavy thud-thud of celebratory antiaircraft fire rang out, and tracers lit up the clear blue evening sky. The men defending eastern Libya had won. For now.

Kareem Fahim reported from Brega, Libya, Robert F. Worth from Ajdabiya and David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli. Alan Cowell and Matthew Saltmarsh contributed reporting from Paris.

    Rebels in Libya Win Battle but Fail to Loosen Qaddafi’s Grip, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/world/africa/03libya.html

Libya’s Patient Revolutionaries

March 2, 2011
The New York Times
By MOHAMMAD AL-ASFAR

Benghazi, Libya

NOTHING is impossible in this life. We can discuss any subject calmly. We only need good intentions. The “are you for me or against me?” narrative is useless. I’m neither for you, nor against you, nor even in the middle.

If I take a position, then I am not being a writer. I am near you, but you can’t see me. I can’t see you either, even as you bleed into my heart. I’m not concerned with observing where people stand on the issues. I’m concerned only with observing the serious little girl who lost her one uncle in a massacre at a Libyan prison.

“Where’s Uncle, Daddy?”

“He’s traveling.”

“Will he be back soon?”

“He’ll be back soon, my darling, and bring you a lovely revolution.”

“And why doesn’t he call us?”

“He has no phone credits, but he’ll charge his phone card and call us soon, my love.”

“Give me his number. I’ll call him. I have a phone card.”

“Dial any number between 1 and 1200, and he’ll reply.”

The serious child tells me that she called him, and that a voice on the phone told her that he was off at Friday prayers.

“So I slept and dreamed, Daddy,” she says. “That a tall man in a white robe walked around the tomb of Omar al-Mukhtar in Benghazi, then he got on his white horse and flew up into the sky; he waved at me, Daddy, and threw me a fragrant flower. When I woke up, I didn’t find it planted in my heart, but the slightly salty scent of Benghazi — of Libya — is still there; take my hand, Daddy, and smell it, to make sure. I won’t ever wash my hand again. I want the scent to stay with me forever.”

I told my daughter: “Wash your hands. The smell won’t go. Water washes only dirt away.”

•

The revolution in my country is aflame, and has achieved considerable success, internally and internationally. Each time a city is liberated, makeshift institutions to manage everyday life and defend freedom arise, and more members of the former regime’s leadership, whether they are political, cultural or business figures, join in.

Our flag is no longer a solid green field; the one we carry now is red, black and green with a crescent and star in the middle. The colors are a reminder of the darkness and colonization we have suffered in our history.

For decades, we lived in terror, surrounded by spies and informants, facing the risk of imprisonment or “disappearance” at any moment. No one could intervene on your behalf; there were no real courts, no human rights, nothing.

Everything before this revolution was dedicated to enriching the tyrant and his family. Everything was for their benefit: the army, the police, water, culture, education, hotels, restaurants, the flag. Even sex was regulated: many people couldn’t marry until the regime organized a mass wedding or they were “gifted” a bedroom for the wedding night.

Fifteen years ago, in a single night, the tyrant and his mercenaries murdered 1,200 people at the Abu Salim prison in Tripoli, where political prisoners are held. The bodies were piled in a mass unmarked grave — prisoners from all over Libya, of all ages, killed without even a symbolic trial. My only brother was one of them.

I wrote about the massacre in my first novel. And my second. And my third. And I was not the only one who couldn’t forget. The brutality of that summer evening was one of the sparks that ignited this revolution. The families of those victims began the current protests, here in Benghazi, and were soon joined by the young men of the revolution.

Now, despite the violence of the regime all around us, those cities that have been liberated are buoyant with joy; we have tasted freedom. The fear, terror, tension and nervousness that had characterized Libyans has vanished; old disputes have dissipated. Everyone wants to help, undaunted by rain and hunger.

This revolution has transformed Libyans, has made us feel that there is a thing called freedom that must be won, and that one should not enjoy it alone, at the expense of others’ happiness, toil or lives.

I have barely any time to write: I’m spending my days among the crowds. I would rather live the revolution now than write it — it’s still fresh, newborn, untainted by additions and blind custom. It is a Libyan-flavored revolution, a mixture of spice and salt and light that smells like the blessings that come from the lanterns of saints.

For years, I have run into old friends only occasionally, at the Friday market or at funerals, weddings and sporting events. Now, I meet with many of my childhood friends in the streets and alleyways of the revolution.

The walls have become murals, decorated with new slogans chanting the glories of the revolution and its martyrs, and denouncing tyrants and their terrorist ways. These phrases are full of terrible grammatical and spelling errors, but are nevertheless honest and artistic.

They were born with the birth of freedom and life, and these graffiti should never be painted over. They should be kept there until the sun’s rays fade them, although I doubt that the sun would erase such eternal markings.

I don’t want to speak of the massacres that have been committed in the last weeks by the regime: the world has been listening to and watching images of these brutal, gut-wrenching crimes. I want instead to speak of the people who have won, who have defeated death. The martyrs of this revolution have not just been young men and women; there have been martyrs of all ages, of all educational levels, of all social classes. Libya has risen in its entirety.

We are not copying anyone, but we must admit to having been inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. We cannot know happiness as long as the tyrant remains; how could we possibly visit Tunisians and Egyptians unless we can hold our heads as high as theirs, as high as those of all the free people of the world?

Libyans have been patient for a long time, but our patience was not cowardice. We waited for the moment of true inspiration, and now that it has come and the time is right, we have achieved our goal, with a courage and motivation that has astonished the world.

Our revolution is a revolution of the people, people who can no longer stand the stench of tyranny, who cannot be healed by handouts. The pressure reached its limit. So the people erupted and proclaimed their desire for a better life.

And they were met with the murderous glare of a tyrant, and not with mere tear gas but with live bullets and tanks and aircraft and missile fire. So we called ourselves the “grandchildren of Omar al-Mukhtar,” in homage to the resistance leader who was martyred in 1931 for telling the Italian occupiers that the Libyan people would not surrender, and would either win or die. And we persevered, we endured and we won.

Now, it seems, the country is beautiful. Its women are lovelier than ever, their smiles are sweeter and their hearts are full of song. Even the sick have been healed; their disease was caused by the blight of dictatorship.

The people of the entire world are with us. And even before we had their support, we had their respect for our revolution, which has not been marred by looting or vandalism. Our goal is clear: to bring down a fascist regime that made us as a nation unwelcome in the world.

We will transform Libya into a beacon of civilization and science and culture, a meritocracy where each person will earn his or her position, regardless of ideology or tribe. We will work as transparently as we can, and we will make the world trust us, and help us. Everyone here is convinced that Libya’s liberty has already been won, and that now we must work toward its safety. The revolution now needs talent, not loyalty.

The Libyan people are now brothers of mankind. We can speak freely to those in the Arab world and elsewhere whom we have longed to meet, and can embrace them without fear. Our lives as Libyans have been troublesome: for those of us lucky enough to travel, everywhere we faced an accusatory finger — for the disappearance of the Lebanese Shiite cleric Musa al-Sadr on a trip to Libya in 1978; for the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 and the downing of a French airline over Niger the next year. But now we have shown the world that the blame for these acts does not lie with the Libyan people, but with the heinous dictatorship.

•

Long ago, I promised a little girl that my only brother would return. He did, and he brought with him a revolution.

Mohammad al-Asfar is a novelist. This essay was translated by Ghenwa Hayek from the Arabic.

    Libya’s Patient Revolutionaries, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/opinion/03asfar.html

Here’s What We Can Do to Tackle Libya

March 2, 2011
The New York Times
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

In 1986, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi gave an interview to a group of female foreign journalists. Then he invited them, one by one, into a room furnished with just a bed and television and propositioned them.

They rebuffed him, and after three successive rejections he got the message and gave up. But the incident reflects something important about Colonel Qaddafi that is worth remembering today: He’s nuts.

The Libyan “king of kings” blends delusion, menace, pomposity, a penchant for risk-taking — and possession of tons of mustard gas. That’s why it’s crucial that world powers, working with neighboring countries like Egypt and Tunisia, steadily increase the pressure while Colonel Qaddafi is wobbling so that he leaves the scene as swiftly as possible.

Unfortunately, Mr. Qaddafi has gained a bit of ground in the last few days, at least in the capital of Tripoli. He has used mercenaries to terrorize people and even drag injured protesters out of hospitals, so a sullen calm has returned to Tripoli for now.

Is there anything that America and other countries can do? Yes, absolutely. But, first, a word about what we can’t do.

It would be counterproductive for American and European troops to land on Libyan soil or to start bombing runs because that would play into Colonel Qaddafi’s narrative about imperialists trying to seize his country. The truth is that after Iraq, we just don’t have a realistic option of invading another Arab country with oil.

But what we can do is continue to squeeze Colonel Qaddafi, show resolve and make it clear that his departure is only a matter of time. That resolve won’t change Colonel Qaddafi’s mind, but it can peel off more of the Libyan military. And some of those military officers already are wavering.

On Saturday, when I was in Egypt and it looked as if the Qaddafi government might collapse at any time, I had a call from Tripoli: A senior Libyan military officer who had been ordered to attack rebel-held towns was defecting to the rebels instead. The officer wanted me to report his defection — along with his call for other military officers to do the same — and he had already recorded a video of his defection that I could post immediately on the New York Times Web site.

I was delighted but asked what preparations he had made to protect his family from retribution. None, it turned out.

I urged the officer to hide his family to ensure that his wife and children weren’t kidnapped or killed in retaliation. A bit later, I heard back that the officer would accept the risk to his family. I suggested that the officer think this through carefully one more time — and this time the officer actually consulted his wife, who was displeased. The officer sheepishly postponed the announcement of his defection temporarily.

In the days since then, with Colonel Qaddafi having gained ground in Tripoli, the defection no longer seems to be on the table.

My sense is that many Libyan military officers are a bit like that one. They’re uncomfortable attacking fellow Libyans, but they’re also fearful that they or their families will be killed if they refuse. If the outside world signals resolutely that Colonel Qaddafi’s ouster is only a matter of time, there’s much more chance that officers will find ways to avoid going down with their leader.

The dispatch of American naval vessels to the sea off Libya is a useful step to show resolve. So are sanctions. A no-fly zone would have only a small impact on the fighting, but it would be a powerful signal to the Libyan military to stand down. Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, said Wednesday that the Arab League and African Union might work together to impose a no-fly zone, and Western countries should cooperate closely with them on the idea. We could also try to disrupt Libya’s military communications.

One possible solution to the crisis being discussed within Libya is for Colonel Qaddafi, who isn’t actually president or prime minister, to retire with his sons to his hometown of Sirte and relinquish power to his longtime friend, Mohamed al-Zwai, who is technically head of state. Mr. Zwai, the former ambassador to Britain, has a reputation as a pragmatist and might then be able to bring in rival groups and tribes and stitch the country back together again in a more democratic way. It’s a long shot but worth exploring — and it’s feasible only if Colonel Qaddafi and his friends believe that otherwise they are going down.

The more pressure we apply, the more chance of avoiding an apocalypse. A well-connected friend in Tripoli grimly said of Colonel Qaddafi: “He believes that since he has nowhere to go, he’ll take as many people with him as he can.”

    Here’s What We Can Do to Tackle Libya, ,NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/opinion/03kristof.html

2 Qaddafis Fought Over Business, Cables Show

March 2, 2011
The New York Times
By JAMES RISEN

WASHINGTON — Soon after Coca-Cola decided to move into Libya in 2005, it received a harsh lesson in how the personal jealousies and brutality of the feuding family of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi shape the nation’s economy.

Two of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons began to fight for control of the local Coca-Cola bottling company, and their battle turned into an armed confrontation dominated by a militia loyal to one of the sons, according to American diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. The dispute was settled when Colonel Qaddafi’s daughter intervened, but only after at least one worker was hurt, one Qaddafi cousin was stuffed into the trunk of a car and the Coca-Cola plant was shut down for months, the cables said.

The episode provides a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the Qaddafis and more broadly underscores how the whims of ruling families have tainted the climate for economic development in parts of the Arab world.

In the 1990s, with Libya chafing under international sanctions, Coca-Cola did not have a bottling plant in the country. Instead, it was distributed through a franchise in neighboring Tunisia. It was only after Colonel Qaddafi abandoned his nuclear weapons program in 2003 and sanctions were relaxed by the West that American companies, including Coca-Cola, began to invest there again. Coca-Cola’s new bottling plant opened in 2005 through a local franchise known as the Global Beverage Company.

But almost immediately, two of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons, Mutassim and Mohammed, began to compete for control of Global Beverage. The feud burst into view in late 2005, just two weeks after the plant opened, when security troops loyal to Mutassim occupied the bottling plant in Tripoli, according to a 2006 State Department cable. His militia occupied the plant until February 2006, blocking production.

