History > 2011 > USA > International (VIII)

Men weep beside the bodies of family members killed

during Saturday's offensive by forces loyal to Moammar Khadafy

in the northeastern city of Benghazi on March 20.

Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters

Boston Globe > Big Picture > Libya: UN air strikes aid rebels

March 21, 2011

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

Hosni Mubarak’s Shadow

Still Falls on Much of Egypt

March 25, 2011
The New Yoprk Times
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

CAIRO — Amid the myriad public interest lawsuits filed against the deposed government of Hosni Mubarak, the volume of which is beginning to rival the flow of the Nile, the attorney Samir Sabry contributed a novel ripple.

Mr. Sabry, known mainly as the slick lawyer for star belly dancers and infamous tycoons, is suing to force the government to erase the Mubarak name from every public institution across the land of Egypt.

“Egyptians have adopted this habit for centuries — since the time of the pharaohs, when the image of pharaoh was everywhere,” said Mr. Sabry, doing a little walk-like-an-Egyptian maneuver with his hands and head. “Corrupt people should not be honored. I do not want to delete 30 years of Egyptian history, but I want to remove that name.”

The name and face have been scraped away piecemeal since Mr. Mubarak was overthrown Feb. 11 after three decades as president. Mr. Sabry’s lawsuit, filed in Cairo Expediency Court on March 1, seeks a court order to mandate “deMubarakization” in one fell swoop.

The idea draws widespread, but not universal, approval. A brief legal hearing on the issue on Thursday ignited a heated skirmish outside the downtown Cairo courthouse between those seeking to preserve the Mubarak name and those wanting it expunged.

Given that the once universal billboards bearing Mr. Mubarak’s portrait have largely come down, the sudden profusion of his picture held aloft by more than 100 supporters seemed alien.

“The people want the president to be honored!” they yelled, a variation on a popular chant that started in Tunisia and spread around the region, about the people wanting the government to fall.

“The people want the president put on trial!” yelled back an impromptu counterdemonstration that the police kept across the street.

The Mubarak supporters also chanted that they were not being paid to stand there, which only served to strengthen suspicions that they were, as did the uniformity of their statements. Each spouted the same sentence practically verbatim about how the Tahrir demonstrators were only a fraction of Egypt’s 85 million or so people.

Some Egyptians decry the attention focused on the issue, calling it superficial given the far more serious problems the country faces, ranging from the direction of the revolution to the brewing economic crisis. Sherif Hafez, a political science professor, for example, argued that removing the name was considerably less important than the more profound task of changing the mentality that allowed one man to dominate the country for nearly 30 years.

Cataloging every public use of the Mubarak name would require an effort not unlike constructing the Pyramids. It was plastered across schools, libraries, hospitals, clinics, bridges, roads, squares, airports, stadiums, ministry buildings, industrial complexes, dormitories, scouting centers and various national prizes. You name it.

The Ministry of Education reported that 549 schools had been named after either the president, his wife, Suzanne, or their son Gamal. The president was the namesake for 388 schools, compared to 314 for the three previous presidents combined.

Some children seeking an excuse to avoid school have hit on a corker — refusing to attend classes in any building bearing the Mubarak name, said one lawyer joining the lawsuit this week, arguing that speed was of the essence.

Naturally, all sorts of government branches and individuals have taken matters into their own hands. Newspapers report countless changes. The governor of Assiut ordered the name of “The Suzanne Mubarak School for Girls” changed to “The January 25th School for Girls.” The president of Zagazig University in the Nile delta ordered the name of the Mubarak University City dormitory complex changed to Tahrir Square. In the port of Damietta, workers protested until the Mubarak Petrochemical Complex was rebranded the Free Industrial Zone.

Gigi Ibrahim was about to inaugurate a free speech program at the American University in Cairo when the name etched in gold across a heavy beige marble plaque hanging outside the hall stopped her in her tracks: H. E. Suzanne Mubarak Conference Hall.

So Ms. Ibrahim, 24, having cut her teeth as a political activist at Tahrir Square, immediately applied the lessons learned about direct action, found a screwdriver and took it down with a friend’s help. “When we saw it we thought, ‘Well this just needs to come down,’ ” she said, although officially the name holds.

The profusion of Mubarak rooms, photographs and statuary in the National Assembly rivaled that of Julius Caesar in imperial Rome. In fact one marble bust that media reports said cost around $30,000 gives the former president a passing resemblance to the Roman emperor. (One paper referred to it as “sanam,” the Arabic name for false idols worshiped in pre-Islamic days.) They have all been carted off, with the Mubarak room in the currently defunct Assembly chambers renamed Nile Hall.

Nile is one of the popular neutral alternatives to the Mubarak surname. The Culture Ministry, for example, announced that the Mubarak Prize for Social Science, Arts and Literature would become the Nile Prize.

The Martyrs of Jan. 25, or simply Jan. 25, the date of the start of the revolution, is perhaps the most common alternative to Mubarak. The names of the hundreds killed in the protests are also a popular choice.

Subway riders opposed to the Mubarak name have scratched it off on many of the signs inside the cars, and play a cat-and-mouse game with the workers at the Mubarak Station beneath Ramses Square, Cairo’s main railroad terminal. Every time they plaster an alternative name — Jan. 25 Martyrs — across the Mubarak signs, subway cleaners remove it.

They are hardly the only government workers who still revere the former president.

When Mohamed al-Sayed, a labor leader at an aluminum factory, was hauled in by military interrogators about organizing strikes at the plant, he was surprised to find Mr. Mubarak’s framed portrait still hanging on the wall. (An addendum to the lawsuit over the name would require all pictures to come down, too.)

One army officer told Mr. Sayed that Mr. Mubarak remained the supreme commander of the armed forces. (Although the president handed over the running of the country to a military council, the lack of any known letter of resignation means he might technically remain the head of state.)

“I refused to answer questions until the picture came down,” Mr. Sayed recounted, at which point the officers laughed at him and said he would have to wait until there was another president.

Those who support making Egypt Mubarak-free wonder how far they can take the effort. Mohamed Safi, a radio disc jockey, said he was considering initiating a campaign to stop using the standard Egyptian holiday greeting from “Id Mubarak” or “Blessed Feast” to the equally serviceable “Id Said” or “Happy Feast.”

But behind the scrubbing of the name, he said, lay a serious warning for future leaders: “It sends the message that you are not immortal, that unless you do something really good for the people, we are not going to slap your name up everywhere.”


Amr Emam contributed reporting.

    Hosni Mubarak’s Shadow Still Falls on Much of Egypt, NYT, 25.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/middleeast/26egypt.html

Losing Our Way

March 25, 2011
The New York Times
By BOB HERBERT

So here we are pouring shiploads of cash into yet another war, this time in Libya, while simultaneously demolishing school budgets, closing libraries, laying off teachers and police officers, and generally letting the bottom fall out of the quality of life here at home.

Welcome to America in the second decade of the 21st century. An army of long-term unemployed workers is spread across the land, the human fallout from the Great Recession and long years of misguided economic policies. Optimism is in short supply. The few jobs now being created too often pay a pittance, not nearly enough to pry open the doors to a middle-class standard of living.

Arthur Miller, echoing the poet Archibald MacLeish, liked to say that the essence of America was its promises. That was a long time ago. Limitless greed, unrestrained corporate power and a ferocious addiction to foreign oil have led us to an era of perpetual war and economic decline. Young people today are staring at a future in which they will be less well off than their elders, a reversal of fortune that should send a shudder through everyone.

The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely.

Nearly 14 million Americans are jobless and the outlook for many of them is grim. Since there is just one job available for every five individuals looking for work, four of the five are out of luck. Instead of a land of opportunity, the U.S. is increasingly becoming a place of limited expectations. A college professor in Washington told me this week that graduates from his program were finding jobs, but they were not making very much money, certainly not enough to think about raising a family.

There is plenty of economic activity in the U.S., and plenty of wealth. But like greedy children, the folks at the top are seizing virtually all the marbles. Income and wealth inequality in the U.S. have reached stages that would make the third world blush. As the Economic Policy Institute has reported, the richest 10 percent of Americans received an unconscionable 100 percent of the average income growth in the years 2000 to 2007, the most recent extended period of economic expansion.

Americans behave as if this is somehow normal or acceptable. It shouldn’t be, and didn’t used to be. Through much of the post-World War II era, income distribution was far more equitable, with the top 10 percent of families accounting for just a third of average income growth, and the bottom 90 percent receiving two-thirds. That seems like ancient history now.

The current maldistribution of wealth is also scandalous. In 2009, the richest 5 percent claimed 63.5 percent of the nation’s wealth. The overwhelming majority, the bottom 80 percent, collectively held just 12.8 percent.

This inequality, in which an enormous segment of the population struggles while the fortunate few ride the gravy train, is a world-class recipe for social unrest. Downward mobility is an ever-shortening fuse leading to profound consequences.

A stark example of the fundamental unfairness that is now so widespread was in The New York Times on Friday under the headline: “G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether.” Despite profits of $14.2 billion — $5.1 billion from its operations in the United States — General Electric did not have to pay any U.S. taxes last year.

As The Times’s David Kocieniewski reported, “Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore.”

G.E. is the nation’s largest corporation. Its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is the leader of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. You can understand how ordinary workers might look at this cozy corporate-government arrangement and conclude that it is not fully committed to the best interests of working people.

Overwhelming imbalances in wealth and income inevitably result in enormous imbalances of political power. So the corporations and the very wealthy continue to do well. The employment crisis never gets addressed. The wars never end. And nation-building never gets a foothold here at home.

New ideas and new leadership have seldom been more urgently needed.



•



This is my last column for The New York Times after an exhilarating, nearly 18-year run. I’m off to write a book and expand my efforts on behalf of working people, the poor and others who are struggling in our society. My thanks to all the readers who have been so kind to me over the years. I can be reached going forward at bobherbert88@gmail.com .

    Losing Our Way, NYT, 25.3.2011? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/opinion/26herbert.html

Safely Back, a Pilot Tells of His Raid Over Libya

March 25, 2011
The New York Times
By ERIC SCHMITT

As Capt. Ryan Thulin steered his F-16 fighter jet over the central Libyan coast early last Sunday, he peered into the inky darkness to hunt his target: Libyan tanks, artillery and other fielded forces.

Suddenly, red tracers of antiaircraft fire streaked up from the desert below. Captain Thulin, a 28-year-old Air Force Academy graduate on his first combat mission, instinctively veered his single-seat jet away from the ground fire and dropped 500-pound, precision-guided bombs on the Libyan forces. A huge fireball lit up the cloudless sky.

Several minutes later, the scene replayed itself, only this time Captain Thulin bombed army targets much closer to the outskirts of a city in eastern Libya where government troops, rebel fighters and civilians were in dangerous proximity. In the air campaign against Libya, allied warplanes have not attacked targets in cities and are under strict instructions to avoid hitting civilians.

“It’s always something we’re considering on every attack,” said Captain Thulin, a pilot in the 555th Fighter Squadron based at Aviano Air Base in Italy. “You have to be confident that all the rules of engagement are met so when you do drop that weapon, in your heart of hearts, you know you’re doing the right thing.”

Given in a telephone interview from Aviano, Captain Thulin’s account of his mission on the second day of the weeklong allied air operation offered a window into the world of pilots from the United States and other allies who through Friday had flown more than 450 combat flights.

Under the ground rules set by the military, Captain Thulin would not describe some details of his eight-hour mission, including the specific locations and details of targets that he and a companion F-16 attacked, as well as many tactics he used.

But the captain provided fresh details about the planning for combat missions and the complex midair choreography with dozens of refueling planes, reconnaissance aircraft and other fighter jets that pass along tips to inbound fighters about ground fire threats and potential targets as they complete their missions and head for home in bases in Europe or on ships in the Mediterranean.

The preparation for Captain Thulin’s mission on Sunday began days earlier, as it became clear the United States might join a coalition to prevent Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s military from attacking Libyan civilians.

Captain Thulin and his squadron mates studied photographs of possible targets — from several types of tanks to artillery pieces — and how they would look from 20,000 feet using infrared targeting sensors. The pilots also pored over information about Libya’s surface-to-air missiles, including deadly SA-5 mobile launchers.

“We were studying the terrain, what buildings were made of, what it looks like over the desert using night-vision goggles or during the day,” said Captain Thulin, a native of Lake Orion, Mich., who mentioned the differences between Libya and verdant northern Italy, where the squadron normally trains. “We were preparing so when in combat, it’s more of a reflex.”

Late last Saturday night, Captain Thulin got the call he knew would be coming: his mission was scheduled. By 2 a.m. Sunday, his F-16 roared down the runway at Aviano heading for Libya. Twice during the flight to his destination, Captain Thulin refueled in midair with special planes. He was in constant communication with air traffic controllers as well as intelligence analysts updating him on potential targets.

Soon after 4 a.m., Captain Thulin approached his targets. “Your mind is racing,” he recalled. “I don’t want to say I was nervous because I’ve trained for this four years. But I’m going over all my checks: engine is good, oil is good, the system is set up to run the attack.”

After striking his targets, Captain Thulin headed north to Italy, refueling twice on the way. Asked what struck him most about his mission, he said, “Being shot at the first time is a surprise.”

    Safely Back, a Pilot Tells of His Raid Over Libya, NT, 25.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/africa/26attack.html

West targets Libyan forces in bid to end stalemate

BENGHAZI, Libya | Fri Mar 25, 2011
10:10pm EDT
Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Western warplanes bombed Muammar Gaddafi's tanks and artillery in eastern Libya to try to break a battlefield stalemate and help rebels take the strategic town of Ajdabiyah.

Rebels said they had entered Ajdabiyah from the east on Friday, Al Jazeera reported, while Gaddafi's forces held on in the west of the town, which commands the coastal road toward Tripoli.

The African Union said it was planning to facilitate talks to help end the war, but NATO said its operation could last three months, and France said the conflict would not end soon.

In Washington, a U.S. military spokeswoman said the coalition fired 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles and flew 153 air sorties in the past 24 hours targeting Gaddafi's artillery, mechanized forces and command and control infrastructure.

Western governments hope the raids, launched a week ago with the aim of protecting civilians, will shift the balance of power in favor of the Arab world's most violent popular revolt.

In Tripoli, explosions were heard early on Saturday, signaling possible new strikes by warplanes or missiles.

As the United States said Gaddafi's ability to command and sustain his forces was diminishing, Libyan state TV said the "brother leader" had promoted all members of his armed forces and police "for their heroic and courageous fight against the crusader, colonialist assault," without giving further details.

Rebels massing for an attack on Ajdabiyah earlier exchanged artillery fire with Gaddafi's forces.

Opposition forces on the road there seemed more organized than in recent days, when their disarray stirred doubts about their ability to challenge Gaddafi.

They had set up road blocks at regular intervals and Reuters counted at least four truck-based rocket launchers -- heavier weaponry than had been seen earlier this week.

Winning back Ajdabiyah would be the biggest victory for the eastern rebels since Western military intervention halted a counter-offensive by the better equipped Gaddafi forces which had driven them back toward the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

It would also signal that allied airstrikes may be capable of helping rebel fighters to eventually topple Gaddafi.

AFRICAN INITIATIVE

At African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, AU commission chairman Jean Ping said the organization was planning to facilitate peace talks in a process that should end with democratic elections.

It was the first statement by the AU, which had rejected any form of foreign intervention in the Libya crisis, since the U.N. Security Council imposed a no-fly zone last week and air strikes began on Libyan military targets.

But in Brussels, a NATO official said planning for NATO's operation assumed a mission lasting 90 days, although this could be extended or shortened as required.

France said the mission could go on for weeks.

"I doubt that it will be days," Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the head of French armed forces, told France Info radio. "I think it will be weeks. I hope it will not take months."

Guillaud said a French plane destroyed an army artillery battery near Ajdabiyah, while in London, the Defense Ministry said British Tornado aircraft had also been active there.

A Reuters correspondent who traveled close to Ajdabiyah on Friday saw large plumes of black smoke rising above the eastern entrance to the town.

A rocket apparently fired from rebel positions then hit the eastern gate, sending a fireball into the sky. "The eastern gate has fallen and we are sending a team to check before moving forward," rebel Colonel Hamad al-Hasi told Reuters.

In Benghazi, rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said he expected Ajdabiyah to fall following the Western strikes.

"(The strikes) will weaken their forces and more importantly their morale," he said, adding the level of Western strikes was "sufficient. We feel safe under their protection."

Simon Brooks, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross operations in eastern Libya, reported big population movements from the Ajdabiyah area because of the fighting.

Officials and rebels said aid organizations were able to deliver some supplies to the western city of Misrata but were concerned because of government snipers in the city center.

Gaddafi's forces shelled an area on the outskirts of the city, killing six people including three children, a rebel said.

Misrata has experienced some of the heaviest fighting between rebels and Gaddafi's forces since an uprising began on February 16.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Tim Castle in London, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli; writing by William Maclean and Myra MacDonald; editing by Jon Boyle and Ralph Gowling)

    West targets Libyan forces in bid to end stalemate, R, 23.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/26/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110326

Protests and shooting in Syria as unrest spreads

DAMASCUS | Fri Mar 25, 2011
9:21pm EDT
Reuters

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad faced the deepest crisis of his 11 years in power on Saturday, with one city in the grip of anti-government protesters and unrest spreading to other parts of Syria.

Dozens of people have been killed over the past week around the southern city of Deraa, medical officials have said, and there were reports of more than 20 new deaths on Friday, during demonstrations that would have been unthinkable a couple of months ago in this most tightly controlled of Arab countries.

There were also protests in the capital Damascus and in Hama, a northern city where in 1982 the forces of Assad's father killed thousands of people and razed much of the old quarter to put down an armed uprising by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

Government officials accused armed opponents of taking part in demonstrations and they justified the use of force.

Access for journalists was restricted, although a Reuters reporter in Deraa said tens of thousands of people who marched on Friday during funerals for demonstrators killed earlier in the week appeared largely to be unarmed.

Inspired by successful uprisings against authoritarian rule in Egypt and Tunisia, the mourners chanted for "Freedom."

The International Crisis Group think-tank said the 45-year-old, British-educated Assad could call on reserves of goodwill among the population to steer away from confrontation and introduce political and economic reforms.

"Syria is at what is rapidly becoming a defining moment for its leadership," the think-tank wrote on Friday. "There are only two options. One involves an immediate and inevitably risky political initiative that might convince the Syrian people that the regime is willing to undertake dramatic change.

"The other entails escalating repression, which has every chance of leading to a bloody and ignominious end."

INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION

There was a chorus of international condemnation of the shootings of demonstrators. But analysts said Syria, which has strong defenses and a close alliance with Iran, was unlikely to face the kind of foreign intervention currently seen in Libya.

Bordered by Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, Syria and its 22 million people sit at the heart of a complex web of conflict in the Middle East.

Internally, rule by the Assads has favored the minority Alawite sect, causing resentments among the Sunni Muslim majority. Edward Walker, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, said that friction made many in the establishment wary of giving ground to demands for political freedoms and economic reforms.

"They are a basically reviled minority, the Alawites, and if they lose power, if they succumb to popular revolution, they will be hanging from the lamp posts," he said.

"They have absolutely no incentive to back off."

A serving Western diplomat said he had been surprised, however, by how far demonstrators had gone in taking to the streets to demand change. "They've crossed the fear line, which in Syria is remarkable," the diplomat said.

In a central square in Deraa, the Reuters reporter saw protesters haul down a statue of Assad's father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, before security men in plain clothes opened fire with automatic rifles from buildings.

The crowd of some 3,000 scattered under volleys of bullets and tear gas. The reporter saw some wounded helped into cars and ambulances. It was unclear how many, if any, were killed.

BUILDING ABLAZE

By evening, however, security forces appeared to have melted away and a crowd of protesters gathered again in the main square, setting a government building on fire, witnesses said.

"The barrier of fear is broken. This is a first step on the road to toppling the regime," said Ibrahim, a middle-aged lawyer in Deraa who compared events to the uprisings in Egypt and other Arab countries. "We have reached the point of no return."

After pulling down the statue, in a scene that recalled the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003 by U.S. troops, some protesters poured fuel into the broken cast and set it alight.

In the town of Sanamein, which is in the same southern area of the country as Deraa, residents said 20 people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a building used by military intelligence -- part of an extensive security apparatus that has protected Baath party rule since 1963.

Syria's national news agency said security forces had killed armed attackers who tried to storm the building.

Amnesty International put the death toll in Deraa in the past week at 55 at least.

Thousands of Assad's supporters waved flags, marched and drove in cars around Damascus and other cities to proclaim their allegiance to the Baath party and to Assad, whose father took power in a coup in 1970.

Unrest in Deraa came to a head this week after police detained more than a dozen schoolchildren for writing graffiti inspired by slogans used by pro-democracy demonstrators abroad.

Assad had promised on Thursday to look into granting Syrians greater freedoms in an attempt to defuse the outbreak of popular demands for political freedoms and an end to corruption.

He also pledged to look at ending an emergency law in place since 1963 and made an offer of large public pay rises.

But demonstrators said they did not believe the promises.

On January 31, Assad had said there was no chance political upheavals then shaking Tunisia and Egypt would spread to Syria.

(Reporting by Reuters correspondents in Damascus and Deraa, Yara Bayoumy in Beirut and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Ralph Gowling)

    Protests and shooting in Syria as unrest spreads, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/26/us-syria-idUSTRE72N2MC20110326

Jordan PM warns of chaos as protester dies

AMMAN | Fri Mar 25, 2011
8:20pm EDT
Reuters
By Lina Ejeilat

AMMAN (Reuters) - A protester died after security forces broke up clashes on Friday between supporters of King Abdullah and protesters calling for reform, and the government warned it would not tolerate "chaos."

Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit blamed opposition Islamists for the clash in the pro-Western monarchy, which has seen weeks of protests calling for curbs on the king's powers.

"What happened today is definitely the start of chaos and it is unacceptable and I warn of the consequences," Bakhit told Jordanian television. Addressing Islamists whom he said were taking orders from Egypt and Jordan, he said: "Enough playing with fire. I ask you, where are you taking Jordan?"

The family of the dead protester said he was beaten up by security forces, but the official Petra news agency said he died after he suffered a stab wound in the chest during the clashes which police were trying to quell.

Al Jazeera quoted its correspondent as saying a second protester had died.

Hussein al-Majali, the head of general security, said security forces did not use excessive force and the protester who died suffered from a heart attack. "Security forces had nothing to do with it," he said.

Islamist, leftist, liberal and tribal figures have staged protests and sit-ins over the past few weeks calling for a constitutional monarchy in Jordan.

The demonstrations have been smaller than others across the Arab world, but underlying tensions between Jordanians of Palestinian origin and the country's indigenous "East Bank" population have resurfaced and could also threaten stability.

"WHAT DID WE DO WRONG?"

Authorities had not cracked down on the protests, seeking to avoid provoking the kind of upheaval that toppled entrenched rulers of Tunisia and Egypt.

But Friday's protest quickly turned violent after security forces used batons and sprayed water to break up a clash between the opposing camps who had gathered in the Gamal Abdul Nasser roundabout near the Interior Ministry in Amman. Dozens were wounded and were being treated in hospitals across Amman.

"What did we do wrong? We were calling for reform peacefully," Saeed Jameel, whose father died, told Reuters in Amman's Prince Hamza hospital.

His brother, Amer, had earlier told Reuters that police had beaten up their father, Khairy, 57, and that he died after he arrived in hospital.

King Abdullah responded to the anti-government protests by sacking an unpopular prime minister last month and replacing him with Bakhit, a former intelligence general, in a step seen as dealing a blow to Islamist and liberal hopes for reform.

Dissent has built up and the opposition, disgruntled with the slow pace of promised political reforms, has become more vocal in its calls for change.

Protester Mahmoud Hamawi told Reuters: "The (pro-monarchy) thugs were throwing stones from one side and police were attacking protesters with sticks to push them back."

"SITUATION UNDER CONTROL"

A Reuters cameraman was beaten up by pro-monarchy supporters and Jordanian security forces. His camera was broken.

A photographer at the scene, Rabie Zureiqat, told Reuters security officers took his camera "and beat me with sticks."

A member of the medical team with the pro-reform protesters, some of whom camped out on the roundabout on Thursday night, said more than 50 people had been injured, some seriously.

On Friday, they chanted slogans against the interference of intelligence agents in political activities and called out against the head of intelligence, Mohammed Raqqad.

They also chanted "Peaceful, peaceful" and "We love Jordan."

"The people want to bring down political parties," chanted the pro-monarchy crowd, which also raised pictures of King Abdullah.

Bakhit's cabinet earlier this month announced the creation of a national dialogue committee in response to a call by King Abdullah to accelerate reforms.

But Jordan's Islamist opposition said it would not join the panel because it would not be discussing constitutional changes to curb the monarch's powers.

Later on Friday 15 of the 52 committee members announced their resignation in protest over the clash.

"The statement called on the rest of the committee and its head, Taher al-Masri, to resign as (a token of) their national and historic responsibility and in honor of the citizen's blood that were protesting peacefully," the official Petra news agency quoted Saeed Diyab, a committee member, as saying.

It was not immediately clear what the fate of the body would be.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told Sky television the situation was under control. "Reforms are already in place ... in the last few weeks this has been speeded up," he said, adding the driving force behind the protests were economic issues. "We have economic hardship but we have political stability, thank God."

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Dubai and Christina Fincher in London; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Jon Boyle and Matthew Jones)

    Jordan PM warns of chaos as protester dies, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/26/us-jordan-protests-idUSTRE72O6HM20110326

Yemen ruler ready to step down, Syria protests spread

SANAA | Fri Mar 25, 2011
8:13pm EDT
By Cynthia Johnston and Mohamed Sudam

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah said on Friday he was ready to cede power, the third Arab ruler who may be forced out by popular protests which began in North Africa and have now spread into the Gulf, Syria and Jordan.

Saleh said he would cede power only into "safe hands" and Yemeni political sources said talks were under way to work out the details of a peaceful transition.

But in Syria, protests challenging the rule of President Bashar al-Assad spread across the country after security forces killed dozens of demonstrators in the south.

"The barrier of fear is broken. This is a first step on the road to toppling the regime," said Ibrahim, a middle-aged lawyer in the southern Syrian city of Deraa. "We have reached the point of no return."

Saleh's departure would present a new challenge to Western countries already embroiled in a week-old military intervention in Libya, amid fears that instability in Saudi Arabian neighbor Yemen could open the way for al Qaeda to expand its power there.

"We don't want power, but we need to hand power over to safe hands, not to sick, resentful or corrupt hands," said Saleh, who had come under intense pressure to quit since snipers fired on anti-government protesters a week ago, killing 52 people.

That bloodshed prompted a string of defections that severely weakened Saleh's position, including by military figures such as top general Ali Mohsen, as well as diplomats and tribal leaders.

A source close to Mohsen said he and Saleh had discussed a deal in which both men and their families would leave Yemen, while political sources said broader talks were underway on a political transition.

A diplomat in the capital Sanaa, however, said it was premature to discuss an outcome. "It can go either way."

In Syria, Assad's government had promised on Thursday to look at giving greater freedom to Syrians.

But there was more bloodshed after Friday prayers, with witnesses reporting at least 23 dead, including three in the capital Damascus. Information on casualties was limited and authorities restricted journalists' movements.

HAULING DOWN ASSAD'S STATUE

In Deraa, tens of thousands marched in funerals for some of those killed earlier in the week, chanting "Freedom."

In a central square, a Reuters correspondent saw protesters haul down a statue of Assad's father, late president Hafez al-Assad, before security men in plain clothes opened fire with automatic rifles from buildings.

The crowd of some 3,000 scattered under volleys of bullets and tear gas. The reporter saw some wounded helped into cars and ambulances. It was unclear how many, if any, were killed.

By evening, however, security forces appeared to have melted away, a crowd of protesters gathered again in the main square and set a government building on fire, witnesses said.

After pulling down the statue, in a scene that recalled the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003 by U.S. troops, some protesters poured fuel into the broken cast and set it alight.

In the town of Sanamein, which is in the same southern area as Deraa, residents said 20 people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a building used by military intelligence. Syria's national news agency said security forces had killed armed attackers who tried to storm the building.

Demonstrations have also flared up in Jordan, and one person was killed on Friday during clashes between protesters calling for political reform and supporters of the pro-Western monarchy.

Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit warned of unspecified consequences if similar clashes occurred.

"What happened today is definitely the start of chaos and it is unacceptable and I warn of the consequences," Bakhit told Jordanian television.

The protests were the latest to erupt since the January 4 death of Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in protest at his treatment by authorities.

Anger triggered by his death forced out Tunisia's ruler and swept into Egypt -- a country which has wielded huge influence on the political and religious currents of the Muslim world -- bringing down Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak on February 11.

"The whole system is changing," said Beirut-based commentator Rami Khoury. "Every single country without exception has to make changes."

"I think we have reached a point of no return. I don't think the Middle East will be the same. It is a new order in the making," said Fawaz Gerges from the London School of Economics.

TANKS BOMBED IN EASTERN LIBYA

A revolt against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has already prompted the third Western military intervention in a Muslim country this century, after Afghanistan and Iraq.

Western warplanes bombed Gaddafi's tanks and artillery in eastern Libya on Friday to try to break a battlefield stalemate and help rebels take the town of Ajdabiyah, which commands the coastal highway linking the east and west of the country.

Rebels said they had entered Ajdabiyah from the east, Al Jazeera reported, while Gaddafi's forces held on in the west of the town.

Western countries including the United States, Britain and France began bombing targets in Libya a week ago as part of a U.N.-mandated intervention to protect civilians.

But the intensity of their firepower, along with Western capitals' expressed desire to see Gaddafi go, has drawn questions from some countries worried they had exceeded their mandate and ran the risk of killing more civilians.

The African Union said it was planning to facilitate talks to help end the war, but NATO said its operation could last three months, and France said the conflict would not end soon.

The Arab revolts are not only unseating rulers, but also threatening to reshape alliances often dominated by rivalry between Shi'ite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia.

In Syria, where the minority Alawite elite rule over a Sunni-majority country, protesters have chanted slogans against its alliance with Iran and the Shi'ite armed Hizbollah group in neighbouring Lebanon.

But Saudi Arabia saw its grip challenged in Bahrain and sent troops earlier this month to help crack down on protesters -- many of them from the majority Shi'ite population -- demonstrating against the ruling Sunni al Khalifa family.

Small protests broke out in Bahrain's capital Manama for a planned "Day of Rage" on Friday despite a ban under martial law imposed last week, but were quickly crushed by security forces.

The challenge to authoritarian rulers by popular protests has so far somewhat marginalized al Qaeda, which had presented its own hardline Islamist ideology as the only alternative to what it called corrupt dictatorships.

But instability in Yemen and war in Libya could provide fresh opportunities for the group. It already has a strong presence in Yemen through Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and in North Africa through Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

"The chaos of a post-Saleh Yemen in which there is no managed transition may lead to conditions that could allow AQAP and other extremist elements to flourish," analyst Christopher Boucek wrote in the militant affairs periodical CTC Sentinel.

Yemen, which lies on key shipping routes, has often seemed on the brink of disintegration. Northern Shi'ites have taken up arms against Saleh and southerners dream of a separate state.

(Writing by Myra MacDonald; editing by Jon Boyle)

    Yemen ruler ready to step down, Syria protests spread, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/26/us-mideast-idUSTRE72O6E420110326

Egyptian protesters push for more political reforms

CAIRO | Fri Mar 25, 2011
7:38pm EDT
Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - More than 2,000 people gathered across the Egyptian capital on Friday to demand more political reform, including a speedy trial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, state news agency MENA said.

One thousand protesters gathered in Tahrir square, epicenter of Egypt's uprising, chanting nationalist slogans and calling for Mubarak and other former government figures be tried for graft. They also called for the release of political prisoners.

Tahrir square in central Cairo has become a popular gathering point for demonstrators since the wave of anti-government protests that toppled Mubarak on Feb 11.

In a separate protest in downtown Cairo, 1,000 Coptic Christians demanded the release of protesters they said were detained in a previous demonstrations and called for speedy investigations into recent incidents of sectarian strife.

And in a third protest, 500 people gathered in front of Egypt's state television and radio building, demanding that employees hired under Mubarak quit for what they called "incorrect and misleading" coverage of anti-Mubarak protests.

The unrest in Egypt has disrupted the economy and has hit the vital tourist industry, while strikes have flared in defiance of a military ban on industrial action.

Egypt's military-backed government, facing a growing budget deficit, this week approved draft laws to impose prison sentences over some strike action and disruptive protests.

Justice Minister Mahmoud al-Guindy said on Friday the law to penalize some cases of protest and strikes was not meant to outlaw peaceful demonstrations, but to stop any "counter-revolution" from hijacking Egypt's revolution and to put an end to the disruption of the country's economy.

"Some of those who suffered from the collapse of the previous regime are now benefiting from spreading chaos," Guindy told Egyptian state television.

He said the draft law carries penalties of up to three years in prison.

(Writing by Shaimaa Fayed; editing by Matthew Jones)

    Egyptian protesters push for more political reforms, R, 25.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-egypt-protests-idUSTRE72O79M20110325

Obama seeks to assure lawmakers on Libya strategy

WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 25, 2011
7:07pm EDT
Reuters
By Patricia Zengerle and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told U.S. lawmakers on Friday American military forces are not seeking to topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from power but are engaged in a limited effort to protect civilians.

After days of complaints that he had not properly consulted Congress, Obama and top aides held an hour-long conference call from the White House Situation Room and briefed Democratic and Republican leaders.

Lawmakers said Obama stuck to his position that while U.S. policy favors Gaddafi's departure, the U.S. involvement in support of a U.N. Security Council resolution was limited to stopping Gaddafi from killing Libyans opposed to his rule.

Both Democrats and Republicans had questioned Obama's handling of the six-day conflict. The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, charged that Obama committed forces to battle without properly defining the mission.

Obama will address the American people about the Libyan mission on Monday at 7:30 p.m. EDT, the White House said, when he speaks at the National Defense University in Washington.

On Friday, Obama told lawmakers about plans for the U.S. transfer of military command and control of the Libyan operation to NATO and progress so far, the White House said.

"The goals here were very very limited. We are not trying to go and get involved in a war with Libya, and force militarily, a change of leadership," Representative Adam Smith, senior Democrat on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, told CNN. "We were simply trying to stop a humanitarian crisis."

Senator John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee's top Republican, raised concerns on the call on whether the U.S. intervention was enough to force Gaddafi from power.

"Senator McCain supports the decision to intervene militarily in Libya, but he remains concerned that our actions at present may not be sufficient to avoid a stalemate and accomplish the U.S. objective of forcing Gaddafi to leave power," McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said.

BOEHNER: MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE

Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said the speaker "still believes much more needs to be done by the administration to provide clarity, particularly to the American people, on the military objective in Libya, America's role, and how it is consistent with U.S. policy goals."

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Obama told lawmakers that the "limited" intervention had saved lives. She said lawmakers will receive a classified briefing from the administration next week.

Many liberals in Obama's Democratic Party oppose a third war in the Muslim world on top of U.S. troop commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Two House members, Republican Justin Amash and Democrat Dennis Kucinich, plan to introduce separate pieces of legislation to halt U.S. military operations in Libya. But it was uncertain whether either would be brought to a vote, and Congress is unlikely to act on anything right away.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz told reporters in Washington that the United States was increasingly confident Libya's National Transitional Council was on the right track, but was still not ready to formally recognize it as France has done.

Cretz said the United States was considering further steps to support the opposition, including its request for arms transfers, but that no decisions had been reached.

"The full gamut of potential assistance that we might offer both on the nonlethal and the lethal side is a subject of discussion within the U.S. government, but there have been no final decisions made," Cretz said.

A U.S. official said rebel leaders indicated they are trying to garner financial support from Gulf state governments. But several U.S. and European officials said little outside aid was going to the Libyan opposition.

A European national security official said the rebels still have access to more weapons looted from government arsenals than they are capable of using to their full capacity.

(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria, Andrew Quinn, Steve Holland, and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Vicki Allen)

    Obama seeks to assure lawmakers on Libya strategy, R, 25.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-libya-usa-obama-idUSTRE72M36E20110325

Iraq's Maliki says Bahrain may ignite sectarian war

BAGHDAD | Fri Mar 25, 2011
5:35pm EDT
Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, said on Friday military intervention by Sunni Arab neighbors in Bahrain could spark a sectarian war in the region and must end.

Bahrain has witnessed a month of protests from mainly Shi'ite demonstrators seeking constitutional reform. Its ruling al Khalifa family, from the minority Sunni population, has cracked down on the rallies and called in troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

"The situation in Bahrain is different from those in Libya and Egypt. In Libya and Egypt the issue is not sectarian while in Bahrain it has become between Sunnis and Shi'ites," Maliki told the BBC Arabic television service in an interview aired on Friday.