The State Department cable recounts how on Dec. 28, 2005, “Two military cars carrying armed personnel without clear identification illegally broke into the facility, asked the employees to leave the premises and shut down the plant.” Mutassim’s forces quickly took control of the plant after one foreign worker was injured and some equipment was destroyed.

During the plant’s occupation, managers were initially allowed to enter the plant “singly or in pairs,” but later Coca-Cola employees were barred completely. Over the following weeks, company shareholders received extortion demands from “freelancers” while anonymous callers threatened the plant’s foreign workers with “political problems” or physical harm, according to the cable.

“At no time did any Libyan authority offer a legal justification for the plant’s shutdown,” the cable said, recounting complaints from business officials involved.

The battle reached a peak in February 2006, when men loyal to Mutassim went to Mohammed’s residence, where they abducted and assaulted one of his cousins, who is also one of Mohammed’s in-laws, in order to “send a signal to The Engineer (Mohammed),” according to the cable.

Mutassim’s associates arrived at “Mohammed’s residence and began shouting for him to come out,” the cable says, quoting a witness. “Receiving no response, they left in search of one of Mohammed’s cousins, whom they stowed in the trunk of one of their cars and brought back to the residence.”

One of the company’s board members received a hurried call warning him to leave Tripoli before Mutassim’s men could find him.

Finally, their sister, Aisha Qaddafi, appeared to have become fed up with the fighting and brokered a deal between her brothers. According to the cable, the compromise called for Mohammed to sell his shares in the bottling operation, and in return Mutassim would call off his men and leave the company alone.

One person caught in the middle of the fight told an official from the United States Embassy, according to one of the cables, that “although he had heard stories about doing business in Libya, he never imagined that what transpired was still possible here. ‘You know the movie, ‘The Godfather’? We’ve been living it for the last few months.’ ”

On Wednesday, Kerry Tressler, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta, acknowledged that in 2006 there had been “a period of uncertainty about the local ownership of the bottler” in Libya, but that the problem was eventually resolved.

She said that production and distribution at the bottling plant have now stopped because of the protests and unrest.

The State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said it would have no comment on the cables’ revelations.

    2 Qaddafis Fought Over Business, Cables Show, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/world/africa/03cables.html

Gates Warns of Risks of a No-Flight Zone

March 2, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID E. SANGER and THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — With rebels in Libya calling for Western airstrikes on forces supporting Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates warned Congress on Wednesday that even a more modest effort to establish a no-flight zone over Libya would have to begin with an attack on the country’s air defenses and would require “a big operation in a big country.”

Mr. Gates’s caution illustrates the chasm between what the rebels and some leading members of Congress are calling for and what President Obama appears willing to do in Libya. Mr. Obama and his aides have argued that it is not yet clear that the insurgents need the help — and they have warned that the use of American airpower could fuel the arguments of those in the Middle East who see a Washington conspiracy behind homegrown uprisings.

But even some members of the president’s own party sounded unconvinced on Wednesday. Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and one of the president’s chief foreign policy allies in Congress, argued that “a no-fly zone is not a long-term proposition” and warned that other nations and NATO should not be “on the sidelines” as Colonel Qaddafi’s jets begin to attack the antigovernment insurgents.

“We ought to be considering a wide range of responses, and a no-fly zone ought to be an option,” Mr. Kerry said late Wednesday. “We have a number of tools, and we should not remove any of them from the table.”

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, who along with Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, has been calling for a no-flight zone, said Wednesday after Mr. Gates’ testimony: “Is it complicated? Yeah. Can we do it? Of course.” He noted that “we did it for a long time and quite successfully in Iraq.”

But over the past day or two, American military officials, even while positioning ships off Libya, have warned that a no-flight zone would not be as antiseptic as it sounded, and that the diplomatic and international political hurdles would be difficult to overcome. It is unclear if it would require an authorization from Congress to use force, the first since the authorization to use force against Iraq passed nearly a decade ago, or authorization by the United Nations.

Such authorization is missing from the United Nations Security Council resolution passed last week, and so far there is no movement in the Council to toughen that resolution.

Mr. Gates, the most prominent Republican in the administration, was even blunter than usual as he approaches the end of his time in office. His testimony came days after he gave a speech warning that America should avoid another big, intractable land war like those under way in Iraq and Afghanistan. His testimony on Wednesday before the House Appropriations Committee was given just as Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi bombed insurgents outside of Tripoli.

“Let’s just call a spade a spade,” Mr. Gates said. “A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses. That’s the way you do a no-fly zone. And then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that’s the way it starts.”

Rebels in Benghazi, the Libyan city held by opponents of Colonel Qaddafi, made it clear on Wednesday that they were looking for more than just a no-flight zone. Shortly after forming an “interim national government council” led by Colonel Qaddafi’s former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, they called on Western powers to conduct airstrikes against the “strongholds of the mercenaries” and any equipment “used against civilians and people,” according to The Associated Press.

Their call seems to indicate that the rebels, while effective so far in holding off attacks from Colonel Qaddafi’s loyalists, do not believe they can dislodge the colonel from his Tripoli redoubt.

Now the White House finds itself caught between Mr. Obama’s own sense of caution, and critics on both the left and the right who believe that the president should be more forceful in aiding the rebels, protecting the population and helping engineer Colonel Qaddafi’s ouster. His aides have said that any overt American military intervention could play into Colonel Qaddafi’s narrative that the uprising is a Western-led plot to occupy Libya and seize its oil.

“There’s a great temptation to stand up and say, ‘We’ll help you rid the country of a dictator,’ ” one senior administration official said, insisting on anonymity because of the delicacy of the discussions. “But the president has been clear that what’s sweeping across the Middle East is organic to the region, and as soon as we become a military player, we’re at risk of falling into the old trap that Americans are stage-managing events for their own benefit.”

Thus, the administration has relied on more indirect steps — freezing $30 billion in Libyan assets, barring Libyan officials from travel and calling for Colonel Qaddafi to resign. None of those steps, White House officials concede, are likely to significantly change the situation.

A no-flight zone might greatly weaken the Libyan leader by grounding his air power. But Mr. Gates noted on Wednesday that any operation to enforce a no-flight zone would have to be large, given Libya’s size. It would require more aircraft than are aboard a single aircraft carrier, he said, and other officials noted that with American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, a prolonged commitment to Libya, even from the air, would stretch resources thin.

“We’re just not there yet,” one senior administration official said on Tuesday, warning that China and Russia, along with some non-permanent members of the Security Council, would object unless Colonel Qaddafi began using his air force to attack large numbers of Libyans. China has historically voted against anything that might seem like what it calls “interference” in a country’s internal affairs.

The divisions in Congress on the issue are significant as well. Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, said Wednesday that he was “very conscious of the unpredictability of history in this part of the world,” noting that revolutions went go off course, “Iran being the classic example.”

There are military considerations as well.

Officials interviewed said they believed that Colonel Qaddafi — who has been defiant during the crisis — would actively oppose a no-flight zone, perhaps even firing on American or other Western aircraft. That would force the West to respond with attacks on Libya’s surface-to-air missile sites, air defense radars and combat aircraft. The whole operation would require hundreds of aircraft, based on American aircraft carriers and perhaps neighboring NATO countries. Even though Libya’s air force would be no match for American piloting skills and warplanes, Libya’s Soviet-designed surface-to-air missiles present a significant risk. During the 1986 bombing of Tripoli, at least one American plane was shot down.

American air patrols to impose no-flight zones over northern and southern Iraq, and across the former Yugoslavia, have proved effective at preventing dictators from using warplanes to bomb civilian populations. Yet doing what the rebels asked for — a bombing campaign — would be even more complex, with the possibility of significant civilian casualties.

Mona El-Naggar contributed reporting from Cairo.

    Gates Warns of Risks of a No-Flight Zone, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/world/africa/03military.html

U.S. assault ships clear Suez, enter Mediterranean

WASHINGTON | Wed Mar 2, 2011
2:25pm EST
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. amphibious assault ships have reached the Mediterranean as Washington intensifies military pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to end his decades-long rule, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

The two ships, the USS Ponce and the USS Kearsarge, amphibious assault ships that typically carry Marines, cleared the Suez Canal from the Red Sea and entered the Mediterranean, the official said on condition of anonymity.

(Reporting by Missy Ryan; Editing by Sandra Maler)

    U.S. assault ships clear Suez, enter Mediterranean, R, 3.2.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-libya-usa-ships-idUSTRE72169F20110302

Rival rallies demand reforms, back sultan in Oman

MUSCAT | Wed Mar 2, 2011
1:31pm EST
Reuters

MUSCAT (Reuters) - Rival groups demonstrated in the Omani capital Muscat Wednesday, with protesters demanding jobs and political reforms for a fifth successive day and government supporters taking part in a long parade of cars.

Unrest broke out this week in Sohar, Oman's main industrial center in a rare sign of discontent in the usually tranquil Gulf state, ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said for four decades, after a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.

Hundreds of cars packed streets in an area of the capital housing government ministries Wednesday, with drivers honking horns and passengers holding up national flags and pictures of Sultan Qaboos.

"We are happy that Sultan Qaboos has answered our requests for reforms and I am sure more reforms will come in the next few days," said Yaqub Bilal, a resident of Muscat taking part in the pro-government parade.

The sultan tried to ease tension Sunday by promising 50,000 jobs, unemployment benefits of $390 a month and to study widening the power the quasi-parliamentary Shura Council.

Earlier Wednesday, about 150 people gathered in a silent protest outside the building of the Shura Council, an elected advisory body which demonstrators want transformed into a full-fledged parliament.

They carried placards reading "we want jobs" and "we want freedom of the press."

"Though we see some of our requests addressed, we still need reforms such as the removal of long-serving ministers and the Shura Council to have legislative powers," said Rashid al-Sakhri, an oil engineer.

As many as six people were killed in Sohar Sunday when police opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators after failing to scatter them with batons and tear gas.

The U.S. State Department has said that Washington was encouraging restraint and dialogue in Oman, strategically located across the Gulf of Oman from U.S. adversary Iran.

Oman has strong military and political ties with the United States and is a small non-OPEC oil exporter.

Sultan Qaboos, who exercises absolute power in a country where political parties are banned, gave more independence to the public prosecutor Tuesday and ordered the creation of an independent consumer protection watchdog to monitor prices.

These were the latest in a series of modest steps after the sultan reshuffled his cabinet Saturday, a week after a small protest in Muscat gave the first hint that Arab discontent could reach the sultanate.

Mostly wealthy Gulf Arab countries have pledged billions of dollars in state benefits and some offered modest reforms to appease their populations influenced by popular unrest that has toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and is threatening Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's hold on power.

(Reporting by Saleh Al-Shaibany; writing by Firouz Sedarat; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

    Rival rallies demand reforms, back sultan in Oman, R, 2.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-oman-idUSTRE72158J20110302

Witness: In fiery speech, Gaddafi says will not surrender

TRIPOLI | Wed Mar 2, 2011
1:06pm EST
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Basking in the adulation of hundreds of adoring supporters, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a fiery speech Wednesday pledged to crush an escalating uprising against his rule.

Mixing paternalistic notes with furious anti-Western rhetoric, he told a people's congress in Tripoli that Libyans would die by the thousands if foreign powers intervened in the crisis, and blamed "armed gangsters" for the unrest.

"We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people," he said as delegates chanted "God, Muammar, Libya, only."

"We will enter a bloody war and thousands and thousands of Libyans will die if the United States enters or NATO enters," Gaddafi added as I and other journalists sat on the floor just 10 m (yards) away from the man who has ruled Libya for 40 years.

He was given a hero's welcome as he arrived at the heavily guarded complex driving at the head of his motorcade in a tiny golf cart and waving at cheering crowds.

When he entered the building, the crush of people trying to reach him knocked a state television camera broadcasting the speech off the air.

Gaddafi, who has lost swathes of territory and whole cities to rebels, repeated defiantly that he would not step down as leader of the oil-producing North African nation.

"There is a conspiracy to control Libyan oil and to control Libyan land, to colonize Libya once again. This is impossible, impossible," he said, wearing his trademark turban and a flowing white robe.

"We will fight until the last man and last woman to defend Libya from east to west, north to south," he said.

At times he appeared almost aloof, sometimes sad, and the overall tone was more conciliatory than usual.

He spoke at length about his family, government reform and promised to give people loans at zero interest.

His three-hour speech was interrupted regularly by frantic applause and he was given a standing ovation several times. Some delegates were wearing baseball caps with a picture of Gaddafi.

He made long pauses and listened to the applause with a stony face. Sometimes he tapped on the microphone to signal his impatience with the cheering.

One woman shouted from the audience: "You will not go and you will never leave! You are all that is good!... You are a sword that does not bend!"

Others chanted "We will die for Gaddafi."

FORGIVE CONFUSED YOUNG PEOPLE

At times the Libyan leader showed a softer side, saying he was ready to forgive what he described as confused young people with Kalashnikovs who had been misled by bandits and al Qaeda.

"My assets are human values, the nation, glory, history," he said. "These are assets that are eternal."

The delegates said they loved Gaddafi -- a sentiment that appears to dominate in Tripoli, Gaddafi's last significant stronghold in an unprecedented two-week-old popular uprising against his rule.

"I am happy he is here. We all love him. This is a celebration," said Bashir Zimbil, a university professor.

"The U.S. and Britain are trying to interfere. The West wants our oil. They want to divide and conquer. They will not succeed. Our leader will protect us."

Diplomats from the few countries which have maintained a presence in the country, among them Malaysia, North Korea, Russia and Ukraine, listened and looked a bit uncomfortable.

In the back of the hall, despite the noise, some people slept.

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

    Witness: In fiery speech, Gaddafi says will not surrender, R, 2.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-libya-gaddafi-witness-idUSTRE72157Z20110302

Gold rises to record above $1,440 on Mideast unrest

NEW YORK/LONDON | Wed Mar 2, 2011
12:58pm EST
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose to a record high for a second straight day on Wednesday, breaching $1,440 an ounce as political unrest in Libya and surging oil prices prompted investors to pile in.

Unrest across the Middle East and North Africa, which unseated leaders in Tunisia and Egypt before spreading to Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman and Iran, fueled safe-haven buying on fears that tensions could flare across the entire region.

"You have political problems all over the world, a Federal Reserve bank that still erred on the side of easing rather than tightening, rising commodities prices in general, and growing disdain for fiat currencies generally," said Dennis Gartman, author of the Gartman Letter, an daily investment newsletter.

"It will be illogical for gold not to be going higher," he said.

Two U.S. warships were passing through the Suez Canal on Wednesday, heading for the waters off Libya to pressure that country's ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, to step down. Gaddafi launched a land and air offensive to retake territory from rebels in Libya's eastern region.

At a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the Libya crisis is an internal Arab affair and foreign powers should refrain from any intervention.

RECORD TERRITORY

Spot gold rose 0.4 percent to $1,439.19 an ounce by 12:00 p.m. EST, after peaking at an all-time high of $1,440.10. The metal fixed at $1,435.50 an ounce in London.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose $7.90 to $1,439.10.

Gold is building on a 6 percent rise in February, its biggest one-month climb since August.

World stocks declined as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa drove up oil prices and pushed investors into safer assets.

Rising oil prices will support gold's status as an inflation hedge, analysts said, if they appear to curb global growth. "They could very well impact (growth in) Europe, the United States as well, and indeed China," said VM Group analyst Carl Firman.

"That will give rise to uncertainty, it will lower demand predictions for, for instance, copper, and where it knocks industrial metals and equities, gold will probably benefit," he said.

U.S. crude futures rose above $101 a barrel as escalating violence in Libya threatened the OPEC nation's oil infrastructure and markets braced for a potentially prolonged disruption.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the surge in oil prices is unlikely to hurt the U.S. economy, boosting gold as he offered no hint that the U.S. central bank was considering winding down its loose monetary policy.

RISK APPETITE WANES

Violence in the region cooled appetite for higher-risk assets such as stocks and boosted so-called safe havens like German government bonds, the Swiss franc and gold.

Silver rose to a peak of $34.96 an ounce, its strongest level since early 1980. It later rose 0.4 percent to $34.79 an ounce.

Holdings in the world's largest silver exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust, rose to 10,693.68 tones on March 1, their highest since January 14.

The trust reported a slight recovery in its holdings last month after they posted their biggest ever one-month fall in January.

Platinum gained 0.9 percent to $1,855.49 an ounce and palladium climbed 0.4 percent to $817.47.

Prices at 12:13 p.m. EST.

(Reporting by Frank Tang and Jan Harvey; editing by Jim Marshall)

    Gold rises to record above $1,440 on Mideast unrest, R, 2.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-markets-precious-idUSTRE71G2KM20110302

Iran opposition says 79 arrested in protests

TEHRAN | Wed Mar 2, 2011
9:19am EST
Reuters

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's opposition said at least 79 people were arrested at protest rallies on Tuesday that the government denied had taken place at all.

Authorities have deployed large numbers of security forces to prevent any repeat of the massive unrest that followed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election, and on Wednesday state media made no mention of Tuesday's rallies.

Opposition websites said thousands of people demonstrated in Tehran and other cities to demand the release of "Green movement" leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi who they believe were taken from their homes last week and jailed.

Prosecutor-General Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei denied the arrests, saying both men were still in their homes but were being prevented from communicating with the outside world.

According to opposition website Sahamnews, at least 79 people were arrested on Tuesday. Sites said some 1,500 were arrested on February 14 during the Green movement's first rally in more than a year, which was called to show support for pro-democracy uprisings in North Africa.

The police said "dozens" of people were arrested on February 14, and a parliamentary committee set up to investigate the events said only small groups of trouble-makers turned up.

Talking of events on Tuesday, Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told reporters: "A limited number of people, influenced by anti-revolutionary groups, were intending to do something."

"No specific incident happened on Tuesday in Tehran," he said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. Dolatabadi declined to give the number of arrests.

PRETEXT

Despite the official line that there has been no significant resurgence of the Green movement, which the government considers to be a seditious plot guided by its Western foes, parliament has called for Mousavi and Karoubi to be tried and hanged.

Two people were shot dead on February 14, deaths that each side has blamed on the other.

The parliamentary report, issued on Wednesday, accused Mousavi and Karoubi of staging the February 14 rally at the encouragement of U.S., British and Israeli intelligence.

"Foreign intelligence services had contacts with the sedition leaders urging them to call for a rally in support of popular uprising in Egypt and Tunisia ... as a pretext to create tension in the country," said the report, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Opposition leaders deny such accusations.

Iranian government leaders have hailed uprisings in several Arab states as part of an "Islamic awakening" inspired by the 1979 revolution which ousted the Western-backed Shah.

Analysts outside Iran say the uprisings have been overwhelmingly secular, not religious, in nature.

The Iranian opposition took those pro-democracy protests as inspiration to stage its own first significant show of vitality since December 2009 street protests, which were crushed by the elite Revolutionary Guards.

Mousavi and Karoubi -- reformists who lost to Ahmadinejad in the June 2009 election -- were held in their homes, incommunicado, after they called for the rally. Authorities warned such "illegal" gatherings would not be tolerated.

Opposition website Kaleme said it believed Mousavi and Karoubi and their wives were secretly whisked from their homes last Thursday and taken to Heshmatiyeh prison in Tehran.

The authorities' reluctance to confirm their whereabouts shows the sensitivity of taking aggressive action against men who remain rallying points for opposition to Ahmadinejad.

(Writing by Reza Derakhshi; editing by Mark Heinrich)

    Iran opposition says 79 arrested in protests, R, 2.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-iran-opposition-idUSTRE72138Q20110302

Algeria Keeps Lid on Social Unrest _ for Now

March 2, 2011
Filed at 9:49 a.m. EST
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The angry and determined men marched on Algeria's Parliament, tossing aside metal police barriers in a bold display of defiance. But these were not disenfranchised youths or opposition leaders.

They were Communal Guards, state-armed militia on the front line of the country's long battle with Islamist extremists, and their protest served as an eloquent example of the breadth of social unrest in this gas-rich North African nation.

Algeria's leadership, riddled by corruption and at the mercy of the army, is sitting in a circle of fire, with a restive populace at home and pro-democracy uprisings in neighboring Tunisia and Libya that are shaking the Arab world to the core.

Two months of strikes, sit-ins and attempted protest marches are raising questions about whether Algeria, which waged a brutal battle against insurgents for nearly two decades, can satisfy myriad and mounting demands for jobs, housing, higher salaries, proper medical benefits — and, trickier still, answer calls to end the army's dominance and build a real democracy.

Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks a decade ago, Algeria has become a critical U.S. partner and Muslim ally in the global war on terrorism. Should Algeria unravel — as some say it well may if fundamental changes are not made — it would be one more strategic blow to the West.

Those in charge here are worried. They have lifted a 19-year-old state of emergency as opposition leaders and citizens have long demanded, cut prices of some staples, and pledged $286 billion to development of a country whose resource wealth hasn't reached most citizens.

"Algeria is a mafia with a flag," is the common street response to the question, "How goes it?" Such disdain is long standing. It is the growing indignation that is new.

A leading figure in what once was Algeria's longtime single party, the National Liberation Front, recently denounced the exclusion and secrecy that defines the nation's leadership, shared by the president with army generals in the shadows.

Abdelhamid Mehri compared the Algerian regime to those in Tunisia and Egypt, where the presidents were ousted in popular uprisings, and warned of a potential social "explosion" at home without a peaceful transition to democracy.

"The voices demanding regime change ... are numerous," he wrote in an open letter to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in office since 1999. "They have multiplied in recent months in such a way that it is impossible to ignore them or postpone the response."

Gas and oil money, the memory of nightmarish past instability, and the veneer of democracy accorded in part by a noisy but tethered press are cushioning Algeria from the full-throttle anger that tipped countries like Tunisia or Egypt to push their leaders out.

Judicial and medical workers and university students are among those holding intermittent strikes, each with a set of demands. They join the jobless, the homeless and the hungry who rioted in early January around Algeria when the price of cooking oil and other staples increased. The violence left five people dead.

Five others have died by self-immolation, among numerous attempts, which mimic a Tunisian man who set himself aflame in an act that triggered the revolution there in mid-January — and sparked the Arab world unrest.

To defuse tensions, Bouteflika lifted a 19-year-old state of emergency on Feb. 24, while keeping bans on demonstrations in place in the capital. The president's office has also announced a raft of economic measures aimed at placating the despair and, most recently, exempted men over 30 from required army duty if they have not yet served.

Despite the generous economic promises, these are fixes, not solutions.

"You can buy silence and peace, but it can't last for long," said Mostefa Bouchachi, a human rights lawyer who has led a now-fractured coalition of forces that drew thousands to two pro-democracy protest marches in Algiers in February — put down each time by battalions of riot police. "It can calm spirits for months, but it doesn't solve the problems of Algeria."

The voice of outrage is supplanting a pervasive sense of fear that long ensured the silence of the average citizen, and even the Communal Guards — the eyes and ears of security forces — are standing up.

The Guards, comprised of civilians, don't want a confrontation with the state they have served at their peril. But they feel humiliated by lowly government job offers put forward now that the service is gradually being disbanded, and emboldened by the protesters from all quarters of society.

"We took up arms in 1994 and with terrorism declining they want to get rid of us," said Ali Abdellaoui, 44, a detachment chief from Dar El-Beida, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the capital, who has spent 16 years with the force.

"Suddenly, we have no income, no rights ... There are injured among us, those who lost a hand, a foot. They get a pathetic little pension," he said as police hustled the protesters to the side of the boulevard.

Deputy chief Yahia Salim said the Guards want improved medical benefits, housing and a pay increase retroactive to 2008, to match increases accorded to police.

"Someone who fought terrorism now finds himself working as a housekeeper," said Salim. "It's unjust."

By the standards of unrest in neighboring countries, protests in usually feisty Algeria, which wrestled independence from French colonizers in 1962, are timid, so far. No one wants to revisit the chaos and violence of the "national tragedy," the battle between security forces and Islamist extremists that all but decimated the nation, killing an estimated 200,000, costing tens of billions of dollars and nearly bringing Algeria to its knees.

Algerians proudly say that they are ahead of other Arab countries, having opened the door to a multiparty system in 1988. But the door was quickly slammed it shut when a now-banned Muslim fundamentalist party was poised to sweep legislative elections. The army decision to end the experiment triggered the insurgency.

Since then, the ever opaque world of Algerian politics has grown murkier.

An array of political parties fills the seats of parliament, run by a three-party presidential coalition that puts its stamp on policies decided in the higher spheres — by the army and the president. Deciphering who holds more weight on what issues is a national game.

Once, it was far simpler.

The country was ruled by the army for nearly three decades, until 1988. Generals were the presidents. With the exception of a short interlude, Bouteflika is the only civilian president Algeria has known since independence from France 49 years ago.

Today, "Algeria is a military dictatorship that uses a civilian to run the state," said Lahouari Addi, an Algerian sociologist at France's prestigious institute Sciences Po.

Be they ordinary citizens or professional observers, the consensus is the same: any hope for democracy in Algeria means dismantling the military pedestal on which the regime sits — not removing a president.

"I think we're at the limit. There is an illusion of change but a demand for profound change," said Nasser Djabi, a University of Algiers sociologist. "We must change the (military-dominant) system. We don't need to change names. The president and parliament must be responsible before the people."

Neither Bouteflika, 74 and ailing though said to be sharp even in long meetings, nor the coterie of generals behind the scenes have yet to take the courageous steps experts say are needed to open the political process to Algerian citizens.

Calls for change are coming from surprising quarters.

"Mr. President, you are supposed to be the father of the nation," writes the head of the Algiers Parents of Students Union in a letter to Bouteflika.