"We did not move to support the Shi'ites in Bahrain but we called for interference in Bahraini affairs to be stopped and don't want to make it a sectarian issue. Because if it happens, it will be like a snowball, it will get bigger if it is ignored ... The region may be drawn into a sectarian war."

Maliki has previously criticized the intervention by Gulf states in Bahrain. Shi'ites in Iraq have also demonstrated in support of Bahraini demonstrators.

Like Bahrain, Iraq has a Shi'ite majority that complained about decades of oppression under a Sunni ruling class.

Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion which toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and enabled Iraq's Shi'ite majority to take power, Baghdad has had uneasy relations with its Sunni Arab neighbors.

Tensions remain between Iraq's Shi'ites and Sunnis eight years after the invasion which unleashed a sectarian war that peaked in 2006-7.

(Reporting by Waleed Ibrahim; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

    Iraq's Maliki says Bahrain may ignite sectarian war, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-iraq-politics-idUSTRE72O6JK20110325

Factbox: Western military assault on Libya's Gaddafi

Fri Mar 25, 2011
2:55pm EDT
Reuters

(Reuters) - Below is a synopsis of military activity in Libya in the past day.

FRIDAY, March 25

* Western warplanes bombed Muammar Gaddafi's tanks and artillery in eastern Libya to try to break a battlefield stalemate and help rebels take the strategic town of Ajdabiyah.

* Britain said British and other coalition aircraft hit seven Libyan tanks which had their weapons trained on Ajdabiyah on Thursday. The British Ministry of Defense showed video of two of the tanks being blown up.

* NATO planned for a three-month no-fly operation over Libya but could make it longer or shorter if necessary, an alliance official said of a mission due to start early next week.

* Britain said it expected NATO to take full command of Libyan operations within days despite a failure so far to reach final agreement.

* Western warplanes flew over Ajdabiyah on Friday and rebels said they had bombed government forces holding the strategic eastern town.

* Government forces had kidnapped and beaten up residents of Zawiyah since recapturing the city near the capital Tripoli two weeks ago, a rebel spokesman said.

* Libyan rebels were massing near Ajdabiyah on Friday for a new push after Gaddafi's forces there rejected a ceasefire offer. A Reuters reporter arriving near the front line passed four trucks carrying multiple rocket launchers and many pick-ups mounted with heavy machineguns after British Tornado planes struck government military vehicles in Ajdabiyah overnight.

* Civilians, including women, were among those killed in the latest Western air strikes in the Libyan capital Tripoli, officials and hospital workers said. Libya said late on Thursday the civilian death toll from five days of coalition air strikes had reached almost 100 and accused Western governments of fighting on the side of the rebels.

POSITIONING OF FORCES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

-- A NATO official says an alliance no-fly mission expected get under way early next week will involve between five and 10 AWACS surveillance planes, 10-15 refueling tankers and dozens of fighters.

-- NATO says allies have offered 16 ships to implement an arms embargo on Libya, including a command-and-control ship from Italy, 10 frigates including four from Turkey and one each from Britain, Spain, Greece, Italy, Canada and the United States, submarines from Spain, Italy and Turkey and auxiliary ships from Italy and Turkey.

-- The United Arab Emirates will send 12 planes to help enforce the no-fly zone. Another Gulf state, Qatar, has contributed two fighter planes and two military transport aircraft.

-- The United States has positioned 11 ships and submarines in the Mediterranean to support Libya operations, according to U.S. figures. That includes three submarines, two amphibious assault ships and two guided-missile destroyers.

-- French carrier Charles de Gaulle arrived in the Mediterranean on Tuesday.

-- Britain has two frigates off the Libyan coast. Government sources have said destroyers could be deployed.

-- Canada has sent one warship to the Mediterranean, officials say, along with six CF-18 bombers deployed to Europe.

-- Italy has 11 ships supporting the Libya operations in the Mediterranean, including an aircraft carrier.

-- Norway sent six F-16 fighters to a base in Crete, while Denmark deployed six fighter planes to Sicily.

-- Spain said it was providing one tanker plane, an F-100 frigate, a submarine, a maritime patrol aircraft and four F-18 aircraft.

(Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

    Factbox: Western military assault on Libya's Gaddafi, R, 25.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-libya-military-idUSTRE72O4OL20110325

Qatar first Arab state to patrol Libya no-fly zone

Fri, Mar 25 2011
WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 25, 2011
1:42pm EDT
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Qatar on Friday became the first Arab country to begin patrolling a U.N.-backed no-fly zone aimed at preventing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces from attacking civilians, the coalition task force said in a statement.

A Qatari Mirage 2000-5 jet joined a similar French air force plane to patrol a sector of Libyan air space, the statement said.

Qatar has deployed six Mirage 2000-5 warplanes and two C-17A transport aircraft to Europe to support the no-fly zone and deliver humanitarian assistance to Libyan civilians.

The United Arab Emirates announced on Thursday it would join the coalition, but it has not yet begun flying missions, the statement said.

"We are very happy to have the Qatar Emiri Air Force become part of our coalition team," said Major General Margaret Woodward, an air commander for the operation.

"Having our first Arab nation join and start flying with us emphasizes that the world wants the innocent Libyan people protected from the atrocities perpetrated by pro-regime forces," she said. "Our efforts have been effective in protecting the citizens from fear of an air attack."

Eleven countries are directly involved in enforcing the no-fly zone, the statement said. They are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Qatar, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

(Editing by Vicki Allen)

    Qatar first Arab state to patrol Libya no-fly zone, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-libya-qatar-idUSTRE72O50D20110325

Hundreds of Saudi Shi'ites protest in east

RIYADH | Fri Mar 25, 2011
10:35am EDT
Reuters
By Jason Benham

RIYADH (Reuters) - Hundreds of Saudi Shi'ites staged a protest in the kingdom's oil-producing Eastern Province Friday calling for prisoner releases and a withdrawal of Saudi forces from Bahrain, activists said.

The world's No. 1 oil producer and a U.S. ally, Saudi Arabia has not seen the kind of mass uprisings that have rocked the Arab world this year. But dissent is simmering in the kingdom as unrest takes root in neighboring Yemen, Bahrain and Oman.

There were rallies in two villages close to the main Shi'ite center of Qatif shortly after midday and afternoon prayers.

"There are around 400 protesters here at the moment and some are waving Bahraini flags," said one protester who declined to be named. "The protests are peaceful and the riot police are well away from the demonstrators."

Demonstrators called for political freedoms and an end to what they call sectarian discrimination against Saudi Arabia's Shi'ite Muslim majority by the absolute Sunni monarchy.

Saudi Shi'ites have held a number of protests in Eastern Province, where most of the country's oil fields are.

A Saudi human rights group said Wednesday authorities arrested 100 protesters last week in the Shi'ite populated areas of Safwa, Qatif and its villages and Hasa.

Saudi Shi'ites complain of discrimination, saying they often struggle to get senior government jobs and benefits available to other citizens. The government of Saudi Arabia, a monarchy that usually does not tolerate public dissent, denies such charges.

Almost no Saudis in major cities answered a Facebook call for protests on March 11, in the face of a massive security presence around the country.

Dozens of Saudi men gathered outside the Interior Ministry in the capital Riyadh Sunday to demand the release of jailed relatives.

King Abdullah last week offered $93 billion in handouts and boosted his security and religious police forces but did not make concessions on political rights.

Saudi Arabia has sent 1,000 troops to Bahrain, also a Sunni monarchy, to help contain pro-democracy protests led by that Gulf Arab country's Shi'ite majority.

    Hundreds of Saudi Shi'ites protest in east, R, 25.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-saudi-protests-idUSTRE72O3RL20110325

West strikes Libya forces, NATO sees 90-day campaign

TRIPOLI | Fri Mar 25, 2011
9:59am EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Rebel gunners fought artillery duels with Muammar Gaddafi's forces in eastern Libya on Friday and Western warplanes struck at heavy armor used by the government to crush the revolt.

The African Union (AU) said it was planning to facilitate talks to help end war in the oil producing country. But NATO said its no fly zone operation could last three months, and France cautioned the conflict would not end soon.

In Washington, a U.S. military spokeswoman said the coalition fired 16 Tomahawk cruise missiles and flew 153 air sorties in the past 24 hours targeting Gaddafi's artillery, mechanized forces and command and control infrastructure,

Western governments hope that such raids, launched a week ago with the aim of protecting civilians, will also shift the balance of power on the battlefield in favor of the Arab world's most violently resisted popular revolt.

In Tripoli, residents reported another air raid just before dawn, hearing the roar of a warplane, followed by a distant explosion and bursts of anti-aircraft gunfire.

Rebel forces massing for an attack on the strategically important town of Ajdabiyah fired steady bursts of artillery at army positions after Gaddafi's forces refused a ceasefire offer.

Opposition forces on the road to Ajdabiyah seemed more organised than in recent days, when their disarray stirred doubts about their ability to pose a challenge to Gaddafi.

They had set up road blocks at regular intervals and Reuters counted at least four truck-based rocket launchers -- heavier weaponry than had been seen earlier this week.

At the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, AU commission chairman Jean Ping said it was planning to facilitate talks to help end the conflict in a process that should end with democratic elections.

It was the first statement by the AU, which had rejected any form of foreign intervention in the Libya crisis, since the U.N. Security Council imposed a no-fly zone last week and began air strikes on Libyan military targets.

But in Brussels, a NATO official said planning for NATO's no-fly operation assumed a mission lasting 90 days, although this could be extended or shortened as required.

France said the war could drag on for weeks.

"I doubt that it will be days," Admiral Edouard Guillaud, the head of French armed forces, told France Info radio. "I think it will be weeks. I hope it will not take months."

Guillaud said a French plane destroyed an army artillery battery near the eastern frontline town of Ajdabiyah, 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi. Ajdabiyah is strategically important for both sides as it commands the coastal highway to the west.

In London, the Ministry of Defense said British Tornado aircraft had also been active there, firing missiles overnight at Libyan military vehicles threatening civilians.

In the eastern rebel bastion of Benghazi, rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said he expected Ajdabiyah to fall on Friday or Saturday following the overnight British and French strikes.

"This (the strikes) will weaken their forces and more importantly their morale," he said, adding the level of Western strikes was "sufficient. We feel safe under their protection".

Simon Brooks, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross operations in eastern Libya, reported big population movements from the Ajdabiya area because of the fighting.

The ICRC was sending 700 tents west of Ajdabiya to help these displaced people, he said In Ajdabija, the hospital "is obviously very close to where the fighting is going on. It is extremely difficult for people to get access to the hospital."

Officials and rebels said aid organisations were able to deliver some supplies to the western city of Misrata but were concerned because there were still government snipers in the city center.

A resident of Zawiyah, just west of Tripoli, said residents were staying indoors in a climate of fear after heavy fighting, with some residents subject to beatings and kidnappings.

"It's a ghost town. Gaddafi's men are still firmly in control but they are facing resistance from the rebels in some streets," said Mohsen, who fled to the Tunisian border on Wednesday. Gaddafi's forces took back control of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, two weeks ago.

NATO said on Thursday that after four days of tough negotiations that it would enforce the no-fly zone but stopped short of taking full command of U.N.-backed military operations to protect civilians from forces loyal to Gaddafi.

SUDAN SAID TO SUPPORT NO FLY ZONE

Differences over the scope the U.N. resolution gave for military action against Gaddafi's army led to days of heated arguments within NATO about its role in the operation.

The United States, embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, is keen to step back and play a supporting role in Libya in order to preserve alliance unity and maintain the support of Muslim countries for the U.N.-mandated intervention.

Despite the apparently cumbersome structure of the planned new command and Arab jitters on the use of force, the operation continues to receive support from beyond Western ranks.

At the United Nations, envoys said Sudan had quietly granted permission to use its airspace to nations enforcing the no-fly zone. Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, neither confirmed nor denied that report.

South of the Sahara, local media quoted a cabinet minister as saying Uganda would freeze Libyan assets worth about $375 million in line with a U.N. resolution imposing sanctions on Libya following Gaddafi's violence crackdown.

The United Arab Emirates said it would send 12 planes to take part in operations to enforce the no-fly zone.

Qatar has already contributed two fighters and two military transport planes to help enforce the no-fly zone.

Western jets pounded targets in southern Libya on Thursday but failed to prevent government tanks re-entering Misrata, whose main hospital was besieged by government snipers.
 

BAN: LIBYA NOT COMPLYING WITH RESOLUTION

In Tripoli, a Libyan energy official said on Thursday Libya was short of fuel and needs to import more, but a ship with fuel now bound for Tripoli may be stopped by Western forces.

Officials and hospital workers said civilians, including women, were among those killed in the latest Western air strikes in the Libyan capital. There was no way to independently verify the report.

A preacher addressing Friday prayers at Tripoli's Ahmad Basha Mosque, and broadcast live by state run Shababiyah TV, urged Libyans "to confront this new crusader war".

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Perry in Cairo, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Phil Stewart in Moscow, Andrew Quinn in Washington, Catherine Bremer, Emmanuel Jarry and Yves Clarisse in Paris, Rosalba O'Brien in London; writing by William Maclean; editing by Giles Elgood)

    West strikes Libya forces, NATO sees 90-day campaign, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110325

Gates first U.S. defense chief to visit Palestinians

RAMALLAH, West Bank | Fri Mar 25, 2011
8:47am EDT
Reuters
By Phil Stewart
 

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Robert Gates on Friday became the first U.S. Defense Secretary to visit the West Bank, meeting Palestinian leaders keenly aware of every little nod to their hopes of achieving statehood.

Children in Ramallah stared as the long motorcade of U.S. cars wound through the streets of the city north of Jerusalem.

With U.S. diplomacy fully stretched over revolts in the Arab world and the air war with Libya, Gates was looking to revive stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, before another war fills the vacuum they have left for six months.

"It is a great pleasure for me to welcome Secretary Gates to Palestine," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said.

"This is a time of great challenge throughout the region. But also a time of opportunity, requiring a redoubling of the effort aimed at pursuing the cause of peace, justice and security."

Gates noted that he was "the first American secretary of defense to visit Ramallah," the Palestinians' de facto capital and seat of Palestinian Authority ministries and the presidency of Mahmoud Abbas.

"I look forward to our talks ... obviously the political developments around the region, but also the prospects for a two-state solution," he said, referring to the elusive treaty that would end the 62-year-old conflict and create a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.

US-ISRAEL TIES STRONGEST

The visit to Ramallah was another milestone for Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration who is expected to step down later this year. The former CIA director marked the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq last year and oversaw a buildup in the war effort in Afghanistan.

Following the route often used by his Obama administration colleague and peace envoy Senator George Mitchell, Gates first had talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of America's closest ally in the turbulent region.

Netanyahu said Gates, who later went to the Jordanian capital Amman, had "been a champion of peace and security and our partner seeking to bolster our common security and defense interests in this area."

These days, security challenges were "legion," the Israeli leader said, referring to armed threats from Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and the political uncertainties over much of the Arab world.

Referring to a week of rocket attacks from Gaza and a deadly bomb planted near Jerusalem's central bus terminal, Netanyahu noted expressions of support from President Barack Obama, President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and other leaders.

"I think this says that civilized countries have a common stake in fighting terrorism and we want to make sure that we make it clear to the terrorists that any civilized society will not tolerate such wanton attack on its civilians," he said.

Gates said he believed that "at no time in the history of our two countries has our defense and security relationship been stronger than it is today."

Relations between Netanyahu and Obama were strained by the diplomatic frustrations U.S. envoy Mitchell has encountered in getting peace talks re-started.

They remain stalled by a bitter dispute over Israeli settlement building in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, on land where Palestinians hope to build their state.

Mitchell succeeded last September and Netanyahu and Abbas met face to face. But the process collapsed when Netanyahu's 10-month moratorium on settlement building ended.

The Israeli leader refused to extend it and Abbas said he would not continue the talks unless and until the construction ceased totally.

(Writing by Douglas Hamilton)

    Gates first U.S. defense chief to visit Palestinians, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-israel-palestinians-gates-idUSTRE72O2WC20110325

NATO to police Libya no-fly, compromises on command

TRIPOLI | Fri Mar 25, 2011
2:13am EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - NATO said it would enforce a Libya no-fly zone but stopped short of taking full command of U.N.-backed military operations to protect civilians from forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Coalition jets pounded targets in southern Libya on Thursday but failed to prevent government tanks re-entering the western city of Misrata, whose main hospital was besieged by armor and government snipers.

Western commanders hope rebel forces in eastern Libya will overthrow Gaddafi, but the return of tanks to Misrata under cover of darkness highlighted the difficulties they face in trying to force the Libyan leader to cease fire.

Rebels, who have set up an alternative government in their eastern stronghold in Benghazi, say they needed more ammunition and anti-tank weapons if they are to end Gaddafi's 41-year rule.

"We need arms and ammunition. This is our only problem," rebel military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Bani told a briefing.

France, Britain and the United States have spearheaded enforcement of the Libya no-fly zone imposed last week by the U.N. Security Council, which authorized "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians against Gaddafi's forces.

But differences over the scope the U.N. resolution gave for military action against Gaddafi's army led to days of heated arguments within NATO about its role in the operation.

Turkey had wanted to be able to use its NATO veto to limit military operations against Libyan infrastructure and avoid casualties among Muslim civilians from air raids.

France argued NATO's command structure should run day-to-day military operations, leaving political control with an ad hoc steering group of coalition members, including the Arab League.

France believes having NATO in full charge would erode Arab support because of U.S. unpopularity in the Arab world. After four days of argument, NATO ambassadors in Brussels reached a deal of sorts.

"At this moment, there will still be a coalition operation and a NATO operation," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters. The alliance's mandate did not extend beyond enforcing the U.N. arms embargo and no-fly zone, he said.

NATO officials said a decision was expected on Sunday on whether to broaden the mandate to allow the organization to take command of all military operations and attack ground targets in the oil-producing country, in order to protect civilian areas threatened by Gaddafi's forces.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had told reporters: "The operation will be transferred completely to NATO and there will be a single command and control."

The United States, embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, is keen to step back and play a supporting role in Libya, preserve alliance unity and maintain the support of Muslim countries for the U.N.-mandated intervention.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said military planners had been authorized to take on the "broader civilian protection mission" and NATO was well suited to do so.

The number of U.S. aircraft flying missions had dropped significantly as other nations increased their role, she said.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, for his part, told the Security Council there was no evidence Tripoli was complying with U.N. resolutions. His special envoy to Libya had warned Gaddafi's government of possible "additional measures" if Libya failed to comply with the ceasefire demand.

AIR STRIKES

The Libyan government denies its army is conducting any offensive operations and says troops are only defending themselves when they come under attack.

State television said Western jets struck military and residential areas of the capital Tripoli for a sixth straight night on Thursday, prompting bursts of anti-aircraft fire.

Libya said the civilian death toll from five days of coalition air strikes had reached almost 100 and accused Western governments of fighting on the side of the rebels. The toll could not be independently verified.

Western air strikes had earlier on Thursday destroyed government tanks outside Misrata, some 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, but other tanks inside the city were not hit, a resident said.

Gaddafi's tanks slipped back into the city on Thursday and shelled the area near the hospital, residents and rebels said.

Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said Libyan forces were in control of the city of 300,000 people, with only a hard core of rebels holding out.

But opposition spokesman Abdulbasset Abu Mzereiq said by telephone that rebels were still fighting there, and had killed 30 snipers who had been picking off civilians from rooftops in the town. Government warships had left the port.

Rebels and besieging government forces continued to clash around the eastern frontline town of Ajdabiyah, said Abu Musab, who left the town by car with his family of 10.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Perry in Cairo, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Phil Stewart in Moscow, Andrew Quinn in Washington, Catherine Bremer, Emmanuel Jarry and Yves Clarisse in Paris; writing by Jon Boyle; editing by Miral Fahmy)

    NATO to police Libya no-fly, compromises on command, R, 25.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110325

Allies Are Split on Goal and Exit Strategy of Libya Mission

March 24, 2011
The New York Times
By STEVEN LEE MYERS and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON — Having largely succeeded in stopping a rout of Libya’s rebels, the inchoate coalition attacking Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces remains divided over the ultimate goal — and exit strategy — of what officials acknowledged Thursday would be a military campaign that could last for weeks.

The United States has all but called for Colonel Qaddafi’s overthrow from within — with American commanders on Thursday openly calling on the Libyan military to stop following orders — even as administration officials insist that is not the explicit objective of the bombing, and that their immediate goal is more narrowly defined.

France has gone further, recognizing the Libyan rebels as the country’s legitimate representatives, but other allies, even those opposed to Colonel Qaddafi’s erratic and authoritarian rule, have balked. That has complicated the planning and execution of the military campaign and left its objective ill defined for now.

Only on Thursday, the sixth day of air and missile strikes, did the allies reach an agreement to give command of the “no-fly” operation to NATO after days of public quarreling that exposed the divisions among the alliance’s members.

“From the start, President Obama has stated that the role of the U.S. military would be limited in time and scope,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday evening in announcing the plan.

But even that agreement — brokered by Mrs. Clinton and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Turkey — frayed almost immediately over how far the military campaign should go in trying to erode the remaining pillars of Colonel Qaddafi’s power by striking his forces on the ground and those devoted to protecting him. It was salvaged, one diplomat said, only by papering over the differences concerning the crucial question of who actually controls military strikes on Libya’s ground forces.

“There were differences in the scope of what NATO would do and what would remain with the national militaries,” a senior administration official said, expressing hope that the agreement on NATO command would be a step toward resolving them.

The questions swirling around the operation’s command mirrored the larger strategic divisions over how exactly the coalition will bring it to an end — or even what the end might look like, and whether it might even conceivably include a Libya with Colonel Qaddafi remaining in some capacity. While few countries have openly sided with the Libyan leader, officials said on Thursday that most of the allies expected that the use of military force would lead to talks between the government and the rebels.

“I don’t think anyone is ruling out some kind of negotiated settlement,” the official said. Colonel Qaddafi has responded defiantly, making the likelihood of his negotiated departure seem exceedingly remote.

The allied bombardment remains in its early stages. It has already badly eroded Libya’s combat power — with scores of missile and airstrikes against Libya’s air defenses and armored columns — but not yet drastically reversed the military equation on the ground.

Mr. Obama, having returned from his trip to Latin America on Wednesday, met privately at the White House with his senior national security officials, but he made no public statements, even as reservations percolated in Congress and elsewhere about the conflict and its end game.

Asked about concerns raised the day before in a letter by the House speaker, John A. Boehner, Mr. Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said, “I think the president’s been very clear, and he has been asked and answered this question numerous times.”

In fact, Mr. Obama has not made clear what will happen if the international coalition succeeds in establishing control of the skies over Libya, but Colonel Qaddafi’s loyalists and rebels continue to attack and counterattack each other in a bloody, protracted stalemate.

“We should never begin an operation without knowing how we stand down,” said Joseph W. Ralston, a retired general who served as NATO commander and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We did a no-fly zone over Iraq for 12 years and it did nothing to get rid of Saddam. So why do we think it will get rid of Qaddafi?”

In Paris, the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, expressed confidence in the success of the operation so far, even as he urged patience. “The destruction of Qaddafi’s military capacity is a matter of days or weeks, certainly not months,” he told reporters, adding: “You can’t achieve our objective in just five days.”

But any exit strategy will depend on the climate on the ground, and whether rebel forces can be effective in defending themselves without international support. So far, the rebels in the east have failed to punch through the line of Qaddafi forces at the strategic city of Ajdabiya, even with foreign forces battering Libya’s air and ground forces. In one potentially significant shift in momentum, the rebels were negotiating the surrender or withdrawal of one unit of Qaddafi troops in Ajdabiya. “We are trying to lead them to peace,” said a rebel spokesman, Col. Ahmed Omar Bani.

In the western commercial center of Misrata, though, rebels say that airstrikes from international forces will enable them to fight off the Qaddafi siege but not to march to Tripoli, which remains a Qaddafi stronghold. Still, a rebel spokesman who has identified himself by only his first name, Mohammed, predicted that residents of Tripoli would rise up soon. “I know the situation there is really simmering,” he said by telephone. “They have seen the dictator’s murderous ways, and they feel his days are numbered.”

In Tripoli, a few residents critical of the Qaddafi government — all speaking covertly, for fear of reprisals — said that coalition attacks had emboldened people there, who plan new protests after midday prayers on Friday.

But others said the intervention might have arrived too late to set off a popular uprising. “I do not think Tripolitanians will rise,” one Libyan opposition figure with ties around Tripoli said, also speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear, citing the reprisals that the city’s neighborhoods had already endured.

From the start, the administration insisted that it was acting to avert the imminent slaughter of civilians in Benghazi and other rebel-held cities, and that the goal of the military operations was clearly spelled out in the United Nations Security Council resolution.

Mr. Obama’s administration, however, has clearly tried to avoid the debate over a strategy beyond that by shifting the burden of enforcing the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing force on to France, Britain and other allies, including Arab nations like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which on Thursday said that it would contribute warplanes to the effort. In other words, the American exit strategy is not necessarily the coalition’s exit strategy.

“We didn’t want to get sucked into an operation with uncertainty at the end,” the senior administration official said. “In some ways, how it turns out is not on our shoulders.”

Even so, no matter who is in charge American aircraft and warships will continue to support the campaigns for weeks or months, conducting surveillance, refueling and search and rescue operations that the United States is better able to do. And in the event that the allied mission goes badly awry, there would be little doubt that the American forces would return to the fight.

Steven Lee Myers reported from Washington, and David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Libya. Eric Schmitt and Mark Landler contributed reporting from Washington.

    Allies Are Split on Goal and Exit Strategy of Libya Mission, NYT, 24.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/world/africa/25policy.html

The Ego Advantage

March 24, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID BROOKS

There’s something I’ve always wondered about Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi: How does a guy who seems to be only marginally attached to reality manage to stay in power for 42 years?

He gives rambling incoherent speeches at places like the United Nations. His head is stuffed with oddball conspiracy theories and strange obsessions, like calling for the elimination of Switzerland or blaming the J.F.K. assassination on Israeli intelligence. He shows up in foreign countries in odd dress, with odd make-up and hair-gel preferences, once having pinned a photograph to his chest.

He has an all-female bodyguard contingent. In 2008, he announced that as part of a government shake-up, he was going to abolish all government ministries except Defense, Internal Security and a few others.

These are not the actions of a cold, calculating Machiavellian. Yet Qaddafi can’t just be dismissed as a comic loon. He’s maintained dominance in a ruthless part of the world, and he may outlast the current shambolic attempts to unseat him.

It seems that there is something advantageous in the megalomania that is his defining lifelong trait. He was kicked out of school for trying to organize a student strike. He began plotting a coup to take over the country while in college. He has repeatedly compared himself to Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad. He calls the Green Book, his book of teachings, “the new gospel.”

That book, which Libyans are compelled to read (he canceled student summer vacation at one point and replaced it with indoctrination sessions), is filled with oddball notions and banal assertions. It consists of three parts, “The Solution to Democratic Problems,” “The Solution to Economic Problems” and a section offering solutions to social problems.

Qaddafi apparently wrote the book with the conviction that he had discovered the answers to all human problems, which he calls the Third Universal Theory. In a characteristically absolutist passage, he writes, “True Democracy has but one method and one theory.”

Along the way he offers banal observations as if nobody had ever thought of them before. He reveals that women menstruate and men do not. He unveils doctrines that have nothing to do with how he actually behaves: “Mandatory education is a coercive education that suppresses freedom. To impose specific teaching materials is a dictatorial act.”

He seems to be one of those people who believes he possesses absolute truth, who wants to impose his thoughts on everybody else and exercise total dominance over others like some World Historical superman.

That’s how he has run his country. According to the Freedom of the Press Index, it is the most censored country in the Middle East and North Africa, which is saying something. Experts estimate that as much as 10 percent or 20 percent of the population is made up of state security informants. To eliminate outside influence, Qaddafi at one point removed foreign languages from schools and removed the Latin lettering street signs. Early on, he expelled the Italian community, forcing its members to exhume the bodies of Italians from Libyan graveyards to take home. He broadcast the exhumation live on state TV. Street posters say things like: “Obey Those in Authority.”

Over the decades, he has tried to remake the world in his own grandiose image. He tried to create a larger empire by merging Libya and Sudan. He tried to create a Federation of Arab Republics with Egypt and Syria. He tried to create an Arab Legion. He has named himself King of Kings, Imam of All Muslims and, in 2009, sought to create a United States of Africa. He has created dictatorship academies and has trained some of the world’s most brutal autocrats, and, of course, he has supported terrorist movements in Australia, Ireland, Germany and beyond.

Yet this very megalomania seems to be both the secret to his longevity and to his unhinged nature. The paradoxical fact is that if you want to stay in office as a dictator, it is better to be a narcissistic totalitarian than a run-of-the-mill autocrat. Megalomianiacs like Qaddafi seek to control every neuron in their peoples’ heads and to control every aspect of life. They destroy all outside authority and civil society. They personalize every institution so that things like the army exist to serve their holy selves, rather than the nation at large.

They are untroubled by doubt or concern for the good opinion of others since they already possess absolute truth. They are motivated to fulfill their World Historical Mission and have no interest in retiring peacefully to some villa.

Jeane Kirkpatrick was right years ago to make the distinction between authoritarian dictatorships and totalitarian ones. The totalitarian ones are both sicker and harder to dislodge. Qaddafi’s unhinged narcissistic oddness seems to be the key to his longevity. So remember: If you’re going to be a tyrant, be a wacko. It’s safer.

    The Ego Advantage, NYT, 24.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/opinion/25brooks.html

Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt

March 24, 2011
The New York Times
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN

CAIRO — In post-revolutionary Egypt, where hope and confusion collide in the daily struggle to build a new nation, religion has emerged as a powerful political force, following an uprising that was based on secular ideals. The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group once banned by the state, is at the forefront, transformed into a tacit partner with the military government that many fear will thwart fundamental changes.

It is also clear that the young, educated secular activists who initially propelled the nonideological revolution are no longer the driving political force — at least not at the moment.

As the best organized and most extensive opposition movement in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood was expected to have an edge in the contest for influence. But what surprises many is its link to a military that vilified it.

“There is evidence the Brotherhood struck some kind of a deal with the military early on,” said Elijah Zarwan, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. “It makes sense if you are the military — you want stability and people off the street. The Brotherhood is one address where you can go to get 100,000 people off the street.”

There is a battle consuming Egypt about the direction of its revolution, and the military council that is now running the country is sending contradictory signals. On Wednesday, the council endorsed a plan to outlaw demonstrations and sit-ins. Then, a few hours later, the public prosecutor announced that the former interior minister and other security officials would be charged in the killings of hundreds during the protests.

Egyptians are searching for signs of clarity in such declarations, hoping to discern the direction of a state led by a secretive military council brought to power by a revolution based on demands for democracy, rule of law and an end to corruption.

“We are all worried,” said Amr Koura, 55, a television producer, reflecting the opinions of the secular minority. “The young people have no control of the revolution anymore. It was evident in the last few weeks when you saw a lot of bearded people taking charge. The youth are gone.”

The Muslim Brotherhood is also regarded warily by some religious Egyptians, who see it as an elitist, secret society. These suspicions have created potential opportunities for other parties.

About six groups from the ultraconservative Salafist school of Islam have also emerged in the era after President Hosni Mubarak’s removal, as well as a party called Al Wassat, intended as a more liberal alternative to the Brotherhood.

In the early stages of the revolution, the Brotherhood was reluctant to join the call for demonstrations. It jumped in only after it was clear that the protest movement had gained traction. Throughout, the Brotherhood kept a low profile, part of a survival instinct honed during decades of repression by the state.

The question at the time was whether the Brotherhood would move to take charge with its superior organizational structure. It now appears that it has.

“The Brotherhood didn’t want this revolution; it has never been a revolutionary movement,” said Mr. Zarwan of the International Crisis Group. “Now it has happened; they participated cautiously, and they realize they can set their sights higher.”

But in these early stages, there is growing evidence of the Brotherhood’s rise and the overpowering force of Islam.

When the new prime minister, Essam Sharaf, addressed the crowd in Tahrir Square this month, Mohamed el-Beltagi, a prominent Brotherhood member, stood by his side. A Brotherhood member was also appointed to the committee that drafted amendments to the Constitution.

But the most obvious and consequential example was the recent referendum on the amendments, in the nation’s first post-Mubarak balloting. The amendments essentially call for speeding up the election process so that parliamentary contests can be held before September, followed soon after by a presidential race. That expedited calendar is seen as giving an advantage to the Brotherhood and to the remnants of Mr. Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, which have established national networks. The next Parliament will oversee drafting a new constitution.

Before the vote, Essam el-Erian, a Brotherhood leader and spokesman, appeared on a popular television show, “The Reality,” arguing for the government’s position in favor of the proposal. With a record turnout, the vote was hailed as a success. But the “yes” campaign was based largely on a religious appeal: voters were warned that if they did not approve the amendments, Egypt would become a secular state.

“The problem is that our country will be without a religion,” read a flier distributed in Cairo by a group calling itself the Egyptian Revolution Society. “This means that the call to the prayer will not be heard anymore like in the case of Switzerland, women will be banned from wearing the hijab like in the case of France,” it said, referring to the Muslim head scarf. “And there will be laws that allow men to get married to men and women to get married to women like in the case of America.”

A banner hung by the Muslim Brotherhood in a square in Alexandria instructed voters that it was their “religious duty” to vote “yes” on the amendments.

In the end, 77.2 percent of those who voted said yes.

This is not to say that the Brotherhood is intent on establishing an Islamic state. From the first days of the protests, Brotherhood leaders proclaimed their dedication to religious tolerance and a democratic and pluralist form of government. They said they would not offer a candidate for president, that they would contest only a bit more than a third of the total seats in Parliament, and that Coptic Christians and women would be welcomed into the political party affiliated with the movement.

None of that has changed, Mr. Erian, the spokesman, said in an interview. “We are keen to spread our ideas and our values,” he said. “We are not keen for power.”

He would not comment on whether the Brotherhood had an arrangement with the military, but he said the will of the people to shift toward Islam spoke for itself and was a sign of Egypt’s emerging democratic values. “Don’t trust the intellectuals, liberals and secularists,” Mr. Erian said. “They are a minor group crying all the time. If they don’t work hard, they have no future.”

But the more secular forces say that what they need is time.

“I worry about going too fast towards elections, that the parties are still weak,” said Nabil Ahmed Helmy, former dean of the Zagazig law school and a member of the National Council for Human Rights. “The only thing left right now is the Muslim Brotherhood. I do think that people are trying to take over the revolution.”

Egypt is still a work in progress. Ola Shahba, 32, a member of a group in the youth coalition behind the protests, said, “After the results of the referendum, we need to be humble.”

The coalition and others have said they see the overwhelming approval of the amendments and the rise of the Brotherhood as worrisome, and as evidence that more liberal forces need to organize in a more effective outreach campaign, and fast.

“Freedom is nice; so is democracy,” said Rifaat Abdul Massih, 39, a construction worker. “But I’m a Christian, and we are a bit worried about the future. I voted ‘no’ to give more time to the secular parties. I don’t want to have the Muslim Brotherhood here right away.”

Nadim Audi contributed reporting.

    Islamist Group Is Rising Force in a New Egypt, NYT, 24.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/world/middleeast/25egypt.html

McCain says Gaddafi should be tried for "war crimes"

TUCSON, Arizona | Thu Mar 24, 2011
6:38pm EDT
Reuters

TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi should be tried for war crimes for "outrageous levels of brutality" he has used to crush opposition rebels, U.S. Senator John McCain said on Thursday.

"I'd love to see him (Gaddafi) in an international court ... for war crimes," McCain, an Arizona Republican, told reporters at a news conference in Tucson, Arizona.

"I think that would be the best of all results," he said.

A senior Republican who ran for president against Barack Obama in 2008, McCain added that the Libyan leader's forces have tried to "repress the anti-Gaddafi rebels with the worst, most outrageous levels of brutality."

"Committing these crimes against his own people, certainly there's ample evidence that he has committed war crimes," McCain added.

He said that there was also evidence of Gaddafi's direct involvement in the bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet that exploded over the village of Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988, killing 270 people.

"We have additional evidence of his direct involvement in the blowing up of Pan Am 103 which took 190 American lives," McCain added.

Former Libyan agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was the only man convicted in the case. He was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds in 2009 because he was diagnosed as terminally ill with prostate cancer.

Gaddafi has been battling rebels in the North African oil producing desert state, following a popular uprising that began last month.

(Reporting by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Jerry Norton)

    McCain says Gaddafi should be tried for "war crimes", R, 24.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-mccain-libya-idUSTRE72N7CP20110324

No sign Gaddafi complying with U.N. demands: Ban

UNITED NATIONS | Thu Mar 24, 2011
4:10pm EDT
Reuters

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - There are no signs that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's government is complying with U.N. Security Council demands for an immediate ceasefire, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday.

"There is no evidence that Libyan authorities have taken steps to carry out their obligations under resolutions 1970 or 1973," Ban told the Security Council. He was referring to two council resolutions that called for an immediate end to hostilities and imposed a no-fly zone over the country.

Ban said his special envoy to Libya, former Jordanian foreign minister Abdelilah Al-Khatib, had personally warned Gaddafi's government that the council may take further steps if Libya did not comply with last week's ceasefire demand by the Security Council in resolution 1973.

"The special envoy emphasized that it was in Libya's best interests to cease hostilities and change the dynamics of the crisis," Ban said. "If Libya did not act, the envoy stated, the Security Council may be prepared to take additional measures."

Council members were discussing the crisis in Libya behind closed doors on Thursday, but diplomats said they were unlikely to do anything more than issue a statement to the media.

Ban's remarks to the council come as Western warplanes hit military targets deep inside Libya on Thursday but failed to prevent tanks re-entering the western town of Misrata and besieging its main hospital.

Ban said his U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Libya, Rashid Khalikov, and his team had "only limited access" when they went to Libya to assess the humanitarian situation there.

"We have serious concerns ... about the protection of civilians, abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and the access of civilian populations to basic commodities and services in areas currently under siege," he told the 15-nation council.

Ban said Khatib's mission found "many worrying signs" in Libya.

"Colonel Gaddafi's threats were aired repeatedly on national television," he said. "Journalists continue to be arrested."

Some 335,658 people have fled Libya since the beginning of the crisis, he said, adding that the United Nations had contingency plans to deal with as many as 250,000 new refugees.

(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Vicki Allen)

    No sign Gaddafi complying with U.N. demands: Ban, R, 24.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-libya-un-idUSTRE72N6X920110324

Libya says almost 100 civilians died in air strikes

TRIPOLI | Thu Mar 24, 2011
2:08pm EDT
Reuters


TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya said Thursday the civilian death toll from five days of coalition air strikes had reached almost 100 and accused Western governments of fighting on the side of the rebels.

Mussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, also said the Libyan government believed Western forces were planning to attack its broadcasting infrastructure, possibly later Thursday.

"What is happening now is that Western governments are fighting on the side of the rebels. This was not permitted by the United Nations resolution," he told reporters.

"We have received intelligence that our broadcasting and communications infrastructure will be targeted, possibly tonight, by the air strikes. ... This would, if this takes place, be very immoral and illegal. These are civilian targets."

He said the civilian death toll from allied air strikes was "getting close to 100." Western military officials deny any civilians have been killed in its campaign to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians from government forces.

"We have kept out word. We have a ceasefire in place. We are only responding to the air strikes, which is our right of course, and the rebels in the east are attacking our army under the cover of the air strikes," Ibrahim said.

(Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Matthew Jones)

    Libya says almost 100 civilians died in air strikes, R, 24.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-libya-government-civilians-idUSTRE72N5SV20110324

Few Americans see Obama as strong military leader

WASHINGTON | Thu Mar 24, 2011
2:01pm EDT
Reuters
By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Only 17 percent of Americans see President Barack Obama as a strong and decisive military leader, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken after the United States and its allies began bombing Libya.

Nearly half of those polled view Obama as a cautious and consultative commander-in-chief and more than a third see him as indecisive in military matters.

Obama was widely criticized in 2009 for his months-long consultations with senior aides and military chiefs on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan. Critics called it dithering, but he said such a big decision required careful deliberation. He eventually dispatched 30,000 more troops.

But Obama is facing mounting discontent among opposition Republicans and from within his own Democratic Party over the fuzzy aims of the U.S.-led mission in Libya and the lack of a clearly spelled-out exit strategy for U.S. forces.

If the Libya mission becomes a foreign policy mess, mixed with perceptions Obama is a weak military leader, it could spell trouble for him in the 2012 presidential election.

The poll also found that 60 percent of Americans support the United States and its allies bombing Libya to impose a no-fly zone to protect civilians from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed said the United States and its allies should try to remove Gaddafi, who has ruled the oil-exporting North African country for more than four decades.

In the survey, conducted on March 22 from a nationally representative sample of 975 adults, only 7 percent supported deploying ground troops.

Of the 60 percent in favor of the Libya military action, 20 percent strongly supported it and 40 percent somewhat supported it. Twenty-five percent somewhat opposed it and 14 percent were strongly against.

"NO TOLERANCE" FOR GROUND TROOPS

The survey suggested Americans may see Obama in a very different light from his predecessor, George W. Bush, who launched the Afghanistan and Iraq wars with some allies but was widely seen as a go-it-alone leader.

Of those polled, 48 percent described Obama's leadership as commander in chief as "cautious and consultative," 36 percent as "indecisive and dithering," and 17 percent as "strong and decisive" in a question that offered only those three choices.

"The data suggest he is perceived to be more consultative in his approach, which may distinguish him in the minds of the American public from his predecessor, George W. Bush, who was not perceived to be," said Ipsos Public Affairs Director Julia Clark, adding that the responses broke along political lines.

In a sign of political division, the top Republican in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, on Wednesday sharpened his criticism of Obama, saying he was "troubled that U.S. military resources were committed to war without clearly defining ... what the mission in Libya is and what America's role is in achieving that mission."

Obama secured U.N. Security Council sanctions as well as Arab support before beginning the military operation, whose objective is to protect civilians rather than to oust Gaddafi, the latest authoritarian Arab leader to face mass protests.

Clark said she was surprised by the strong majority -- 79 percent -- favoring removing Gaddafi from power, particularly at a time when the United States is gradually winding down the war in Iraq and still heavily deployed in Afghanistan.

"That's pretty overwhelming," she said, but noted support for the use of U.S. ground troops in Libya is minimal.

"Everybody thinks Gaddafi needs to go but there is absolutely no tolerance for the idea of sending in ground troops," Clark said, citing U.S. fatigue with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. "The idea of entering a third conflict like that garners very, very little support."

    Few Americans see Obama as strong military leader, R, 24.3.2011,
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-libya-usa-poll-idUSTRE72N1JN20110324

Analysis: Libya conflict may strengthen Iran nuclear defiance

VIENNA | Thu Mar 24, 2011
11:56am EDT
By Fredrik Dahl

VIENNA (Reuters) - Western air strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's forces could stiffen Iran's resolve to resist U.S.-led demands over its nuclear program, though Tehran's final analysis may depend on when and how the Libyan war ends.

Seeking to mend ties with the West, Gaddafi agreed in 2003 to abandon efforts to acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons -- a move that brought him in from the cold and helped end decades as an international pariah.

In contrast, Iran has repeatedly ruled out halting sensitive nuclear activities it says are aimed at generating electricity but which the United States and its allies suspect are geared toward developing a nuclear weapons capability.

Analysts say events in Libya, where Western warplanes hit Libyan tanks on a fifth night of air strikes Thursday, are likely to provide new arguments for those in Iran who believe it would be a mistake to back down over its nuclear program.

Iran's arch foes -- Israel and the United States -- have refused to exclude possible military action against the Islamic Republic if diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute fail.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Reuters on Thursday that Iran and Syria posed a greater security threat than Libya, urging the West to treat those countries in the same way as it has Gaddafi's government.

"I suspect that this is playing into the hands of those who say that Iran has to have a nuclear deterrent because look at what happened to Gaddafi," Shannon Kile, at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said.

Iran is pushing ahead with its uranium enrichment work despite toughening sanctions by the United Nations, United States and Europe on the major oil producer and technical and others woes slowing its nuclear progress.

WEST NOT TRUSTED

Iran says it is refining uranium only to provide fuel for a planned network of nuclear power stations so that it can export more of its oil and gas. But the same material can be used to make bombs if refined much more.

"Even without the operations in Libya the attitude in Iran has hardened over the last 2-3 years," said David Hartwell, IHS Jane's North Africa and Middle East analyst.

He said hardliners were likely to use the air campaign in Libya as a further justification for their position that "we simply can't trust the West."

Iran's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, this week said Gaddafi's concessions over its nuclear program showed Tehran was right to continue to reject any curb to its atomic energy development.

Khamenei said that while Libya had given up its nuclear capacities in exchange for incentives he compared to giving candy to a child, Iran "not only did not retreat but ... officials tried to increase nuclear facilities year after year."

While voicing support for demonstrators in the region and condemning government repression, Iran has crushed protests at home and jailed scores of demonstrators since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed presidential election in June 2009.

"Surely the attack on Gaddafi's forces will reinforce the Iranian distrust of the United States," proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, said.

"Ayatollah Khamenei already has long believed that if you give an inch to the United States, they will take a mile, that any concession on the nuclear front will only lead to demands on human rights and Israel and other issues."

NUCLEAR OPTION

The U.N. Security Council has imposed four sets of sanctions on Tehran since 2006 for refusing to freeze its enrichment program, which can have both civilian and military purposes.

Major powers have offered Iran trade and other economic and political incentives it halts its atomic activities.

But two rounds of talks in December and January between Iran and the six powers seeking to resolve the dispute diplomatically -- the United States, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and China -- failed to make any headway.

Underlining the deadlock, no new meetings have been scheduled, even though both sides insist the door remains open.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the world must make clear Iran would face "credible military action" if sanctions do not shut down its nuclear program.

Iran's reading of the Libyan situation may be that Western powers would not have thought about intervening there if Gaddafi had held on to his weapons programs, said Oliver Thraenert, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

"You might argue that possessing a nuclear option means that you will not be confronted with an international intervention, whatever you might do in the future with any opposition within Iran," he said.

But there could also be those in Iran who make the opposite case, that the action in Libya shows that the United States and its allies could do the same in Iran before it "gets its hand on a nuclear option. It is also possible," Thraenert said.

Baqer Moin, an Iran expert in London, said the implications for Iran and its rival factions would hinge on whether the Western campaign in Libya was successful or became a quagmire.

"If it is an easy victory it would enhance the position of those who want to negotiate with the West," Moin said.

(Editing by Alison Williams)

    Analysis: Libya conflict may strengthen Iran nuclear defiance, R, 24.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-iran-libya-nuclear-idUSTRE72N4WH20110324

Thousands in Syria chant "freedom" despite reform offer

DERAA, Syria | Thu Mar 24, 2011
11:00pm EDT
Reuters
By Suleiman al-Khalidi

DERAA, Syria (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad made a rare public pledge to look into granting Syrians greater freedom on Thursday as anger mounted following attacks by security forces on protesters that left at least 37 dead.

Despite the promise and the offer of large public pay rises, thousands of Syrians turned out to chant "freedom, revolution" in the center of the southern city of Deraa, the focal point of protests against 48 years of Baath Party rule.

"The Syrian people do not bow," they also chanted around the main Omari mosque, shortly after security forces evacuated the building which they stormed on Wednesday.

Syrian opposition figures said the promises did not meet the aspirations of the people and were similar to those repeated at regular Baath Party conferences, where committees would be formed to study reforms that then never saw the light of day.

"The leadership is trying to absorb the rage of the streets. We want to see reform on the ground," said a Deraa protester.

A hospital official said at least 37 people had been killed in Deraa on Wednesday when security forces opened fire on demonstrators inspired by uprisings across the Arab world that have shaken authoritarian leaders.

While an aide said Assad would study a possible end to 48 years of emergency rule, a human rights group said a leading pro-democracy activist, Mazen Darwish, had been arrested.

Announcing promises for reform in a manner that would have seemed almost unimaginable three months ago in Syria, Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban told a news conference the president had not himself ordered his forces to fire on protesters:

"I was a witness to the instructions of His Excellency that live ammunition should not be fired, even if the police, security forces or officers of the state were being killed."

On Jan 31 Assad had said there was no chance political upheavals then shaking Tunisia and Egypt would spread to Syria.

After Thursday's announcement, Syrian television showed a large procession of cars in Deraa driving in support of Assad with pictures of the president plastered on the vehicles.

The Baath Party, which has ruled for half a century, will draft laws to provide for media freedoms, and will look at allowing other political movements. The party will also seek to lift living standards and consider ending the rule of emergency law.

Authorities released all those arrested in the Deraa region since the protests erupted, an official statement said but it did not give a figure. The statement also said Assad ordered a 20 to 30 percent salary rise for public employees across Syria.

DERAA KILLINGS

"When you first hear it you think they're making major concessions, but when you look at it you realize there's not a lot there besides the salary boost," said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at Oklahoma University in the U.S.. "You understand the regime is in a very difficult spot and they're flustered."

Security forces opened fire on hundreds of youths on the outskirts of Deraa on Wednesday, witnesses said, after nearly a week of protests in which seven civilians had already died.

The main hospital in Deraa, near the Jordanian border, had received the bodies of at least 37 protesters killed on Wednesday, a hospital official said. That brings the number killed to at least 44 in a week of protests.

About 20,000 people marched on Thursday in the funerals for nine of those killed, chanting freedom slogans and denying official accounts that "armed gangs" were behind the killings and violence.

"Traitors do not kill their own people," they chanted. "God, Syria, Freedom. The blood of martyrs is not spilled in vain!"

As Syrian soldiers armed patrolled the streets, residents emptied shops of basic goods and said they feared Assad's government was intent on crushing the revolt by force.

Assad, a close ally of Iran, a key player in neighboring Lebanon and supporter of militant groups opposed to Israel, had dismissed demands for reform in Syria, a country of 20 million.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris and Yara Bayoumy in Beirut; Writing by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Damascus; Editing by Matthew Jones)

    Thousands in Syria chant "freedom" despite reform offer, R, 24.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/25/us-syria-idUSTRE72N2MC20110325

Gaddafi's entourage sends out secret peace feelers

WASHINGTON | Thu Mar 24, 2011
6:59pm EDT
Reuters
By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of Muammar Gaddafi's entourage are putting out feelers to seek a ceasefire or safe passage from Libya, according to U.S. and European officials and a businessman close to the Libyan leadership.

Messages seeking some kind of peaceful end to U.N.-backed military action or a safe exit for members of Gaddafi's entourage have been sent via intermediaries in Austria, Britain and France, said Roger Tamraz, a Middle Eastern businessman with long experience conducting deals with the Libyan regime.

Tamraz said Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Muammar's eldest son, and Abdullah Senoussi, the Libyan leader's brother-in-law, were the most prominent Gaddafi entourage members involved in seeking ways to end the fighting.

A U.S. national security official, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said that U.S. government agencies were aware that Saif al-Islam and Senoussi had been involved in making peace overtures.

The U.S. official, and a European government official who is also following Libyan events closely, said that U.S. and European governments were treating the purported outreach with caution, but not dismissing it out of hand.

PLAN "B"

"It's clear that some of Gaddafi's family members always have a plan B up their sleeve. That doesn't mean they'll leave and certain Gaddafis are probably going to stick with their crazy dad no matter what happens," the U.S. official said.

In an interview on Tuesday with a U.S. television network, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was aware that people close to Gaddafi had been trying to make contact.

"I'm not aware that he personally has reached out, but I do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out," Clinton told ABC America's Diane Sawyer.

"This is what we hear from so many sources...Today, yesterday, the day before. Some of it...is theater, some of it is kind of, shall we say, game-playing...But some of it, we think, is exploring, 'what are my options, where could I go, what could I do.' And we would encourage that," Clinton said.

The U.S. national security official added: "It's not at all surprising that members of the Gaddafi regime might be looking for ways out of this mess."

Tamraz, a financier and oil man who sold a chain of European gasoline refineries and retail stations to Libya's sovereign wealth fund three decades ago, claims strong connections in Libya and the Middle East.

The businessman indicated he had been in contact with people in the Middle East and Europe with knowledge of the Libyan overtures. Tamraz spoke to Reuters by telephone from the United Arab Emirates.

ANTI-GADDAFI SANCTIONS

During the last six months, Tamraz said, he had begun discussions with Libyan representatives to buy back the oil company, which operates under the Tamoil brand in Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

Tamoil's Swiss branch said earlier this month that it might be subject to anti-Gaddafi sanctions.

But later the company said it would not be affected by European Union or Swiss sanctions and that it no longer has ties to a former Tamoil director associated with the Libyan Investment Authority who is personally named in the E.U.'s anti-Gaddafi sanctions order.

Tamraz told Reuters that some of the most aggressive efforts by members of Gaddafi's entourage to start dialogue were being channeled through Austria. A European government financial investigator said that Libya was believed to have extensive wealth and investments in Austria.

Tamraz said that he believed Saif al-Islam, Senoussi and other members of the Gaddafi entourage were proposing a ceasefire between government forces, rebels and the anti-Gaddafi Western alliance, or plans which would enable members of the Libyan leader's entourage to go into exile peacefully.

(Editing by David Storey)

    Gaddafi's entourage sends out secret peace feelers, R, 24.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-libya-gaddafi-idUSTRE72N87E20110324

Gaza rockets strike deeper inside Israel

GAZA | Thu Mar 24, 2011
6:01pm EDT
Reuters
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian rockets struck deep inside Israel Thursday close to the urban sprawl south of Tel Aviv, and Israel pounded targets in Gaza in a surging conflict that has raised fears of a new war.

Israeli police said long-range Grad rockets fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip hit Ashdod and an area north of the Mediterranean port. There were no reports of casualties.

Violence along the Gaza border has worsened in recent days and a bomb attack Wednesday in Jerusalem that Israeli police blamed on Palestinian militants killed one woman and injured 30 people. It was the first such bombing in the city since 2004.

Britain identified the dead woman as a British national, Mary-Jane Gardner, and Israeli police said she was a tourist.

The Israeli military said five rockets and a mortar bomb from Gaza exploded in Israel, causing no casualties. Schools remained closed in Ashdod and in Beersheba, a city in the Negev desert struck several times in the past week.

Israel carried out a series of strikes on Gaza throughout the day and there were no initial reports of casualties.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said "terror targets" were hit from the air in the latest attack. Hamas officials said a Hamas internal security compound in Gaza City, an adjacent training camp and a rocket launcher further north were hit.

In earlier air strikes, missiles hit smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, a Hamas training camp, a rocket crew and a power transformer, causing blackouts in the enclave, Gaza residents said.

"The responsibility lies entirely on Hamas ... we know how to act and have proven this in the past, we will strike proportionately when needed," Israeli Civil Defense Minister Matan Vilnai told Israel Radio.

CONFLICT ACCELERATES

Israel says the air strikes have been a response to rocket barrages. Hamas says its attacks in the past week have been in reaction to Israeli strikes. Five Palestinian militants and four civilians, three of them children, were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza Tuesday.

The upswing of violence in the past few days has led to fears of a new war between Israel and Hamas Islamists, who have ruled the small Mediterranean coastal territory since 2007, after months of relative quiet.

Wednesday, militants in Gaza fired more than a dozen rockets and mortar bombs across the border.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its leaders were detained by security forces of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority for questioning about the Jerusalem bombing.

No group claimed responsibility for planting the bomb, which exploded near a bus stop.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned militant groups in the Gaza Strip Wednesday that the Jewish state would act decisively to defend itself.

He threatened a lengthy "exchange of blows" with Palestinian militants, though officials from both sides have said they want to prevent a repeat of Israel's 2009 three-week war on the mainly desert enclave.

"Calm will be met with calm," an Islamic Jihad leader said.

Israel launched the Gaza war with the declared aim of ending cross-border rocket fire, and killed around 1,400 Palestinians in the conflict, drawing heavy international censure.

Hamas had mostly held its fire since then.

    Gaza rockets strike deeper inside Israel, R, 24.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-palestinians-israel-violence-idUSTRE72N48A20110324

Obama administration condemns Syria crackdown

WASHINGTON | Thu Mar 24, 2011
5:39pm EDT
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States condemned on Thursday a "brutal" crackdown on demonstrators by Syria's government, the White House said.

"The United States strongly condemns the Syrian government's brutal repression of demonstrations, in particular the violence and killings of civilians at the hands of security forces," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

He said those responsible for the violence must be held accountable and said Washington calls on Syria's government to exercise restraint and respect the rights of its people.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Editing by Sandra Maler)

    Obama administration condemns Syria crackdown, 24.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-syria-usa-whitehouse-idUSTRE72N7OD20110324

Yemeni opposition says No to Saleh's new offer

SANAA | Thu Mar 24, 2011
4:53pm EDT
Reuters
By Cynthia Johnston and Mohammed Ghobari

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's opposition stepped up efforts to remove President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Thursday, dismissing his offer to stand down after a presidential election at the end of the year.

Tensions ratcheted higher a day ahead of a planned rally that protesters have dubbed "Friday of Departure," and presidential guards loyal to Saleh clashed with army units backing opposition groups demanding his ouster.

But a top general who has thrown his weight behind the protesters said he had no desire to take power, as fears grew of a major confrontation between rival military units in the capital Sanaa or elsewhere.

Yassin Noman, head of Yemen's opposition coalition, dismissed Saleh's offer as "empty words" and a spokesman said the umbrella coalition would not respond.

"No dialogue and no initiatives for this dead regime," opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabry said.

General Ali Mohsen, who sent troops to protect pro-democracy protesters in Sanaa, said the options before Saleh were now few, and criticized what he described as his "stubbornness," but said the armed forces were committed to protecting protesters.

He said military rule in Arab countries was outdated and that the people would decide who would govern them in the framework of a modern, civilian state. "Ali Mohsen as an individual has served for 55 years and has no desire for any power or position," he told Reuters. "I have no more ambition left except to spend the remainder of my life in tranquility, peace and relaxation far from the problems of politics and the demands of the job."

POST-SALEH CONCERN

Mohsen, commander of the northwest military zone and Saleh's kinsman from the al-Ahmar clan, is the most senior military officer to back the protests, and his move on Monday triggered a stream of defections in the military and government.

Saleh offered amnesty to defecting troops in a meeting with senior commanders, calling their decisions foolish acts taken in reaction to violence in Sanaa last Friday, when 52 protesters were shot dead.

Yemen lies on key shipping routes and borders the world's leading oil exporter Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda has used Yemen as a base to plot attacks in both Saudi Arabia and the United States, and both countries have bet on Saleh to contain the group.

Washington and Riyadh, Yemen's main financial backer, have long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a resurgent Yemen-based al Qaeda network, which has entrenched itself in the mountainous state. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington had not planned for an era without Saleh.

Western countries and Saudi Arabia are worried about a power vacuum if Saleh goes that could embolden al Qaeda.

Mohsen, an Islamist seen as close to the Islamist opposition, said the army would work with the international community against terrorism.

With no clear successor and conflicts gripping northern and southern Yemen, the country of 23 million faces fears of a breakup, in addition to poverty, a water shortage, dwindling oil reserves and lack of central government control.

Northern Shi'ites have taken up arms against Saleh, and southerners dream of a separate state.

Britain said it had drawn up plans for a possible military evacuation of its citizens who remain in Yemen.

Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament he had reports that oil companies were withdrawing their staff. Britain said on Wednesday it was temporarily pulling out part of its embassy team from Sanaa ahead of protests expected on Friday.

TIDE IS TURNING

Saleh and opposition groups have both made proposals for reform. On Wednesday, Saleh offered new presidential elections by January 2012 instead of September 2013, when his term ends.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Saleh and Mohsen were hashing out a deal that would involve both men resigning within days in favor of a civilian transitional government. But there was no confirmation from senior officials.

An umbrella group of civil society organizations called for a transitional council of nine figures "not involved with the corruption of the old regime" to draw up a new constitution over a six-month period ahead of elections.

But the issue of what happens to Saleh, who came power in the north in 1978 and oversaw unity with the south in 1990, was left untouched in the proposal from the 'Civil Bloc'.

Opposition parties said on Thursday they were tired of the drip-feed of concessions. "This talk is aimed at delaying the announcement of the death of the regime. The opposition does not need to respond," said spokesman Mohammed al-Sabry.

Saleh made the offer in a letter sent not only to the opposition but also to General Mohsen.

"The political tide in Yemen has turned decisively against President Ali Abdullah Saleh," an International Crisis Group report said. "His choices are limited: he can fight his own military or negotiate a rapid and dignified transfer of power."

Saleh reacted to the loss of his ally Mohsen, seen as Yemen's second most powerful figure, with a series of meetings with military and tribal leaders where he warned against a "coup" that would lead to civil war.

Saleh also has intelligence services on his side and security sources say he has beefed up his personal security for fear of an assassination attempt.

Protesters who have been encamped in their thousands outside Sanaa University for some six weeks have hardened in their attitude toward Saleh, rejecting any idea of his remaining.

They hope the "Day of Departure" after Friday prayers could bring hundreds of thousands onto the streets. Washington, which has urged U.S. citizens to leave Yemen, warned those remaining to stay away from demonstrations on Friday.

Around 10,000 people gathered on Thursday morning, chanting slogans such as "Go, go, you coward; you are an American agent."

Protesters are divided over what they think of Mohsen, an Islamist from the same Hashed tribal confederation as Saleh.

"The country risks replacing the current regime with one bearing striking similarities, dominated by tribal elites from Hashed and powerful Islamists," the ICG report said.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Sudam and Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Samia Nakhoul; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

    Yemeni opposition says No to Saleh's new offer, R, 24.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-yemen-idUSTRE72M92520110324

Egypt tells Israel it is committed to peace treaty

CAIRO | Thu Mar 24, 2011
2:32pm EDT
Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's foreign minister told an Israeli official Thursday that Cairo was committed to its international treaties, Egypt's foreign ministry said, reiterating that the countries' peace accord is secure.

It was the first publicly announced meeting between an Egyptian and an Israeli official since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled from power on February 11 and handed power to the military.

A day after it took power, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it was committed to Egypt's international treaties in an early message to reassure Israel and the United States.

Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby, appointed as part of a reshuffle earlier this month, reiterated that message in a meeting in Cairo with Rafi Barak, a senior Israeli foreign ministry official, the statement said.

Israel's peace accord with Egypt in 1979 was its first with an Arab country and has been a cornerstone of the Jewish state's security.

Elaraby also discussed the need for serious efforts to realize "justice and comprehensive peace," and the situation in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

On Gaza, Elaraby confirmed Egypt's "firm position on the need to take into consideration the humanitarian issues and holds Israel responsible for them as an occupying force."

Egypt borders the Gaza Strip and has played a role in enforcing an Israeli blockade that has curbed the flow of goods and people in and out of the territory.

Egypt's policy toward Gaza was the focus of heavy criticism from many in Egypt, particularly in the last year when Mubarak's government began building an underground barrier to thwart tunnelers who were supplying goods to Gaza underground.

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

    Egypt tells Israel it is committed to peace treaty, R, 24.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/us-egypt-israel-idUSTRE72N64720110324

U.S. Gates condemns "horrific" Jerusalem attack

CAIRO | Wed Mar 23, 2011
12:00pm EDT
Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said a bomb attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday was a "horrific terrorist attack."

Gates, speaking during a visit to Cairo, said he did not see the situation in Israel deteriorating, despite the attack.

"It's obviously a horrific terrorist attack. I extend sympathy to the families of those who have been injured. But I think, I don't think I would characterize the situation there as deteriorating," Gates said.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Writing by Tom Perry)

    U.S. Gates condemns "horrific" Jerusalem attack, R, 23.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-israel-explosion-usa-idUSTRE72M5JD20110323

Bombing near Jerusalem bus stop kills woman, 30 hurt

JERUSALEM | Wed Mar 23, 2011
6:44pm EDT
Reuters
By Crispian Balmer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A bomb planted in a bag exploded near a bus stop in a Jewish district of Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a woman and injuring at least 30 people, in an attack police blamed on Palestinian militants.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast, which coincided with an upsurge of violence on the Gaza border that has led to fears of a new war between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, after months of relative quiet.

Medics said three people were seriously hurt by the explosion, which hit one of the main routes into central Jerusalem in the afternoon, shattering the windows of a nearby bus. A woman in her 60s died in hospital.

Police said it was a "terrorist attack" -- Israel's term for a Palestinian strike. It was the first time Jerusalem had been hit by such a bomb since 2004.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would take action against those groups who he said are testing the Jewish state's will to defend itself.

"Israel will act aggressively, responsibly and wisely to preserve the quiet and security that prevailed here over the past two years," Netanyahu said.

In the Gaza, a Hamas spokesman said the group, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, was seeking to reverse the recent rise in violence and "to protect stability and to work in order to restore the conditions on ground."

World leaders condemned the bombing, as well as a flurry of rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel in recent days.

"The United States calls on the groups responsible to end these attacks at once and we underscore that Israel, like all nations, has a right to self-defense," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement released in Washington.

Palestinian Authority leaders in the West Bank, who are opposed to Hamas, also denounced the attack.

"I condemn this terrorist operation in the strongest possible terms, regardless of who was behind it," Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in a statement.

At the height of a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000, but which died out in recent years, militants carried out dozens of often deadly bombings in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said the bomb weighed about one or two kilos (2 or 4 pounds). "It exploded in a small suitcase on the sidewalk next to the bus stop," he told Israel's Channel Two television.

Blood stained the pavement and many people had to be treated for shock. Israeli television broke into normal programing to show scores of ambulances converging on the scene, taking the injured to nearby hospitals.

"I saw two women lying on the ground, unconscious and covered in blood," medic Motti Bukchi, who arrived swiftly on the scene, told Channel Two.

PEACE IMPASSE

Peace talks aimed at ending the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians broke down last year after Netanyahu refused to extend a partial freeze on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli security officials have cautioned that the absence of any peace initiative could spark a new Palestinian revolt. Over 500 Israeli civilians died in 140 Palestinian suicide bomb attacks from 2000 to 2007. More than 4,500 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the same period.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on a visit to Cairo, denounced what he called "a horrific terrorist attack" but said he did not think the situation in Israel was deteriorating.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby urged Israel to show restraint and said no one should give it an excuse to use violence -- an apparent reference to Palestinian militants.

Netanyahu delayed his departure on a trip to Russia by several hours on Wednesday to consult with security officials, but declined to cancel the trip altogether.

Earlier, the prime minister had warned Hamas over rising violence in Gaza. Hamas says its attacks this past week have been in response to recent Israeli bombings and killings.

On Tuesday, Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed four Palestinian civilians, including three children playing football, and five militants, medical officials said.

Netanyahu has voiced regret for the civilian deaths but said Israel could not ignore attacks on its territory.

"It could be that this matter will entail exchanges of blows, and it may take a certain period of time, but we are very determined to strike at the terrorist elements and deny them the means of attacking our citizens," he told parliament.

Israel launched a three-week war on the impoverished coastal enclave in 2009, killing about 1,400 Palestinians and drawing heavy international censure. Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in a 2007 coup, had mostly held fire since then.

    Bombing near Jerusalem bus stop kills woman, 30 hurt, 23.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-israel-explosion-idUSTRE72M40L20110323

Obama condemns bombing in Jerusalem, urges calm

WASHINGTON | Wed Mar 23, 2011
2:31pm EDT
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama condemned a bombing in Jerusalem on Wednesday that killed one person and injured at least 30 others, as well as rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in recent days.

"There is never any possible justification for terrorism. The United States calls on the groups responsible to end these attacks at once and we underscore that Israel, like all nations, has a right to self-defense," Obama said in a written statement.

He also expressed condolences for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday and urged all sides to do everything they can to prevent violence civilian casualties.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by Steve Holland)

    Obama condemns bombing in Jerusalem, urges calm, R, 23.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-israel-explosion-obama-idUSTRE72M65B20110323

Timeline: After long lull, bomb hits Jerusalem again

Wed Mar 23, 2011
11:02am EDT
Reuters

(Reuters) - A bomb exploded near a bus in a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem on Wednesday, injuring at least 20 people, police said. There was no immediate indication of who planted the device.

Here are details of the main bombings in Jerusalem in the last 10 years:

* 2001:

March 27 - Suicide bomber blows himself up next to a bus in Jerusalem's French Hill area, injuring 30 Israelis.

August 9 - Palestinian suicide bomber blows himself and 15 people up in a pizza restaurant in Jerusalem in revenge for an Israeli missile strike.

September 4 - Palestinian wounds 15 people when he blows himself up outside a Jerusalem hospital.

December 1 - At least 10 Israelis killed and more than 150 hurt in double Palestinian suicide bombing and car bomb in central Jerusalem.

December 5 - Suicide bomber blows himself up outside a Jerusalem hotel, wounding three people.

2002:

January 27 - Two people killed and 111 injured in a suicide bombing on the Jaffa Road in Jerusalem. Wafa Idrees, 28, from the Al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, was the first Palestinian woman bomber.

March 2 - Palestinian suicide bomber kills nine people, including five children, when he blows himself up in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem.

March 9 - Suicide bomber kills 13 people and injures more than 50 by blowing himself up in the crowded Moment Cafe in Jerusalem near the prime minister's residence.

March 21 - Palestinian suicide bomber kills himself and three others when he blows himself up in the heart of West Jerusalem.

March 29 - Woman suicide bomber blows herself up at a supermarket in the Kiryat Yovel suburb of Jerusalem, killing two people and injuring at least 20.

April 12 - Female suicide bomber blows herself up at the Mahane Yehuda market, Jerusalem's main outdoor market, killing six people and wounding nearly 90.

June 18 - Suicide bomber blows himself up on a bus packed with schoolchildren and office workers in Jerusalem, killing 19 and wounding more than 50.

June 19 - A Palestinian suicide bomber kills seven Israelis and wounds 35 at a Jerusalem bus stop.

July 30 - Police say a suicide bomber strikes at a snack bar in central Jerusalem, near the Jaffa Road, killing himself and injuring at least four people.

November 21 - Suicide bomber blows himself up and kills ten others on a bus in a Jerusalem suburb. At least 40 wounded.

* 2003:

May 18 - Palestinian suicide bomber kills 7 on a bus in the French Hill district of Jerusalem. 20 injured. Another suicide bomber strikes soon afterwards but kills only himself.

June 11 - 17 people are killed when suicide bomber blows up a bus near an open-air market in central Jerusalem's Jaffa Road. At least 100 are injured. Hamas claims responsibility.

August 19 - A suspected Palestinian suicide bombing rips through a bus in Jewish west Jerusalem killing 23 people.

September 9 - Seven people are killed and dozens wounded in suicide bombing in west Jerusalem cafe.

* 2004:

January 29 - A suicide bomber blows up a bus in West Jerusalem, near the prime minister's office killing ten people.

February 22 - A Palestinian suicide bomber blows himself up on an Israeli bus in Jerusalem, killing eight people.

September 22 - Palestinian woman suicide bomber blows herself up near a hitch-hiking post in east Jerusalem, killing two Israeli border policemen.

* 2006

April - Palestinian suicide bomber kills 11 people at a sandwich stand near Tel Aviv's old central bus station.

* 2011:

March 23 - A bomb explodes near a bus in downtown Jerusalem. At least 20 people are injured.

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)

    Timeline: After long lull, bomb hits Jerusalem again, R, 23.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-israel-explosion-jerusalem-idUSTRE72M4TJ20110323

West will end in "dustbin of history," Gaddafi says

TRIPOLI | Wed Mar 23, 2011
12:37am EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Western powers pounding Libya's defenses will wind up in the dustbin of history, said leader Muammar Gaddafi as his troops held back rebel advances despite four nights of attacks from the air.

While Western air power has grounded Gaddafi's planes and pushed back his troops and armor from the brink of rebel stronghold Benghazi, disorganized and poorly equipped insurgents have failed to capitalize on the ground and remain pinned down.

The rebels have been unable to dislodge Gaddafi's forces from the key junction of Ajdabiyah in the east, while government tanks dominate the last big rebel hold-out of Misrata. There is big risk of stalemate on the ground, analysts say.

At least two explosions were heard in the Libyan capital Tripoli before dawn on Wednesday, Reuters witnesses said. The roar of a fighter jet was heard above the city and a barrage of anti-aircraft gunfire lit up the predawn sky.

"We will not surrender," Gaddafi earlier told supporters forming a human shield to protect him at his Tripoli compound.

"We will defeat them by any means ... We are ready for the fight, whether it will be a short or a long one ... We will be victorious in the end," he said in a live television broadcast, his first public appearance for a week.

"This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history," Gaddafi said in a speech followed by fireworks in the Libyan capital as crowds cheered and supporters fired guns into the air.

The Libyan government denies its army is conducting any offensive operations and says troops are only fighting to defend themselves when they come under attack, but rebels and residents say Gaddafi's tanks have kept up their shelling of Misrata in the west, killing 40 people on Monday alone, and also attacked the small town of Zintan on the border with Tunisia.

It was impossible to independently verify the reports.

REBELS BOGGED DOWN

The siege of Misrata, now weeks old, is becoming increasingly desperate, with water cut off for days and food running out, doctors operating on patients in hospital corridors and many of the wounded left untreated or simply turned away.

"The situation in the local hospital is disastrous," said a Misrata doctor in a statement. "The doctors and medical teams are exhausted beyond human physical ability and some of them cannot reach the hospital because of tanks and snipers."