Salah Amer-yahia explains the birth of the organization at the height of violence in the mid-1990s and its belief in Bouteflika's plan to develop a "culture of peace" in Algeria.

Violence has diminished, he said, but "a decade later, the adolescents of yesterday see their horizons blocked."

Now, the letter goes on, they are risking their lives sneaking to Europe in small boats on the high seas, or setting themselves afire. It ends with a plea to end the army's shadow rule: "We need change to install a state of law."

    Algeria Keeps Lid on Social Unrest _ for Now, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/03/02/world/africa/AP-AF-Algeria.html

Upbeat Gaddafi Fires Trademark Blast at West and Qaeda

March 2, 2011
Filed at 9:42 a.m. EST
The New York Times
By REUTERS


TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi, orchestrating a populist response to rebels threatening his rule, blamed al Qaeda on Wednesday for creating turmoil and told applauding supporters there was a conspiracy to control Libya and its oil.

Gaddafi, who said no more than 150 people were killed in the unrest caused by "terrorists," told an audience of loyalists in a speech shown live on state television that if Washington or other foreign powers entered Libya they would face a bloody war.

Apparently confident and relaxed, but in denial about the occupation of swathes of Libya by rebels seeking an end to his long rule, Gaddafi said he was willing to discuss constitutional change without arms or chaos and would even talk with al Qaeda.

"I am ready to debate any one of them, one of their 'emirs', but they do not have demands at all," he said.

"There is a conspiracy to control the Libyan oil and to control the Libyan land, to colonize Libya once again."

"THOUSANDS WILL DIE"

Speaking to supporters who punctuated the address with cheers of support and declarations of loyalty, he said Libyans would fight to the "last man and last woman" against foreigners.

"We will enter a bloody war and thousands and thousands of Libyans will die if the United States enters or NATO enters," Gaddafi said, laughing at points during his long address.

"Do they want us to become slaves once again like we were slaves to the Italians ... We will never accept it," he said.

On the sequence of events that started the unrest, Gaddafi, who in a previous speech said protesters against his rule were brain-washed by Osama bin Laden and had their milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogenic drugs, said: "How did that all begin? Small, sleeper al Qaeda cells."

Wearing long, white robes, a brown head-dress and gesticulating, Gaddafi said: "Al Qaeda's cells attacked security forces and took over their weapons ... After Bayda, the Qaeda cells moved to Benghazi and Derna."

Gaddafi, 68, said there were no protests against his rule and that "underground groups" were whipping people up and reports by the media to the contrary were wrong. There were no political prisoners in Libya, he said.

"FINGERS IN THE EYES"

The international community should set up a fact-finding committee to find out just how many people had been killed in the Libyan unrest, he said.

Gaddafi, who once said democracy was for donkeys, told the meeting that the world did not understand the Libyan system that puts power in the hands of the people,

"Muammar Gaddafi is not a president to resign, he does not even have a parliament to dissolve," he said at the celebration to mark the declaration of Libya as a Jamahiriya in 1977.

Admirers say the system of town hall meetings, in which political parties are banned, guarantees ordinary people a direct say in ruling themselves and ensures political stability.

Critics say the country's Jamahiriyah or "state of the masses," the only government most Libyans have known, is a fig leaf for authoritarian rule and has kept the country poor.

"We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people," he said, referring to his system of "direct democracy."

At one point during the appearance, a woman in black robes and a green scarf seized a microphone and shouted: "How can you go? You will not go and you will never leave! You are all that is good! You are a sword that doesn't bend."

Gaddafi told the excited supporters: "Calm down youths."

(Reporting by Dina Zayed, Shaimaa Fayed, Tom Perry, Sherine Al Madeny,: Writing by Edmund Blair and Peter Millership in Cairo)

    Upbeat Gaddafi Fires Trademark Blast at West and Qaeda, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/03/02/world/africa/international-us-libya-gaddafi.html

Iran would "slaughter" people in revolt: defector

PARIS | Wed Mar 2, 2011
9:18am EST
Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - An Iranian diplomat who defected last month said on Tuesday that Iran's leaders would rather "slaughter" their own people than surrender power to any popular revolt inspired by uprisings across the Arab world.

Ahmed Maleki, who was vice consul of Iran's consulate in Milan before fleeing to Paris with his family last month, is the latest in a string of officials to defect from the Islamic state and join a year-old opposition group called the Green Wave.

He said in an interview that Iranians had been inspired by images of popular revolt in North Africa but faced a regime far more brutal than those of Egypt, Tunisia or even Libya.

"In the course of the past 32 years the sole objective of the regime has been to retain power," he told Reuters at a prestigious hotel in Paris, speaking through an interpreter.

"They are willing to ... resort to whatever measure, including slaughter and bloodshed to the extreme in order to retain power."

Two people were killed and dozens arrested on February 14 when thousands of opposition supporters in Tehran and other cities took to the streets in sympathy with uprisings that toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia.

Iran's Islamist leaders, seeking to avoid a revival of mass rallies that erupted after 2009 elections, have warned that any illegal gatherings by the opposition would be confronted.

Maleki said many other Iranian diplomats and military officers shared his critical point of view on the Tehran government but were waiting for the right time to switch sides.

He said he had fought for his country for 77 months in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War.

Maleki joins a former Iranian consul to Norway, an air force officer and a general who have already defected to the Green Wave. It was founded in March 2010 by exiled Iranian businessman Amir Jahanchahi, who aims to disrupt Iran's vital energy sector to put pressure on Iranian leaders.

(Reporting by Nick Vinocur and Lucien Libert; editing by Mark Heinrich)

    Iran would "slaughter" people in revolt: defector, R, 2.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-iran-defector-idUSTRE7211IO20110302

U.S. faces bloody war if enters Libya: Gaddafi

TRIPOLI | Wed Mar 2, 2011
9:07am EST
Reuters

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi said on Wednesday that Libyans would die in thousands if the United States or other foreign powers enter Libya, and he was ready to discuss constitutional and legal changes without violence.

"Do they want us to become slaves once again like we were slaves to the Italians?" the Libyan leader said, referring to Libya's former colonial power. "We will never accept it. We will enter a bloody war and thousands and thousands of Libyans will die if the United States enters or NATO enters."

On al Qaeda, he said: "I am ready to debate anyone one of them, one of their 'emirs', whomsoever appoints himself, who comes to me to debate with me, but they do not debate ... they do not have demands at all."

(Writing by Edmund Blair in Cairo)

    U.S. faces bloody war if enters Libya: Gaddafi, R, 2.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-libya-gaddafi-blood-idUSTRE7212QS20110302

Yemen Opposition Hands Saleh Transition Road Map

March 2, 2011
Filed at 9:05 a.m. EST
The New York Times
By REUTERS

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's opposition presented President Ali Abdullah Saleh with a road map on Wednesday for a smooth transition of power this year, offering him a graceful exit as street pressure grew for him to step down now.

However, illustrating the potential for rifts among his diverse opponents, young activists who have taken the lead in ever-swelling street protests demanded immediate change in the Arabian Peninsula state.

"Get out. Get out. Get out," protesters chanted near Sanaa University, where once-small student-led protests have grown into daily rallies of 10,000 or more. "No negotiation and no dialogue until the regime leaves."

The opposition which, just two days ago, had said it would not retreat from demands that Saleh leave power immediately, agreed with religious and tribal leaders to ask him to take steps toward a transition.

These included changing the constitution, rewriting election laws and removing his relatives from leadership positions in the army and security forces, all while guaranteeing the right of peaceful protest.

"What was presented was a road map for departure within a time frame of a month or two, or six months," said Mohammed al-Sabry, a spokesman for Yemen's main opposition coalition which includes Islamists and leftists.

"As for the people's demand for the departure of the regime, there is no going back on that," he added.

The rotating opposition chairman, Mohamed al-Mutawakil, said the coalition was asking for guarantees of the right to peaceful protest and for trials of those responsible for a harsh crackdown on protests in which 24 people were killed in two weeks.

"We have to start the transfer of power from the person to civil society organizations, and this is a needed step to ensure a safe and peaceful exit to the situation Yemen is living in," he said, saying a transition should be completed by the end of the year. There was no immediate response from the government.

PROTESTS ESCALATING

Saleh, a key ally of Washington's against al Qaeda's resurgent Yemen-based arm, has vowed to step aside when his term ends in 2013 and avoid transferring power to his son.

He has had trouble persuading opponents this was anything more than a maneuver to ward off the spread of unrest already raging in Libya, Bahrain and Oman, galvanized by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

The protesters on the streets -- 10,000 each in Sanaa and the industrial city of Taiz and Ibb -- showed little readiness to allow a more measured tone on transition, complicating efforts to give Saleh a respectable way out.

Political analysts say it remains unclear who really has the upper hand in Yemen, where tribal allegiances are strong. Young people have given street protests their momentum but the opposition is able to draw bigger crowds.

With the protests swelling gradually, there has been a series of defections among his allies to those seeking a change in the Arabian Peninsula state teetering on the brink of failure.

A leading hardline Muslim cleric, Sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani who two weeks ago backed Saleh staying on until 2013, joined protesters in Sanaa on Tuesday, but many seemed wary of his presence even as Islamists cheered him on.

"We'll be here until the regime departs and we have no other demand," said Ali Naji, a protester in Sanaa.

Samia al-Aghbari, a student leader in Sanaa, said: "The agreement bypasses the youth revolution and is not acceptable. Our demand is one: The departure of the regime."

Where once the protests were the domain of students and activists, they have also attracted a broader segment of society into the streets that last week began to include children, some wearing headbands emblazoned with the word: "Leave."

(Writing by Cynthia Johnston; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

    Yemen Opposition Hands Saleh Transition Road Map, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/03/02/world/middleeast/international-us-yemen.html

Gaddafi strikes at town, rebels eye foreign help

TRIPOLI | Wed Mar 2, 2011
9:02am EST
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi launched an offensive to retake territory in Libya's east on Wednesday, sparking a rebel warning that foreign armed forces might be needed to "put the nail in his coffin" and end his long rule.

The veteran ruler twinned the attack with a populist propaganda broadside against the rebels at a televised meeting, playing to nationalist opinion by saying a lot of blood would be shed if foreign powers intervened in the country's crisis.

Government troops briefly captured Marsa El Brega, an oil export terminal, before being driven back by rebels who have controlled the town 800 km (500 miles) east of the capital Tripoli for about a week, rebel officers said.

Their account was contradicted by Libyan state TV, which said Gaddafi's forces held the airport and seaport.

The veteran leader told the televised gathering the world did not understand that he had given power to the people long ago.

"We put our fingers in the eyes of those who doubt that Libya is ruled by anyone other than its people," he said at a Tripoli gathering broadcast live on Libyan television, referring to his system of "direct democracy" launched at a meeting attended by visiting Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 1977. Referring to an unprecedented two-week-old popular uprising against his rule, Gaddafi also called for the United Nations and NATO to probe the facts about what had happened in Libya, and said he saw a conspiracy to colonize Libya and seize its oil.

The assault appeared to be the most significant military operation by Gaddafi since the uprising erupted in mid-February and set off a confrontation that Washington says could descend into a long civil war unless the veteran strongman steps down.

But analysts cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from fast moving events in a situation of erratic communications.

"The attack reinforces the idea that the government is capable of projecting power far into the east," said Shashank Joshi, an analyst at Britain's Royal United Services Institute.

"But we should keep in mind that both the government and the rebels are trying to spin an image of momentum.

"Bear in mind that in the area around Tripoli, where the government has more forces to draw on, we see government offensives still being blunted quite easily."

The rebels said they would probably seek foreign military help, a sensitive topic for Western countries uncomfortably aware that Iraq suffered years of bloodletting and al Qaeda violence after a 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

"We are probably going to call for foreign help, probably air strikes at strategic locations that will put the nail in his (Gaddafi's) coffin," Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebel February 17th Coalition, told Reuters.

"They tried to take Brega this morning, but they failed. It is back in the hands of the revolutionaries. He (Gaddafi) is trying to create all kinds of psychological warfare to keep these cities on edge," he said.

There are fears that the uprising, the bloodiest yet against long-serving rulers in the Middle East, is causing a major humanitarian crisis, especially on the Tunisian border where thousands of foreign workers are trying to flee to safety.

Gaddafi is defiant and his son, Saif al-Islam, has warned the West against launching military action. He said the veteran ruler would not relinquish power or be driven into exile.

The Libyan leader might do something "desperate" to defend his regime, Italy's industry minister said.

"There is a possibility, indeed a real possibility, that Gaddafi might make a desperate last-ditch attempt to free himself from the siege that he finds himself in," said Paolo Romani on Italian television.

Across Libya, tribal leaders, officials, military officers and army units have defected to the rebel cause and say they are becoming more organized. Tripoli is a stronghold for Gaddafi in this oil-producing north African state.