The rebel effort in east Libya meanwhile was bogged down outside Ajdabiyah, with no movement on the strategic town since Gaddafi's remaining tanks holed up there after the government's armored advance along the open road to Benghazi was blown to bits by French air strikes on Saturday night.

Hiding in the sand dunes from the tank fire coming from the town, the rebels are without heavy weapons, leadership, communication, or even a plan.

While Western countries remain reluctant to commit ground troops who could guide in close air strikes, it remains to be seen whether the rebel's bravado and faith in God can take towns and advance toward their target of capturing Tripoli.

AGREEMENT ON NATO ROLE

Western warplanes have flown more than 300 sorties over Libya and more than 162 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired in the United Nations-mandated mission to protect Libyan civilians against government troops.

Defense analysts say the no-fly zone over Libya could end up costing the coalition more than $1 billion if the operations drags on more than a couple of months.

Obama said the allies should be able to announce soon that they have achieved the objective of creating the no-fly zone.

But, he said, Gaddafi would present a potential threat to his people "unless he is willing to step down."

"We will continue to support the efforts to protect the Libyan people. But we will not be in the lead," Obama said.

Obama, facing questions at home about the Libyan mission, duration and cost, wants the United States to give up operational control of enforcing the no-fly zone within days.

Obama spoke with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday and they agreed NATO should play an important role in enforcing the Libyan no-fly zone, the White House said.

France had been against a NATO role for fear of alienating Arab support, while Turkey had also opposed the alliance taking a command role as it said air strikes had already overstepped what was authorized by the United Nations. But both countries' objections had been overcome, U.S. officials said.

The plan is for NATO's command structure to be used for the operations under the political leadership of a "steering body" made up of Western and Arab nations members of the alliance policing Libya's skies, diplomats said.

Libya ordered the release of three journalists who had been missing in the country, including two working with Agence France-Presse and a Getty Images photographer, Getty said.

The news came a day after Libya released four New York Times journalists captured by Libyan forces.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Perry in Cairo; David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Phil Stewart in Moscow; Writing by Peter Millership and Jon Hemming; Editing by Jodie Ginsberg)

    West will end in "dustbin of history," Gaddafi says, R, 23.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110323

Gazan Rockets Hit Deep in Israel, Minister Sees War

March 23, 2011
The New York Times
By REUTERS

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian rocket struck a city deep in Israel on Wednesday, wounding one person and prompting a deputy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call for a new offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the dawn attack on Beersheba, 35 km (20 miles) east of Gaza, which followed a surge of cross-border shelling between Israeli forces and Hamas that killed four Palestinian civilians and five militants on Tuesday.

Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian faction and occasional ally of Hamas, said it fired a rocket earlier on Wednesday that landed outside the Israeli port city of Ashdod, 40 km (25 miles) north of Gaza. No one was hurt in that attack.

Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said the situation recalled the run-up to Israel's 2008-2009 Gaza offensive, which killed around 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians. In the war's wake, Hamas had mostly held its fire.

"We may have to consider a return to that operation," Shalom told Israel Radio. "I say this despite the fact that I know such a thing would, of course, bring the region to a far more combustible situation."

With dissident movements rocking the Arab world, the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas has broached reconciliation talks with Islamist Hamas.

Shalom speculated that Hamas might have opened a new front with Israel "to stop any possibility of dialogue among the Palestinians or to come to the intra-Palestinian negotiation in a far stronger position."

Hamas has described its attacks, which included the firing of more than two dozen mortar shells and rockets at the weekend, as retaliation for Israeli strikes on Gaza.

After Tuesday's deaths in Gaza, Netanyahu apologised for the civilian casualties, which he said resulted from errant Israeli shelling. He said Israel sought no further flare-up but would continue to respond to attacks from Gaza.

(Writing by Dan Williams, editing by Diana Abdallah)

    Gazan Rockets Hit Deep in Israel, Minister Sees War, 23.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/03/23/world/middleeast/international-us-palestinians-israel-violence.html

U.S. halts food imports from Japan nuclear zone

TOKYO | Wed Mar 23, 2011
2:02am EDT
Reuters
By Mayumi Negishi and Kazunori Takada

TOKYO (Reuters) - The United States became the first nation to block imports from ally Japan's radiation zone, saying it will halt milk, vegetable and fruit from areas near the tsunami-smashed nuclear plant because of contamination fears.

The Food and Drug Administration's decision to stop imports from four Japanese prefectures in the crisis-hit northeast crystallized international anxiety about the impact of the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

Other nations may follow suit with formal bans. Some private importers have already stopped shipments from Japan anyway.

At the six-reactor Fukushima plant, crippled by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, engineers are battling to cool reactors to contain further contamination and avert a meltdown .

Showing the widening problem, Japan said on Wednesday above-safety radiation levels had been discovered in 11 types of vegetables from the area, in addition to milk and water.

Officials still insisted, however, that there was no danger to humans and urged the world not to over react.

"We will explain to countries the facts and we hope they will take logical measures based on them," Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano, who has been the government's public face during the disaster , told a news conference.

The Asian nation's worst crisis since World War Two may have caused $300 billion damage, sent shock waves through global financial markets, and left nearly 23,000 people dead or missing, mostly from flattened coastal towns.

More than a quarter of a million people are living in shelters, while rescuers and sniffer dogs comb debris and mud looking for corpses and personal mementoes .

Worsened by widespread ignorance of the technicalities of radiation, public concern is rising around the world and radioactive particles have been found as far away as Iceland.

Japan has already halted shipment of some food from the area and told people there to stop eating leafy vegetables.

Asian neighbors are inspecting imports for contamination, and Taiwan advised boats to stop fishing in Japanese waters.

Although there has been progress in restoring power to the Fukushima site 13 days after the accident, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it needed more time before it could say the reactors were stabilized.

Technicians working inside an evacuation zone around the plant, 250 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, have successfully attached power cables to all six reactors and started a pump at one to cool overheating nuclear fuel rods.

Concern is high over reactor No. 1 after its temperature rose to near 400 degrees Celsius, above a design limit of 302.

Ramping up pressure at the site, two workers were injured while restoring power, Kyodo news agency said.

And engineers at No. 2 reactor had to pull out when radiation hit 500 millisieverts per hour, in the danger zone.

As well as having its workers on the front line in highly dangerous circumstances, TEPCO is also facing accusations of a slow disaster response and questions over why it originally stored more uranium at the plant than it was designed to hold.

FOREIGN WORRIES

Vienna-based U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressed concern about a lack of information from Japanese authorities. It cited missing data on temperatures of spent fuel pools at the facility's reactors 1, 3 and 4.

"We continue to see radiation coming from the site ... and the question is where exactly is that coming from?" said a senior IAEA official, James Lyons.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he was concerned about radioactive fallout affecting the U.S. 55,000 troops in and around Japan, many involved in a massive relief operation for Washington's close ally. "We're also deeply concerned about the wellbeing of our Japanese allies," he said.

Experts said tiny traces of radioactive particles, measured by a network of monitoring stations as they spread eastwards from Japan across the Pacific, North America, the Atlantic and to Europe, were far too low to cause any harm to humans.

"It's only a matter of days before it disperses in the entire northern hemisphere," said Andreas Stohl, a senior scientist at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research

The Japan crisis has dealt a blow to the nuclear power industry around the world. Italy became the latest nation to re-assess its programme, announcing a one-year moratorium on site selection and building of plants

WORLD'S COSTLIEST DISASTER

Crisis in the world's third-biggest economy -- and its key position in global supply chains, especially for the auto and technology sectors -- has added to global market jitters, also affected by conflict in Libya and unrest in the Middle East.

Asian shares fell on Wednesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei shedding more than 1 percent as investors took profits from a two-session bounce. Japanese stocks are about 8 percent below their close on the day the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck.

Toyota said it would delay the launch in Japan of two additions to the Prius line-up, a wagon and a minivan, from the originally planned end-April due to production disruptions.

The tsunami and earthquake are the world's costliest ever natural disaster , with the government estimating damage at 15-25 trillion yen ($185 billion-$308 billion), the Nikkei newspaper said.

The upper end of that range would equate to about 6 percent of Japan's gross domestic product (GDP).

The official death toll has risen to 9,199, but with 13,786 people still reported missing, it is certain to rise.

There are reports dozens of survivors, mostly elderly, have died in hospitals and evacuation centers due to a lack of proper treatment, or simply because of the cold. It is winter in Japan.

At one sports arena in Minamisanriku where 1,500 evacuees are staying, old people crowded at a counter stacked with pills and bandages, while about 30 people slept on beds or on the floor in a makeshift clinic with doctors on standby.

"It's less a problem of medical supplies now, but a problem of finding out what medicine is lacking where and centralizing that information," said Nobuyuki Maki, a doctor.

"Many places in this area haven't restored mobile phone connections yet so there are still problems with communication."

(Additional reporting by Paul Eckert, Shinichi Saoshiro and Raju Gopalakrishnan in Tokyo, Jon Herskovitz and Chisa Fujioka in Minamisanriku; Frederik Dahl and Sylvia Westall in Vienna; Lisa Richwine in Washington; Alister Doyle in Oslo; Christopher Doering in Washington; Jonathan Standing in Taiwan; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Robert Birsel)

    U.S. halts food imports from Japan nuclear zone, R, 23.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110323

Obama Seeks to Unify Allies as More Airstrikes Rock Tripoli

March 22, 2011
The New York Times
By MARK LANDLER and STEVEN ERLANGER

WASHINGTON — President Obama worked on Tuesday to bridge differences among allies about how to manage the military campaign in Libya, as airstrikes continued to rock Tripoli. Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, however, showed no sign of ending their sieges of rebel-held cities.

On a day when two United States airmen bailed out over Libya and were rescued after the crash of their fighter jet, Mr. Obama and the leaders of Britain and France stepped up efforts to work out an accord on who would be in charge of military operations once the initial onslaught on Libya’s air defense systems was complete.

Mr. Obama reiterated that the United States would step back from the leading role within days, but he also said it was confronting the complexities of running the military campaign with a multilateral force cobbled together quickly and without a clear understanding among its members about their roles.

The president expressed confidence that the coalition would resolve disagreements over the role of NATO, which had flared in recent days over France’s insistence that the alliance not play a leading role in the operation. NATO now seems likely to provide “command and control” functions, but with a separate authority running the operation, which includes Arab and other non-NATO countries.

“I would expect that over the next several days you will have clarity and a meeting of the minds of all those who are participating in the process,” Mr. Obama said in a news conference in El Salvador, where he was nearing the end of a Latin American trip that has been eclipsed by the military strikes on forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi.

Even as the Western allies tried to settle management issues, they were still struggling to corral Arab backing for the campaign. Mr. Obama telephoned the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, on Tuesday to nail down his support. So far, Qatar is the only Arab state to offer fighter jets to help enforce a no-fly zone, and there were signs that other Arab states were wavering in their support.

The tension and confusion laid bare the unwieldiness of the coalition — which American officials conceded had been put together on the fly — even four days into the operation, after the coalition had fired 162 Tomahawk missiles and the United States lost its first plane, an F-15E Strike Eagle, which crashed near Benghazi after mechanical troubles. Its two-member crew had minor injuries but was rescued.

“This is complicated,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said to reporters with him in Moscow. “This command-and-control business is complicated. We haven’t done something like this, kind of on the fly before. So it’s not surprising to me that it would take a few days to get it all sorted out.”

At least three bomb blasts were heard in Tripoli Tuesday evening as flares from Libyan antiaircraft guns arced across the sky. Attacks by pro-Qaddafi forces were particularly intense in the western cities of Zintan and Misurata, where snipers and artillery have killed dozens over the past five days and wounded scores more, a rebel spokesman said.

Colonel Qaddafi made a brief but defiant appearance on Libyan television Tuesday night, appearing at what reporters were told was his Tripoli residence to denounce the bombing raids and pledge victory. “I am here. I am here. I am here,” he shouted from a balcony to supporters waving green flags.

Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, an American officer who is the tactical commander of the mission, said that his intelligence reports confirmed that Colonel Qaddafi’s forces were attacking civilians in Misurata.

The admiral, who briefed reporters at the Pentagon by telephone on Tuesday afternoon, did not say whether there had been a response yet, but said, “We are considering all options.”

A rebel spokesman, reached by satellite phone in Misurata, said he had not seen any evidence of airstrikes there against the Qaddafi forces, which continued to shell the city and threaten residents with sniper fire.

“They now control all the way to the town center, and they have put snipers on the rooftops along the way,” said the rebel spokesman, Mohamed, using only his first name to protect his family.

A doctor at the central Misurata hospital said that 13 residents had died on Tuesday, bringing the total casualty count to 90 over the previous nine days. Rebels say the city has been without telecommunications for three weeks and without water or electricity for nine days during the siege by Qaddafi forces.

Despite statements from American military officials that the fighting and level of coalition “kinetic activity” in Libya would soon decline, the Pentagon released figures showing that on Tuesday there were more coalition airstrikes, 57, than on any day since Saturday, the first day of the American-led assaults.

In San Salvador, Mr. Obama said that the coalition would “fairly shortly” be able to claim it had imposed a no-fly zone over Libya. “We will also be able to say we have averted immediate tragedy,” he said at a news conference with the president of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes.

Mr. Obama reiterated that the United States would yield its lead role to France, Britain and other countries in the coming days. American planes will not enforce the no-fly zone, he said, nor will American ships enforce the arms embargo stipulated by last week’s United Nations Security Council Resolution.

“That’s why building this international coalition has been so important,” he said, “because it means the United States is not bearing all the cost.”

But the building of this coalition has been tortuous, and analysts said holding it together will be no less challenging. On Tuesday, NATO countries were making slow and ill-tempered progress toward deciding who will run the operation.

France proposed a committee of foreign ministers of countries involved in the operation to act as a “political steering body,” France’s foreign minister, Alain Juppé, told Parliament on Tuesday. NATO would provide “support” — the military “command and control” necessary to coordinate the ships and planes of various countries.

A senior American official declined to comment on the French proposal, though he noted that the command structure had to encompass NATO and non-NATO countries — akin to the International Security Assistance Force, which oversees coalition forces in Afghanistan, or earlier coalition campaigns in the Balkans.

“What we’re saying right now is that NATO has a key role to play here,” Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, said to reporters on Mr. Obama’s plane, flying from Chile to El Salvador.

After two days of meetings in Brussels, NATO ambassadors will meet Wednesday after getting advice from their governments to try to approve a deal. Monday’s meeting was particularly tense, with the French and German ambassadors walking out of the room after their countries’ positions were criticized by the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

American and British plans to have NATO play the leading role have been blocked for different reasons by France and Turkey. This has led Norway to refuse to fly its planes and Italy to say that it may have to rethink the way its air bases were being used. With different air forces flying and no central control, the Italians say, the operation would be uncoordinated, even dangerous.

France argues that NATO command would be opposed by the Arab League as Western interference in the Muslim world; some allies suggest that President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, having pushed Washington to act on Libya, wants to keep himself visible as the driver of the Libyan policy. Turkey, the only Muslim-majority member of NATO, is trying to keep lines open to Colonel Qaddafi as well as to the Libyan opposition. Mr. Obama called Mr. Sarkozy and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain on Tuesday to try to arrive at a solution.

Turkey had initially expressed fears that the military campaign appeared to go beyond the mandate of the Security Council resolution. On Monday evening, Mr. Obama called Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, and the White House insisted that Mr. Erdogan had thrown his full support behind the effort.

In a statement, the White House said the two men “underscored their shared commitment to the goal of helping provide the Libyan people an opportunity to transform their country, by installing a democratic system that respects the people’s will.”

That statement raised some hackles on Capitol Hill, where Republicans said it amounted to an explicit call for regime change. Mr. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, later clarified that this was not the objective of the military mission, though Mr. Obama believes Colonel Qaddafi needs to go because he has lost the confidence of his people.

Rallying the Arab countries may be a big challenge, however. A former military commander in the United Arab Emirates said his country, which had considered deploying jets, was backing off because of anger at the pressure the West has put on its neighbor Bahrain, over its crackdown on protests there. Saudi Arabia, which has also been at odds with Washington over Bahrain, has yet to pledge help.

A senior administration official noted that the United Arab Emirates had reiterated support for the United Nations resolution and said that other Arab countries would announce support for the mission in coming days. “The bottom line is, we’re confident that other Arab countries will take part,” this official said.


Mark Landler reported from Washington, and Steven Erlanger from Paris. Elisabeth Bumiller contributed reporting from Washington; David D. Kirkpatrick from Tripoli, Libya; Kareem Fahim from Benghazi, Libya; and Jackie Calmes from San Salvador, El Salvador.

    Obama Seeks to Unify Allies as More Airstrikes Rock Tripoli, NYT, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/africa/23libya.html

Marines Face Questions About Rescue of Officers in Libya

March 22, 2011
The New York Times
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

WASHINGTON — An American pilot and a weapons officer were safely rescued in Libya on Tuesday after their warplane crashed near Benghazi, but the United States Marine Corps dropped two 500-pound bombs during the recovery and faced questions about whether Marines had fired on villagers.

In an episode that reflected the unpredictability of an air campaign designed to keep American troops off the ground, the United States military said that an equipment malfunction rather than enemy fire brought down the plane. A Marine Corps officer in the Mediterranean strongly denied that any shots were fired at civilians during the rescue, but Marine Corps officers at the Pentagon said they did not know what happened or whether any civilians were killed or injured when the bombs exploded.

United States military officials said the pilot was recovered by a Marine rescue team and was now aboard an American ship in the Mediterranean, the Kearsarge. The weapons officer was found on the ground by “the people of Libya,” said Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, the tactical commander of the United States-led effort in the country. At a Pentagon briefing, Admiral Locklear did not describe them as rebels but made clear that they were not forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.

Admiral Locklear said the people treated the weapons officer “with dignity and respect.” The officer is now in American custody, but the admiral declined to say more.

United States military officers said the plane took off from Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy late Monday on an airstrike mission to Libya. At some point over Benghazi, the jet experienced what military officials called an “equipment malfunction,” and at about 11:30 p.m. local time on Monday (about 5:30 p.m. Eastern time on Monday), both the pilot and the weapons officer ejected.

Their parachutes opened but landed them some distance apart near Benghazi, the military said. Although details remained murky on Tuesday, the Marine Corps said a rescue team that took off from the Kearsarge quickly located the pilot.

A Marine Corps officer said that the grounded pilot, who was in contact with rescue crews in the air, asked for bombs to be dropped as a precaution before the crews landed to pick him up. “My understanding is he asked for the ordnance to be delivered between where he was located and where he saw people coming toward him,” the officer said, adding that the pilot evidently made the request “to keep what he thought was a force closing in on him from closing in on him.”

In response, two Harrier attack jets that were part of the rescue team dropped two 500-pound bombs before a Marine Osprey helicopter landed to pick up the pilot, at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday local time. The Marine officer said he did not know if the people approaching the pilot were friendly or hostile or what damage the bombs had caused.

Channel 4 News in Britain reported that six villagers were shot by American troops in rescuing one of the two airmen. None of the villagers — who were interviewed by a reporter in a nearby hospital — were killed, although a small boy may need to have a leg amputated.

“No shots were fired,” said Capt. Richard Ulsh, a Marine spokesman aboard the Kearsarge. “The Osprey is not armed, and the Marines barely got off the aircraft. I was in the landing center the whole time, where we were monitoring what was going on, and firing was never reported.”

Neither he nor other Marine officials said specifically whether any shots were fired from the Harrier attack jets.

The military is investigating.

    Marines Face Questions About Rescue of Officers in Libya, NYT, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/africa/23plane.html

Arab Revolts Force Diplomats to Remake Lives and Careers

March 22, 2011
The New York Times
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

WASHINGTON — The maids who once swept the white marble floors at the Libyan ambassador’s residence here have gone home to the Philippines, their visas expired now that their boss, Ali Suleiman Aujali, has quit his job. The driver is gone, too. Pretty soon, Mr. Aujali figures, the State Department will repossess the official license plates on the shiny black Mercedes and Audi parked in his garage.

But Mr. Aujali is hanging on, trapped in a diplomatic no man’s land.

The embassy he ran for more than two years — a seventh-floor suite in the Watergate, overlooking the Potomac — was shut down by the State Department last week.

So Mr. Aujali, who resigned as Libya’s ambassador in Washington when he broke with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in late February, has set up shop at home. From a bank of computers in his basement dining room, he is trying to reinvent himself as Washington’s official representative of a new Libyan government — one that does not yet exist.

“I’m not representing the regime anymore — I’m representing the people,” Mr. Aujali declared, dandling his 15-month-old grandson on his knee. Or, as Aly R. Abuzaakoouk, a Libyan human rights advocate and a friend of Mr. Aujali, put it, “Now, he’s an ambassador of an uprising.”

Mr. Aujali, who has served Libya for 40 years, is part of an extraordinary wave of sudden ex-diplomats who, depending on one’s point of view, are exhibiting uncommon courage or a savvy instinct for self-preservation. Libya’s ambassador to the United Nations and other officials there have also thrown their lot in with revolutionaries, as have senior Libyan diplomats in France, India and China. Three Yemeni ambassadors — to the United Nations, Syria and Lebanon — resigned to protest a government crackdown on protesters there.

Such breaks are not new. During the Reagan administration, Panama’s ambassador in Washington declared his independence from Gen. Manuel Noriega, who had just staged a coup. In July 2001, two Iraqi diplomats defected and sought asylum in New York. (Mr. Aujali said he was not seeking asylum.) What makes the current crop unusual, said David Mack, a retired American ambassador who has served in Libya, is the sheer size of it.

“There have been celebrated cases,” Mr. Mack said. “But I don’t recall so many at once breaking with a regime.”

In Washington, where diplomats are often faceless, the democratic fervor sweeping the Arab world has forced many to adjust. Ambassadors from Tunisia and Egypt, where revolutions were largely peaceful, have remained in their posts. But for those from countries where protests have turned bloody, like Bahrain, Yemen and especially Libya, the choices seem more complex.

The Bahraini ambassador, Houda Ezra Nonoo, is keeping a low profile. So is the Yemeni ambassador, Abdulwahab Abdulla al-Hajjri, dubbed “D.C.’s Dean of Diplomacy” by Time magazine, in part for his nightly dinners and parties, “some of which,” Time reported, “end with dancing in the wee hours of the morning.”

Mr. Hajjri, a brother-in-law of the Yemeni president, seems to be staying put. But Yemen’s ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Alsaidi, quit Friday.

“To have sharpshooters in balconies in houses shooting people in the head and neck — for me, I can no longer in good conscience articulate the position of the government to the U.N. authorities,” Mr. Alsaidi said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Now, he is looking for a place to live. The Yemeni government has appointed his replacement and he must give up his government-owned apartment at Park Avenue and 71st Street in Manhattan. His three children were educated in the United States, and he earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Columbia University. But now, stripped of his diplomatic credentials, he is not certain he can stay. He has saved some money, and intends to take some time “to read and reflect.”

Mr. Aujali, the former Libyan ambassador, is taking a more aggressive tack.

At 66, the son of a farmer and a housewife from an oasis near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, Mr. Aujali served in Malaysia, Argentina, Brazil and Canada before arriving in Washington in 2004 to open the “interest section” here. Colonel Qaddafi had just renounced nuclear weapons, prompting President George W. Bush to re-establish ties.

In 2009, Mr. Aujali — who says he does not know Colonel Qaddafi well — became Libya’s first ambassador to the United States in 35 years. He set about renovating the ambassador’s mansion near Embassy Row, which reeked of mildew after having been closed for decades.

“I came,” he said, “with the great hope that we will be able to establish better relations.”

His relationship with Colonel Qaddafi seems to have involved the kind of complicated compromises ambitious people in public life sometimes make. He helped arrange for Libya to make reparations for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, yet took the Qaddafi line in defending the transfer of the bomber back to Libya in 2009.

Still, he drew plaudits for meeting with Qaddafi critics and working to open the United States to Libyan students, entrepreneurs and tourists. “He was a pro, and a reasonable man,” said Elliot Abrams, who advised Mr. Bush on democracy and human rights. “I was not shocked to hear when the wave of defections began that he was in it.”

Since he announced that he was quitting the Qaddafi government, Mr. Aujali has been making the case to anyone who will listen — reporters, senators and even Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — that the White House should recognize the rebels’ shadow government council. He insists that Colonel Qaddafi must be ousted. “With Qaddafi, you never trust him,” he said.

But what he wants immediately is for the Treasury Department to free up the $30 billion it has frozen in Libyan assets. “Then we can run our office, then we can rent a place, then we can buy humanitarian aid for our people.”

Not so fast, said an administration official, who spoke anonymously to discuss Mr. Aujali’s situation. The State Department accepts Mr. Aujali as a representative of the council, the official said, but “we consider him a private citizen now” and he must “adjust his visa accordingly.” The meeting with Mrs. Clinton, he said, was part of an effort to “get a sense of who these people are and where they’re coming from.”

While friends of Mr. Aujali’s view his break as an act of courage, some Libya experts see political expediency. After all, if the rebels prevail, he could get his job back — maids, driver and all.

“I think all of these resignations came at a particular time when it looked like the opposition may have had a very good chance,” said Diederick J. Vandewalle, a political scientist at Dartmouth College who has traveled extensively in Libya. “I think they were just trying to hedge their bets.”

Mr. Aujali insists that he is just trying to do what is best for the Libyan people. At home on a recent day, his extended family — including a son who attends George Mason University, two grandchildren, a daughter and son-in-law who resigned from Libya’s mission at the United Nations in New York — puttered in the kitchen. He waved off questions about how long they can remain, saying his own situation is the least of his concerns.

“I’m busy, very very busy,” the former ambassador said. “There are a lot of things we have to do.”

    Arab Revolts Force Diplomats to Remake Lives and Careers, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/africa/23ambassador.html

Six Protesters Killed in Syria

March 22, 2011
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

DAMASCUS, Syria — At least six people were killed early Wednesday when Syrian security forces attacked protesters who had taken refuge in a mosque in the center of the southern city of Dara’a, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, antigovernment protests had continued for a fifth day in Dara’a, before hundreds of demonstrators sought protection from the army in the Omari mosque. The protesters were calling for political freedoms and an end to corruption, and they had said they would remain in the mosque until their demands were met, Reuters reported.

“They are shooting,” a person at the mosque said by telephone, referring to the soldiers and other security forces. “Killing and killing and more killing.”

A doctor at the city’s main hospital, Ali Nassab al-Mahameed, was shot and killed as he was trying to rescue others, the witness said. It was not known how many people were wounded in the attack.

“It seems that security forces may be trying to storm the complex,” a resident told Reuters. “It is not clear because electricity has been cut off. Tear gas is also being used.”

The mosque’s preacher, Ahmad Siasneh, told Al Arabiya television on Tuesday that Syrian forces were close to the building’s grounds, where protesters had erected tents.

    Six Protesters Killed in Syria, NYT, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/middleeast/23syria.html

4 Times Journalists Held Captive in Libya Faced Days of Brutality

March 22, 2011
The New York Times
By ANTHONY SHADID, LYNSEY ADDARIO, STEPHEN FARRELL and TYLER HICKS

This article is by Anthony Shadid, Lynsey Addario, Stephen Farrell and Tyler Hicks.

As the four of us headed toward the eastern gate of Ajdabiya, the front line of a desperate rebel stand against the advancing forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, a car pulled up alongside.

“They’re in the city!” the driver shouted at us. “They’re in the city!” Lynsey and Steve had worried that government soldiers might encircle the town, trapping us, but Tyler and Anthony discounted it. We had covered the fall of two other rebel-held towns — Ras Lanuf and Brega — and each time, the government had bombed and shelled the towns for days before making a frontal, methodical assault.

When they did, rebels and journalists fled in a headlong retreat. If Ajdabiya fell, Colonel Qaddafi’s forces would be on the doorstep of Benghazi, the opposition capital, and perched on a highway to the Egyptian border, from where we had entered Libya without visas.

No one really knows the script for days like these, and neither did we.

As we left the town’s last traffic circle, heading for Benghazi, all of us saw the checkpoint in the distance. “I think it’s Qaddafi’s soldiers,” Lynsey said.

Our driver, Tyler and Anthony shook their heads, but within seconds, the reality dawned on us. Unlike the rebels in their mismatched uniforms, track suits and berets, these men were uniformed. Their vehicles were a dark army green, and they lined in the street in military formation.

By chance, we made it through the first line of soldiers, but not the second.

“Keep driving!” Tyler shouted at Mohammed, the driver. “Don’t stop! Don’t stop!”

Mohammed had no choice, and a soldier flung open his door. “Journalists!” he yelled at the other soldiers, their faces contorted in fear and rage. It was too late.

Tyler was in the front, and a soldier pulled him out of the car. Steve was hauled out by his camera bags. Anthony crawled out the same door, and Lynsey followed.

Even before the soldiers had time to speak, rebels attacked the checkpoint with what sounded like rifles and medium machine guns. Bullets flew around us, and the soft dirt popped. Tyler broke free and started running. Anthony fell on a sand berm, then got to his feet and followed Tyler, who, for a moment, considered making a run for it.

Lynsey instinctively clenched her cameras as a soldier pulled at them. She let them go and ran behind us. Soldiers tried to get Steve on the ground next to the car, and he pointed at the gunfire. They made him drop his camera, then he ran, too.

We made it behind a simple one-room house, where a woman clutched her infant child. Both cried uncontrollably and a soldier tried to console them. When we got there, soldiers trained their guns on us, beat us, stripped us of everything in our pockets and forced us on our knees.

Tyler’s hands were bound by a strip of a scarf. A soldier took off Lynsey’s gray Nike shoes, then bound her with the shoelaces. “God, I just don’t want to be raped,” she whispered to Steve.

“You’re the translator!” a slight soldier screamed at Anthony. “You’re the spy!”

A few seconds passed, and another soldier approached, demanding that we lie on our stomachs.

All of us had had close calls over the years. Lynsey was kidnapped in Falluja, Iraq, in 2004; Steve in Afghanistan in 2009. Tyler had more scrapes than he could count, from Chechnya to Sudan, and Anthony was shot in the back in 2002 by a man he believed to be an Israeli soldier. At that moment, though, none of us thought we were going to live. Steve tried to keep eye contact until they pulled the trigger. The rest of us felt the powerlessness of resignation. You feel empty when you know that it’s almost over.

“Shoot them,” a tall soldier said calmly in Arabic.

A colleague next to him shook his head. “You can’t,” he insisted. “They’re Americans.”

They bound our hands and legs instead — with wire, fabric or cable. Lynsey was carried to a Toyota pickup, where she was punched in the face. Steve and Tyler were hit, and Anthony was headbutted.

Even that Tuesday, a pattern had begun to emerge. The beating was always fiercest in the first few minutes, an aggressiveness that Colonel Qaddafi’s bizarre and twisted four decades of rule inculcated in a society that feels disfigured. It didn’t matter that we were bound, or that Lynsey was a woman.

But moments of kindness inevitably emerged, drawing on a culture’s far deeper instinct for hospitality and generosity. A soldier brought Tyler and Anthony, sitting in a pickup, dates and an orange drink. Lynsey had to talk to a soldier’s wife who, in English, called her a donkey and a dog. Then they unbound Lynsey and, sitting in another truck, gave Steve and her something to drink.

From the pickup, Lynsey saw a body outstretched next to our car, one arm outstretched. We still don’t know whether that was Mohammed. We fear it was, though his body has yet to be found.

If he died, we will have to bear the burden for the rest of our lives that an innocent man died because of us, because of wrong choices that we made, for an article that was never worth dying for.

No article is, but we were too blind to admit that.

Captors in the Same Plight

We probably shouldn’t have lived through the night.

Even before the sun set, another gun battle broke out, almost as fierce as the first one. We were trapped in trucks in the open. Tyler stretched the binding of his handcuffs, allowing him to open the door. Anthony yelled for help, trying to open the door with his teeth.

A soldier finally let Tyler crawl around the pickup to let Anthony out. For a moment, our captors were in the same plight as us. As the hours passed, they offered us food, drink and cigarettes.

“These are the morals of Islam,” one said to Anthony. “These are the morals of Qaddafi. We treat prisoners humanely.” For a few hours they did. They offered blankets and mattresses, then put us in a car. As rebels attacked every so often, we all barreled out of the car and dived to the ground, until the firing subsided. They put us back in, and we dived to the ground again. They eventually let us lie behind a pickup.

Lynsey asked for her shoes. She got a bullet-riddled pair of Tyler’s, taken from his bag.

At 2 a.m. on Wednesday we were awakened.

“The rebels are massing,” one officer shouted. That day, and the ones that followed, we never really understood the command structure. No one wore rank; authority seemed to come from the pitch of a barked order.

In hindsight, the rebels and the army, or militia, didn’t seem separated by all that much. They were really gangs of young men with guns, each convinced of the other’s evil.

The rebels’ story was more familiar: They were fighting nearly 42 years of dictatorship, wielded by a man whom the vast majority in opposition-held Libya deemed insane. To the soldiers around us, they were fighting Al Qaeda or homegrown Islamists, and they couldn’t understand why we, as Americans, didn’t understand their battle.

And none of the men around us, all born after Colonel Qaddafi seized power as a young lieutenant in 1969, could imagine Libya without him.

A new group seized us, and they were rougher. They blindfolded us, tied our arms and legs and beat us. They then stuffed us into an armored car, where Lynsey was groped. She never screamed but instead pleaded. A soldier covered her mouth, tracing his hands over her body. “Don’t speak,” he warned. Another soldier tried to shove a bayonet into Steve’s rear, laughing as he did it.

A half-hour later, we arrived on what we thought were the outskirts of the other side of Ajdabiya. A man whom soldiers called the sheik questioned us, then began taunting Tyler.

“You have a beautiful head,” he told Tyler in a mix of English and Arabic. “I’m going to remove it and put it on mine. I’m going to cut it off.” Tyler, feeling queasy, asked to sit down.

We were finally put in a pickup where a soldier taunted Lynsey.

“You might die tonight,” he told her, as he ran his hand over her face. “Maybe, maybe not.”

From the moment of our arrest, the soldiers said we would be delivered to a man they called the doctor. Some referred to him as Dr. Moatasim, one of the more vicious of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons. Each has his own militia, and each seemed to operate on its own, with its own rules.

Like Trophies of War

At 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, we were thrown blindfolded and bound in the back of a pickup truck and driven along the Mediterranean coast toward Colonel Qaddafi’s hometown, Surt, a six-hour drive. Libya was never much of a state. In theory, that was Colonel Qaddafi’s idea. The Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab State of the Masses was supposed to be perpetual revolution.

At its best it was dictatorship, at its worst chaos, and what we saw from one end of the country to the other was the detritus of an experiment whose own people lamented had lasted far too long.

We felt like trophies of war, and at a dozen checkpoints, we could hear militiamen running to the car to administer another beating.

“Dirty dogs,” men shouted out at each stop.

Over the years, all of us had seen men detained, blindfolded and handcuffed at places like Abu Ghraib, or corralled after some operation in Iraq or Afghanistan. Now we were the faceless we had covered perhaps too dispassionately. For the first time, we felt what it was like to be disoriented by a blindfold, to have plastic cuffs dig into your wrists, for hands to go numb.

The act is probably less terrifying than the unknown. You don’t know when it’s going to end or what comes next. By late afternoon, we were taken to a jail in Surt. Our captors led us to a basement cell with a few ratty mattresses, a bottle to urinate in, a jug of water and a bag of dates. As night fell, we wondered whether anyone knew — or could know — where we were.

Graffiti of devout prisoners was etched into the wall, testament to an insurgency that was crushed in eastern Libya in the late 1990s. “God bring us relief,” one line read.

At one point, Anthony was taken out of the cell for questioning. He never saw the captors.

“How could you enter without a visa?” the man asked him. “Don’t you know you could be killed here and no one would ever know?” Anthony nodded. The man went on to denounce the rebels he said they were fighting — Qaeda fanatics, he said, and gangs of armed criminals.

“How could they ever rule Libya?” he asked.

They sent Anthony back to the cell, and we knew that no one had any idea where we were.

Camaraderie and Brutality

The next afternoon, on Thursday, was perhaps the worst beating. As we stood on the tarmac in Surt, waiting for a military plane to Tripoli, Tyler was slapped and punched, and Anthony was hit with the butt of a gun to the head. We were blindfolded and bound another time with plastic handcuffs, and Lynsey was groped again.

As we sat in the plane, we asked a question that came up at every stop: “Is everyone here?” Hearing a familiar voice seemed to encapsulate everything that camaraderie came to mean. As long as were together, we probably stood a chance.

Nothing ever felt more generous to Anthony than a handcuffed Tyler managing to reach into the pocket of Anthony’s jacket, pull out a cigarette and light it before handing it back to him.

The flight lasted 90 minutes and, again, we were dealt a gesture of kindness.

“I’m sorry,” a sympathetic air crew said to each of us.

Our destiny may have been decided at the airfield in Tripoli.

We were put in a police wagon, reeking of urine, that resembled so many Interior Ministry vehicles in so many Arab capitals. Guards stripped of us our shoes, socks and belts. One then yelled in Anthony’s ear, “Down, down U.S.A.!” He did the same to Steve. “But I’m not American, I’m Irish,” Steve answered.

“Down, down Ireland!” he shouted back.

We were moved to two more vehicles, and an argument raged for a half-hour over us. We suspected the fight was between the vicious Interior Ministry and other branches of the government. That kind of fight is waged by the logic of a dictatorship: the spoils go to whoever can muster a greater threat.

We were moved to another vehicle but not before a soldier, perhaps from the losing side, drove the barrel of his rifle into the back of Tyler’s head.

‘Protection of the State’

Within a half-hour, we were in a military compound, in the hands of military intelligence. We collapsed on the floor, accepting milk and mango juice. We saw our bags unloaded, though we would never get them back.

A gruff man struck a sympathetic tone. You won’t be beaten or bound again, he told us. You will be kept safe and, although you will be blindfolded if you are moved anywhere else in the compound, no one will mistreat you.

From that moment, no one did.

We were taken to a detention center that looked more like a double-wide trailer. On the shelves were a two-volume German-Arabic dictionary and five of Shakespeare’s plays. (Colonel Qaddafi once famously quipped that Shakespeare, or Sheik Zubeir, was actually an Arab migrant.)

The men were given track suits. Lynsey was brought a shirt that read, “Magic Girl,” emblazoned with two teddy bears. Her new underwear read, “Shake it up.”

At the late hours of night, we were blindfolded to receive visitors.

“You are now in the protection of the state,” a Foreign Ministry official told us.

Official after official made excuses for what happened to us. One said we had to understand the difference between militias loyal to Qaddafi and the actual army. Another asked whether Anthony had seen any rebel unarmed — the presence of guns deployed against the state seeming to justify any crackdown. Officials asked Lynsey whether she had been raped.

The more they talked, the clearer it became: This semblance of a state was not a state.

In the four days that followed, we fought boredom more than anything else. Tyler finished “Julius Caesar.” Lynsey started “Othello.” If it went on much longer, Tyler jokingly suggested we perform the plays. As the hours passed, we replayed each moment of the preceding days in detail, trying to piece together what had happened to Mohammed.

We wondered whether we would be delivered into more sinister hands. After the no-fly zone was imposed and we heard volleys of antiaircraft fire, we thought that a desperate government could make us human shields. Weighing over all of us was guilt for what we had put our families and friends through.

In the end, it was the trappings of diplomacy that delayed our departure.

Foreign Ministry officials, clinging to a prestige they may have never had, insisted that our transfer be formal, between two sovereign states. At one point, they insisted an American or British diplomat had to travel to Tripoli in wartime. In the end, Turkish diplomats served as intermediaries and delivered us to the border.

As we left, we saw the billboards of a crumbling government. “Forty-one years of permanent joy,” read one slogan superimposed over a sunburst. But the words that lingered with us as we left were quoted to Steve by an urbane Foreign Ministry official speaking idiomatic British English.

As we sat in an office, he murmured two lines of Yeats.

“Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love.”

    4 Times Journalists Held Captive in Libya Faced Days of Brutality, NYT, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/africa/23times.html

As Police Protest in Cairo, Fire Engulfs Interior Ministry Building

March 22, 2011
The New York Times
By LIAM STACK

CAIRO — Flames engulfed the upper floors of a building in Egypt’s Interior Ministry compound on Tuesday, after a protest by thousands of police officers demanding higher wages and the resignation of the newly installed interior minister. It was the second time in a month that a police protest at the ministry ended with the building ablaze.

The seven-story building houses the ministry’s communications center and is topped by a towering radio antenna. Ambulances and fire engines raced to the scene under a thick plume of black smoke that hung over downtown Cairo.

More than a thousand onlookers — most uniformed police officers — stared up at the flames as paramedics and firefighters pushed through the throngs. At least eight people were injured, security sources said, and 12 protesters were arrested on suspicion of arson.

The police officers had spent the day demonstrating for higher wages, health care benefits and the return of Mahmoud Wagdy as interior minister. Mr. Wagdy had been replaced by Mansour el-Essawy after a cabinet shake-up on March 3 removed the last officials from the era of former President Hosni Mubarak.

The police are little loved in Egypt; their reputation for violence and corruption helped fuel the popular uprising that forced Mr. Mubarak from power on Feb. 11.

The country’s more widely respected military took the reins of state after his ouster. Police officers fled their posts even before that, leaving the military to struggle to rein in waves of labor protest and return law and order to the streets.

On Tuesday, many gawkers attributed the fire to conspirators inside the ministry or to agents of the country’s feared state security service, which was officially dissolved March 15.

“They lit it from inside, people from the ministry,” said a uniformed policeman smiling quietly on the sidewalk under the blaze. Like many police officers who have taken to street protests, he refused to provide his name.

Others in the crowd were more animated.

“State security did this! The ministry did this!” screamed an older woman selling packets of tissues emblazoned with the Egyptian flag. “Not a single protester went inside and lit that fire!”

The previous fire was Feb. 23. When firefighters tried to respond, security sources said the protesters pelted them with a shower of stones. Only the army was allowed to extinguish the fire; the lower floors remained heavily scarred.

    As Police Protest in Cairo, Fire Engulfs Interior Ministry Building, NYT, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/middleeast/23egypt.html

Yemen’s Leader Defiant Amid Protests and Defections

March 22, 2011
The New York Timesq
By LAURA KASINOF and ROBERT F. WORTH

SANA, Yemen — President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, increasingly isolated amid defections and resignations, clung to power on Tuesday despite continuing protests and ominous signs of fragmentation among the nation’s main military units.

Forces loyal to the Republican Guard, led by Mr. Saleh’s son Ahmed Ali Saleh, surrounded an air base in the western province of Hodeidah on Tuesday night after the base’s commander, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Sinhani, announced his support for the youth revolt. There were also clashes between Republican Guard troops and the army in front of the presidential palace in the southeastern port city of Mukalla. The provincial army commander announced his support Monday for the revolt against Mr. Saleh, a local reporter and news agencies said.

The fighting seemed to hint at a long-feared scenario in which Yemen’s military splits, reflecting a deeper power struggle between Mr. Saleh and his rivals. On Monday, Yemen’s most powerful military leader, Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar, declared his support for the revolt; some analysts view that as a blow from which the president cannot recover.

Mr. Saleh’s plans were far from clear, and at one point on Tuesday he said he would accept an opposition deal for his exit before 2013 — proposed weeks ago — to head off the deepening crisis in the country.

The opposition derided his suggestion and declared that only his immediate departure would appease the rising tide of street protests.

“He has one option, and it is to leave now, right now, without delaying, without conditions,” said Mohammed Qahtan, a spokesman for the Joint Meeting Parties, a coalition of opposition groups.

Throughout much of Tuesday, spokesmen for the government and opposition groups traded barbs, and there were conflicting reports about the nature of the proposal that Mr. Saleh had endorsed. Mr. Qahtan called the president a “liar” and said the opposition coalition had not been in communication with him since dozens of demonstrators were killed by pro-Saleh forces Friday.

Mr. Saleh, too, struck a defiant tone in a short, nationally televised address on Tuesday before the country’s National Defense Council. He told military officers still loyal to him that “the winds won’t shake you” and warned against a coup.

The shifting signals from the president “may reflect Saleh’s personality,” said Edmund J. Hull, who was the American ambassador to Yemen from 2001 to 2004. “He’s a mercurial fellow. Unless he’s getting strong advice from someone, he tends to be erratic,” Mr. Hull said.

A Yemeni government official, who spoke in return for anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said Tuesday that the details of Mr. Saleh’s proposal were “still in the works.” The opposition parties’ plan, proposed earlier this month, urged Mr. Saleh to complete arrangements by the end of the year for his early departure. But the parties have since backed away from the offer, joining with street demonstrators calling for Mr. Saleh to quit immediately.

The United States again expressed concern on Tuesday that a power vacuum in Yemen could provide an opening for terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda’s local affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which since 2009 has mounted multiple terrorist plots against the United States.

“We are obviously concerned about the instability in Yemen,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday while traveling in Russia. “We consider Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is largely located in Yemen, to perhaps be the most dangerous of all of the franchises of Al Qaeda right now.”

Obama administration officials acknowledged that they were watching events unfold in Sana with relatively little ability to influence them. They have limited their official statements to condemnations of violence and calls for a peaceful move to more democratic rule.

Mr. Saleh’s indication on Tuesday that he might be willing to step down early came after four top military commanders, including General Ahmar, joined a wave of defections by diplomats and other officials. Previously, Mr. Saleh had offered to leave by 2013, when his current term ends.

The latest of the defections came on Tuesday when Abdel-Malik Mansour, Yemen’s representative to the Arab League, told Al Arabiya television that he had thrown his support behind the protesters. Abdul-Rahman al-Iryani, the minister of water and environment, who was dismissed by Mr. Saleh with the rest of the cabinet on Sunday, also said he was joining the “revolutionaries.”

The defection of General Ahmar, who has long been a pillar of support for the president, was seen by many as a possible sign that government leaders could be negotiating a peaceful exit for the president. But the defense minister, Brig. Gen. Muhammad Nasir Ahmad Ali, later said on television that the armed forces were loyal to Mr. Saleh.

That suggested the possibility of a rift within the military should Mr. Saleh decide to fight to preserve his 32-year rule. His family members hold critical posts in Yemen’s military and intelligence apparatus, and their ability to retain the loyalty of their troops in the face of ballooning opposition has yet to be tested.

Starting on Monday, military units appeared to take sides in the capital, with the Republican Guard protecting the palace of President Saleh and General Ahmar’s soldiers (from the First Armored Division) protecting the throngs of protesters in Sana.

Some specialists doubted that General Ahmar was a likely successor to Mr. Saleh. A commander with no political profile, he has preferred to operate in the background, they said.

“Mohsin is a thoroughly military guy, very disciplined,” said Mr. Hull, the former ambassador. “When you go to his military headquarters, it’s very tightly run. I don’t see him as comfortable in a political role, and Yemenis aren’t looking for a military strongman.”


Laura Kasinof reported from Sana, Yemen, and Robert F. Worth from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. J. David Goodman contributed reporting from New York, and Scott Shane from Washington.

    Yemen’s Leader Defiant Amid Protests and Defections, NYT, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/middleeast/23yemen.html

Israeli Attack on Gaza Militants Kills 4 Civilians

March 22, 2011
The New York Times
By FARES AKRAM

GAZA — An Israeli attempt to hit Palestinian militants who had fired rockets at Israel went horribly wrong on Tuesday, with mortar shells killing three youths playing soccer and a 60-year-old grandfather leaving his house.

Later, in an unrelated attack, the Israeli Air Force killed four militants in a car, all members of Islamic Jihad, the organization and the Israeli military said. The army said the men had been on their way to launch rockets at Israel.

Tuesday’s violence came amid a sharp increase in tensions along the Israel-Gaza border in recent days. Hamas has fired more than 60 rockets at Israel since Saturday, and Israeli warplanes and artillery units have carried out repeated attacks. Both sides claim they are retaliating and not seeking an escalation in the conflict, but fears of a repeat of the Israeli war here two years ago were palpable.

After rockets were fired from a citrus grove behind houses in eastern Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon, the Israelis fired mortar rounds at the source. Three shells landed on a sandy street in front of a home about half a mile from the border, killing three members of the Helou family and a neighbor.

The dead were Yasser Hamed al-Helou, 60, who was just coming out of his garden by the street, his 15-year-old grandson, a 10-year-old relative, and a 17-year-old neighbor, Mohammed Harrara. The boys had been playing soccer, witnesses said.

Two other mortar shells landed behind the house, spreading shrapnel that created fist-size holes in nearby houses. Adham Abu Selmiya, an emergency services spokesman, said the Israeli attack also wounded 10 people, some of them seriously.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed regret at the deaths of civilians, adding, “It is regrettable that Hamas continues to intentionally rain down dozens of rockets on Israeli civilians even as it uses civilians as human shields.”

The Israeli military also said it regretted the loss of civilian life and placed the blame on Hamas. “We do not target civilians,” Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a military spokeswoman, said by telephone. “This was not our initiative. It was reactive.”

Colonel Leibovich said the army believed that a militant was also killed in that attack. But there was no evidence of that from the hospital or neighbors.

Relatives and neighbors were unusually open about the fact that the Israeli mortar attack was an attempt to hit militants firing rockets from the nearby grove.

“We heard the sound of four mortars being fired by militants from a grove just beyond our house,” said Hassan, the older brother of Mohammed Harrara. “A few minutes later, the Israeli shells landed in the area.”

Hamas appears to have ended a two-year cease-fire that had held since the three-week Israeli military operation in Gaza ended in early 2009. But it was unclear if policy had shifted; there have been signs of a rift between Hamas’s hard-line military wing and the government, which may have led to the escalation. Hamas statements have said the recent attacks are a response to “ongoing Israeli crimes.”

Abu Obaida, a spokesman for the military wing, told reporters on Tuesday that his men “cannot be deterred” by Israeli attacks.

He said that Hamas respected the cease-fire with Israel and had tried to enforce it, but that “the resistance cannot control itself forever.” He added that if Israel stopped its attacks on Gaza, Hamas would hold back as well.

Overnight on Monday, Israeli F-16s carried out eight airstrikes, hitting a Hamas training camp, a brick factory, a metal workshop and a mechanic’s garage. Local reports said that at least five people, including a woman and two children, sustained moderate injuries.


Ethan Bronner contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

    Israeli Attack on Gaza Militants Kills 4 Civilians, NYT, 22.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/world/middleeast/23gaza.html

Israel passes law against mourning its existence

JERUSALEM | Tue Mar 22, 2011
9:48pm EDT
Reuters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's parliament passed a measure on Tuesday enabling the denial of state funding to institutions that question the country's existence as a Jewish state, in a move criticized as targeting an Arab minority.

The so-called Nakba Law, using the Arabic word for "catastrophe" which is how many Palestinians regard the founding of Israel, passed by a vote of 37 to 25 after an angry debate among right and left-wing lawmakers.

Civil rights groups have denounced the measure as an effort to restrict freedom of expression to Arabs, who make up about a fifth of Israel's predominantly Jewish population.

The law would enable the withholding of funds to public institutions deemed to be involved in publicly challenging the founding of Israel as a Jewish state or any activity "denying the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

Many Israeli Arabs, as relatives of Palestinians who remained in what is now Israel when hundreds of thousands of others were driven away or fled during a 1948 war over Israel's establishment, question whether Israel should be a Jewish state.

Unlike Palestinians living in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war, Israeli Arabs are fully enfranchised though many complain of discrimination.

Right-wing Israeli lawmakers who introduced the bill insisted it was intended to defend Israel against what they see as a growing number of attacks on its legitimacy because of a continuing conflict with the Palestinians and other Arab states.

Israeli liberals argued it was undemocratic.

Arab lawmaker Jamal Zahalka said the measure would likely encourage more Israeli Arabs to participate in the kind of events it sought to prevent -- the public mourning of Israel's creation, which takes place in marches held each year in some Arab towns on Israeli Independence Day.

    Israel passes law against mourning its existence, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-israel-arabs-law-idUSTRE72M0JB20110323

Libya no-fly zone cost could hit $1 billion in months

WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 22, 2011
9:46pm EDT
By David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The no-fly zone over Libya could end up costing the Western coalition more than $1 billion if the operation drags on more than a couple of months, defense analysts say.

Zack Cooper, a senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said the initial cost of eliminating Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's air defenses was likely to be between $400 million and $800 million.

The expense of patrolling the no-fly zone once it is established is likely to be $30 million to $100 million a week, he said.

The U.S. military has no official cost figures yet for the operation, which has been going on less than a week. By comparison, the much more extensive Afghan war costs more than $9 billion a month.

Some U.S. lawmakers and critics of President Barack Obama's decision to join allies in the Libya bombing campaign have argued the United States cannot afford the operation while Congress wrangles over spending cuts and the country's $1.48 trillion deficit.

The Pentagon already has plans to cut $78 billion in defense spending over five years and is delaying weapons programs and putting off maintenance to reduce costs.

The operation unfolding in Libya resembles a scenario for a limited no-fly zone analyzed by Cooper and his colleague Todd Harrison. The scenario assumed a limited no-fly zone covering Libya north of the 29th parallel, not the entire country.

They made their projections by computing the cost per square mile of previous no-fly zones and applying that to the situation in Libya. The price of munitions, jet fuel and maintenance were the primary cost drivers. Their figures reflected the cost over and above regular operations.

One thing Cooper and Harrison had not anticipated was significant coalition support, with allies bearing part of the expense. Cooper said it appeared the United States had flown more than half of the sorties and fired most of the Tomahawks.

"In our analysis, we assumed that the U.S. would be picking up the bulk of the cost," he said. "So even though the U.S. has picked up more than a majority of the cost, I assume, so far, it probably hasn't picked up as much as we estimated."

Cooper said the Tomahawk cruise missiles fired so far by Britain and the United States cost about $200 million, putting the price for taking out Gaddafi's air defenses on target to hit their projection.

"We estimated $400 million to $800 million. Between the Tomahawks and other munitions and flight hours and fuel, it's probably going to be somewhere in that ... range for the initial cost of suppressing the air defenses," he said.

The crash of a U.S. F-15 warplane was an unexpected cost. Cooper said the Pentagon was unlikely to buy another F-15 and probably would replace it with a joint strike fighter, with an estimated price tag of between $100 million and $150 million.

NO 'ROBUST ESTIMATE'

The main European countries enforcing the no-fly zone downplayed the cost of the operation. British Finance Minister George Osborne, whose government has staked its reputation on eliminating the country's budget deficit, told Parliament to expect the cost to be in the tens of millions of pounds.

While saying it was too early for a "robust estimate" of the price of the Libya operations, Osborn projected the costs would be "modest" compared with operations like Afghanistan.

"The Ministry of Defence's initial view is that this will be in the order of the tens of millions not the hundreds of millions of pounds," Osborne said.

But defense analysts warned that British expenses for even a limited operation like Libya could quickly add up. Analyst Francis Tusa told BBC Radio 4 the missions flown so far cost Britain about 200,000 pounds ($325,000) per aircraft, with missiles running 800,000 pounds ($1.3 million) apiece.

With Britain flying 10 Typhoon fighters to patrol the no-fly zone, "you'll be looking at potentially 2, 3 million pounds a day ($3.25 million to $5 million)," he said.

French analysts also attempted to downplay the expense, saying the intervention was likely to cost Britain and the United States much more since they used pricier weapons.

"It's peanuts," said Jean Dominique Merchet, editor of blog secretdefense on military affairs. It costs about 30,000 euros ($45,000) per hour to operate a Rafaele fighter, he said, but most would have been in the air at least an hour a day anyway.

But Pierre Tran, Paris bureau chief for specialist weekly Defense News, said even though France was using less expensive munitions, the costs would quickly begin to add up.

"If this campaign goes on for very much longer, it would be costly in terms of fuel consumed, flying hours for the pilots, and eventually munitions used," he said.

(Additional reporting by Michelle Martin and Sven Egenter in Britain and Daniel Flynn in France; Editing by Eric Walsh and Peter Cooney)

    Libya no-fly zone cost could hit $1 billion in months, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/23/us-libya-usa-costs-idUSTRE72L7WH20110323

Criticism of Gaddafi grows bolder in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI | Tue Mar 22, 2011
9:08am EDT
Reuters
By Michael Georgy and Maria Golovnina

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - After days of Western air strikes, some people in the Libyan capital felt bold enough on Tuesday to drop their customary praise of leader Muammar Gaddafi for a few moments and say instead they want him gone.

Residents who spoke to Reuters reporters in Tripoli were still too wary to give their names, and switched back to extolling Gaddafi when officials came within earshot.

But their willingness to openly criticize the man who has led the country for four decades was a marked change from the normal pattern, when people have been too frightened of retribution to speak candidly to reporters in the street.

"Here, everyone is waiting. It's not like before," said one man, who steered a reporter away from a government minder toward a coffee shop in Tripoli's medina, or old city, so he could speak freely.

"My children are afraid but I know it's all changing. This is the end. The government has no control any more."

Keeping public opinion on his side in Tripoli is vital to Gaddafi's grip on power because the capital is his biggest remaining stronghold, after the next two biggest cities in Libya were taken over by rebels.

"CRITICAL MOMENT"

In the medina, the sound of pro-Gaddafi songs could be heard from nearby Green Square, where a handful of supporters was holding a rally. Their numbers were sharply down on the thousands who were gathering a few weeks ago.

Isa, a bespectacled businessman with family in Britain, praised Gaddafi when a minder was close, but when the official moved away he changed tack.

"This is the moment. It's critical. The bombs are booming at night. But we are watching the sky and we see the world is trying to help," he said.

A man working in a clothing shop did not want to give his name because he said it was too risky for him to be identified, but he did say: "We want Gaddafi to go."

"We are happy that the West is attacking his forces but we don't want them to get rid of him. We want to do it ourselves. Libyans should get rid of him."

In another change from the usual reticence shown by people in Tripoli around foreign reporters, a man working in a jewelry shop gave his opinion without being asked.

"He (Gaddafi) should have handled it differently. He opened fire on those protesters. They had a legitimate cause. We want changes in this country now."

Gaddafi and his officials say the rebels are al Qaeda militants who are trying to destroy the country.

"Don't believe any of this," said the man in the jewelry shop. "It has nothing to do with al Qaeda."

"These are protests against the system. We all know that Gaddafi is the problem," he said. Moments later a minder walked into the shop and the shopkeeper fell silent.

(Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Giles Elgood)

    Criticism of Gaddafi grows bolder in Libyan capital, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-libya-tripoli-mood-idUSTRE72L34720110322

U.S. agencies say Libya attack may awaken al Qaeda

WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 22, 2011
4:09pm EDT
Reuters
By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has not so far taken advantage of the upheavals in the Middle East but the militant Islamic group may do so if the U.S.-led campaign in Libya does not end quickly, U.S. intelligence agencies say.

Public comments on the regional uprisings by al Qaeda figures like deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri have had little resonance in the Islamic world, intelligence and national security officials told Reuters.

There is little evidence al Qaeda or sympathizers played a direct or indirect role in protests that erupted in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya, they said.

But before the U.N.-authorized mission began against Libya, U.S. intelligence agencies were advising President Barack Obama that another attack by U.S. forces on a Muslim country could spur militants to meddle in the protests and encourage new plots against the United States.

Four days since air attacks began on Muammar Gaddafi's forces, one intelligence official said there were few signs militants had been able to exploit anti-American sentiment for propaganda purposes, let alone foment protests or plots.

General Carter Ham, the U.S. commander leading the operation, said on Monday Washington was watching whether al Qaeda might use the situation in the North African country to establish a foothold for training or attacks.

"The al Qaeda movement is opportunistic above all else," said Roger Cressey, a counter-terrorism advisor on the national security teams of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

"The worry is that the longer this goes on, mistakes will be made. That will be played up and the narrative by al Qaeda and others will be that the U.S. is at war with Islam."

KEY U.S. ALLIES

The upheaval in the region has disrupted U.S. security and intelligence operations there, one U.S. intelligence official said. There was particular concern about violent protests in Yemen that threaten to topple President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Saleh is seen by U.S. officials as a useful if erratic ally in Washington's efforts to shut down militants who have taken root in the chaotic but strategically important country, which neighbors Saudi Arabia and lies on major shipping routes.

"We have lots of long historical relationships with countries now having problems," the senior official said.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, security and intelligence agencies in Egypt gave critical help to U.S. efforts to track down militants, the official said.

With the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February, some of these units have been crippled or disbanded.

Gaddafi's government in Libya also traditionally cracked down on militants linked to al Qaeda.

One official said U.S. agencies tracking the al Qaeda threat were "watching with some trepidation" to see if relationships with counterparts in other troubled countries would be disrupted by spreading unrest.

(Edited by John O'Callaghan and David Storey)

    U.S. agencies say Libya attack may awaken al Qaeda, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-libya-usa-threats-idUSTRE72L6IK20110322

Gaddafi attacks rebel towns, U.S. plane down

TRIPOLI | Tue Mar 22, 2011
8:06am EDT
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's forces attacked two west Libyan towns, killing dozens while rebels were pinned down in the east and NATO tried to resolve a heated row over who should lead the Western air campaign.

With anti-Gaddafi rebels struggling to create a command structure that can capitalize on the air strikes against Libyan tanks and air defenses, Western nations have still to decide who will take over command once Washington pulls back.

The United States will cede control in days, President Barack Obama said, even as divisions in Europe fueled speculation that Washington would be forced to retain leadership of air patrols that will replace the initial bombardment.

"We anticipate this transition to take place in a matter of days and not in a matter of weeks," Obama, facing questions at home about the U.S. military getting bogged down in a third Muslim country, told a news conference on a visit to Chile.

In the first apparent air force casualty of the campaign, a U.S. F-15E crashed in Libya overnight and its two crew members were rescued, the U.S. military said. The crash was likely caused by mechanical failure and not hostile fire, it said.

In the latest fighting on Tuesday, Gaddafi's tanks shelled the rebel-held western city of Misrata and casualties included four children killed when their car was hit, residents said, adding the death toll for Monday had reached 40.

"The bombardment is focused on the town center, and what is going on in Misrata is a massacre," Saadoun, a spokesman for the rebels in Misrata, told Al Jazeera. "The bombardment continues."

"The situation here is very bad. Tanks started shelling the town this morning," a resident, called Mohammed, told Reuters by telephone from outside the city's hospital, adding: "Snipers are taking part in the operation too. A civilian car was destroyed killing four children on board, the oldest is aged 13 years."

REBELS PINNED DOWN IN EAST

Al Jazeera news network said Gaddafi forces were trying to seize the western rebel-held town of Zintan near the Tunisian border in an attack using heavy weapons. Residents had already fled the town center to seek shelter in mountain caves.

Rebels in east Libya were positioned just outside Ajdabiyah on Tuesday, making no further advance on the strategic town despite a third night of Western air strikes on the north African oil-producing state.

At the frontline in the desert scrub about 5 km (3 miles) outside the town located at the gateway to the rebel-held east, rebels said air strikes were helping cripple Gaddafi's heavy armor. But there was no sign of a swift drive forward.

When asked why rebel units had not advanced toward their objective, which is the eventual taking of Tripoli, Ahmed al-Aroufi, a rebel fighter at the frontline, told Reuters: "Gaddafi has tanks and trucks with missiles."

Commenting on the air campaign to protect civilians in this uprising against Gaddafi's 41-year rule, Aroufi said:

"We don't depend on anyone but God, not France or America. We started this revolution without them through the sweat of our own brow, and that is how we will finish it."

Echoing rebel opposition to any intervention by foreign ground forces, he said: "We need the no-fly zone for them to strike the heavy armor. But if they bring land forces we will leave Gaddafi alone and they will be our new target."

Washington, wary of being drawn into another war after long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, has ruled out specific action to overthrow Gaddafi, though France said on Monday it hoped the Libyan government would collapse from within.

Obama did not spell out which nation or organization would take charge of the campaign, but Britain and France took a lead role in pushing for air strikes in Libya which have already destroyed much of its air defenses.

NATO TALKS "EMOTIONAL"

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the intention was to transfer command to NATO, but France said Arab countries did not want the U.S.-led alliance in charge of the operation.

NATO officials resumed talks in Brussels on Tuesday after failing to reach agreement at heated talks on Monday.

Some allies were now questioning whether a no-fly zone was necessary, given the damage already done by air strikes to Gaddafi's military capabilities, a NATO diplomat said.

"Yesterday's meeting became a little bit emotional," the NATO envoy said, adding that France had argued that the coalition led by France, Britain and the United States should retain political control of the mission, with NATO providing operational support, including command-and-control capabilities.

"Others are saying NATO should have command or no role at all and that it doesn't make sense for NATO to play a subsidiary role," the diplomat said.

Underlining the differences in the anti-Gaddafi coalition, Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said if agreement was not reached on a NATO command, Italy would resume control of the seven airbases it has made available to allied air forces.

A NATO role would require political support from all the 28 states. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a NATO member, said on Tuesday that the United Nations should be the umbrella for a solely humanitarian operation in Libya.

In a speech to deputies from his ruling AK Party in parliament Erdogan said: "Turkey will never ever be a side pointing weapons at the Libyan people."

Andrew Bacevich, a professor of international relations at Boston University, said it would be difficult to stand up a multinational command structure "on the fly."

"If that's what's being attempted then the hand-off may take longer than the Obama administration would like," he said.

Rifts are also growing in the world community over the resolution, with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin comparing the U.N. mandate a call for "medieval crusades." China and Brazil urged a ceasefire amid fears of civilian casualties.

ARCHIVE FOOTAGE OF GADDAFI

Libyan television was showing archive footage of Gaddafi being greeted by cheering crowds waving his portrait. The images were set to stirring patriotic music. Gaddafi himself has not been since in public since the air strikes began at the weekend.

State television was also broadcasting old footage of military parades, including pictures of elite troops marching in formation wearing balaclavas and gas masks.

Several sites in Tripoli had been subject to new attacks by what it called the "crusader enemy," state television said. "These attacks are not going to scare the Libyan people."

The United States and its allies have run into some criticism for the intensity of the firepower unleashed on Libya, including more than 110 Tomahawk missiles on Saturday. The next step is to patrol the skies to enforce the no-fly zone.

Security analysts say it is unclear what will happen if the Libyan leader digs in, especially since Western powers have made clear they would be unwilling to see Libya partitioned between a rebel-held east and Gaddafi-controlled west.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers, Tom Perry in Cairo; David Brunnstrom in Brussels; Writing by Peter Millership; Editing by Giles Elgood)

    Gaddafi attacks rebel towns, U.S. plane down, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110322

Gates arrives in Moscow amid Kremlin rift over Libya

MOSCOW | Tue Mar 22, 2011
7:22am EDT
By Phil Stewart

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for talks on Libya in the middle of the first major public spat between Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Gates will not meet Putin but will see President Medvedev, who rebuked his mentor on Monday for comparing the West's call for action in Libya to the crusades, the most public difference yet between Russia's ruling tandem ahead of 2012 elections.

Meeting his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov early on Tuesday, Gates said he wanted the "momentum" of warming ties between the Cold War foes to "continue to build today."

Earlier, Gates praised Russian leaders for choosing to abstain rather than vote against a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing military action in Libya, Interfax said.

Medvedev defended that decision on Monday, saying he did not consider the resolution wrong. Putin, in some of his harshest criticism of the United States since President Barack Obama started a push for better ties, compared action on Libya to the Iraq invasion and said it showed Russia was right to spend billions on its military.

He told workers at a missile factory in central Russia that the U.N. Security Council resolution was flawed and it "resembles medieval calls for crusades."

Moscow has called on the United States, Britain and France to halt air strikes that are killing civilians, as alleged by Tripoli but strongly denied by the Pentagon.

Gates, speaking in St. Petersburg at the start of his two-day visit to Russia, told Interfax the mission was to establish a no-fly zone and "prevent a humanitarian disaster, to prevent Gaddafi from slaughtering his own people."

"I think we've made a lot of progress just in a couple of days toward accomplishing those two objectives," he said in an interview with the news agency.

MISSILE Defense?

Putin made his comments a day before Gates, a former CIA director expected to retire later this year, spoke to Serdyukov about improving ties between the former Cold War foes.

In a defense ministry compound, Gates told Serdyukov the two had "a full agenda" to discuss, including Libya, missile defense and the war in Afghanistan.

Moscow, still haunted by its decade-long Soviet war with Afghanistan, has helped set up the Northern Distribution Network, a key supply route.

The implementation of the New START nuclear arms treaty will also be addressed, the two said.

A holdover from the Bush administration, Gates saw first hand the U.S.-Russia relationship deteriorate over Russia's 2008 war against pro-western Georgia, and then improve under Obama.

Obama's effort to "reset" ties, crowned with the arms pact which came into force last month, limits each country to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and 800 delivery systems by 2018.

Russia's chief negotiator on the nuclear arms treaty with the United States has outlined tough conditions for further reductions, stressing Moscow's demand for an equal say in creating a European missile shield.

Moscow worries the shield could weaken Russia's offensive arsenal and upset the balance of power.

"The United States would far prefer to have Russia as a partner in European missile defense," Gates told Interfax.

"I think that we can provide political assurances that would reassure Russia that no aspect of our missile defense is ever intended to be used against Russia," he told the news agency.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

    Gates arrives in Moscow amid Kremlin rift over Libya, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-usa-russia-gates-idUSTRE72L1WU20110322

Israeli air strikes wound 19 in Gaza Strip

GAZA | Tue Mar 22, 2011
2:25am EDT
Reuters
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday, wounding at least 19 people, after militants fired mortar shells and rockets into the Jewish state, witnesses and militant groups said.

The number of raids and casualties in one evening showed the rising tension between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza.

Hamas has stepped up rocket salvoes into Israel after a hiatus since the two sides fought a war two years ago, claiming responsibility for firing more than two dozen mortar shells and rockets at the weekend.

The Israeli military said its warplanes fired at six targets on Monday in response to a rise in rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. About 130 such attacks had been made on Israel this year, 56 of them since Saturday, a military spokesman said.

He said the military held Hamas "solely responsible for terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip and warns Hamas not to continue its aggression."

Hamas medical officials said 19 people were wounded in the Israeli air strikes, including four militants, seven children and two women.

Palestinian analysts linked the growing violence to calls for President Mahmoud Abbas to heal a four-year rift with Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in a bloody 2007 struggle with Abbas's Western-backed Fatah movement.

Militants in Gaza often fire rockets at Israel but Hamas itself had avoided doing so or claiming responsibility for such attacks in recent months.

Abbas said last week he was willing to visit Gaza for talks designed to reunify Palestinian ranks.

Some Hamas officials fear a reconciliation with Fatah could threaten the Islamists' hegemony in Gaza. Israel has signaled it would see such reconciliation as a threat, given Hamas's refusal to recognize its existence and join peace talks.

"I think the escalation from the Hamas side is calculated," Talal Okal, a Palestinian expert, said in an interview, adding that he believed Israel had similar motives, although both sides may try to avoid a wider conflagration.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

    Israeli air strikes wound 19 in Gaza Strip, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-palestinians-israel-gaza-idUSTRE72K7A620110322

Strikes on Libya set to slow, stalemate feared

TRIPOLI | Tue Mar 22, 2011
2:25am EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Anti-aircraft fire rang out across Tripoli for a third night but air attacks on Libya are likely to slow, a U.S. general said, as Washington holds back from being sucked into the Libyan civil war.

State television said several sites had come under attack in the capital on Monday. Western powers had no confirmation of new strikes in a U.N.-mandated campaign to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians from Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

Rebels, who had been driven back toward their eastern Benghazi stronghold before the air attacks halted an advance by Gaddafi's forces, have so far done little to capitalize on the campaign -- raising fears the war could grind to a stalemate.

But Washington, wary of being drawn into another war after long campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, has ruled out specific action to overthrow Gaddafi, though France said on Monday it hoped the Libyan government would collapse from within.

"My sense is that -- that unless something unusual or unexpected happens, we may see a decline in the frequency of attacks," General Carter Ham, who is leading U.S. forces in the Libyan operation, told reporters in Washington.

President Barack Obama, facing questions at home about the

United States military getting bogged down in a third Muslim country, said Washington would cede control of the Libyan operation in days.

"We anticipate this transition to take place in a matter of days and not in a matter of weeks," Obama told a news conference during a visit to Chile.

He did not spell out which nation or organization would take charge, but Britain and France took a lead role in pushing for the intervention in Libya. The missile strikes have already been extensive enough to have destroyed much of Libya's air defenses.

Libyan state television reported that several sites in Tripoli had been subject to new attacks by what it called the "crusader enemy." "These attacks are not going to scare the Libyan people," said a state television broadcast.

Anti-aircraft gunfire rang out throughout the night and pro-Gaddafi slogans echoed around the city center. Cars sped through Tripoli streets honking wildly.

Al Jazeera television said radar installations at two air defense bases in eastern Libya had been hit. However, a French armed forces spokesman said France, which has been involved in strikes in the east, had no planes in the air at the time.

Meanwhile, residents in two besieged rebel-held cities in western Libya, Misrata and Zintan, said they had been attacked by Gaddafi's forces. Security analysts have said they believe government troops will try to force their way into civilian areas to escape attack from the air.

In Misrata, residents said people had gone out into the streets to try to stop Gaddafi's forces entering the city.

"When they gathered in the center, the Gaddafi forces started shooting at them with artillery and guns," said the resident, who gave his name as Saadoun. He said nine people were killed.