"We are going to keep the pressure on Gaddafi until he steps down and allows the people of Libya to express themselves freely and determine their own future," Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Captain Faris Zwei, among officers in the east who joined the opposition to Gaddafi, said there were more than 10,000 volunteers in Ajdabiyah, a short distance from Marsa El Brega.

"We are reorganizing the army, which was almost completely destroyed by Gaddafi and his gang before they left," he said.

Two amphibious assault ships, USS Kearsarge, which can carry 2,000 Marines, and USS Ponce, entered the Suez Canal on Wednesday en route to the Mediterranean. The destroyer USS Barry moved through the canal on Monday as part of efforts to increase diplomatic and military pressure on Gaddafi to quit.

ARAB LEAGUE POISED TO REJECT FOREIGN MILITARY ROLE

Arab League foreign ministers met in Cairo to discuss a draft resolution rejecting foreign military intervention in Libya, the deputy secretary general of the league said.

The repositioning of U.S. ships and aircraft closer to Libya is widely seen as a symbolic show of force since neither the United States nor its NATO allies have shown any appetite for direct military intervention in the turmoil that has seen Gaddafi lose control of large swaths of his country.

Italy said it was sending a humanitarian mission to Tunisia to provide food and medical aid to as many as 10,000 people who had fled violence in Libya on its eastern border.

The White House said the ships were being redeployed in preparation for possible humanitarian efforts but stressed it "was not taking any options off the table." Gates said: "Our job is to give the president the broadest possible decision space."

AFRICANS, ASIANS DESPERATE TO LEAVE LIBYA

General James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, told a Senate hearing that imposing a no-fly zone would be a "challenging" operation. "You would have to remove air defense capability in order to establish a no-fly zone, so no illusions here," he said. "It would be a military operation."

At Ras Jdir on the Tunisia border, thousands of Bangladheshi migrant workers, desperate to leave Libya, pressed up against the gates of the frontier crossing, angry at their government for sending no help.

Groups of West African migrant workers also in the crowd chanted for help and held up the flags of Ghana and Nigeria.

About 70,000 people have passed through the Ras Jdir border post in the past two weeks, and many more of the hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in Libya are expected to follow.

(Additional reporting by Yvonne Bell and Chris Helgren in Tripoli, Tom Pfeiffer, Alexander Dziadosz and Mohammed Abbas in Benghazi, Yannis Behrakis and Douglas Hamilton; Christian Lowe and Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Souhail Karam and Marie-Louise Gumuchian in Rabat and Samia Nakhoul in London; Writing by William Maclean; Editing by Giles Elgood)

    Gaddafi strikes at town, rebels eye foreign help, R, 2.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/02/us-libya-protests-idUSTRE71G0A620110302

Radical Cleric Demands Ouster of Yemen Leader

March 1, 2011
The New York Times
By LAURA KASINOF and SCOTT SHANE

SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, maintained a tenuous hold on power on Tuesday, blaming the United States and Israel for protests across the Arab world, while a prominent radical cleric joined the growing crowds demanding his ouster and called for an Islamic state.

American officials expressed concern about the statement of the cleric, Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a onetime mentor of Osama bin Laden, which introduced a new Islamist element to the turmoil in a country where Al Qaeda is viewed as a grave threat. The protests that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and that now have spread to Libya, Bahrain and Oman have been largely secular in nature.

Mr. Zindani spoke on an open-air stage before several thousand antigovernment protesters, guarded by 10 men carrying AK-47s and shielded from the scorching sun by two umbrellas wielded by aides. “An Islamic state is coming,” he said, drawing cries of “God is great” from some in the crowd.

He said Mr. Saleh “came to power by force, and stayed in power by force, and the only way to get rid of him is through the force of the people.”

How much support Mr. Zindani had in the protest movement was not clear.

As the opposition held what it called “a day of rage,” the pro-government camp mustered one of its biggest crowds in weeks of turmoil. Men danced in the streets, waving aloft traditional curved daggers and replacing their opponents’ slogan — “the people want the regime to fall” — with the words “the people want Ali Abdullah Saleh.”

Obama administration officials increasingly fear the power vacuum that they believe would follow if Mr. Saleh, whose son, nephews and close allies in the Sanhan tribe control the military and intelligence agencies, departed. Mr. Zindani has long supported Mr. Saleh, and his defection, which followed that of tribal leaders and a refusal on Monday by opposition parties to join a unity government, was a sign of how quickly the president’s patronage system is dissolving, a senior administration official said.

Thomas C. Krajeski, the American ambassador to Yemen from 2004 to 2007, who just returned from a visit there, said he would put Mr. Saleh’s chances of staying in power at no better than 50-50, despite the Yemeni president’s long history as a wily survivor and tribal deal-maker during three decades in power. Mr. Krajeski, now senior vice president of the National Defense University, said that the State Department each year had studied possible successors to Mr. Saleh and “came up empty.”

A collapse of the government in Yemen would pose a serious threat to Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s far wealthier neighbor to the north, Mr. Krajeski said. “If I’m sitting in Riyadh and looking south, I would be very, very worried,” he said.

A senior Pentagon official, Garry Reid, said that given Mr. Saleh’s close cooperation on operations against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, he saw no alternative to Mr. Saleh.

“In my view, it’s the best partner we’ll have, and hopefully it will survive,” said Mr. Reid, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combating terrorism, in a talk at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.

Mr. Saleh, for his part, sought to put distance between himself and Washington with comments that were all the more startling given the United States’ political support and military aid to his government.

“From Tunis to the sultanate of Oman,” Mr. Saleh said, the wave of protest is “managed by Tel Aviv and under the supervision of Washington.”

American officials dismissed the accusation. “We don’t think scapegoating will be the kind of response that the people of Yemen or the people in other countries will find adequate,” said Jay Carney, the White House press secretary. Mr. Carney said the Obama administration had “made clear to the leadership in Yemen, as we have to the leadership in other countries, that they need to focus on the political reforms that they need to implement to respond to the legitimate aspirations of their people.”

Privately, administration officials said they believed that Mr. Saleh was posturing to try to hang onto his job. “We’re not taking those comments that seriously,” one administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“American diplomacy, when it’s working well, is mature enough to see when leaders are playing to their own domestic interests,” said Juan Carlos Zarate, a former Bush administration national security official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “To the extent that Saleh feels he needs to distance himself from us publicly, I think we can live with that.”

For the Obama administration, the immediate preoccupation was whether Mr. Saleh could survive.

“A lot of people are really worried about what happens the day after Saleh is gone,” said Gregory D. Johnsen, a Yemen specialist at Princeton University, in a telephone interview from Cairo. Yemen is a famously well-armed country, he noted, and if a power struggle were to break out, it is hard to predict how the factions would shape up.

Yemen is very different from Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak stepped down but the military command structure stayed very much in place, Mr. Johnsen said. If Mr. Saleh goes, his relatives and tribal allies are unlikely to hold on to their positions, he said.

The early demonstrations in Yemen were inspired by Egypt’s largely secular, pro-democracy protests. But the appearance of Mr. Zindani on Tuesday suggested a possible shift to a more overtly religious direction, Mr. Johnsen said. “Religion has a larger place in public discourse in Yemen than in most other countries in the region,” he said.

Since 2004, Mr. Zindani has been named a “specially designated global terrorist” by the United States Treasury Department, which accused him of a role in financing terrorism — a designation Mr. Saleh’s government fought to reverse. Mr. Zindani’s word as a spiritual leader carries considerable political and moral weight in Yemen.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist network’s affiliate in Yemen, “is nowhere near strong enough to make a play for control of the state,” Mr. Johnsen said. But he said that if Mr. Saleh’s departure raised hopes for rapid change, the country’s rampant unemployment and poverty, growing population, shrinking oil revenue and dwindling water supply would remain.

“In a year, that could open the way for Al Qaeda to say, ‘You tried Saleh, you tried democracy, now you have to try the way of the prophet and the rule of Shariah law,’ ” Mr. Johnsen said.


Laura Kasinof reported from Sana, and Scott Shane from Washington. Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington.

    Radical Cleric Demands Ouster of Yemen Leader, NYT, 1.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/world/middleeast/02yemen.html

Qaddafi Vows to Fight to the ‘Last Man’ as Rebels Are Hit

March 2, 2011
The New York Times
By KAREEM FAHIM and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

BENGHAZI, Libya — With new fighting reported for a key oil center, Libya’s Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi denied on Wednesday that an uprising against him started with demonstrations against his four decades in power and renewed accusations that Islamist forces outside Libya were responsible.

In a rambling and defiant speech lasting more than 90 minutes, he challenged the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to confirm his version of events, the opposite of what much of the world believes about the latest outbreak of discontent that has toppled the leaders of neighboring Tunisia and Egypt and threatened others in Yemen, Bahrain and elsewhere.

“There were no demonstrations” in the eastern towns where the uprising started last month, Colonel Qaddafi told an indoor rally of loyalists to mark the 34th anniversary of the inception of what he called “people’s power” — part of his idiosyncratic prescription for government. “People came from outside Libya. Al Qaeda and the whole world knows that Al Qaeda does not take part in demonstrations.”

He called the rebels holding some cities “terrorists” and said loyalist forces would not surrender. “We will fight until the last man, the last woman for Libya, from north, south, east and west,” he said.

Colonel Qaddafi was speaking in Tripoli as news reports said his forces had carried out bombing raids and were poised to attack areas held by his opponents.

The reports said government forces in trucks had overrun the lightly-defended rebel-held town of Brega, an oil-exporting terminal on the Libyan coast around 500 miles east of Colonel Qaddafi’s stronghold in the capital, Tripoli. But, in the confusion of the fighting, there were also reports that rebels were trying to retake the town.

The reports — supported by television images — spoke of an aerial attack on the town of Ajdabiyah, around 50 miles from Brega, where rebels have taken control of a large ammunition dump. The town lies on the western approaches to Benghazi, the rebel bastion, where dozens of semi-trained young volunteers stormed out of a military base on Wednesday, clambered onto a truck and said they were heading — unarmed — to the frontline. Other rebel fighters said they were hoping to load tanks on to transport vehicles to join the battle to the south of Benghazi.

At the Tripoli rally, Libyan state television showed Colonel Qaddafi exchanging clenched fist salutes with his supporters.

“It is the people who rule,” he said, repeating his assertion, disputed by many outsiders, that he wields no formal political power. “There is nothing else but people’s power,” he said. “There is no room for a king or guardian or master to replace people’s power,” he said.

After introducing the system in 1977, Colonel Qaddafi said, “I went back to my tent” — a reference to a favored form of accommodation supposed to reflect his Bedouin roots. Scores of people attending the event, however, chanted an apparently choreographed slogan calling him their leader. A woman who was not identified by name stepped up to a microphone and shouted: “You are a sword that will not bend.”

Colonel Qaddafi’s defiance seemed to be borne out by a former senior aide, Nouri al-Mismari, his onetime chief of protocol, who said on Wednesday that the Libyan leader was likely to “fight to the end” rather than step down or commit suicide. “Power is very important and he wants to be in power,” Mr. Mismari told reporters at a press conference in Paris. “He will fight until the end. He will not believe in exile, he will not step down.”

The developments on the ground came against a backdrop of debate in Western capitals about how to maintain pressure on Colonel Qaddafi to leave. The notion of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya has failed to draw support from either the United States or Russia and Libyan rebels say they are opposed to foreign intervention in a home-grown uprising against Colonel Qaddafi and, increasingly, his sons.

Two American warships sailed through the Suez Canal on their way to the Mediterranean on Wednesday while, on Libya’s western frontier with Tunisia, an exodus of migrant workers from Libya has reached “crisis point,” with tens of thousands of migrants, many of them Egyptians, unable to travel home.

Britain and France announced on Wednesday that they would send airplanes and a French naval vessel to take Egyptian migrants home.

In rebel-held Benghazi, a council of opposition leaders made up of lawyers, academics, judges and other prominent figures is seeking to draw a distinction between airstrikes and foreign intervention.

“He destroyed the army; we have two or three planes,” said a spokesman for the council, Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga. He refused to say if there would be any imminent announcement about such strikes, but he wanted to make it clear: “If it is with the United Nations, it is not a foreign intervention.”

That distinction is lost on many people, and any call for foreign military help carries great risks.

The antigovernment protesters in Libya, like those in Tunisia and Egypt, have drawn broad popular support — and great pride — from their status as homegrown movements that have defied autocrats without outside help.

Any intervention, even one with the imprimatur of the United Nations, could play into the hands of Colonel Qaddafi, who has called the uprising a foreign plot by Western powers that seek to occupy Libya.

“If he falls with no intervention, I’d be happy,” one rebel leader said. “But if he’s going to commit a massacre, my priority is to save my people.”

There was no indication that the United Nations Security Council’s members would approve such a request, or that most Libyans who are seeking to topple Colonel Qaddafi would welcome it. Among the Security Council’s members, Russia has dismissed talk of a no-fly zone to curb strikes by the Libyan Air Force still under Colonel Qaddafi’s control, and China usually votes against foreign intervention.