Zintan, near the Tunisian border, faced heavy shelling, two witnesses said, forcing residents to flee to mountain caves. Several houses were destroyed and a mosque minaret destroyed.

"New forces were sent today to besiege the city. There are now at least 40 tanks at the foothills of the mountains near Zintan," Abdulrahmane Daw told Reuters by phone from the town.

The reports could not be independently verified.

DIPLOMATIC SETBACK

The United States and its allies have run into some criticism for the intensity of the firepower it unleashed on Libya, including more than 110 Tomahawk missiles on Saturday.

Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who backed the U.N. resolution supporting military intervention, has questioned the methods used, while Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin compared the air campaign to "medieval crusades."

Libyan rebels have welcomed the air strikes and say they are coordinating with the Western powers launching air strikes.

But there was little sign at the vanguard of battle in east Libya that this communication extended to forward rebel units.

Western powers say they are not providing close air support to rebels or seeking to destroy Gaddafi's army, but rather only protecting civilians, as their U.N. mandate allows, leaving disorganized rebel fighters struggling to make headway.

"If we don't get more help from the West, Gaddafi's forces will eat us alive," rebel fighter Nouh Musmari told Reuters.

Security analysts say it is unclear what will happen if the Libyan leader digs in, especially since Western powers have made clear they would be unwilling to see Libya partitioned between a rebel-held east and Gaddafi-controlled west.

"There is still a real risk of a protracted stalemate, with neither side wanting to negotiate. So the endgame remains very unclear," said Jeremy Binnie, a senior analyst with IHS Jane's.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the operation would not drag into another Iraq-style conflict.

"This is different to Iraq. This is not going into a country, knocking over its government and then owning and being responsible for everything that happens subsequently," Cameron said during a parliamentary debate on Libya.

"This is about protecting people and giving the Libyan people a chance to shape their own destiny," he said.

In an appearance on Libyan television on Sunday, Gaddafi promised his enemies a "long war."

GADDAFI NOT TARGETED, WEST SAYS

Officials in Tripoli said that one missile on Sunday, which they said was intended to kill Gaddafi, had destroyed a building in his compound, heavily bombed in 1986 by the United States.

"It was a barbaric bombing," said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. "This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place."

A Libyan government spokesman also said that foreign attacks had killed many people by bombing ports and Sirte airport.

"You saw that place (Sirte airport)," Mussa Ibrahim told a news conference. "It's a civilian airport. It was bombarded and many people were killed. Harbours were also bombarded."

Cameron said there were no plans to target Gaddafi. "The U.N. resolution is limited in its scope, it explicitly does not provide legal authority for action to bring about Gaddafi's removal from power by military means," he told parliament.

"We will help fulfill the U.N. Security Council (resolution), it is for the Libyan people to determine their government and their destiny, but our view is clear, there is no decent future for Libya with Colonel Gaddafi remaining in power."

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he hoped Libyans themselves would topple Gaddafi: "When will the regime collapse? It is quite possible that, given the weakness of the regime, it will break up from within."

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Tom Perry in Cairo, John Irish in Paris, Missy Ryan in Washington, Matt Spetalnick in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Myra MacDonald; Editing by Alison Williams)

    Strikes on Libya set to slow, stalemate feared, R, 22.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110322

At War in Libya

March 21, 2011
The New York Times

Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has long been a thug and a murderer who has never paid for his many crimes, including the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The United Nations Security Council resolution authorized member nations to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians and was perhaps the only hope of stopping him from slaughtering thousands more.

The resolution was an extraordinary moment in recent history. The United Nations, the United States and the Europeans dithered for an agonizingly long time and then — with the rebels’ last redoubt, Benghazi, about to fall — acted with astonishing speed to endorse a robust mandate that goes far beyond a simple no-fly zone. More extraordinary was that the call to action was led by France and Britain and invited by the Arab League.

American commanders on Monday claimed success in attacking Libyan air defenses and command and control operations. Over the weekend, there were strikes against Libyan aircraft on the ground, forces headed toward Benghazi and even Colonel Qaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. Colonel Qaddafi remained defiant and announced plans to arm one million loyalists. He gathered women and children as human shields at his compound. On Monday, his forces drove rebels back from the strategically important town Ajdabiya.

There is much to concern us. President Obama correctly agreed to deploy American forces only when persuaded that other nations would share the responsibility and the cost of enforcing international law. The United States is already bogged down in two wars. It can’t be seen as intervening unilaterally in another Muslim nation. But even with multinational support, it should not have to shoulder the brunt of this conflict.

After endorsing a no-flight zone 10 days ago — a move that allowed the Security Council resolution to go forward — the Arab League is sending mixed messages. This military operation requires the Arab states to reaffirm support for the coalition and contribute their own arms, forces and cash. Qatar made a commitmment: four fighter jets. Colonel Qaddafi will find it easier to dig in his heels if he thinks the region is divided.

There has been unsettling dissonance from the allies, too. The operation was portrayed as led by France and Britain. Yet the Americans — which have the ships and cruise missiles to take out Libyan air defenses — are actually directing this phase. They say command will soon shift, but it’s not certain if that will put NATO, France or Britain in charge. A permanent alternate command needs to be established as soon as practical and the broadest possible coalition must be engaged.

We also have questions about the objective. President Obama has said Colonel Qaddafi has lost legitimacy and must go. He also insisted the military aim is only to protect civilians and American ground troops will not be deployed. We hope he sticks to those commitments. There are enormous questions: What will the United States and its allies do if the rebels cannot dislodge Colonel Qaddafi? At a minimum, they must be ready to maintain indefinite sanctions on the regime while helping the rebels set up a government, should they actually win. Mr. Obama should have brought Congress more into the loop on his decision, and must do so now.

There is no perfect formula for military intervention. It must be used sparingly — not in Bahrain or Yemen, even though we condemn the violence against protesters in both countries. Libya is a specific case: Muammar el-Qaddafi is erratic, widely reviled, armed with mustard gas and has a history of supporting terrorism. If he is allowed to crush the opposition, it would chill pro-democracy movements across the Arab world.

    At War in Libya, NYT, 21.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22tue1.html

Freed Times Journalists Give Account of Captivity

March 21, 2011
The New York Times
By JEREMY W. PETERS

The Libyan government freed four New York Times journalists on Monday, six days after they were captured while covering the conflict between government and rebel forces in the eastern city of Ajdabiya. They were released into the custody of Turkish diplomats and crossed safely into Tunisia in the late afternoon, from where they provided a harrowing account of their captivity.

Like many other Western journalists, the four had entered the rebel-controlled eastern region of Libya over the Egyptian border without visas to cover the insurrection against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. They were detained in Ajdabiya by forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi.

The journalists are Anthony Shadid, The Times’s Beirut bureau chief, who has won two Pulitzer Prizes for international reporting; two photographers, Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario, who have extensive experience in war zones; and a reporter and videographer, Stephen Farrell, who in 2009 was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan and was rescued by British commandos.

After The New York Times reported having lost contact with the four last Tuesday, officials with the Qaddafi government pledged that if they had been detained by the government’s military forces, they would be located and released unharmed.

Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times, wrote in a note to the newsroom that he was “overjoyed” at the news.

“Because of the volatile situation in Libya, we’ve kept our enthusiasm and comments in check until they were out of the country, but now feels like a moment for celebration,” he wrote.

“We’re particularly indebted to the government of Turkey, which intervened on our behalf to oversee the release of our journalists and bring them to Tunisia,” Mr. Keller added. “We were also assisted throughout the week by diplomats from the United States and United Kingdom.”

A clearer account of the four journalists’ capture and detention has come to light now that they have been released.

The four had been covering fighting near Ajdabiya last Tuesday when they decided that the battle had grown too dangerous for them to continue safely. Their driver, however, inadvertently drove into a checkpoint manned by forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi. By the time they knew they were in trouble, it was too late.

“I was yelling to the driver, ‘Keep driving! Don’t stop! Don’t stop!’ ” Mr. Hicks recalled in a telephone interview from the hotel where he and the three others were recuperating. “I knew that the consequences of being stopped would be very bad.”

The driver, Mohamed Shaglouf, is still missing. If he had tried to drive straight through, Mr. Hicks said, the vehicle certainly would have been fired on. In any event, the soldiers flung the doors to their gold four-door sedan wide open so quickly that they had little chance to get away.

As they were being pulled from the car, rebels fired on the checkpoint, sending the four running for their lives.

“You could see the bullets hitting the dirt,” Mr. Shadid said.

All four made it safely behind a small, one-room building, where they tried to take cover. But the soldiers had other plans. They told all four to empty their pockets and ordered them on the ground. And that is when they thought they were seconds from death.

“I heard in Arabic, ‘Shoot them,’ ” Mr. Shadid said. “And we all thought it was over.”

Then another soldier spoke up. “One of the others said: ‘No, they’re American. We can’t shoot them,’ ” Mr. Hicks said.

The soldiers grabbed whatever they could get their hands on to tie up their prisoners: wire, an electrical cord from a home appliance, a scarf. One removed Ms. Addario’s shoes, pulled out the laces and used them to bind her ankles. Then one punched her in the face and laughed.

“Then I started crying,” she recalled. “And he was laughing more.” One man grabbed her breasts, the beginning of a pattern of disturbing behavior she would experience from her captors over the next 48 hours.

“There was a lot of groping,” she said. “Every man who came in contact with us basically felt every inch of my body short of what was under my clothes.”

Their captors held them in Ajdabiya until the fighting with the rebels died down. Soldiers put the four in a vehicle and drove them out of the city around 2 a.m. One threatened to decapitate Mr. Hicks. Another stroked Ms. Addario’s head and told her repeatedly she was going to die.

“He was caressing my head in this sick way, this tender way, saying: ‘You’re going to die tonight. You’re going to die tonight,’ ” she said.

Their vehicle stopped repeatedly at checkpoints, each time allowing for a new group of soldiers to land a fresh punch or a rifle butt in their backs. The first night they spent in the back of a vehicle. The second night they spent in a jail cell with dirty mattresses on the ground, a bottle to urinate in and a jug of water to drink.

On the third day they were on the move again, this time to an airfield. Mr. Shadid, who speaks Arabic, had overheard one of the soldiers saying something about a plane, and the four assumed they would be flown somewhere. As they were loaded on the plane they were blindfolded and their hands were bound tightly with plastic handcuffs.

“I could hear Anthony at this point yelling ‘Help me!’ ” Mr. Hicks said, “which I learned later was because he had no feeling in his hands.” In a rare show of mercy, a soldier loosened the cuffs.

They landed on Thursday in Tripoli, where they were handed over to Libyan defense officials. They were transferred to a safe house, where they said they were treated well. They were each allowed a brief phone call.

That was the first time since their capture two and a half days earlier that their whereabouts became known to their families and colleagues at The Times.

Their disappearance had kicked off an intensive search effort. The Times canvassed hospitals and morgues, beginning a grim process-of-elimination search. The paper also turned to a variety of people on the ground who might have heard or seen something — local residents, security contractors for Western businesses, workers for nongovernmental organizations. It also notified American diplomats.

The State Department got word Thursday afternoon that the journalists were safe and unharmed, in a phone call to Jeffrey D. Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, from an aide to Abdullah al-Senussi, the head of Libyan military intelligence and the brother-in-law of Colonel Qaddafi, Mr. Feltman said.

But the arrival of the four journalists in Tripoli was just the beginning of three days of frustrating, increasingly tense negotiations conducted by a State Department consular officer, Yael Lempert. Libyan officials kept changing their demands for the conditions of the journalists’ release, and an allied coalition, including the United States, began bombing Tripoli to enforce a no-fly zone. Several Libyan agencies were involved in the negotiation, which added to the confusion.

First the Libyan government demanded that an American diplomat come to Tripoli to take the journalists, State Department officials said. The United States, which closed its embassy in Libya last month, refused. After initially resisting, the Libyans agreed to allow the Turkish Embassy to act as an intermediary.

The release was scheduled for Sunday but was delayed until Monday because of the bombing. The four were turned over to Turkish diplomats Monday afternoon, and were driven to the border with Tunisia.

While Monday was a day for celebration and relief at The Times, other news organizations covering the conflicts in Libya and elsewhere in the Arab world have not been so lucky. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 13 journalists are either missing or in government custody. The missing include four from Al Jazeera, two from Agence France-Presse and one from Getty Images. In addition, six Libyan journalists are unaccounted for, the group said.

Others have died. A Libyan broadcaster was killed Saturday while covering a battle near Benghazi. A cameraman for Al Jazeera was killed in the same area on March 12, the first death of a journalist in Libya during the current conflict.


David D. Kirkpatrick and Mark Landler contributed reporting.

    Freed Times Journalists Give Account of Captivity, NYT, 21.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/africa/22times.html

At War in Libya

March 21, 2011
Reuters


Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has long been a thug and a murderer who has never paid for his many crimes, including the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. The United Nations Security Council resolution authorized member nations to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians and was perhaps the only hope of stopping him from slaughtering thousands more.

The resolution was an extraordinary moment in recent history. The United Nations, the United States and the Europeans dithered for an agonizingly long time and then — with the rebels’ last redoubt, Benghazi, about to fall — acted with astonishing speed to endorse a robust mandate that goes far beyond a simple no-fly zone. More extraordinary was that the call to action was led by France and Britain and invited by the Arab League.

American commanders on Monday claimed success in attacking Libyan air defenses and command and control operations. Over the weekend, there were strikes against Libyan aircraft on the ground, forces headed toward Benghazi and even Colonel Qaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. Colonel Qaddafi remained defiant and announced plans to arm one million loyalists. He gathered women and children as human shields at his compound. On Monday, his forces drove rebels back from the strategically important town Ajdabiya.

There is much to concern us. President Obama correctly agreed to deploy American forces only when persuaded that other nations would share the responsibility and the cost of enforcing international law. The United States is already bogged down in two wars. It can’t be seen as intervening unilaterally in another Muslim nation. But even with multinational support, it should not have to shoulder the brunt of this conflict.

After endorsing a no-flight zone 10 days ago — a move that allowed the Security Council resolution to go forward — the Arab League is sending mixed messages. This military operation requires the Arab states to reaffirm support for the coalition and contribute their own arms, forces and cash. Qatar made a commitmment: four fighter jets. Colonel Qaddafi will find it easier to dig in his heels if he thinks the region is divided.

There has been unsettling dissonance from the allies, too. The operation was portrayed as led by France and Britain. Yet the Americans — which have the ships and cruise missiles to take out Libyan air defenses — are actually directing this phase. They say command will soon shift, but it’s not certain if that will put NATO, France or Britain in charge. A permanent alternate command needs to be established as soon as practical and the broadest possible coalition must be engaged.

We also have questions about the objective. President Obama has said Colonel Qaddafi has lost legitimacy and must go. He also insisted the military aim is only to protect civilians and American ground troops will not be deployed. We hope he sticks to those commitments. There are enormous questions: What will the United States and its allies do if the rebels cannot dislodge Colonel Qaddafi? At a minimum, they must be ready to maintain indefinite sanctions on the regime while helping the rebels set up a government, should they actually win. Mr. Obama should have brought Congress more into the loop on his decision, and must do so now.

There is no perfect formula for military intervention. It must be used sparingly — not in Bahrain or Yemen, even though we condemn the violence against protesters in both countries. Libya is a specific case: Muammar el-Qaddafi is erratic, widely reviled, armed with mustard gas and has a history of supporting terrorism. If he is allowed to crush the opposition, it would chill pro-democracy movements across the Arab world.

    At War in Libya, NYT, 21.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22tue1.html

Qaddafi Forces Hold Strategic Town as Allied Attacks Continue

March 21, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, ELISABETH BUMILLER AND KAREEM FAHIM

TRIPOLI, Libya — After a second night of American and European strikes by air and sea against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces, European nations on Monday rejected Libyan claims that civilians had been killed. Meanwhile, pro-Qaddafi forces were reported to be holding out against the allied campaign to break their grip on the ground while enforcing a no-fly zone.

Rebel fighters trying to retake the eastern town of Ajdabiya said they were driven back on Monday by rocket and tank fire from government loyalists still controlling entrances to the city. Dozens of fighters retreated to a checkpoint around 12 miles north of Ajdabiya, and rebels said at least eight others had been killed during the day’s fighting, including four who had been standing in a bloodied pickup truck that the fighters showed to reporters.

There were conflicting reports about whether the allies had attacked loyalist forces in Ajdabiya. While planes had been heard overhead, the rebel fighters said there appeared to have been no attack on the pro-Qaddafi forces holding the entrance to Ajdabiya on the coastal highway leading north to Benghazi. Ajdabiya is a strategically important town that has been much fought over, straddling an important highway junction and acting as a chokepoint for forces trying to advance in either direction.

The retreat from Ajdabiya appeared to have thrown the rebels into deep disarray, with one commander at the checkpoint trying to marshal the opposition forces, using a barely functioning megaphone, but few of the fighters heeding his exhortations.

In the western city of Misurata, forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi were still at large and were using civilians from nearby towns as human shields, Reuters reported, but that could not be immediately confirmed.

As it gained force, the allied air campaign met a rising tide of criticism from around the world, notably from Russia and China, which abstained from voting on the United Nations resolution. “In general, it reminds me of a medieval call for a crusade,” Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Monday, after criticizing the allies on Sunday for “indiscriminate use of force.”

As Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates began a visit to Russia, Mr. Putin called the resolution “deficient and flawed,” saying, “It allows everyone to undertake any actions in relation to a sovereign government.”

A commentary in China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper said that the Western actions violated international law and courted unforeseen disaster. “It should be seen that every time military means are used to address crises, that is a blow to the United Nations Charter and the rules of international relations,” the commentary said.

NATO members met Monday in Brussels to try to work out a common position that would allow the organization to participate in the no-fly zone. That would require the approval of all its members, including Turkey, which has opposed any intervention in North Africa. The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, denied that his country was against NATO participation in the operation, saying only that he wanted assurances that it would be brief and not end in an occupation.

NATO approved on Sunday plans to help enforce a United Nations arms embargo against Libya, but so far it has not been able to agree on how to proceed on either that or the no-fly zone.

On Sunday, a vital Arab participant in the agreement expressed unhappiness with the way the strikes were unfolding. The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, told Egyptian state media that he was calling for an emergency league meeting to discuss the situation in the Arab world, and particularly to discuss the killing of civilians in allied attacks in Libya.

But on Monday, Mr. Moussa spoke of the allied actions in more measured tones, saying, “We respect the Security Council’s resolution and we have no conflict with the resolution, especially as it confirms that there is no invasion or occupation of Libyan territory.”

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain defended the allied attacks before Parliament, saying they had averted “a bloody massacre in Benghazi.”

As the assault unfolded late Sunday, an explosion thundered from Colonel Qaddafi’s personal compound in Tripoli, and a column of smoke rose above it, suggesting that the allied forces may have struck either his residence there or the nearby barracks of his personal guards. Unnamed Western officials were quoted in various news reports as saying that the building was a military command and control center.

Journalists taken by the Qaddafi government to visit the site shortly after the blast said they saw a bomb-damaged building that appeared to be an administrative center rather than a military barracks or a Qaddafi residence, although the exact nature of the facility could not be definitively confirmed. No casualties were reported, though the government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, called it “a barbaric bombing.”

Asked about the explosion, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney said in a Washington news conference that the United States was not trying to kill the Libyan leader. “At this particular point I can guarantee that he’s not on a targeting list,” he said, saying that the United States military was working to weaken his military capacity rather than remove him.

In London, the Defense Ministry said on Monday that British Tornado aircraft that had flown 1,500 miles from a base in eastern England overnight aborted their mission at the last minute after “further information came to light that identified a number of civilians within the intended target area. As a result, the decision was taken not to launch weapons. This decision underlines the U.K.’s commitment to the protection of civilians.” The ministry did not identify the specific target, but officials indicated that the Tornados’ sortie was part of an effort — reinforced by cruise missiles fired from a British submarine in the Mediterranean — to strike at air defense systems.

The planes were to have struck their target at around midnight, British time — the early hours of the morning in Libya.

Britain also made clear that it placed no store in a Libyan announcement on Sunday night of a second cease-fire.

“We and our international partners are continuing operations in support of the United Nations Security Council resolution” authorizing the attacks, the Defense Ministry said. In an interview on British radio, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the allies would judge Colonel Qaddafi “by his actions not his words.”

“They have to be observing a real cease-fire” before the air and sea attacks would stop, he said.

In Paris, an official said France had no information that civilians had been killed in the air assaults. François Baroin, a government spokesman, told a French television channel that French commanders were not aware of any information relating to civilian deaths.

Rebel forces, battered and routed by loyalist fighters just the day before, began to regroup in the east on Sunday as allied warplanes destroyed dozens of government armored vehicles near the rebel capital, Benghazi, leaving a field of burned wreckage along the coastal road to the city. By nightfall, the rebels had pressed almost 40 miles back west toward Ajdabiya, witnesses and rebel forces said. And they seemed to consolidate control of Benghazi despite heavy fighting there against loyalist forces on Saturday. There was evidence, too, that the allies were striking more targets in and around Tripoli. More explosions could be seen or heard near the city center, where an international press corps was kept under tight security constraints. Recurring bursts of antiaircraft guns and a prolonged shower of tracers arced over the capital on Sunday night.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, spoke about how allied forces had grounded Colonel Qaddafi’s aircraft and worked to protect civilians — both objectives stated by the United Nations Security Council in approving the military mission. “We hit a lot of targets, focused on his command and control, focused on his air defense, and actually attacked some of his forces on the ground in the vicinity of Benghazi,” Admiral Mullen told Fox News.

But the campaign may be balancing multiple goals. President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and British and French leaders have also talked of a broader policy objective — that Colonel Qaddafi must leave power. In his comments on Sunday, Admiral Mullen suggested that that objective lay outside the bounds of the military campaign, saying on NBC that Colonel Qaddafi’s remaining in power after the United States military accomplished its mission was “potentially one outcome.”

Mr. Gates, on a flight to Russia, said he was concerned about that possible result. Though he praised the mission’s “successful start,” he cautioned that a partitioned Libya, with rebels holding the east and Colonel Qaddafi the west, could bring trouble.

“I think all countries probably would like to see Libya remain a unified state,” Mr. Gates said. Gen. Carter F. Ham, who as the head of the United States Africa Command is overseeing the operation, said in an e-mail on Sunday that “the initial strikes have had, generally, the effects we sought. Fixed air defense sites, particularly the longer-range systems, appear to no longer be operating.”

The American and French militaries both said that Qatar would join the military operation, which would be the first Arab military force to explicitly sign on. But there were no details on what role the Qatari forces would take.

The Americans, working with the British, French and others, flew a wider array of missions than the day before, when Navy cruise missile barrages were their main weapons. They deployed B-2 stealth bombers, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets and Harrier attack jets flown by the Marine Corps striking at Libyan ground forces, air defenses and airfields. Navy electronic warplanes, EA-18G Growlers, jammed Libyan radar and communications. British pilots flew many of the bombing missions, and French, British and American planes all conducted ground attacks near Benghazi, American commanders said.

Admiral Gortney said that allied strikes against Colonel Qaddafi’s forces had been “very effective.” But he warned that coalition forces had not hit Libyan mobile surface-to-air missile batteries and that shoulder-launched missiles, called Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems, or Manpads, also remained. Near Misurata, the last major western city held by the rebels, B-2 bombers destroyed aircraft shelters at an airfield, the admiral said. A rebel spokesman within the besieged city, giving his name as Muhammad, said allied airstrikes had destroyed a military convoy coming to reinforce the troops encircling the city. But he said that Saturday night’s strikes had done little to stop the Qaddafi forces from shelling the city and its port, blowing up two power stations. A rebel who said he was a doctor said that seven had died and that the city was without water or power.

Libyan officials and state television have said that dozens of Libyan civilians were killed in the air attacks. But an Indonesian newscaster, Andini Effendi, reported Sunday that she was able to visit two Tripoli hospitals after the airstrikes early on Sunday and found no influx of casualties, only empty ambulances. Libyan officials promised Sunday to bring foreign journalists to a funeral for civilians killed in the attacks. But the funeral turned out to be more of a pro-Qaddafi political rally, and the true number of dead remained a mystery.

David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Tripoli, Libya; Elisabeth Bumiller from Washington; and Kareem Fahim from Benghazi, Libya. Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington, Steven Erlanger and Alan Cowell from Paris, Clifford J. Levy from Moscow, and Julia Werdigier from London.

    Qaddafi Forces Hold Strategic Town as Allied Attacks Continue, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/africa/22libya.html

New York Times journalists released from Libyan custody

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON | Mon Mar 21, 2011
12:57pm EDT
Reuters
By Daniel Trotta and Andrew Quinn

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libya released four New York Times journalists on Monday, nearly a week after they had been captured by Libyan forces while covering the conflict there, although three journalists for other outlets remained missing.

The release had been in the works since Thursday, with Turkey serving as intermediary between the U.S. and Libyan governments.

The four, who had been allowed to speak to their families on Thursday, were released to the Turkish embassy in Tripoli and later arrived safely in Tunisia, the Times said.

The United States, lacking a diplomatic presence in Libya at the moment, asked Turkey to represent its interests there as part of the deal to free the journalists, Turkey's ambassador to the United States said.

"Because of the volatile situation in Libya, we've kept our enthusiasm and comments in check until they were out of the country, but now feels like a moment for celebration," Executive Editor Bill Keller said in a statement.

"And before long we'll all know the details of their experience," Keller said.

The Times journalists are two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Beirut bureau chief Anthony Shadid, reporter and videographer Stephen Farrell and photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario.

The United States has formally suspended operations at its embassy in Tripoli and asked Turkey to act as its "protective power" in Libya, ambassador Namik Tan told Reuters.

"We responded to them that if they designate us as the protective power of the U.S. then we can take this initiative," Tan said, adding "protective power" status might also help facilitate future communication between the Gaddafi government and Washington.

The Turkish ambassador in Tripoli immediately contacted Libyan authorities to request the release. The handover was delayed a day by the resumption of U.S. and allied air strikes on Tripoli on Sunday.

The group had been traveling through the rebel controlled eastern region of Libya without visas, like many Western journalists, to cover the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, the Times reported. They were detained by forces loyal to Gaddafi on March 15 in Ajdabiya, the paper said.

Three journalists, including two working for Agence France-Presse, have gone missing while covering the fighting in Libya, the news agency said on Sunday.

AFP said in a statement that Dave Clark, a reporter based at its Paris headquarters, and Roberto Schmidt, a photographer in its Nairobi bureau, had not been heard from since they sent an email to senior editors on Friday evening.

They were accompanied by Joe Raedle, a photographer from the Getty Images agency who also had not been heard from since Friday evening, AFP said.

Clark, 38, and Schmidt, 45, said in the email they planned to travel to an area about 19 miles outside of the eastern oil-rich city of Tobruk on Saturday to meet opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and to speak to refugees fleeing the fighting, AFP said.

(Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Jennifer Saba; editing by John Whitesides)

    New York Times journalists released from Libyan custody, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-libya-turkey-journalists-idUSTRE72K2TH20110321

A Very Liberal Intervention

March 20, 2011
The New York Times
By ROSS DOUTHAT

In its month-long crab walk toward a military confrontation with Libya’s Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Obama administration has delivered a clinic in the liberal way of war.

Just a week ago, as the tide began to turn against the anti-Qaddafi rebellion, President Obama seemed determined to keep the United States out of Libya’s civil strife. But it turns out the president was willing to commit America to intervention all along. He just wanted to make sure we were doing it in the most multilateral, least cowboyish fashion imaginable.

That much his administration has achieved. In its opening phase, at least, our war in Libya looks like the beau ideal of a liberal internationalist intervention. It was blessed by the United Nations Security Council. It was endorsed by the Arab League. It was pushed by the diplomats at Hillary Clinton’s State Department, rather than the military men at Robert Gates’s Pentagon. Its humanitarian purpose is much clearer than its connection to American national security. And it was initiated not by the U.S. Marines or the Air Force, but by the fighter jets of the French Republic.

This is an intervention straight from Bill Clinton’s 1990s playbook, in other words, and a stark departure from the Bush administration’s more unilateralist methods. There are no “coalitions of the willing” here, no dismissive references to “Old Europe,” no “you are with us or you are with the terrorists.” Instead, the Obama White House has shown exquisite deference to the very international institutions and foreign governments that the Bush administration either steamrolled or ignored.

This way of war has obvious advantages. It spreads the burden of military action, sustains rather than weakens our alliances, and takes the edge off the world’s instinctive anti-Americanism. Best of all, it encourages the European powers to shoulder their share of responsibility for maintaining global order, instead of just carping at the United States from the sidelines.

But there are major problems with this approach to war as well. Because liberal wars depend on constant consensus-building within the (so-called) international community, they tend to be fought by committee, at a glacial pace, and with a caution that shades into tactical incompetence. And because their connection to the national interest is often tangential at best, they’re often fought with one hand behind our back and an eye on the exits, rather than with the full commitment that victory can require.

These problems dogged American foreign policy throughout the 1990s, the previous high tide of liberal interventionism. In Somalia, the public soured on our humanitarian mission as soon as it became clear that we would be taking casualties as well as dispensing relief supplies. In the former Yugoslavia, NATO imposed a no-flight zone in 1993, but it took two years of hapless peacekeeping and diplomatic wrangling, during which the war proceeded unabated, before American air strikes finally paved the way for a negotiated peace.

Our 1999 intervention in Kosovo offers an even starker cautionary tale. The NATO bombing campaign helped topple Slobodan Milosevic and midwifed an independent Kosovo. But by raising the stakes for both Milosevic and his Kosovo Liberation Army foes, the West’s intervention probably inspired more bloodletting and ethnic cleansing in the short term, exacerbating the very humanitarian crisis it was intended to forestall.

The same kind of difficulties are already bedeviling our Libyan war. Our coalition’s aims are uncertain: President Obama is rhetorically committed to the idea that Qaddafi needs to go, but Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, allowed on Sunday that the dictator might ultimately remain in power. Our means are constrained: the U.N. resolution we’re enforcing explicitly rules out ground forces, and President Obama has repeatedly done so as well. And some of our supposed partners don’t seem to have the stomach for a fight: It took about 24 hours for Amr Moussa, recent leader of the Arab League, to suggest that the organization’s endorsement of a no-flight zone didn’t cover bombing missions.

And the time it took to build a multilateral coalition enabled Qaddafi to consolidate his position on the ground, to the point where any cease-fire would leave him in control of most of the country. Hence Admiral Mullen’s admission that our efforts could end in a stalemate, leaving the Libyan dictator entrenched.

The ultimate hope of liberal warfare is to fight as virtuously as possible, and with the minimum of risk. But war and moralism are uneasy bedfellows, and “low risk” conflicts often turn out to be anything but. By committing America to the perils of yet another military intervention, Barack Obama has staked an awful lot on the hope that our Libyan adventure will prove an exception to this rule.

    A Very Liberal Intervention, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/opinion/21douthat.html

Syria protests spread, authorities pull back

DAMASCUS | Mon Mar 21, 2011
12:02pm EDT
Reuters
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Unrest spread in southern Syria on Monday with hundreds of people demonstrating against the government in the town of Jassem, activists said, but authorities did not use force to quell the latest protest.

Security forces killed four civilians in demonstrations that erupted last week in the town of Deraa, in the most serious challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's rule since the 45-year-old succeeded his father 11 years ago.

"This is peaceful, peaceful. God, Syria, freedom," chanted the protesters in Jassem, an agricultural town 30 km (20 miles) west of Deraa.

The authorities appeared to adopt less heavy-handed tactics, choosing not to intervene against protests demanding freedom and an end to corruption and repression, but not the overthrow of Assad. The ruling Baath Party has banned opposition and enforced emergency laws since 1963.

In Deraa, hundreds of black-uniformed security forces wielding AK-47 assault rifles lined the streets but did not confront thousands of mourners who marched at the funeral of 23-year-old Raed al-Kerad, a protester killed in Deraa.

"God, Syria, freedom. The people want the overthrow of corruption," they chanted.

The slogan is a play on the words "the people want the overthrow of the regime," the rallying cry of revolutions that overthrew the veteran rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and have spread across the Arab world.

The mourners later gathered at al-Omari mosque in the old quarter of Deraa. Troops set up checkpoints at the entrances of Deraa and were checking identity cards. Syrian Justice Minister Mohamad Ahmad Younis went to the city hall in an effort to calm emotions and open a dialogue with protesters.

Security forces opened fire last Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa to demand the release of 15 schoolchildren detained for writing protest graffiti, political freedoms and an end to corruption.

Authorities released the children on Monday in a sign they were hoping to defuse tension in the border town, which witnessed more protests after Friday's crackdown.

Local notables have also demanded the release of political prisoners, the dismantling of secret police headquarters in Deraa, the dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings and the scrapping of regulations requiring secret police permission to sell and buy property.

Deraa's secret police is headed by a cousin of Assad, who has emerged in the last four years from isolation by the West over Syria's role in Lebanon and Iraq and backing for mostly Palestinian militant groups.

Assad has strengthened Syria's ties with Shi'ite Iran as he sought to improve relations with the United States and strike a peace deal with Israel to regain the occupied Golan Heights, lost in the 1967 Middle East war.

But he left the authoritarian system he inherited intact.

His father sent troops to the city of Hama in 1982 to crush the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, killing thousands in the conservative religious city.

France, which has been a strong proponent of rehabilitating Syria's ruling elite in the West, urged Damascus "to respond to the Syrian people aspirations with reforms.

"France calls on Syria to respect its international commitments on human rights, especially regarding freedom of opinion and speech," the French Foreign Ministry said.

(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi and Leigh Thomas in Paris; editing by Paul Taylor)

    Syria protests spread, authorities pull back, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-syria-idUSTRE72K4CD20110321

Explosions, anti-aircraft rounds rock Tripoli

TRIPOLI | Mon Mar 21, 2011
7:06pm EDT
Reuters

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Explosions and anti-aircraft rounds rattled Tripoli for a third night on Monday, and state television said several sites in the capital had come under attacks by what it called the "crusader enemy."

It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions in Tripoli -- the main power base of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Barrages of anti-aircraft tracer fire crisscrossed the night sky in random directions as gunners appeared to try to shoot down coalition warplanes. At least two explosions rocked the city of about 2 million people.

"These attacks are not going to scare the Libyan people," said a state television broadcast. There was no immediate comment from Western forces.

Gunfire rung out throughout the night and pro-Gaddafi slogans echoed around the city center. Cars sped through Tripoli streets honking wildly.

One Tripoli resident said he had heard a blast in the southern outskirts of the city but its exact location was not clear. Movements by foreign journalists in the capital have been restricted by the government.

A day earlier, Libyan officials took journalists to Gaddafi's fortified compound to show the wreckage of a building they said was destroyed by an allied missile late on Sunday.

Coalition forces say they are targeting air defenses to enforce a U.N.-authorized no-fly zone and protect civilians from government forces fighting to crush a month-long rebellion.

Libya's government says dozens of civilians have been killed in the allied jet fighter and missile attacks. France said it had no evidence of civilian losses.

Journalists have not been allowed to visit hospitals or any sites of attacks on civilian areas.

Gaddafi has flooded his heavily fortified compound with crowds of flag-waving supporters to create a human shield against possible allied air strikes.

(Reporting by Maria Golovnina)

    Explosions, anti-aircraft rounds rock Tripoli, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-libya-tripoli-blast-idUSTRE72K7KC20110321

Gates Says U.S. Soon to Reduce Role in Libya Operations

March 21, 2011
Published: March 21, 2011
at 2:18 PM ET
The New York Times
By REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States will soon reduce its participation in the coalition operation in Libya, Russia's Interfax news agency cited Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying on Monday.

Gates also said it would be a mistake for the coalition to set for itself the goal of killing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the news agency reported.

(Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Steve Gutterman)

    Gates Says U.S. Soon to Reduce Role in Libya Operations, 21.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2011/03/21/us/politics/politics-us-libya-us-gates.html

Yemen's top generals back democracy protesters

SANAA | Mon Mar 21, 2011
1:57pm EDT
Reuters
By Mohamed Sudam and Cynthia Johnston

SANAA (Reuters) - Top generals, ambassadors and some tribes threw their support behind Yemen's anti-government protesters on Monday in a major blow to President Ali Abdullah Saleh as he tries to survive growing demands for his immediate departure.

The president, a perennial survivor who has stayed in power for 32 years throughout a civil war, numerous uprisings and militant campaigns, has seen a string of allies break ranks with him in recent days.

Despite that, pan-Arab TV channel Al Arabiya quoted Saleh as saying the majority of Yemenis were with him and that he was "holding on," while Al Jazeera said he had asked Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal to mediate in the worsening crisis.

Defense Minister Mohammad Nasser Ali was due to read a statement on state television announcing that the defections were against the constitution, an official source said.

The latest defections and resignations were apparently sparked by Saleh's decision to resort to violence to deal with the continuing protests against his rule.

On Friday snipers killed 52 anti-government protesters in Sanaa, prompting Saleh to sack his cabinet and declare a state of emergency for 30 days that restricts freedom of movement and the right to gather and gives police more power of arrest. On Monday mourners buried some of the dead.

But the televised announcement of defection by powerful General Ali Mohsen on Monday was a major setback to Saleh.

"We announce our peaceful support for the peaceful revolution of the youth and their demands and we carry out our duty ... in ensuring security and stability in the capital," Mohsen, commander of the northwest military zone, said on Al Jazeera television.

"Yemen today faces a serious crisis ... as a result of unconstitutional and illegal practices by the authorities, a policy of marginalization and absence of justice," Mohsen said.

"Repressing peaceful demonstrators in public areas around the country has led to a cycle of crises which is getting more complicated each day and pushing the country toward civil war."

Mohsen is a kinsman of Saleh from the influential al-Ahmar tribe, whose members hold many key positions in the state.

The al-Ahmar is a tribal group in the Hashed federation, a key pillar of Saleh's rule which has relied on balancing tribal forces -- in detriment to state-building and national unity, critics say.

But al-Ahmar support for Saleh appears to be crumbling, with their tribal chief Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar expressing support on Al Arabiya for the protest movement.

Arabic satellite channels said two other generals announced their support for the protesters, including another al-Ahmar - Mohammed Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, commander of the eastern military section, and Hamid al-Qosheibi, commander of the Amran region.

NO CLEAR SUCCESSOR

Saleh has no clear successor, one reason why his closest allies Washington and Saudi Arabia -- have sometimes appeared nervous about his stepping aside in the face of the uprising.

On Monday French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe began the first Western official to say Saleh should stand down.

Western countries are concerned over the unrest in Yemen given the absence of a clear alternative leader and because of Saleh's help in fighting al Qaeda, which has tried to mount attacks against the United States and neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The United States, which along with Yemen's main financial backer Saudi Arabia, has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a dynamic al Qaeda network in the Arabian Peninsula, has called for dialogue on a "peaceful transition."

On Monday, Yemen's ambassadors to Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, the Arab League and China were among senior diplomats resigning or expressing support for the protest movement, as well as Abdullah Alaiwa, a former Defense minister and adviser to the army staff, Al Jazeera said.

"I am resigning after the massacre that happened at the Taghyir (Change) Square," Abdel-Wahhab Tawaf told Al Jazeera from the Syrian capital Damascus.

The governor and his deputy in Aden, a port city at the center of the secessionist movement, and the deputy speaker of parliament and several ruling party MPs were among others who expressed support for the protest movement.

Yemen has been in ferment since popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia removed entrenched rulers Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak in January and February.

From an early stage Saleh made verbal concessions, such as promising to quit in 2013 without bequeathing power to his son and, last week, offering a new constitution giving more powers to parliament, as well as announcing an array of handouts.

But he rejected opposition plans for a phased transition of power this year, even as he hemorrhaged support from previously allied tribes, Islamist clerics and politicians.

His government has failed to meet the basic needs of Yemen's 23 million people. Unemployment is around 35 percent -- rising to 50 percent for those aged between 18 and 28, according to U.N. figures. Oil wealth is dwindling. Water is running out and more than two-fifths of Yemenis live in poverty.

(Writing by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)

    Yemen's top generals back democracy protesters, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-yemen-idUSTRE72K1RJ20110321

West strikes Libya as Gaddafi forces choke Misrata

TRIPOLI | Mon Mar 21, 2011
1:57pm EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi surrounded Misrata, the only big rebel stronghold in western Libya, killing at least nine people, cutting off its water and bringing in human shields, residents said on Monday.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said a U.N. resolution authorizing military action in Libya resembled "medieval calls for crusades" and China stepped up criticism as Western forces prepared to switch from air strikes to air patrols.

The first strikes at the weekend halted the advance of Gaddafi's forces on Benghazi and targeted Libyan air defences to give Western warplanes control of the skies, but there have been no immediate rebel gains on the ground.

The White House said the United States intended to hand over the lead role in Libyan operations to others within days. British Prime Minister David Cameron said the intention was to transfer the coalition command to NATO, but France said Arab countries did not want the U.S.-led military alliance in charge.

While Western governments wrangled, bloodshed continued on the ground despite a ceasefire decreed by Gaddafi's military.

"The people of Misrata went into the streets and to the (city) center, unarmed, in an attempt to stop Gaddafi's forces entering the city," a resident told Reuters by telephone.

"When they gathered in the center the Gaddafi forces started shooting at them with artillery and guns. They committed a massacre. The hospital told us at least nine people were killed," the resident, who gave his name as Saadoun, added.

The report could not be independently verified because Libyan authorities prevented reporters from reaching Misrata.

In an appearance on Libyan television on Sunday, Gaddafi promised his enemies a "long war" after the U.N.-authorized intervention in the uprising against his 41-year rule of this oil producing north African desert state.

Officials in Tripoli said earlier that one missile in the second wave of attacks they said was intended to kill Gaddafi had destroyed a building in his fortified compound, which was heavily bombed in 1986 by the Reagan administration.

"It was a barbaric bombing," said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. "This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place."

The military coalition enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya fired 10 to 12 missiles at targets in that country overnight, a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command said on Monday.

Spokesman Vince Crawley said the number of coalition missile strikes was scaled back significantly from previous evenings. Early on Saturday, forces fired 110 missiles at 22 targets.

"We spent the first 24 hours establishing conditions for a no-fly zone and are now transitioning over to a patrol posture," Crawley said.

UK GENERAL DENIES TARGETING GADDAFI

The head of Britain's armed forces denied Gaddafi was a target. "Absolutely not. It's not allowed under the U.N. resolution and it's not something I want to discuss any further," General David Richards told the BBC.

A U.S. official in Washington said the effectiveness of the British strike on the Gaddafi compound remained unclear.

The second wave of air strikes also hit Gaddafi's troops around Ajdabiyah, a strategic town in the barren, scrub of eastern Libya that rebels aim to retake and where their fighters said they need more help to take the battle to the enemy.

"If we don't get more help from the West, Gaddafi's forces will eat us alive," rebel fighter Nouh Musmari told Reuters.

Many military experts expect Gaddafi to resort to a "human shield" tactic to protect tanks and artillery that have proved to be the most effective part of his armed might.

In Misrata, residents said water supplies had been cut off and government troops had encircled the city.

"The Gaddafi forces are forcing people from Zawiyah, al Mahjoub and Al Ghiran out of their houses and giving them Gaddafi's pictures and the (official Libyan) green flag to chant for Gaddafi," Hassan, a rebel spokesman, told Reuters.

"They are bringing them to Misrata so they can enter the city and control it by using the civilians as human shields because they know we are not going to shoot woman and children and old people," he said by telephone.

The United States, carrying out the air strikes in a coalition with Britain, France, Italy and Canada among others, said the campaign was working well and dismissed a ceasefire announcement by the Libyan military on Sunday evening.

The U.N.-mandated intervention to protect civilians caught up in a one-month-old revolt against Gaddafi drew criticism from Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who questioned the need for a heavy bombardment, which he said had killed many civilians.

However, Moussa said on Monday the League respected the U.N. resolution while stressing the need to protect civilians.

AIR ASSAULT ABORTED

Underlining its commitment to avoiding civilian casualties, Britain's Defense Ministry said one air force mission was called off because of civilians in the target area.

Libyan rebels welcomed the second wave of air attacks.

"The committee rejects foreign troops on the ground but we encourage the bombardment of Gaddafi's army," Ahmed El-Hasi, a spokesman for the February 17 opposition coalition, said in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi where the uprising began.

He said the rebel leadership had coordinated with coalition powers on the air strikes, but a U.S. commander said American or coalition aircraft were not providing close air support to opposition forces.

"There is a connection between us. One, to pinpoint the position of Gaddafi's troops, and two, to pinpoint the position of our fighters so they don't get hit with the bombardments," the rebel spokesman said.

The speed with which Britain, the United States and France have found themselves effectively at war in Libya meant there was little of the public debate that preceded the 2003 Iraq war.

"The resolution is defective and flawed," said Putin, whose country did not use its power to veto the resolution at the United Nations. "It allows everything. It resembles medieval calls for crusades," Putin added.

That drew an implicit rebuke from Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, who said using the term crusades was unacceptable.

Henri Guaino, one of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's closest aides, said strikes were not aimed at ousting Gaddafi but said they were likely to last "a little while."

Not everyone was convinced. "The long-term goal, unspoken but well understood, is regime change," wrote George Friedman, head of political risk consultancy Stratfor.

The intervention in Libya is the biggest in an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Withdrawal of Arab support would make it harder to pursue what some analysts say could in any case be an open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.

GADDAFI COMPOUND

On Sunday night, Libyan officials took Western reporters to Gaddafi's compound, a complex that houses his private quarters as well as military barracks and anti-aircraft batteries, to see what they said was the site of a missile attack.

A short walk from a brightly lit tent where Gaddafi receives his guests, a three-storey building stood in ruins, and a circular hole was visible on its gutted facade.

The wrecked building was close to a house in the compound which was attacked by the Reagan administration and which was never rebuilt. Outside in a symbol of defiance, a giant golden fist crumples a model of a U.S. warplane.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Tom Perry in Cairo, John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, Missy Ryan in Washington, Matt Spetalnick in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Peter Millership; Editing by Giles Elgood)

    West strikes Libya as Gaddafi forces choke Misrata, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110321

Bahrain king says forces have foiled foreign plot

MANAMA | Mon Mar 21, 2011
2:36am EDT
Reuters

MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said a foreign plot against his kingdom had been foiled and thanked troops brought in from neighboring countries to help end increasing unrest after weeks of protests.

"An external plot has been fomented for 20 to 30 years until the ground was ripe for subversive designs ... I here announce the failure of the fomented plot," the state news agency BNA quoted him overnight as telling troops.

King Hamad told the forces that such if such a plot succeeded in one Gulf Arab country, it could spill into neighboring states, BNA said.

The ferocity of a crackdown last week by Bahrain forces, aided by the entrance of troops from Sunni-ruled Gulf countries, stunned Bahrain's majority Shi'ites, the main force of the protests, and angered the region's non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.

Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon, has complained to the United Nations and asked neighbors to join it in urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw forces from Bahrain.

King Hamad's announcement came after a day of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between the Gulf island kingdom and Iran.

In a sign of rising tensions between the countries, Bahrain expelled Iran's charge d'affaires on Sunday, accusing him of contacts with some opposition groups, a diplomatic source said.

He left shortly after the Iranian ambassador, asked to leave last week. Iran expelled a Bahraini diplomat in response.

Bahrain has also said previously that it arrested opposition leaders for dealing with foreign countries.

(Editing by Jon Hemming)

    Bahrain king says forces have foiled foreign plot, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-bahrain-protests-king-idUSTRE72K11L20110321

Obama, on Latin America trip, grapples with Libya

RIO DE JANEIRO | Mon Mar 21, 2011
2:29am EDT
Reuters
By Alister Bull and Matt Spetalnick

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will head to Chile on Monday to lay out his vision for deeper ties with Latin America on a trip overshadowed by U.S. military air strikes to contain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Obama is expected to hail Chile's transition from military rule to stable democracy as a model for Libya and other countries in the Arab world, which is being swept by popular rebellions against autocratic rule.

Obama plans a joint press conference with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera that will provide an opportunity for him to further explain why he ordered the U.S. military to join U.N.-sanctioned international action against Gaddafi.

Republican critics of Obama demand he clarify the mission's goal. They say he has done a poor job of convincing Americans troubled the United States is undertaking military action in a third Arab country on top of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The strikes are sanctioned under a United Nations resolution to protect Libyan civilians by all necessary means from Gaddafi loyalists trying to suppress a popular uprising against his rule.

Obama, in a brief statement to reporters on Saturday in Brasilia as his five-day Latin American tour got underway, said he had ordered limited U.S. military action to support an international coalition to shield Libyan civilians from harm.

The president is juggling the U.S. involvement in Libya with the deadly nuclear crisis in Japan, while at the same time seeking to promote deeper ties in a fast-growing Latin America he sees as a fertile region for U.S. job-boosting exports.

Latin America was optimistic when Obama took office in 2009 he would give the region the respect it feels it deserves due to its strong economic performance. But two years later there is a sense that relations have been neglected while Obama battles urgent domestic challenges and foreign wars.

Washington's history with Latin America has included heavy-handed use of U.S. power for much of the 20th century to periods of inattention to the region over the past decade.

CHILE'S GOOD EXAMPLE

While General Augusto Pinochet's 1973 military coup in Chile, which human rights groups say the United States backed, evokes painful memories for many, a shift to the right last year after two decades of center-left rule underscores the transition to a free-market democracy.

Chile's solid economic growth, success in easing poverty and peaceful transfer of power make it a poster child for transition in Latin America and Obama will stress this in a speech in Santiago.

Dan Restrepo, Obama's top Latin American adviser, said the president would hold up the lessons learned by Chile during its transition as an example for other countries, while bringing up the crisis in Japan in the context of Chile's own experience with natural disasters.

"You'll see both presidents express solidarity with the Japanese people in light of the events that are unfolding and the tragedy that struck Japan with the earthquake and tsunami," Restrepo told reporters traveling with Obama.

Chile suffered a severe earthquake last year which, like Japan's recent catastrophe, triggered a devastating tsunami in which even more people died.

Seeking to position its economy as a regional financial hub that rivals Brazil, Chile is hoping Obama's visit will help establish it as a key player that pushes above its weight alongside Latin America's major economies.

Japan's post-quake nuclear disaster threatened to cloud the centerpiece of Chile's agenda with Obama -- a nuclear energy cooperation agreement.

But the government went ahead and signed it with the U.S. ambassador to Santiago before Obama's arrival, and officials accept that events in Libya and Japan will likely steal the limelight from what is seen as largely a symbolic stopover.

Other themes the presidents will broach -- technology, innovation, clean energies and education -- are all close to President Pinera's heart.

One issue pending resolution is Chile's quest for exemption for tourist visas for nationals visiting the United States, but the topic is unlikely to surface during this trip.

(Additional reporting by Simon Gardner in Santiago, editing by Todd Eastham)

    Obama, on Latin America trip, grapples with Libya, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-obama-latinamerica-idUSTRE72G6YT20110321

Western powers strike Libya for second night

TRIPOLI | Mon Mar 21, 2011
1:51am EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Western powers launched a second wave of air strikes on Libya early on Monday after halting the advance of Muammar Gaddafi's forces on Benghazi and targeting air defenses to let their planes patrol the skies.

The U.N.-mandated intervention to protect civilians caught up in a one-month-old revolt against Gaddafi drew criticism from Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who questioned the need for a heavy bombardment, which he said had killed many civilians.

But the United States, carrying out the air strikes in a coalition with Britain, France, Italy and Canada among others, said the campaign was working and dismissed a ceasefire announcement by the Libyan military on Sunday evening.

Britain's Defense Ministry said one of its submarines had again fired Tomahawk guided missiles on Sunday night as part of a second wave of attacks to enforce the U.N. resolution.

"We and our international partners are continuing operations in support of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973," a ministry spokesman said.

Italy said it also had warplanes in the air, after U.S. and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, told reporters there had been no new Libyan air activity or radar emissions, but a significant decrease in Libyan air surveillance, since strikes began Saturday.

Benghazi was not yet free from threat, said Gortney, but Gaddafi's forces in the area were in distress and "suffering from isolation and confusion" after the air assaults.

Late on Sunday night, Libyan officials took Western reporters to Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli, a sprawling complex that houses his private quarters as well as military barracks, anti-aircraft batteries and other installations, to see what they said was the site of a missile attack two hours earlier.

"It was a barbaric bombing," said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. "This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place."

A Libyan military spokesman announced a new ceasefire on Sunday, saying that "the Libyan armed forces ... have issued a command to all military units to safeguard an immediate ceasefire from 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) this evening."

Both before and after he spoke, heavy anti-aircraft gunfire boomed above central Tripoli.

Outside Benghazi, smoldering, shattered tanks and troop carriers from what had been Gaddafi's advancing forces littered the main road. The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.

But with Gaddafi having vowed to fight to the death, there were fears his troops might try to force their way into cities, seeking shelter from air attacks among the civilian population.

In central Benghazi, sporadic explosions and heavy exchanges of gunfire could be heard in the streets late on Sunday evening. A Reuters witness said the firing lasted about 40 minutes.

In Misrata, the last rebel-held city in western Libya, government tanks moved in after a base used by Gaddafi's forces outside was hit by air strikes on Saturday, residents said.

"There is fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi's forces. Their tanks are in the center of Misrata ... There are so many casualties we cannot count them," Abdelbasset, a spokesman for the rebels in Misrata, told Reuters on Sunday afternoon.*

CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

A Libyan government health official said 64 people had been killed by Western bombardment on Saturday and Sunday morning, but it was impossible to independently verify the report.

Libyan state television showed footage from an unidentified hospital of what it called victims of the "colonial enemy." Ten bodies were wrapped in white and blue bed sheets, and several people were wounded, one of them badly, the television said.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called for an emergency meeting of the group's 22 states to discuss Libya. He requested a report on the bombardment, which he said had "led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians."

"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," Egypt's state news agency quoted him as saying.

There was no immediate public backing for his call from any government in the region, however.

Arab support for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for Western action to stop Gaddafi killing civilians as he fights an uprising against his 41-year rule.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Jordan's King Abdullah, while Vice President Joe Biden phoned leaders in Algeria and Kuwait to shore up Arab support.

The intervention is the biggest against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Withdrawal of Arab support would make it much harder to pursue what some defense analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.

A spokesman for the rebel movement, Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, criticized Moussa's comments, telling Al Jazeera that more than 8,000 Libyans aligned with the rebel movement had been killed:

"What is the mechanism that stops the extermination of the people in Libya, what is the mechanism, Mr Secretary-General? If the protection of civilians is not a humanitarian obligation, what is the mechanism that you propose to us?"

"COLONIAL ENEMY"

The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the no-fly zone was now in place.

But Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. would not have a "pre-eminent role" in maintaining it, and expected to turn over "primary responsibility" within days, perhaps to Britain or France.

U.S. officials, eager to avoid similarities to the invasion of Iraq and toppling of Saddam Hussein, have been playing down Washington's role and emphasizing that overthrowing or killing Gaddafi is not the goal of the attacks on Libya.

Mullen told CBS television the endgame of the campaign was "very uncertain" and acknowledged it could end in a stalemate.

Gates told reporters: "I think this is basically going to have to be resolved by the Libyans themselves."

In Brussels, NATO envoys failed to agree on any alliance involvement in enforcing the no-fly zone.

NATO members Turkey and Germany have spoken out against the zone, and diplomats said France had argued against involvement by an alliance whose reputation in the Arab world had been tainted by its involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

French planes fired the first shots of the intervention on Saturday, destroying tanks and armored vehicles near Benghazi.

France sent an aircraft carrier toward Libya and its planes were over the country again on Sunday, defense officials said. Britain said its planes had targeted Libya's air defenses, mainly around the capital Tripoli.

Other countries, including Qatar, also dispatched aircraft to participate in the operation, U.S. officials said.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Tom Perry in Cairo, John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, Missy Ryan in Washington, Matt Spetalnick in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Myra Macdonald and Kevin Liffey)

    Western powers strike Libya for second night, R, 21.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110321

China intensifies condemnation of Libya air strikes

BEIJING | Sun Mar 20, 2011
11:33pm EDT
Reuters
By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top newspaper on Monday stepped up Beijing's opposition to Western air attacks on Libya, accusing countries backing the strikes of violating international rules and risking fresh turmoil in the Middle East.

China's strongest condemnation yet of Western air assaults on the forces of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi appeared in the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, and it showed how the military conflict could become a fresh front of contention between Beijing and Washington.

The paper used barely veiled words to accuse the United States and its allies of violating international rules, although China refrained from blocking the United Nations Security Council resolution that effectively authorized the air attacks.

The paper likened the assault on Libyan sites to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and suggested it followed a pattern of Western overreaching in other countries' affairs.

"The blood-soaked tempests that Iraq has undergone for eight years and the unspeakable suffering of its people are a mirror and a warning," said the commentary in the People's Daily.

"The military attacks on Libya are, following on the Afghan and Iraq wars, the third time that some countries have launched armed action against sovereign countries," it said in a reference to the United States and its allies.

"It should be seen that every time military means are used to address crises, that is a blow to the United Nations Charter and the rules of international relations."

The commentary appeared under the name of "Zhong Sheng", a penname that in Chinese sounds like "Voice of the Center," suggesting that it is voicing top-level government opinion.

China's growing criticism of the Western air assaults on Libya has laid bare the quandaries facing Beijing in the Middle East.

The Middle East is an increasingly important source of oil for energy-hungry China. On the weekend, Saudi Arabia's Aramco announced its latest project proposal to supply crude to a refinery in the southwest of China, where Beijing is building an oil pipeline that slices through Myanmar.

About half of China's crude imports last year came from the Middle East and North Africa. China wants to diversify supplies, but Arab countries and Iran hold so much of global reserves that they are sure to remain major suppliers.

On Saturday, Libya's top oil official said Tripoli was considering offering oil block contracts directly to China, India and other nations it sees as friends in its month-long conflict with rebels.

At the same time, Beijing has had relatively limited diplomatic sway in the Middle East, and no major military role. Instead, it has tended to bow, sometimes begrudgingly, to Western demands, while pursuing its commercial and energy interests.

AWKWARD BALANCE

China's handling of Libya reflects that awkward balance: both accommodating and criticizing Western demands.

China, which holds the rotating chair of the U.N. Security Council, last week held back from blocking the resolution authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya, as well as military action to enforce that zone. It cited the calls of Arab countries for prompt U.N. action.

But Beijing immediately began voicing "serious reservations" about that resolution. The People's Daily commentary again urged other nations to do more to seek a peaceful solution to the clash between Gaddafi and rebel forces.

"People have good reason to express misgivings about the consequences that this military action may precipitate," it said.

Russia, which also abstained on the resolution, called on Britain, France and the United States at the weekend to stop the air strikes, describing them as "non-selective use of force" against non-military targets.

(Editing by Ken Wills and Ron Popeski)

    China intensifies condemnation of Libya air strikes, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-china-libya-idUSTRE72K0LX20110321

Air strikes in Libya raise concern in U.S. on cost

WASHINGTON | Sun Mar 20, 2011
9:18pm EDT
Reuters
By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's decision to join Western intervention in Libya is raising concerns in the United States about the cost and duration of the military operation.

Even if the U.S. role in Libya remains limited, as Obama has promised, the effort will add to record-high debt and deficits that have led to a budget standoff between Republicans and Obama's Democrats.

"It's a strange time in which almost all of our congressional days are spent talking about budget, deficits, outrageous problems and yet at the same time all of this passes," said Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Lugar, a senior lawmaker who has been in sync with Obama on many foreign affairs issues, told CBS's "Face the Nation" program that he understood the mission was to stop the "cruelties and the murder" of civilians in Libya.

But he said he worried that the Libya intervention could draw the United States more deeply into the unrest in the Middle East than the Obama administration intends.

The Libyan intervention marks a third military operation in a Muslim country, with the U.S. armed services' resources already stretched thin by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Until last week, Obama himself had been reluctant to support calls by France and Britain for a no-fly zone over Libya because of concerns about its effectiveness and wariness over where it might lead.

His decision resolved a debate within his administration about whether to intervene, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates among the chief skeptics and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton coming around to backing intervention after she initially had been hesitant, too.

With troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States is now fighting three conflicts while struggling under a huge budget deficit and national debt. The Pentagon also has plans to cut $78 billion in defense spending over five years.

A protracted conflict in Libya adds to the Defense Department's budget worries.

"Just the missiles cost $1 million each. So that's, what, $112 million in the first hour?" said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia.

"We have just spent months debating how many billions we're going to cut from various domestic programs. That is the focus in Washington. It does seem incongruous to a certain degree," he said.

JOBS, EDUCATION

The United States has still not fully recovered from recession and unemployment is near 9 percent, putting Obama's chances of re-election in 2012 at risk.

"We need help here with crime, violence, education. Jobs are scarce, we've got so many homeless people here. Can you help us before we help others?" said Maria Garcia, 52, a real estate agent in Los Angeles.

The upheaval in the Middle East has added to the risks to the U.S. economy by causing global oil prices to surge.

Concerns over a budget deficit that is projected to hit $1.65 trillion this year have dominated the U.S. political debate in recent months, with Republicans and Democrats sparring over deep cuts in domestic programs the conservative party is seeking.

The budget fight has raised the possibility of a government shutdown and has forced the Congress to pass a series of temporary spending bills to fund operations for this year.

Congress would need to approve any funds for U.S. action in Libya.

Senior Republicans urged Obama on Sunday to do more to communicate to the American public what his aims are in Libya.

"The president is the commander-in-chief, but the administration has a responsibility to define for the American people, the Congress, and our troops what the mission in Libya is, better explain what America's role is in achieving that mission, and make clear how it will be accomplished," House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said.

Some lawmakers said they were reassured by the narrow scope of the U.S. intervention.

"The goal of this mission is not to get rid of Gaddafi and that is not what the U.N. licensed and I would not call it going to war," said John Kerry, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman.

"This is a very limited operation that is geared to save lives and it was specifically targeted on a humanitarian basis," Kerry, a close Obama ally, told NBC's "Meet the Press."

Carl Levin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there was "strong bipartisan support in Congress for going into Libya" because it was limited.

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton, David Morgan and Nichola Groom; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

    Air strikes in Libya raise concern in U.S. on cost, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-libya-usa-cost-idUSTRE72J3XA20110321

West's strikes on Libya hit Arab League criticism

TRIPOLI | Sun Mar 20, 2011
4:15pm EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Western forces pounded Libya's air defenses and patrolled its skies on Sunday, but their day-old intervention hit a diplomatic setback as the Arab League chief condemned the "bombardment of civilians."

As European and U.S. forces unleashed warplanes and cruise missiles against Muammar Gaddafi's air defenses and armor, the Libyan leader said the air strikes amounted to terrorism and vowed to fight to the death.

While his eastern forces fled from the outskirts of Benghazi in the face of the allied air attacks, Gaddafi sent tanks into Misrata, the last rebel-held city in western Libya. Among the densely packed houses full of civilians, they were less vulnerable to attack from the air.

A Libyan government health official said 64 people had been killed in the Western bombardment overnight, but it was impossible to verify the report as government minders refused to take reporters in Tripoli to the sites of the bombings.

On Sunday evening heavy anti-aircraft fire could be heard over central Tripoli for a second night.

Arab League chief Amr Moussa called for an emergency meeting of the group of 22 states to discuss Libya. He requested a report into the bombardment, which he said had "led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians."

"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," Egypt's state news agency quoted Moussa as saying.

Arab backing for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for Western action to stop Gaddafi killing civilians as he fights an uprising against his rule.

The intervention is the biggest against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Withdrawal of Arab support would make it much harder to pursue what some defense analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.

A senior U.S. official rebuffed Moussa's comments.

"The resolution endorsed by Arabs and UNSC (the United Nations Security Council) included 'all necessary measures' to protect civilians, which we made very clear includes, but goes beyond, a no-fly zone," the official told Reuters during a visit by President Barack Obama to Rio de Janeiro.

A senior U.S. military official also said the United States expected to conduct more strikes on Libya.

TANKS SHATTERED

The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said the no-fly zone was effectively in place. But he told CBS the endgame of military action was "very uncertain" and acknowledged it could end in a stalemate with Gaddafi.

Mullen said he had seen no reports of civilian casualties from the Western strikes. But Russia said there had been such casualties and called on Britain, France and the United States to halt the "non-selective use of force."

Libyan state television showed footage from an unidentified hospital of what it called victims of the "colonial enemy." Ten bodies were wrapped up in white and blue bed sheets, and several people were wounded, one of them badly, the television said.

Western intervention, after weeks of diplomatic wrangling, was welcomed with a mix of apprehension and relief in Benghazi, where the main hospital was filled with men, women and children wounded in Saturday's assault on the city by Gaddafi's forces.

"We salute France, Britain, the United States and the Arab countries for standing with Libya. But we think Gaddafi will take out his anger on civilians. So the West has to hit him hard," said civil servant Khalid al-Ghurfaly, 38.

Outside the eastern city, the advance by Gaddafi's troops was stopped in its tracks with smoldering, shattered tanks and troop carriers littering the main road. The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.

"Gaddafi is like a chicken and the coalition is plucking his feathers so he can't fly. The revolutionaries will slit his neck," said Fathi Bin Saud, a 52-year-old rebel carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, surveying the devastation.

Rebels who have been fighting for a month to end Gaddafi's 41 years in power advanced south from Benghazi toward the strategic junction at Ajdabiyah, which they lost last week.

But in Misrata, east of Tripoli, residents said government tanks and snipers had entered the center of the city after a base outside it had been hit by Western air strikes. "Two people were killed so far today by snipers. They (snipers) are still on the rooftops. They are backed with four tanks, which have been patrolling the town. It's getting very difficult for people to come out," one Misrata resident, called Sami, told Reuters by telephone.

"There are also boats encircling the port and preventing aid from reaching the town."

Abdelbasset, a spokesman for the rebels in Misrata, told Reuters: "There is fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi's forces. Their tanks are in the center of Misrata ... There are so many casualties we cannot count them."

QATAR SENDING PLANES

French planes fired the first shots of the intervention on Saturday, destroying tanks and armored vehicles near Benghazi. The eastern city is the cradle of the revolt, inspired by Arab uprisings that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

France sent an aircraft carrier toward Libya and its planes were over the country again on Sunday, defense officials said. Britain said its planes had targeted Libya's air defenses, mainly around the capital Tripoli.

U.S. and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles overnight against air defenses around Tripoli and Misrata, U.S. military officials said.

They said U.S. forces and planes were working with Britain, France, Canada and Italy in operation "Odyssey Dawn." Four Danish fighter planes took off from a base in Italy, apparently to join the mission over Libya.

Aircraft from other countries, including Qatar, were also approaching Libya to participate in the operation, Mullen said.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Tom Perry in Cairo, John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, Missy Ryan in Washington, Matt Spetalnick in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Jon Hemming and Myra Macdonald; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

    West's strikes on Libya hit Arab League criticism, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110320

Egypt approves reforms in historic referendum

CAIRO | Sun Mar 20, 2011
3:19pm EDT
Reuters
By Yasmine Saleh

CAIRO (Reuters) - A big majority of Egyptians approved amendments to the constitution in a referendum, results showed, opening the door to early elections seen as favoring Islamists and figures affiliated with the old ruling party.

Decades of oppression under Hosni Mubarak crushed Egypt's political life and secular groups that mobilized to oust him say longer is needed before elections that may now come as early as September.

One of the changes prevents a president serving more than eight years, making Egypt one of few Arab republics to set such a restriction. Mubarak, ousted by a popular uprising on February 11, ruled for three decades before handing power to the military.

Saturday's vote was the first in living memory whose outcome was not a foregone conclusion and 77 percent voted 'yes'.

"Egyptians came forward to have their say in the future of the country," said Mohammed Ahmed Attiyah, the head of the judicial oversight committee, announcing a 41 percent turnout.

Turnout was always very low for elections which were routinely rigged under Mubarak.

The amendments were drawn up by a judicial panel appointed by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The military says it wants to relinquish authority to an elected government as quickly as possible.

The referendum divided Egyptians between those who said the reforms would suffice for now and others who said the constitution needed a complete rewrite.

"Liberal, secular voices had better unite now and go down to the streets to raise awareness," said Hossein Gohar, 46, a doctor.

The reforms were backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, the main Islamist group, and remnants of Mubarak's National Democratic Party, which had called on voters to support the changes.

"The main fear is that it will be interpreted by some of the political forces that supported the referendum as a kind of support for their programs, and I mean the Islamists," political analyst Diaa Rashwan told Reuters.

"Liberal, secular voices had better unite now an d go down to the streets to raise awareness," said Hossein Gohar , 46, a doctor.

The referendum was a milestone on the course charted by the military toward elections. The military has signaled the parliamentary election could happen in September, with the presidential vote after that.

Two presidential candidates, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. watchdog, had opposed the changes.

U.S. PRAISE FOR REFERENDUM

The Brotherhood, which was officially banned but tolerated under Mubarak, has said it will seek neither a parliamentary majority or the presidency in the coming elections.

The United States, whose alliance with Egypt is a cornerstone of its regional policy, said the referendum was "an important step toward realizing the aspirations of the January 25 revolution."

U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey said in a statement "the sight of Egyptians coming forward in unprecedented numbers to peacefully exercise their newly won freedoms is cause for great optimism."

Some advocates of a 'yes' vote argued that approving the constitution would help put Egypt back on a path to political and economic stability -- an argument that appeared to influence many.

"This was a vote on stability and getting the country back onto a faster transition process: a desire to have a quicker rather than a drawn-out process," said Josh Stacher, a political scientist who observed voting on Saturday.

"It does favor the Brotherhood because, given their established networks, this will work favorably for their representation in parliament, it will also favor independents who were affiliated with the National Democratic Party."

Hassan Nafaa, a political scientist, said he was surprised by the margin of the win. The 'yes' vote appeared to have been boosted by the support of conservative groups linked to the government, rural classes and the poorly educated, he said.

"I thought that the gap would be minimal," he said. "The more liberal, enlightened, and educated segment of society voted 'No'," he said.

    Egypt approves reforms in historic referendum, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-egypt-referendum-idUSTRE72J2KL20110320

Wave of unrest shakes Syria, crowds torch party HQ

DAMASCUS | Sun Mar 20, 2011
1:44pm EDT
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Crowds set fire to the headquarters of the ruling Baath Party in the Syrian city of Deraa Sunday, residents said, as the wave of unrest in the Arab world shook even one of its most authoritarian states.

The demonstrators also set ablaze the main courts complex and two phone company branches. One of the firms, Syriatel, is owned by President Bashar al-Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf.

"They burned the symbols of oppression and corruption," an activist said. "The banks nearby were not touched."

Thousands rallied to demand an end to 48 years of emergency law in the southern city, on the third consecutive day of protests emerging as the biggest ever challenge to Syria's ruling party since it seized power nearly half a century ago.

"No, no to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom," marchers chanted, despite the arrival in Deraa of a government delegation to pay condolences to relatives of victims killed by security forces in demonstrations there this week.

Security forces fired tear gas at the protesters. Around 40 people were taken to be treated for gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque in the old city, residents said.

"The mosque is now a field hospital. The security forces know they cannot enter the old city without spilling more blood," one resident said.

Syria has been under emergency law since the Baath Party, which is headed by president Bashar al-Assad, took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition.

Makhlouf is under specific U.S. sanctions for what Washington regards as public corruption and has been a target of protesters chanting "thief." He owns several large businesses.

CHILDREN DETAINED

Security forces opened fire Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa demanding the release of 15 schoolchildren detained for writing protest graffiti, political freedoms and an end to corruption. Four people were killed.

An official statement said "infiltrators" claiming to be high ranking officers had been visiting security stations and asking security forces to fire at any suspicious gathering.

Citizens should report anyone suspected of trying to fool the security apparatus "into using violence and live ammunition against any suspicious gathering," the statement said.

The government sought to calm discontent by promising to release immediately the 15 children, who had written slogans on walls inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The statement was a rare instance of Syria's ruling hierarchy responding to popular pressure.

Tens of people arrested Friday have been released, but scores more were still in jail, activists said.

Saturday, thousands of mourners called for "revolution" at the funeral of two of the protesters. Officials later met Deraa notables who presented then with a list of demands.

It included the release of political prisoners, dismantling of secret police headquarters in Deraa, dismissal of the governor, public trial for those responsible for the killings and scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property.

POLITICAL PRISONERS Non-violent protests have challenged the Baath Party's authority this month, with the largest protests in Deraa drawing thousands of people.

A silent protest in Damascus by 150 people this week demanded the release of thousands of political prisoners. At least one activist from Deraa, Diana al-Jawabra, took part in the protest. She was arrested on charges of weakening national morale, along with 32 other protesters, a lawyer said.

Jawabra, who is from a prominent family, was campaigning for the release of the 15 schoolchildren from her home city. Another woman from Deraa, physician Aisha Aba Zeid, was arrested three weeks ago for airing a political opinion on the internet.

Residents say the two arrests helped fuel the protests in Deraa, a conservative tribal region on the border with Jordan.

Graffiti have appeared on school walls and grain silos in Deraa with phrases such as "the people want the overthrow of the regime" -- the slogan that became the rallying cry of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions.

Authorities responded by increasing secret police patrols and asking staff at schools and public departments to man their premises around the clock and by requiring IDs and registration for buyers of paint and spray cans.

"These measures only increased popular resentment," one Darea resident said.