The discussions appeared to signal a rebel movement that is impatient with a military stalemate that has crippled the country. The airstrikes’ supporters hoped they might dislodge Colonel Qaddafi from crucial strongholds, including a fortified compound in the capital, Tripoli.

The council is considering strikes against only the compound and assets like radar stations, according to the people briefed on the discussions, who requested anonymity because no formal decision had been made.

The United States acknowledged the sensitivity concerning outside intervention.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that the Obama administration knew that the Libyan opposition was eager to be seen “as doing this by themselves on behalf of the Libyan people — that there not be outside intervention by any external force.”

As council members left the meeting on Tuesday evening, Ali Abubaker, 40, a trader, said it would take “big pressure” to remove Colonel Qaddafi. “We don’t want to be in the situation where the people are turning against one another,” he said, warning of the threat of civil war. “We’d like the honor of the Libyan people doing it themselves. But perhaps we need help.”

Others strongly disagreed.

“No foreign intervention in Libya,” said Essam al-Tawargi, an engineer. “With our guns, with our potential, we can bring Qaddafi down.”

That conviction was tested on Tuesday in Nalut, a city on the Tunisian border that the rebels said they now controlled, in part because local army units refused to fight them. “They said we cannot and we will not kill you because we are all Libyan,” a rebel who gave his name only as Ayman said in a telephone interview.

He said that soldiers working for Colonel Qaddafi still controlled the border but could not enter the city and that defectors from local army units had helped residents arm themselves. “At first we didn’t have weapons, so we didn’t use them,” Ayman said. “But in this war we need weapons, so we get weapons from our soldiers in our army — they have given them to us.”

He said that the people in the mountain region near Nalut rose in rebellion after hearing reports of massacres in Benghazi. “They are my brothers,” he said, “so of course I will fight for them.”

He said the rebels in the mountains would march on Tripoli “when all of our region is free.”

Rebels also said they continued to hold Zawiyah, an oil port just 30 miles from the capital, after fighting off an assault by Colonel Qaddafi’s forces on Monday night.

Inside Tripoli, residents of the working class suburb of Tajoura described a massacre that they said had been carried out by pro-government forces last week.

The soldiers, they said, repeatedly drove through the neighborhood shooting at crowds and buildings, usually from Toyota Tundra pickup trucks but occasionally from the backs of ambulances.

They said one resident, a mother named Fatama Ragebi, had been killed by a stray bullet in her home and was buried on Saturday.

They repeated reports that the security forces had not only fired into crowds but also carried off the dead and wounded, sometimes from the hospitals.

The residents named 17 neighbors who they said had been killed and eight who had disappeared from just one street.

Few could agree on what would come next. Some said they were waiting for help in the form of weapons from the bastions of rebellion outside of Tripoli, like Benghazi.

Others vowed that “the people are going to free themselves by themselves.”

Kareem Fahim reported from Benghazi, Libya, and David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Libya. Alan Cowell and Matthew Saltmarsh contributed reporting from Paris.

    Qaddafi Vows to Fight to the ‘Last Man’ as Rebels Are Hit, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/world/africa/03libya.html

Fleeing Migrant Workers Pile Up at Libya’s Borders

March 2, 2011
The New York Times
By SHARON OTTERMAN and ALAN COWELL

SALUM, Egypt — International assistance began trickling though the Egyptian border into Libya on Wednesday, with medical supplies and assessment teams gathering at the border checkpoint here before heading into rebel controlled areas of eastern Libya to see what needs exist there.

But far to the west, on the Libya’s border with Tunisia, relief officials on Wednesday described an unfolding crisis as tens of thousands of migrant workers, mainly Egyptians, flee from Libya’s turmoil, some saying that they fear for their lives. As they enter Tunisia with only limited means of traveling onwards by plane or sea, “there is an absolutely mammoth task that is absolutely imperative” to ease pressure on the border area, said Sybella Wilkes, a spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency in Geneva.

“The capacity of the border area is bursting,” she said in a telephone interview. In the past 10 days, some 150,000 people have fled to the east and west from Libya and more than half have sought of them seeking refuge in Tunisia. Some of them, she said, had reported to relief officials that Egyptians were being singled out. She quoted reports by two unidentified Syrian travelers that Egyptians traveling with them had been hauled out of their car by loyalist forces in Libya and executed.

Appealing for international help for the migrants, many of whom are sleeping on concrete at the border crossing for nights on end, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon declared: “We need concrete action on the ground to provide humanitarian and medical assistance. Time is of the essence. Thousands of lives are at risk." In Salum, two Red Cross trucks filled with medical supplies idled on Egyptian side of the border, with authorities asking that the equipment be unloaded from an Egyptian truck to a Libyan truck before it could cross, said Samir Hadzimustafic, a Red Cross representative here.

United Nations officials, meanwhile, arrived in a three-car convoy and said they were headed to Benghazi, the emerging capital of rebel controlled eastern Libya, in part to see if the port there could be turned into a full-fledged corridor for humanitarian relief. Opposition control of eastern Libya has presented an unusual situation for assistance organizations, because they are not being invited in by the official government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, which lost control of the east amid the continuing rebellion against his rule. With such a fluid situation, it was a risk to discuss exactly who the United Nations officials team would meet in country, said Abdul Haq Amiri, the head of the regional United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, and the leading diplomat of the mission.

“It is a first mission, intended to determine whether there is a need for help,” Mr. Amiri said. With him were representatives of the World Food Program, Unicef, the World Health Organization, and the U.N. refugee organization.

At the border checkpoint, where several thousand migrants waited in no-man’s land for transportation and visas to return to African and Asian countries, a team from the American Embassy met with relief officials to assess the security situation; representatives of a growing number of nations, including Britain, Austria, and Korea, sought to provide help. A Sri Lanka diplomat prepared evacuation plans for 27 migrants who he had been told were their way.

The flow of migrants has decreased here over the past several days, but thousands still wait, sleeping on floors and pavement outside, for their embassies to sign off on their visas and arrange for flights.

Six professional basketball players from sub-Saharan Africa who were playing for teams in Benghazi arrived at the border on Wednesday, saying they feared being killed by Libyans who were now targeting black Africans, in a belief they were mercenaries. Even though they were well known in Benghazi, they said, it didn’t help.

"All Africans are in trouble now, they will arrest you," said Sunny Daykins, 19, a Liberian player who played for a team called Al Hillal. "They don’t even give you time to speak." He wore his red practice pants and carried a basketball in a plastic bag, along with a small duffel bag of clothes. His phone stolen, he clutched his SIM card. "I only took the important things," he said.

Several African women waited among the crowds of men. "There are more women inside Libya, but they are afraid to come out," said Laura Seulu, 29, from Cameroon, who had been a maid for a family in Benghazi. Rebels, she said, had broken into her house, and she had left as soon as she felt there was enough of a lull in violence.

A Palestinian family of fishermen sat separately from the crowd, after Egyptian authorities tried three times to return them to Libya Tuesday, along with 30 other Palestinians. "They wanted us to return to Benghazi and get a stamp on our passport. I told him, it is destroyed there-- there is no one to talk to," said Mohammed Abdel Hussein, 32. He repeatedly refused to go back, saying they would rather wait at the border point indefinitely than return.

The family is from the front lines, a town called Ben Jouad halfway between rebel-controlled Ras Maoof and Sert, Col. Qaddafi’s hometown. Half of the people in the town support the opposition, and half support Qaddafi, and young men from both sides patrol the streets carrying guns. After Qaddafi blamed foreigners for inciting the rebellion, the family became targets, and their landlord told them he would burn their house down if they did not leave immediately, they said.

"They accused us of starting the riot there," said Mohammed Abdel Hussein, 32. "They asked if we had weapons."

Sobhia Abdel Rahman, Mohammed’s mother, 60, said she had heart trouble and had fainted twice during the two-day journey to the border.

International officials were now assessing how to help them to return home. "We want to go back to Gaza," she said, leaning on her 21 year old daughter, Heba, for support. "We just left behind everything and came."

Ayman Gharaibeh, a United Nations refugee agency official at Libya’s border with Tunisia, said on Tuesday: “We can see acres of people waiting to cross the border. Many have been waiting for three to four days in the freezing cold, with no shelter or food.”

“This seems to be getting worse by the day,” he added.

Adding to the misery, it rained overnight. Between 10,000 and 20,000 more people pressing to cross into Tunisia, Ms. Wilkes, the United Nations spokeswoman, said.

The United Nations has built a tent camp some three miles from the border with a capacity of 10,000. Many of the Egyptians, Ms. Wilkes said, are construction workers who have helped put up emergency tents. But because of the rain and the cold, “people are sleeping like sardines” in the shelters. Relief officials said they had appealed for international help in creating an air-bridge to get Egyptians back home — apparently a cheaper and more effective way of moving people in large numbers than by sea.In separate announcements, Britain and France said on Wednesday that they would send planes to airlift stranded Egyptians from the Libya-Tunisia border.

"I think it is vital to do this, these people shouldn’t be kept in transit camps if it is possible to take them back to their home and I am glad that Britain can play such an important part in doing that,” Prime Minister David Cameron told lawmakers in London.

In Paris, the French government said it would send several airplanes and a ship to take up to 5,000 Egyptians home. The foreign ministry spokesman, Bernard Valéro, also said France was looking for ways to help migrant workers who had not yet left Libya.

“With rotations by heavy-lift planes on the one hand, and a naval transport ship that will soon be in the zone on the other, we ought to be able to move at least 5,000 people in under a week," Mr. Valéro said.

On the Egypt-Libya border the border has become a sea of red tape for workers from countries that would normally need visas to enter Egypt. Stacks of handwritten visa applications sit in a packed immigration office, waiting for embassies to sign off on their citizens. The Egyptian government will allow entry only to those migrants with a plane ticket, so the International Office of Migration has become a harried travel agency searching for spare seats on flights for places like Guinea and Mali.

Migrants had many reasons for leaving. Some said their companies in Libya had shut, leaving them stranded. Others said they were just afraid. Bassiro Cande, a 41-year-old from Guinea, was among several people who said they had been either threatened or beaten in recent days, as rebels mistook them for African mercenaries whom Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi had brought in from countries to the south.

“Before only the police would beat us, now the people did as well,” Mr. Cande said. “People thought we were fighting for Qaddafi, but we were innocent.”

Asammoah Solomon, 32, from Ghana, who was waiting to board a bus, said, “We became enemies to the Libyan people.” He said a crowd in Benghazi had rushed at him and three other Ghanaians with sticks, “so we ran.”


Sharon Otterman reported from Salum, Egypt, and Alan Cowell from Paris. Scott Sayare contributed reporting from Paris.

    Fleeing Migrant Workers Pile Up at Libya’s Borders, NYT, 2.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/world/africa/03refugee.html

Arab Unrest Puts Their Lobbyists in Uneasy Spot

March 1, 2011
The New York Times
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON — For years, they have been one of the most formidable lobbying forces in town: the elite band of former members of Congress, former diplomats and power brokers who have helped Middle Eastern nations navigate diplomatic waters here on delicate issues like arms deals, terrorism, oil and trade restrictions.

Just last year, three of the biggest names in the lobbying club — Tony Podesta, Robert L. Livingston and Toby Moffett — pulled off a coup for one of their clients, Egypt. They met with dozens of lawmakers and helped stall a Senate bill that called on Egypt to curtail human rights abuses. Ultimately, those abuses helped bring the government down.

Mr. Moffett, a former congressman from Connecticut, told his old colleagues that the bill “would be viewed as an insult” by an important ally. “We were just saying to them, ‘Don’t do this now to our friends in Egypt,’ ” he recounted.

Now the Washington lobbyists for Arab nations find themselves in a precarious spot, as they try to stay a step ahead of the fast-changing events without being seen as aiding despots and dictators. In Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt and other countries in the region, leaders have relied increasingly on Washington’s top lobbyists and lawyers, paying them tens of millions of dollars. Some consultants are tacking toward a more progressive stance in light of pro-democracy protests, while others are dropping their clients altogether because of the tumult.

In Tunisia, where the earliest revolts energized the regional upheaval in January, the Washington Media Group, a public relations and communications firm, ended its $420,000 image-building contract with Tunis on Jan. 6, soon after reports emerged of violent government crackdowns on demonstrators.

“We basically decided on principle that we couldn’t work for a country that was using snipers on rooftops to pick off its citizens,” said Gregory L. Vistica, the firm’s president, who first announced the decision on Facebook.

Others have stayed the course, at least for now. Mr. Moffett, Mr. Livingston and Mr. Podesta, who have a joint multimillion-dollar contract with Egypt, have stepped up the pace of their meetings and phone conferences with Egyptian Embassy officials after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. One of the chief aims, the lobbyists say, is to help the military officials now running the country move toward elections that will be regarded as free and fair outside Egypt.

“What we have done for them in the past is what we will continue to do for them in the future — everything in our power to build good relations between the Egypt of today and the United States,” said Mr. Livingston, a former Louisiana congressman who is one of Egypt’s lobbyists.

At the same time, Mr. Livingston acknowledged that he was closely watching the situation in the region. “Is there a danger that the whole area might become Islamist and radical and totally opposed to the interests of the United States?” he asked. “Certainly there’s that risk.”

At Qorvis, a global public relations firm that has represented numerous countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen and Cyprus, executives from the firm’s Washington office were visiting the Middle East this week with a business-as-usual attitude.

“Our clients are facing some challenges now,” Seth Thomas Pietras, senior vice president of Qorvis Geopolitical Solutions, said in a telephone interview from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. “But our long-term goals — to bridge the differences between our clients and the United States — haven’t changed. We stand by them.”

As a rule, leaders in the Middle East have paid consultants generously, even by Washington lobbying standards, with monthly retainers commonly reaching $50,000 or more, according to federal filings.

(Price breaks are available, however: the law firm of White & Case promised Libya “a special 15 percent discount off of our standard rates” in light of the “significant relationship” it hoped to forge with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s country in 2008, according to the contract.)

The United Arab Emirates spent $5.3 million in 2009 for lobbying American officials — second only to the Cayman Islands, which has lobbied to retain its status as a tax haven, according to an analysis by Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit research group. Working through DLA Piper and other Washington-based firms, the Emirates have sought greater access to American nuclear technology.

Morocco spent more than $3 million on Washington lobbyists, much of it aimed at gaining an edge in its border dispute with Algeria, while Algeria countered by spending $600,000 itself.

Turkey, which shares some interests with the Middle East countries, spent nearly $1.7 million in 2009 to lobby American officials on Turkish and Middle Eastern policy through the firms of Richard A. Gephardt, a former House leader; Mr. Livingston and other prominent lobbyists.

And Saudi Arabia, one of the most powerful foreign interests here, spent about $1.5 million in 2009 on Washington firms, and it has a $600,000 annual contract with Hogan Lovells aimed partly at fighting legislation and litigation that would challenge OPEC’s influence over oil prices.

“These kinds of regimes have a lot of money at their disposal, and that’s a great attraction,” said Howard Marlowe, president of the American League of Lobbyists. Still, he said, “a number of lobbyists will stay away from international clients — period.” To work with dictators in Middle Eastern nations with policies that many Americans find unsavory, he said, “you have to have a strong stomach.”

Mr. Livingston, the former congressman lobbying for Egypt, has also done work for Libya in seeking to resolve legal claims arising from Libya’s role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and to normalize the country’s relations with the United States.

But he said he reached a tipping point in 2009 when Libya welcomed back with open arms a bomber convicted in the Pan Am case and when Colonel Qaddafi threatened to pitch a tent in New Jersey next to a Jewish yeshiva while visiting the United Nations.

“Those two incidents were just more than we could handle,” Mr. Livingston said. Soon after, his firm ended its work for Libya — with “no regrets,” he said.

Other major Washington firms, including White & Case and Blank Rome, a legal and lobbying shop, have also ended their work for Libya, which spent about $850,000 on United States lobbying in 2009. It is not clear from federal records which Washington firms, if any, are still working with Colonel Qaddafi’s government; none have been publicly admitting it.

As demonstrations were taking place in Egypt last month, Mr. Moffett said a friend suggested to him that his lobbying work for the Mubarak government put him “on the wrong side of the Egyptian thing.”

Mr. Moffett demurred. “I don’t feel that way at all,” he said. “We feel honored to be on the scene while all this is happening.”

    Arab Unrest Puts Their Lobbyists in Uneasy Spot, NYT, 1.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/world/middleeast/02lobby.html

Thousands of Yemeni protesters demand Saleh goes

SANAA/ADEN | Tue Mar 1, 2011
7:12am EST
Reuters
By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed Mukhashaf

SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters flooded Yemen's streets Tuesday, dedicating a fresh "Day of Rage" to the 24 people killed in demonstrations demanding an end to the president's three-decade rule.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a U.S. ally against al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing, has failed to quell two months of protests in a country where half its 23 million people own guns, 40 percent live on $2 a day or less and a third face chronic hunger.

Protesters are also angry at widespread corruption. Yemeni university graduates struggle to get jobs without connections and youth unemployment is high.

Yemen is also riven with regional strife, with Shi'ite rebels in the north and separatists in the south demanding fairer political participation.

Saleh has been meeting with tribal and regional military leaders to rally support, but with oil and water resources drying up, his cash-strapped government is no longer able to pay off allies to keep the peace.

Saleh offered talks to form a unity government Monday. But the opposition swiftly rebuffed the offer, saying it was standing with protesters demanding he step aside.

In a meeting with religious leaders, also Monday, Saleh warned that those behind the protests were dividing the country.

"They would not be able to rule for even one week," he said, quoted by state media. "Yemen would be divided ... into four pieces by those who are riding the wave of stupidity."

MOST VIOLENCE IN SOUTH

Most deaths since January were in the southern port city of Aden, where protesters and police have clashed regularly. Many complain that security forces have reacted more violently to protests in the south, which was once an independent state.

"With blood and soul we support you Aden," protesters shouted on the streets of capital Sanaa. Al Jazeera television showed protesters making "V" for victory signs while others wore white headbands with "Leave" written in red.

Protesters in the last few days have chanted: "No to dialogue, no to dialogue, your leaving is the only option."

Opposition to the 68-year old leader gained steam under students and activist leaders inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

"Victory is coming and it is near," Hassan Zaid, an opposition leader, shouted to protesters in Sanaa. "We have one goal and one demand and that is the quick end of the regime."

A top religious leader in Taiz, 200 km (125 miles) south of Sanaa, said he would join around 10,000 protesters who have been camped out in a central square for weeks.

DOCTOR KIDNAPPED, UNREST HIGH

Tribesmen kidnapped an Uzbek doctor working in the province of Shabwa, an area of central Yemen where both separatists and al Qaeda militants are active, late Monday.

Abdulhamid Jun was taken to the neighboring southern Abyan province, where an air strike against al Qaeda suspects in December 2009 killed dozens of people in the town of al-Maajala.

"They took him to pressure the government to hold the people behind the air strike accountable," a tribesman in Shabwa told Reuters. "The people are upset with the government for not dealing with this issue."

Jun was taken to a mountainous part of Abyan, where al Qaeda operatives are believed to be hiding and where several air raids have been conducted against suspected militant bases.

Yemen security forces have also come under attack in recent days. Two soldiers and an intelligence officer have been killed and at least 11 soldiers wounded. Four inmates escaped from a prison riot in the south that killed one prisoner.

(Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Louise Ireland)

    Thousands of Yemeni protesters demand Saleh goes, R, 1.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/us-yemen-idUSTRE7201VI20110301

Oman army tries to disperse protests, wounds one

OHAR, Oman | Tue Mar 1, 2011
6:45am EST
Reuters
By Jason Benham

SOHAR, Oman (Reuters) - Omani troops fired in the air, wounding one person, when they moved in to disperse a crowd demanding jobs and political reforms near the northern port of Sohar on Tuesday, the fourth day of protests, witnesses said.

"We were about 200 to 300 people in the road. The army started shooting in the air," one protester in Sohar said, declining to be named. "Many people ran. The man who was shot came to calm the army down."

The crowd dispersed but then regrouped at a roundabout near the port, the witnesses said, and the troops pulled back.

On Monday, demonstrators blocked the entrance to Sohar port, which exports 160,000 barrels per day of refined oil products, and protests spread to the capital Muscat.

The unrest in Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare outbreak of discontent in the normally sleepy sultanate ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said for four decades, and follows a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.

The sultan, trying to calm tensions, on Sunday promised 50,000 jobs, unemployment benefits of $390 a month and to study widening the power of a quasi-parliamentary advisory council.

In Sohar, traffic flowed freely into the port. At the nearby Globe Roundabout, center of the Sohar protests that have drawn up to 2,000 people over the past three days, five armored vehicles watched the square but no protesters could be seen.

As many as six people were killed in Sohar on Sunday when police opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators after failing to disperse them with batons and tear gas. A doctor and several nurses at a state hospital said six people died but the health minister put the toll at one.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Monday "We have been in touch with the government and encouraged restraint and to resolve differences through dialogue," as demonstrations spread through the sultanate.

Sultan Qaboos, who exercises absolute power in a country where political parties are banned, shuffled his cabinet on Saturday, a week after a small protest in the capital Muscat gave the first hint that Arab discontent could reach Oman.

Mostly wealthy Gulf Arab countries have pledged billions of dollars in state benefits and offered modest reforms to appease their populations following popular unrest that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and is threatening Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's grip on power.

Oman is a non-OPEC oil exporter which pumps around 850,000 bpd, and has strong military and political ties to Washington.

(Writing by Cynthia Johnston, editing by Tim Pearce)

    Oman army tries to disperse protests, wounds one, R, 1.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/us-oman-idUSTRE7201KJ20110301

Settlers rampage in West Bank after outpost dismantled

JERUSALEM | Tue Mar 1, 2011
6:30am EST
Reuters
By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli settlers damaged houses and cars in two Palestinian villages on Tuesday, witnesses said, in an apparent show of anger over Israel's demolition of homes in an unauthorized settler outpost.

Villagers in Hiwwara in the occupied West Bank said settlers threw petrol bombs into a house, broke the windows of another, and burned several cars in the overnight rampage before moving on to nearby Burin, where Israeli soldiers prevented them from attacking a mosque.

There were no reports of injuries. An Israeli police spokesman said the incident was being investigated.

"We tried to put off the fire but we could not, because it was huge. The whole front room burned down and part of the sitting room," said Rami Edmeidi, the owner of the home that came under attack in Hiwwara.

The violence followed the bulldozing on Monday by Israeli authorities of two homes at Havat Gilad, a hilltop West Bank settlement built without Israeli government permission.

Israel has long promised the United States to dismantle outposts whose construction has not been sanctioned by Israeli authorities. But Israeli leaders have been reluctant to act in the face of opposition by settlers and their political backers.

The demolition at Havat Gilad followed Washington's veto on February 18 of a draft U.N. Security Council that described all Israeli settlements as "illegal" and urged Israel to "immediately and completely" halt settlement activity.

In remarks to legislators from his right-wing Likud party on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- whose refusal to renew a halt to building in settlements led to the collapse of peace talks with the Palestinians -- hinted he was limiting the scope of construction as a result of international pressure.

LIMITS

Netanyahu told the forum, according to a Likud spokesman, that while construction is under way in West Bank settlements, "in some places there are no (building) tenders."

Israel faces "a very difficult international reality, and the U.S. veto in the Security Council was achieved with great efforts," he was quoted as saying.

Netanyahu also must contend with pro-settler sentiment within his party and governing coalition. Anger was high among settler activists in response to the use by police of plastic-coated paint bullets to quash resistance at Havat Gilad.

It was the first time the non-lethal weapon was used against settlers, eight of whom were arrested. "Bibi, at Havat Gilad, you shot yourself in the foot," read posters, citing Netanyahu's nickname, at bus stops outside West Bank settlements.

Likud legislator Danny Danon said he and other settler supporters in the party intend to rachet up pressure on Netanyahu to boost construction in settlements.

"We are not prepared to accept any discrimination between Jews living in the cities of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the rest of the Jews in Israel," Danon told Reuters.

Some 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war.

Palestinians fear settlements, which the World Court has deemed illegal, will deny them a viable state. They say construction in settlements must stop before peace talks, frozen some three weeks after they began in September, can resume.

The U.S. administration said its veto in the U.N. Security Council should not be misunderstood as support for the settlements but that it believed passage of the resolution would only harden Israeli and Palestinian positions.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah and Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, editing by Diana Abdallah)

    Settlers rampage in West Bank after outpost dismantled, R, 1.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/us-palestinians-israel-idUSTRE72025Y20110301

U.N. Urges ‘Dramatic’ Help for Refugees Fleeing Libya

March 1, 2011
The New York Times
By ALAN COWELL

PARIS — The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday that more than 140,000 people had fled the turmoil in Libya into Tunisia and Egypt in recent days, many of them poor Egyptians who had been left to sleep on the ground in chilly temperatures with blankets and other relief goods in short supply.

Sybella Wilkes, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, said thousands more were lining up at the Libya’s border with Tunisia, where up to 75,000 refugees had already crossed into Tunisia. But from there, the relief effort is under “enormous pressure” to provide airplanes and ships to transport them to their home countries. A further 69,000 had crossed from eastern Libya into Egypt, she said.

As refugees arrive and are given blankets, they move into a transit camp. “The resources are being drawn down as quickly as we can pump them in,” she said in a telephone interview, adding that the situation needed “a really dramatic response and a quick response.”

The numbers have increased since the weekend as armed rebel forces moved closer to a showdown with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his loyalists sought to counter-attack from their stronghold Tripoli, the capital, and a handful of other places.

Relief workers say they are particularly concerned at reports that border authorities are preventing Africans from leaving Libya, although the reasons were not clear.

Colonel Qaddafi’s foes have accused him of deploying mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa.

Additionally, the North African coast has in recent years been the starting point for undocumented immigrants from Africa seeking to reach southern European countries, particularly Italy. In a statement on Monday, António Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “There are no planes and boats to evacuate people originating from war-torn or very poor countries.” He urged governments to “consider the needs of all vulnerable people” and not just their own citizens.

“Many of these people feel targeted and afraid, and have no resources,” he added, apparently referring to many poor Egyptian refugees who have arrived in Tunisia without the means to charter boats or take scheduled flights back to their own country.

On Tuesday, the Indian government said a passenger ship evacuated 1,100 of its citizens from the rebel-held port of Benghazi, including 175 nurses who had been working in the country.

The executive director of the World Food Program traveled to Tunisia on Monday to meet with government officials on refugees’ needs and the impact on the region.

In Geneva, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the United States Agency for International Development was dispatching two teams to Libya’s borders with Egypt and Tunisia to assess the need for emergency assistance. She said the aid agency had set aside $10 million for humanitarian assistance and begun an inventory of American emergency food supplies.

On Monday, the French prime minister, François Fillon, said in Paris that his country was sending two planes carrying doctors, nurses, medications and medical equipment to the rebels’ eastern stronghold of Benghazi.

The plight of poor Egyptian refugees contrasts markedly with that of citizens of richer countries who have been evacuated by sea and air from Tripoli and rebel-held Benghazi, using the island of Malta as a staging point.

The European Union said in Brussels on Monday that most of its 10,000 people in Libya had left, but that 650 were still asking to be evacuated, many of them from areas where rescue is difficult. China said Monday that it had sent four military transport planes to rescue the remaining 1,000 of some 30,000 of its citizens who were there before the crisis.

Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union’s crisis response commissioner, said that 1.5 million additional foreigners remained in Libya, increasing pressure on the borders with Egypt and Tunisia as non-Libyans sought to flee.

Television coverage at Libya’s land borders showed mainly poor contract workers carrying few possessions. Some footage showed hundreds of people crossing into Tunisia, then sitting on the ground, awaiting help. On the Libyan side of the frontier, thousands of people, some with infants, pressed against the border fence, clamoring to be allowed through.

The crisis in Libya had left people from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sudan and Thailand stranded with no travel documents as they tried to flee to Egypt, the refugee agency’s statement on Monday said. The agency said it had sent more than 100 tons of supplies like tents, blankets and cooking equipment.

“According to the tribal leaders, Africans are being treated with suspicion in eastern Libya, due to rumors about the government employing mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa,” the statement said.

Reuters reported Monday that Kenyans who fled said they had faced attacks and hostility from Libyan citizens and officials who branded them as mercenaries supporting Colonel Qaddafi. A Kenya Airways flight landed in Nairobi with 90 Kenyans and 64 people from Burundi, Congo, Lesotho, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, officials said.

“We were being attacked by local people who said that we were mercenaries killing people,” Julius Kiluu, 60, a building supervisor, told Reuters. “Let me say that they did not want to see black people.”

Last weekend, British and German military planes flew into Libya’s desert to pluck hundreds of people from remote oil installations and, British news reports said, the British C-130 Hercules military transports were protected by special forces units in case they came under attack.


Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Geneva.

    U.N. Urges ‘Dramatic’ Help for Refugees Fleeing Libya, NYT, 1.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/world/europe/02refugee.html

In U.S.-Libya Nuclear Deal, a Qaddafi Threat Faded Away

March 1, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — In late 2009 the Obama administration was leaning on Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his son, Seif, to allow the removal from Libya of the remnants of the country’s nuclear weapons program: casks of highly enriched uranium.

Meeting with the American ambassador, Gene A. Kretz, the younger Qaddafi complained that the United States had retained “an embargo on the purchase of lethal equipment” even though Libya had turned over more than $100 million in bomb-making technology in 2003. Libya was “fed up,” he told Mr. Kretz, at Washington’s slowness in doling out rewards for Libya’s cooperation, according to cables released by WikiLeaks.

Today, with father and son preparing for a siege of Tripoli, the success of a joint American-British effort to eliminate Libya’s capability to make nuclear and chemical weapons has never, in retrospect, looked more important.

Senior administration officials and Pentagon planners, as they discuss sanctions and a possible no-fly zone to neutralize the Libyan air force, say that the 2003 deal removed Colonel Qaddafi’s biggest trump card: the threat of using a nuclear weapon, or even just selling nuclear material or technology, if he believed it was the only way to save his 42-year rule. While Colonel Qaddafi retains a stockpile of mustard gas, it is not clear he has any effective way to deploy it.

“Imagine the possible nightmare if we had failed to remove the Libyan nuclear weapons program and their longer range missile force,” said Robert Joseph, who played a central role in organizing the effort in 2003, in the months just after the invasion of Iraq.

“You can’t know for sure how far the Libyan program would have progressed in the last eight years,” said Mr. Joseph, who left the Bush administration a few years after the Libya events, partly because he believed it had gone soft on nuclear rogue states. But given Colonel Qadaffi’s recent threats, he said on Monday, “there is no question he would have used whatever he felt necessary to stay in power.”

Whether he would have is, of course, unknowable.

But Colonel Qadaffi appeared to sense that loss of leverage over the last two years. The cables indicate a last-minute effort to hold on to the remnants of the program, less to assure his regime’s survival than to have some bargaining chips to get the weapons and aid that Colonel. Qaddafi and his son insisted they were promised.

The cache of nuclear technology that Libya turned over to the United States, Britain and international nuclear inspectors in early 2004 was large — far larger than American intelligence experts had expected. There were more than 4,000 centrifuges for producing enriched uranium. There were blueprints for how to build a nuclear bomb — missing some critical components but good enough to get the work started.

The whole package of goods came from a deal the Qaddafis struck with Abdul Qadeer Khan, one of the architects of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, who built the world’s largest black-market network in nuclear technology. The $100 million to $200 million that the Central Intelligence Agency later estimated that Libya spent on the nuclear project has never been recovered. For their part, the Libyans could never get the system working; many of the large centrifuges were still in their wooden packing crates when they were turned over.

The haul was so large that President George W. Bush, with photographers in tow, flew to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee to celebrate a rare victory against nuclear proliferation. He briefly noted the success in his recent memoir, “Decision Points,” saying that with the surrender of the weapons Libya “resumed normal relations with the world.” Mr. Bush lifted restrictions on doing business with Libya and praised Colonel Qaddafi, saying his action have “made our country and our world safer.”

In Libya, the story was told very differently. In an interview with The New York Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for a documentary, “Nuclear Jihad,” Seif Qadaffi complained that the West never followed through on many of its promises.

By 2009, when the Qaddafis were refusing to turn over the remaining highly enriched uranium, he said the decision to give up the weapons had been “contingent on ‘compensation’ from the U.S. including the purchase of conventional weapons and nonconventional military equipment,” a cable in late 2009 reported to the Obama administration.

Colonel Qaddafi, his son said, was unhappy that the centrifuges ended up in the United States, which he called a “big insult to the Leader,” compounded by the fact that little compensation followed.

Today Obama administration officials say that whether or not the Bush administration carried through on its promises, the deal deprived Mr. Qaddafi of far more fearsome weapons that he might have reached for as he attempts to stay in office.

While it is unclear whether he might have ultimately succeeded in building nuclear weapons, as part of the deal he gave up thousands of shells filled with chemical weapons.

“They were bulldozed,” William Tobey, a former senior official in the Energy Department under Mr. Bush recalled on Monday. While Mr. Qaddafi has many tons of mustard gas left, he said, “it’s very difficult to handle and I’m not sure it’s useful” to the Libyan leader.

But the message of the Libyan experience to other countries under pressure to give up their arsenals may not be the one Washington intends.

Iran and North Korea, who have often been urged by the West to follow Libya’s example, may conclude that Mr. Qaddafi made a fatal error.

While South Korea is dropping leaflets in North Korea alerting its population to the uprisings in the Middle East, senior South Korean officials acknowledged in interviews last week that should North Korea face a similar uprising, it could use the threat to unleash its arsenal — which includes six to a dozen nuclear weapons by most estimates — in an effort to keep neighboring countries from encouraging the regime’s ouster.

“When the North collapses — and one day it will, of course — we’re going to face a problem that we’ve been spared in Libya,” one senior South Korean official said on Friday in Seoul, declining to speak on the record about most sensitive contingency planning involving South Korean and American officials. “You have to bet that the leadership is going to threaten to use its weapons to stay in power. Even if they are bluffing, it’s going to change the entire strategy.”

    In U.S.-Libya Nuclear Deal, a Qaddafi Threat Faded Away, NYT, 1.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/world/middleeast/02arms.html

This Is Just the Start

March 1, 2011
The New York Times
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Future historians will long puzzle over how the self-immolation of a Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, in protest over the confiscation of his fruit stand, managed to trigger popular uprisings across the Arab/Muslim world. We know the big causes — tyranny, rising food prices, youth unemployment and social media. But since being in Egypt, I’ve been putting together my own back-of-the-envelope guess list of what I’d call the “not-so-obvious forces” that fed this mass revolt. Here it is:

THE OBAMA FACTOR Americans have never fully appreciated what a radical thing we did — in the eyes of the rest of the world — in electing an African-American with the middle name Hussein as president. I’m convinced that listening to Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech — not the words, but the man — were more than a few young Arabs who were saying to themselves: “Hmmm, let’s see. He’s young. I’m young. He’s dark-skinned. I’m dark-skinned. His middle name is Hussein. My name is Hussein. His grandfather is a Muslim. My grandfather is a Muslim. He is president of the United States. And I’m an unemployed young Arab with no vote and no voice in my future.” I’d put that in my mix of forces fueling these revolts.

GOOGLE EARTH While Facebook has gotten all the face time in Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, don’t forget Google Earth, which began roiling Bahraini politics in 2006. A big issue in Bahrain, particularly among Shiite men who want to get married and build homes, is the unequal distribution of land. On Nov. 27, 2006, on the eve of parliamentary elections in Bahrain, The Washington Post ran this report from there: “Mahmood, who lives in a house with his parents, four siblings and their children, said he became even more frustrated when he looked up Bahrain on Google Earth and saw vast tracts of empty land, while tens of thousands of mainly poor Shiites were squashed together in small, dense areas. ‘We are 17 people crowded in one small house, like many people in the southern district,’ he said. ‘And you see on Google how many palaces there are and how the al-Khalifas [the Sunni ruling family] have the rest of the country to themselves.’ Bahraini activists have encouraged people to take a look at the country on Google Earth, and they have set up a special user group whose members have access to more than 40 images of royal palaces.”

ISRAEL The Arab TV network Al Jazeera has a big team covering Israel today. Here are some of the stories they have been beaming into the Arab world: Israel’s previous prime minister, Ehud Olmert, had to resign because he was accused of illicitly taking envelopes stuffed with money from a Jewish-American backer. An Israeli court recently convicted Israel’s former president Moshe Katsav on two counts of rape, based on accusations by former employees. And just a few weeks ago, Israel, at the last second, rescinded the appointment of Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant as the army’s new chief of staff after Israeli environmentalists spurred a government investigation that concluded General Galant had seized public land near his home. (You can see his house on Google Maps!) This surely got a few laughs in Egypt where land sales to fat cats and cronies of the regime that have resulted in huge overnight profits have been the talk of Cairo this past year. When you live right next to a country that is bringing to justice its top leaders for corruption and you live in a country where many of the top leaders are corrupt, well, you notice.

THE BEIJING OLYMPICS China and Egypt were both great civilizations subjected to imperialism and were both dirt poor back in the 1950s, with China even poorer than Egypt, Edward Goldberg, who teaches business strategy, wrote in The Globalist. But, today, China has built the world’s second-largest economy, and Egypt is still living on foreign aid. What do you think young Egyptians thought when they watched the dazzling opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics? China’s Olympics were another wake-up call — “in a way that America or the West could never be” — telling young Egyptians that something was very wrong with their country, argued Goldberg.

THE FAYYAD FACTOR Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad introduced a new form of government in the Arab world in the last three years, something I’ve dubbed “Fayyadism.” It said: judge me on my performance, on how I deliver government services and collect the garbage and create jobs — not simply on how I “resist” the West or Israel. Every Arab could relate to this. Chinese had to give up freedom but got economic growth and decent government in return. Arabs had to give up freedom and got the Arab-Israeli conflict and unemployment in return.

Add it all up and what does it say? It says you have a very powerful convergence of forces driving a broad movement for change. It says we’re just at the start of something huge. And it says that if we don’t have a more serious energy policy, the difference between a good day and bad day for America from here on will hinge on how the 86-year-old king of Saudi Arabia manages all this change.

This Is Just the Start, NYT, 1.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/opinion/02friedman.html