(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi; Editing by Andrew Roche)

    Wave of unrest shakes Syria, crowds torch party HQ, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-syria-idUSTRE72J1VZ20110320

Dozens of Saudis gather at protest in Riyadh

RIYADH | Sun Mar 20, 2011
4:33am EDT
Reuters

RIYADH (Reuters) - Dozens of Saudi men gathered outside the interior ministry in Riyadh on Sunday despite heavy police presence, to demand the release of jailed relatives, an activist said.

"We have seen at least three or four police vehicles taking people away," said an activist there who declined to be named.

"Security have arrested around 15 people. They tried to go into the ministry to go and ask for the freedom of their loved ones," the activist said.

Protests are banned in Saudi Arabia.

A Reuters witness could not get close to the heavily guarded ministry but saw dozens of men in traditional white robes standing there while dozens of police and security forces stood by next to police cars.

There were at least 50 police cars surrounding the ministry.

(Reporting by Jason Benham; Editing by Matthew Jones)

    Dozens of Saudis gather at protest in Riyadh, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-saudi-protests-idUSTRE72J12Y20110320

Egyptians vote on reform

CAIRO | Sun Mar 20, 2011
3:14am EDT
Reuters
By Yasmine Saleh and Marwa Awad

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians flocked to the polls on Saturday for the first time since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled to vote in a referendum on political reform marred by an attack on presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei.

Youths pushed and hurled missiles at the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog as he tried to vote in the constitutional referendum which will determine how quickly Egypt can hold elections.

"We don't want you, we don't want you," chanted the crowd of about 60, many of them teenagers.

"I went to vote with my family and I was attacked by organized thugs," ElBaradei wrote on Twitter. "Top figures of Mubarak's regime still at large and undermining the revolution," he said.

Rocks thrown at ElBaradei's car smashed its rear window as he fled the crowd, a Reuters witness said. He was unable to vote at the Cairo polling station and went elsewhere to cast his ballot.

"They came out of nowhere. They were not in line to vote. They started chanting in unison 'We don't want you' all of a sudden. It looks like it was coordinated," said Sameh Fathi, 25, who had been waiting in line to vote.

Observers said there appeared to have been an unprecedented turnout for the first Egyptian ballot in living memory whose outcome was not known in advance.

"I'm 53 and I have never voted before because they were all rigged," said Ahmed al-Hami, one of close to 100 people waiting in line to vote at a polling station in a suburb south of Cairo. "Now I am voting for freedom," he said.

LOOMING ELECTIONS

Voters were being asked to approve or reject proposed reforms drafted by a judicial committee appointed by the country's military rulers, who have pledged to hold early elections.

They took power from Mubarak when he was forced from office on February 11 by an uprising that continues to reverberate across the Arab world.

The referendum has divided Egyptians between those who say the constitution needs to be completely rewritten and others who argue amendments will suffice for now.

"Judging from what I saw in many stations, the turnout will range between 60 and 70 percent which is unprecedented," Gamal Eid, a monitor, said. "We have not seen any forgery today. What we saw was a true will to make the voting process fair."

The Muslim Brotherhood, a well organized Islamist group, has backed the amendments, setting it at odds with secular groups and reform advocates including ElBaradei and Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who is also a presidential candidate.

Remnants of Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) have also said they support the amendments. Reformists see members of the party as one threat to the deep changes they are seeking.

MILESTONE ON ROAD TO ELECTIONS

Constitutional reform is a milestone on the path sketched by the military toward legislative and presidential elections that will allow it to hand power to a civilian, elected government.

The military, eager to relinquish power as soon as possible, has indicated that parliamentary elections could happen as soon as September, to be followed by a presidential election.

Rejection of the amendments would upset their plans. A security source said that under such a scenario, the parliamentary election could be pushed back to December.

One of the reforms limits the time a president can stay in office to two four-year terms -- a dramatic departure from the system that allowed Mubarak to stay in office for 30 years.

"I voted yes -- yes for stability and for things to go back to normal," said Mustafa Fouad, 24, an engineer voting in Cairo at a polling station.

"I voted no. This is not enough," said Atef Farouk, who arrived at the same polling station with his wife and three daughters. They waved an Egyptian flag as their parents voted.

"We want a new constitution," added Farouk, 41.

The result is expected to be announced on Sunday evening or Monday morning, a member of a judicial committee involved in overseeing the election told Reuters.

Voters emerged from the polling stations bearing ink-stained fingers as proof they had cast their ballots.

The Muslim Brotherhood was banned under Mubarak but has become more prominent in public life since he was toppled, making the most of new freedom to organize and speak out. The group has said it will neither seek the presidency nor a parliamentary majority in the coming elections.

Secular groups are worried that what they see as a tight timetable for elections will play into the hands of the Brotherhood and remnants of Mubarak's NDP.

Both have more political experience than other groups emerging from years of oppression under Mubarak.

(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed, Jonathan Wright, Shaimaa Fayed, Sarah Mikhail in Cairo; Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria and Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Mark Trevelyan and David Cowell)

    Egyptians vote on reform, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-egypt-referendum-idUSTRE72I03Q20110320

Western warplanes, missiles hit Libyan targets

TRIPOLI | Sun Mar 20, 2011
2:36am EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Western forces hit targets along the Libyan coast on Saturday, using strikes from air and sea to force Muammar Gaddafi's troops to cease fire and end attacks on civilians.

Libyan state television said 48 people had been killed and 150 wounded in the allied air strikes. It also said there had been a fresh wave of strikes on Tripoli early on Sunday.

There was no way to independently verify the claims.

CBS News on its website said on Sunday that three U.S. B-2 stealth bombers had dropped 40 bombs on a "major Libyan airfield" that was not further identified. A Pentagon spokesman said he had no information about such an attack.

French planes fired the first shots in what is the biggest international military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, destroying tanks and armored vehicles in the region of the rebels' eastern stronghold, Benghazi.

Hours later, U.S. and British warships and submarines launched 110 Tomahawk missiles against air defenses around the capital Tripoli and the western city of Misrata, which has been besieged by Gaddafi's forces, U.S. military officials said.

They said U.S. forces and planes were working with Britain, France, Canada and Italy in operation "Odyssey Dawn."

Gaddafi called it "colonial, crusader" aggression.

"It is now necessary to open the stores and arm all the masses with all types of weapons to defend the independence, unity and honor of Libya," he said in an audio message broadcast on state television hours after the strikes began.

China and Russia, which abstained in the U.N. Security Council vote last week endorsing intervention, expressed regret at the military action. China's Foreign Ministry said it hoped the conflict would not lead to a greater loss of civilian life.

Explosions and heavy anti-aircraft fire rattled Tripoli in the early hours of Sunday. The shooting was followed by defiant shouts of "Allahu Akbar" that echoed around the city center.

Libyan state television showed footage from an unidentified hospital of what it called victims of the "colonial enemy." Ten bodies were wrapped up in white and blue bed sheets, and several people were wounded, one of them badly, the television said.

Tripoli residents said they had heard an explosion near the eastern Tajoura district, while in Misrata they said strikes had targeted an airbase used by Gaddafi's forces.

A Reuters witness in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi reported loud explosions and anti-aircraft fire, but it was unclear which side was shooting.

The intervention, after weeks of diplomatic wrangling, was welcomed in Benghazi with a mix of apprehension and relief.

"We think this will end Gaddafi's rule. Libyans will never forget France's stand with them. If it weren't for them, then Benghazi would have been overrun tonight," said Iyad Ali, 37.

"We salute France, Britain, the United States and the Arab countries for standing with Libya. But we think Gaddafi will take out his anger on civilians. So the West has to hit him hard," said civil servant Khalid al-Ghurfaly, 38.

GADDAFI SEEN LOSING GRIP ON LIBYA

The strikes, launched from some 25 ships, including three U.S. submarines, in the Mediterranean, followed a meeting in Paris of Western and Arab leaders backing the intervention.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said participants had agreed to use "all necessary means, especially military" to enforce the Security Council resolution calling for an end to attacks on civilians.

"Colonel Gaddafi has made this happen," British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters after the meeting. "We cannot allow the slaughter of civilians to continue."

Some analysts have questioned the strategy for the military intervention, fearing Western forces might be sucked into a long civil war despite a U.S. insistence -- repeated on Saturday -- that it has no plans to send ground troops into Libya.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested that outside powers hoped their intervention would be enough to turn the tide against Gaddafi and allow Libyans to force him out.

"It is our belief that if Mr. Gaddafi loses the capacity to enforce his will through vastly superior armed forces, he simply will not be able to sustain his grip on the country."

But analysts have questioned what Western powers will do if the Libyan leader digs in, especially since they do not believe they would be satisfied with a de facto partition which left rebels in the east and Gaddafi running a rump state in the west.

One participant at the Paris meeting said Clinton and others had stressed Libya should not be split in two. And on Friday, Obama specifically called on Gaddafi's forces to pull back from the western cities of Zawiyah and Misrata as well from the east.

"It's going to be far less straightforward if Gaddafi starts to move troops into the cities which is what he has been trying to do for the past 24 hours," said Marko Papic at the STRATFOR global intelligence group.

"Once he does that it becomes a little bit more of an urban combat environment and at that point it's going to be difficult to use air power from 15,000 feet to neutralize that."

The Libyan government has blamed rebels, who it says belong to al Qaeda, for breaking a ceasefire it announced on Friday.

In Tripoli, several thousand people gathered at the Bab al-Aziziyah palace, Gaddafi's compound bombed by U.S. warplanes in 1986, to show their support.

"There are 5,000 tribesmen that are preparing to come here to fight with our leader. They better not try to attack our country," said farmer Mahmoud el-Mansouri.

"We will open up Libya's deserts and allow Africans to flood to Europe to blow themselves up as suicide bombers."

U.S. SAYS NOT LEADING INTERVENTION

France and Britain have taken a lead role in pushing for international intervention in Libya and the United States -- after embarking on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- has been at pains to stress it is supporting, not leading, the operation.

In announcing the missile strikes, which came eight years to the day after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Obama said the effort was intended to protect the Libyan people.

"Today I authorized the armed forces of the United States to begin a limited action in Libya in support of an international effort to protect Libyan civilians," Obama told reporters in Brasilia, where he had begun a five-day tour of Latin America.

He said U.S. troops were acting in support of allies, who would lead the enforcement of a no-fly zone to stop Gaddafi's attacks on rebels. "As I said yesterday, we will not, I repeat, we will not deploy any U.S. troops on the ground," Obama said.

But despite Washington's determination to stress its limited role, Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, said the strikes were only a first phase.

Earlier, hundreds of cars with refugees fled Benghazi toward the Egyptian border after the city came under a bombardment from Gaddafi's forces the previous night. One family of 13 women from a grandmother to small children, rested at a roadside hotel.

"I'm here because when the bombing started last night my children were vomiting from fear," said one of them, a doctor. "All I want to do is get my family to a safe place and then get back to Benghazi to help. My husband is still there."

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Tom Perry in Cairo, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers; John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, Missy Ryan in Washington, Writing by Michael Roddy; Editing by Ron Popeski)

    Western warplanes, missiles hit Libyan targets, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110320

Obama woos Brazil while Libya air assault unfolds

RIO DE JANEIRO | Sun Mar 20, 2011
2:17am EDT
Reuters
By Stuart Grudgings and Matt Spetalnick

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will take in the sights of sunny Rio de Janeiro on Sunday as he courts Latin America on an economic and goodwill tour overshadowed by a U.S. and European air assault on Muammar Gaddaffi's forces in Libya.

Obama enters the second day of what aides have called his signature first-term trip south of the border, intent on sticking to his packed agenda but with his attention divided by the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq.

The military campaign against Gaddafi's forces launched on Saturday intruded on Obama's schedule of diplomacy and business promotion in the capital Brasilia and seemed certain to do the same in Rio where he will continue huddling regularly with top aides to stay on top of unfolding events.

Obama is seeking improved Brazilian relations after a period marked by tensions and neglect, during which China overtook the United States as Brazil's main trade partner.

He will spend the day visiting a vibrant metropolis that encapsulates what he called Brazil's "extraordinary" rise as a global power in recent years.

The White House has justified Obama's five-day Latin American tour in large part for its potential dividends of boosting U.S. exports to help create American jobs, also considered crucial to his 2012 re-election chances.

His talks on Saturday with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff focused heavily on strengthening economic ties with Latin America's powerhouse, though little progress was made on key disputes.

Conservative critics at home may seize the opportunity to chide Obama for being away from Washington -- and in a city renowned for its pristine beaches -- at a time when he is putting U.S. forces in harm's way. Republican foes have accused him of a failure of leadership in a string of international crises.

But in keeping with the president's "no-drama Obama" image, the White House wants to avoid any sense he is being held hostage by events or unable to tend to other crucial business.

OBAMA'S RIO ITINERARY

Obama's only planned sightseeing in Rio will be to the city's iconic Christ the Redeemer hilltop statue, and even that had to be postponed from morning until evening to give him time for early briefings on the Libyan situation.

He will also visit Rio's famous City of God slum to inspect beefed-up security and poverty-fighting efforts there and will deliver what has been billed as a speech to the Brazilian people at a historic theater in the city center.

Thousands of Rio residents were disappointed this week when U.S. officials, without giving a reason, canceled plans for Obama to give an open-air address to a much bigger audience.

No matter the venue, Obama's message will have to compete for attention with hostilities in Libya.

U.S. warships launched cruise missiles on Saturday, joining France, Britain, Canada and Italy in attacks aimed at crippling Libyan leader Gaddafi's air defenses to stop his loyalists' advances into rebel-held areas.

Mindful of public concern of entangling the United States in another conflict on top of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama took pains to stress the limited U.S. military role in Libya.

He insisted that U.S. forces were supporting, not leading, the international coalition against Gaddafi and there would be no commitment of American ground troops. Nevertheless, he could still face tough questions from anti-war liberals at home.

In Rio, festive crowds lined the streets to greet the arrival of Obama's motorcade at his beachfront hotel on Saturday night.

While polls show Obama popular among Brazilians, not everyone is welcoming him to the city of Carnival and samba. Police fired rubber bullets at a small group of leftist protesters on Friday after someone threw a Molotov cocktail at the U.S. consulate in the city center.

The city that seemed in inexorable decline a decade ago has been rejuvenated by Brazil's economic boom, the discovery of vast oil fields off its shores, its selection as 2016 Olympic host and a big improvement in security.

With crises rocking the Middle East and pushing up oil prices, the United States is taking a keen interest in the deep-sea oil reserves that Brazil is starting to tap off the Rio coast. Rousseff said on Saturday she saw opportunities for both countries to cooperate in developing the fields.

Officials and business leaders from both countries are due to hold meetings on Sunday to discuss investment opportunities around the oil development and an expected infrastructure boom arising from Rio's hosting of the Olympics.

Obama will leave Rio on Monday morning for a visit to economic success story Chile and will wrap up his regional tour on Wednesday in tiny El Salvador.

(Editing by Eric Beech)

    Obama woos Brazil while Libya air assault unfolds, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-obama-brazil-idUSTRE72I0LI20110320

U.S. ambassador to Mexico resigns after public spat

MEXICO CITY | Sun Mar 20, 2011
1:19am EDT
Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Mexico has resigned after a public dispute with President Felipe Calderon over the handling of the war against Mexico's powerful drug gangs.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that she and President Barack Obama had accepted Ambassador Carlos Pascual's resignation "with great reluctance."

The announcement came as a surprise just as Obama began a five-day trip to Latin America, where he is visiting El Salvador, Brazil and Chile, to shore up ties with the region.

The United States and Mexico have long lauded their close economic ties and cooperation on security issues, with more than $1 billion in U.S. aid being funneled to Mexican forces to battle the drug cartels.

But a diplomatic fight erupted after State Department documents published by WikiLeaks showed Pascual criticizing Mexican authorities' lack of coordination in operations targeting cartel leaders.

Calderon lashed out in an unusually critical newspaper interview on February 22, saying Pascual had shown "ignorance" and distorted what was happening in the country.

He also said U.S. security forces failed to coordinate their own efforts and saw each other as "rivals."

Calderon is facing increasing pressure in Mexico over his security strategy as the death toll from drug violence has climbed to more than 36,000 since he took office in late 2006.

In a visit to Washington earlier this month, Calderon reportedly requested that Pascual be removed from his post.

Pascual decided to resign "to avert issues raised by President Calderon that could distract from the important business of advancing our bilateral interests," Clinton said on Saturday.

Mexico and the United States trade more than $1 billion a day across their long border and in recent years stepped up intelligence sharing in operations to bring down major drug traffickers.

Calderon's office on Saturday said U.S.-Mexico relations remained solid despite Pascual's resignation and the two nations would continue working together to deepen their relationship "as neighbors and friends."

But the alliance has recently been soured by the public dispute between Calderon and Pascual and Washington's failure to stop weapons smuggling into Mexico.

A decision to allow unmanned surveillance drones to fly over Mexican territory has drawn criticism, with opposition politicians saying it violates Mexico's sovereignty. The killing of a U.S. immigration official in a suspected drug cartel ambush last month also raised tensions.

Pascual, a Cuban-born career diplomat with more than two decades of service, recently began dating the daughter of a senior figure inside Mexico's main opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

Calderon's conservative National Action Party (PAN) is struggling in polls ahead of a presidential election next year and the relationship may have raised concerns inside his team.

A cable signed by Pascual in 2009 remarked "the PRI party is in the ascendancy," and called PAN's prospects of winning the election "bleak."

(Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Kieran Murray and Eric Beech)

    U.S. ambassador to Mexico resigns after public spat, R, 20.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-mexico-usa-idUSTRE72J09F20110320

Syrian Police Attack Marchers at Funerals

March 19, 2011
Reuters
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

DAMASCUS, Syria — More than 20,000 people marched Saturday in the southern Syrian town of Dara’a in funerals for protesters killed in demonstrations the day before, and the police used truncheons and tear gas to disperse the mourners.

Protests broke out in four cities on Friday, a rare event in a police state that brutally represses dissent. At the largest one, a march of several thousand people in Dara’a, a police crackdown killed six people.

The funeral procession on Saturday became a protest in its own right, with marchers calling for more freedoms and an end to Syria’s longstanding emergency law, witnesses said. They chanted, “The people want an end to corruption,” and, “The blood of our martyrs won’t be forgotten.” They repeated the demands made in the march on Friday: that the mayor and a local security chief should be fired for their role in arresting of a group of children two weeks ago for writing protest graffiti.

“We know they used tear gas and excessive force with the protesters,” said Razan Zaitouneh, a prominent human rights lawyer in Damascus. No reporters or activists have been allowed into the city, which remains closed, and communications with the city have been cut, she said.

The authorities sent a delegation of Dara’a elders, including the mufti of the city, to try to calm the situation and negotiate with the citizens, according to Mazen Darwish, head of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.

One Dara’a resident said the delegation members “don’t represent us.”

The resident, who, like others, refused to be identified for fear of repercussions, said, “They would never represent the families of those killed.”

The funeral procession left the central mosque of Dara’a after noon prayers and lasted three hours before returning to the center of town. As the mourners tried to march to Al Mahata district of Dara’a, confrontations started with the security services. The authorities used tear gas, but the gas seemed more toxic than ordinary tear gas, witnesses said.

“Many suffered near suffocation and paralysis symptoms,” said a witness reached by phone.

The Interior Ministry has established a committee to “investigate the unfortunate events that happened in Dara’a,” according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. “All those proved responsible, or those who committed any offense would be held accountable.”

Thirty-two people who were arrested in a small protest in the capital on Wednesday said they would go on a hunger strike until their release.

    Syrian Police Attack Marchers at Funerals, NYT, 19.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/middleeast/20syria.html

At Qaddafi Compound, a Human Shield

March 19, 2011
The New York Times
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

TRIPOLI, Libya — Even as the allied intervention began, a group of foreign journalists were bused on a rare visit inside Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s compound — a labyrinth of concrete barracks, fortified walls and barbed wire designed to deter potential military coups.

There, hundreds of supporters offered themselves up as human shields, cheering to newly minted dance songs about their adoration for their leader. “House by house, alley by alley,” the catchiest song went, quoting a Qaddafi speech. “Disinfect the germs from each house and each room.”

The crowd included many women and children, and some said they had family in Colonel Qaddafi’s forces. They said they had come to protect Colonel Qaddafi’s compound from bombing by volunteering to be shields. “If they want to hit Muammar Qaddafi, they must hit us because we are all Muammar Qaddafi,” said Ghazad Muftah, a 52-year-old widow of a soldier from the Warfalla tribe, who said she was there with her six grown children. At least one person attending the rally spoke out against Colonel Qaddafi in a recent interview — a double-agent phenomenon that appears common among Libyan demonstrators for and against the government.

In Tajoura — a neighborhood near the capital that has been a hotbed of anti-Qaddafi unrest — one resident had complained earlier in the day that despite the announced no-fly zone, Libyan Air Force jets could be heard taking off from the nearby bases, presumably headed toward the eastern front with the rebels.

“Our suffering is greater than anyone can imagine,” he said. “Anyone who dares go outside is either arrested or shot dead.

“Food is decreasing, there is no tap water, and electricity comes and goes,” he added. “The hospitals cannot really offer much treatment anymore because there are no medicines. There is no milk for the children.”

It was unclear Saturday night whether the missile strikes had hit the air base, but in the city of Misurata — the last major rebel holdout in the west — one person said residents were cheering the sound of airstrikes. The Qaddafi forces had continued their siege Saturday, including the cutoff of water and electricity, he said, and Qaddafi gunmen continued to fire into the city.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect his family, he said: “The airstrikes sound good to the Libyan people.”

    At Qaddafi Compound, a Human Shield, NYT, 19.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/africa/20tripoli.html

Obama says U.S. role limited as Libya strikes start

BRASILIA/WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 19, 2011
10:14pm EDT
Reuters
By Missy Ryan and Alister Bull

BRASILIA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces led the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the invasion of Iraq on Saturday, but President Barack Obama insisted that U.S. involvement would be limited as part of an international effort to protect Libyan civilians.

The United States, France, Britain, Canada and Italy began attacks on targets designed to cripple Muammar Gaddafi's air defenses as the West tries to force the Libyan leader from power. At least some Arab nations are expected to join the coalition.

French planes fired the first shots, destroying tanks and armored vehicles in eastern Libya eight years to the day after U.S.-led forces headed across the Iraqi border in 2003. Hours later, U.S. and British ships and submarines launched more than 110 cruise missiles against air defenses in the oil-producing North African country.

The United States' huge military power dominated the initial phase of the strike and Army General Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa Command, was leading the entire coalition. Pentagon officials said, however, their plan is take a smaller role over time in the operation, which was named Odyssey Dawn.

"Today I authorized the armed forces of the United States to begin a limited action in Libya in support of an international effort to protect Libyan civilians. That action has now begun," Obama told reporters in Brasilia, his first stop on a five-day tour of Latin America.

He said U.S. troops were acting in support of allies, who will lead the enforcement of a no-fly zone to stop Gaddafi's attacks on rebels.

"As I said yesterday, we will not, I repeat, we will not deploy any U.S. troops on the ground," Obama said, grim-faced as he delivered the news of U.S. military action in a third Muslim country within 10 years.

With the United States involved in long-running campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mark Quarterman, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the war-weary American public was nervous about more military action.

"The way the U.S. has handled this -- the deliberations both in the Security Council and in Washington leading up to this -- has been calibrated to the concern that, yes, the U.S. is in two pretty serious wars now," Quarterman said. "The administration has made it very clear it has serious doubts about taking the lead in another military action in the Middle East."

Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, said of the U.S. role: "We are on the leading edge of a coalition military operation. This is just the first phase of what will likely be a multiphase operation."

25 COALITION SHIPS

The Obama administration had taken a lower profile in diplomacy leading to the U.N. resolution that set up the strikes, believing that it would allow Arab states to coalesce around a call for action and deny Gaddafi the chance to argue that the United States was again attacking Muslims.

"Even yesterday, the international community offered Muammar Gaddafi the opportunity to pursue an immediate ceasefire, one that stopped the violence against civilians and the advances of Gaddafi's forces," Obama said.

"But despite the hollow words of his government, he has ignored that opportunity," he said.

The Arab League, which had suspended Libya over its handling of the uprising, called for a no-fly zone on March 12, a key to securing U.S. and European backing.

Some 25 coalition ships, including three U.S. submarines and two guided-missile destroyers, are stationed in the Mediterranean. Five U.S. surveillance planes are in the area.

U.S. officials have said repeatedly it is time for Gaddafi to leave but have stressed that the goal of military action in Libya was different.

"It is to protect civilians and it is to provide access for humanitarian assistance," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Paris, where she attended a conference called by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to discuss the international response to the Libya crisis.

A U.S. national security official following events closely said Gaddafi's air defenses had been severely disabled and that it was too early to predict what he might do in response to Saturday's strikes.

"After all, Gaddafi is one of the most unpredictable dictators on the planet and some of his loyalists can only be described as fanatical," the official said.

    Obama says U.S. role limited as Libya strikes start, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-libya-usa-idUSTRE72A6EC20110320

Analysis: U.S. military takes lead on Libya, but for how long?

WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 19, 2011
10:12pm EDT
Reuters
By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A wary U.S. military, stretched thin by almost a decade of war, hardly wanted to be the face of another coalition strike on another Arab nation.

But just hours after U.S. warships and submarines launched a massive volley of Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libya, the big question at the Pentagon was not whether the United States was effectively in the lead but when it might hand over the reins to an ally.

Yes, French warplanes made the first, initial strikes in Libya. Indeed, British forces also were involved and a British submarine joined the United States in launching cruise missiles at the Libyan coast.

But the Pentagon acknowledged the strike on Libya -- the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq -- was being spearheaded initially by the United States.

"We are on the leading edge of coalition operations, where the United States, under General (Carter) Ham in Africa Command, is in charge. He's in command of this at this point," said Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff.

But Gortney cautioned that "in the coming days we intend to transition it to a coalition command." So far the coalition also includes Britain, Italy, France and Canada. Qatar said it will participate and other Arab allies are expected to join.

Mission creep in Libya is not an option for the United States. It faces a tough fight in Afghanistan, is still winding down in Iraq and is engaged in a massive relief mission in earthquake-hit Japan. Arab nations in North Africa and the Gulf face unprecedented unrest.

President Barack Obama, in his comments from Brazil, stressed the U.S. military's focus on the "front-end" of the mission to protect Libyan civilians and allow for the creation of a no-fly zone to stop Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi from killing civilians while trying to put down a rebellion.

But that no-fly zone, Obama said, "will be led by our international partners." No U.S. ground troops will go into Libya.

UNIQUE CAPABILITIES

U.S. officials say the initial leadership role made sense given the unique capabilities of the world's most advanced military to neutralize Gaddafi's air defenses. Those capabilities have kept the danger at arms length so far, launching targeted strikes from ships in the Mediterranean.

Some of the Tomahawk missiles used in Saturday's strike were far more advanced than necessary to evade Gaddafi's defenses, including the ability to "loiter" in the air before being instructed to their final target. That capability was not utilized in the strike on Libya.

"In this particular mission we used (the new missiles) just as one of the older Tomahawks," Gortney said.

Soon the U.S. military aims to send in advanced drone aircraft -- the Global Hawk -- to provide some of the battlefield imaging commanders are accustomed to.

Retired Army Lieutenant General James Dubik, a former top U.S. commander in Iraq, is skeptical of the mission but acknowledged the United States had some abilities crucial for the fight.

"We have some unique (surveillance and intelligence-gathering) capabilities and some unique anti-radar capabilities and of course we are the lead nation in the world with respect to Tomahawk missiles," he said.

Still, Dubik asked whether a no-fly zone would be sufficient to really protect civilians. What about Gaddafi's militias -- a question asked by many in Washington.

"I understand the moral desire, the moral legitimacy, but I'm unconvinced at this point that the strategic aim can be actually achieved with the means selected (a no-fly zone)," he said.

(Additional reporting by Missy Ryan; Editing by Bill Trott)

    Analysis: U.S. military takes lead on Libya, but for how long?, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/20/us-libya-usa-military-idUSTRE72J0C120110320

Israeli shells hit Gaza after militant mortar attack

GAZA | Sat Mar 19, 2011
5:56pm EDT
Reuters

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip wounded five Hamas security officers and a boy on Saturday after militants launched mortar bombs into Israel, lightly injuring two people, Gaza medics and the army said.

The Israeli military confirmed dozens of mortar shells had landed in Israel, one hitting a house at an agricultural community close to the border, and that two people were hurt.

Israeli media reports put the number of shells fired by militants at around 50, making it one of the heaviest barrages launched by militants for months.

Islamist Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, claimed responsibility for firing 10 of Saturday's mortars, an unusual move after a long period in which it had let other smaller militant groups do its bidding.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement he "viewed gravely Hamas's criminal attacks on Israeli citizens" and added "Israel would take all necessary measures to protect its citizens."

In a second incident after dark, the military said tanks and aircraft hit two militants who approached the border fence in the northern part of the strip. It was part of ongoing action along the border witnessed throughout by Gaza residents.

Gaza ambulance workers said they could not get to the scene to confirm the state of the two men the military said it had targeted.

Israel maintains a partial blockade of the Gaza Strip to try to curb Hamas and other militant groups who refuse to recognize it or join peace moves by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's rival Fatah faction, which rules the occupied West Bank.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Sophie Hares)

    Israeli shells hit Gaza after militant mortar attack, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-palestinians-israel-gaza-idUSTRE72I31V20110319

U.S. says five-nation coalition launching Libya strikes

WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 19, 2011
4:28pm EDT
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coalition of the United States and four other nations launched military action against Libya on Saturday, officials said, as the West tries to force Muammar Gaddafi from power.

A U.S. official told reporters on condition of anonymity that a coalition including the United States, France, Britain, Canada and Italy had begun launching strikes on Libya designed to cripple Muammar Gaddafi's air defenses.

At least some Arab nations are expected to join the coalition later, the official said.

A second U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said missiles were launched from a warship against Libyan targets.

U.S. forces and planes will take part in the operation, called "Odyssey Dawn," that will mainly target air defenses around the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Misrata.

Some 25 coalition ships, including three U.S. submarines armed with Tomahawk missiles, are stationed in the Mediterranean, a military slide showed. Five U.S. surveillance planes are also in the area, it showed.

(Reporting by Missy Ryan and Phil Stewart; editing by Christopher Wilson and Vicki Allen)

    U.S. says five-nation coalition launching Libya strikes, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-obama-libya-idUSTRE72I2Z520110319

U.S. launches cruise missiles against Libyan targets

WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 19, 2011
4:05pm EDT
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States launched cruise missiles from a warship against Libyan targets, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

    U.S. launches cruise missiles against Libyan targets, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-usa-strike-idUSTRE72I3N120110319

Obama, Clinton stress U.S. supporting role in Libya

BRASILIA/PARIS | Sat Mar 19, 2011
3:43pm EDT
Reuters
By Alister Bull and Andrew Quinn

BRASILIA/PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said U.S. forces were poised for action in Libya, but made clear Washington was determined to play a supporting role in military action there.

As French warplanes began operations over Libya to stop Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on rebels, Obama said military forces would act quickly to shield civilians from the fighting.

"The international community demanded an immediate ceasefire in Libya, including an end to all attacks against civilians," Obama said during an appearance in Brasilia with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

"Our consensus was strong and our resolve is clear. The people of Libya must be protected and in the absence of an immediate end to the violence against civilians, our coalition is prepared to act, and act with urgency," he said,

Before leaving on a five-day Latin American tour, Obama said the United States would work with international partners to enforce U.N. demands for a ceasefire, but no American ground troops would be deployed in the oil-producing North African country.

The United States is already enmeshed in long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and there is little appetite in Congress and among the public for another expensive military intervention. U.S. officials have said repeatedly that it is time for Gaddafi to leave, but lately have stressed that the goal of military action in Libya was different.

"It is to protect civilians and it is to provide access for humanitarian assistance," Clinton said in Paris, where she attended a conference called by French President Sarkozy to discuss the international response to the Libya crisis.

"Further delays will only put more civilians at risk," Clinton said at a news conference.

France and Britain have taken the lead role in pushing for international intervention in Libya. And Clinton said Washington viewed Arab countries, particularly those in the Gulf, as essential to the campaign's success.

"We did not lead this. We did not engage in unilateral actions in any way, but we strongly support the international community taking action against governments and leaders who believe as Gaddafi is unfortunately doing so now," Clinton said.

The U.S. shift toward a tougher stance in favor of military action followed only after an extended internal debate within the Obama administration over how to stop Gaddafi from routing rebels fighting to end his four-decade rule.

Clinton listed several reasons why the United States should be involved in Libya, including the humanitarian desire to prevent civilian deaths and the need to ally with regional leaders at a time of sweeping change in the Arab world.

(Writing by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Doina Chiacu)

    Obama, Clinton stress U.S. supporting role in Libya, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-usa-idUSTRE72A6EC20110319

French plane fires first shot in Libya intervention

BENGHAZI, Libya | Sat Mar 19, 2011
3:42pm EDT
By Mohammed Abbas

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - The French air force destroyed Libyan tanks and armored vehicles on Saturday, the first shots fired in a U.N.-mandated military intervention to protect civilians from attacks by Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

A French defense ministry official said "a number of tanks and armored vehicles" were destroyed in the region of Benghazi, with initial action focusing on stopping Gaddafi's forces from advancing on the rebels' eastern stronghold.

Gaddafi's troops pushed into the outskirts of Benghazi on Saturday after a unilateral ceasefire declared by his government failed to materialize, prompting leaders meeting in Paris on Saturday to announce the start of military intervention.

"Those taking part agreed to put in place all necessary means, especially military, to enforce the decisions of the United Nations Security Council," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after meeting Western and Arab leaders.

Sarkozy said an operation supported by France, Britain, the United States and Canada, and backed by Arab nations, would continue unless the Libyan leader ceased fire.

"Colonel Gaddafi has made this happen," British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters after the meeting. "We cannot allow the slaughter of civilians to continue."

Some analysts have questioned the strategy for the military intervention, fearing western forces might be sucked into a long civil war despite their current insistence they have no plans to send ground troops to Libya.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested that outside powers hoped their intervention would be enough to turn the tide against Gaddafi and allow Libyans to force him out.

"It is our belief that if Mr. Gaddafi loses the capacity to enforce his will through vastly superior armed forces, he simply will not be able to sustain his grip on the country."

SUPPORTERS GATHER AT GADDAFI COMPOUND

Gaddafi has said Western powers had no right to intervene.

"This is injustice, this is clear aggression," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim quoted Gaddafi as saying in a letter to France, Britain and the United Nations. "You will regret it if you take a step toward interfering in our internal affairs."

The Libyan government blamed the rebels, who it says are members of al Qaeda, for breaking a ceasefire around Benghazi.

In Tripoli, several thousand people gathered at the Bab al-Aziziyah palace, Gaddafi's compound that was bombed by U.S. warplanes in 1986, to show their support.

"There are 5,000 tribesmen that are preparing to come here to fight with our leader. They better not try to attack our country," said farmer Mahmoud el-Mansouri.

"We will open up Libya's deserts and allow Africans to flood to Europe to blow themselves up as suicide bombers."

France and Britain have taken a lead role in pushing for international intervention in Libya and the United States -- after embarking on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- has been at pains to stress it is supporting, not leading the operation.

Clinton said the United States would bring its "unique capabilities" to bear to help its European and Canadian allies in enforcing the U.N. resolution passed on Thursday.

THOUSANDS FLEE BENGHAZI

A large plume of black smoke rose from the edge of Benghazi mid-afternoon, live television pictures showed, but it was not clear what was causing the fire.

Residents set up make-shift barricades with furniture, benches, road signs and even a barbecue in one case at intervals along main streets. Each barricade was manned by half a dozen rebels, but only about half of those were armed.

Hundreds of cars full of refugees fled Benghazi toward the Egyptian border after the city came under a bombardment overnight. One family of 13 women from a grandmother to small children, rested at a roadside hotel.

"I'm here because when the bombing started last night my children were vomiting from fear," said one of them, a doctor. "All I want to do is get my family to a safe place and then get back to Benghazi to help. My husband is still there."

In the besieged western city of Misrata, residents said government forces shelled the rebel town again on Saturday and they were facing a humanitarian crisis as water supplies had been cut off for a third day.

"I am telling you, we are scared and we are alone," a Misrata resident, called Saadoun, told Reuters by telephone.

As explosions shook Benghazi on Saturday morning, rebels said they were forced to retreat from the outskirts of the city, but later claimed victory after holding back the advance.

"We revolutionaries have taken control of four tanks inside Benghazi. Rebel forces have pushed Gaddafi's forces out of Benghazi," said Nasr al-Kikili, a lawyer who works for the rebel media center in Benghazi, as crowds celebrated by firing guns in the air and parading on top of a tank.

A warplane was shot down over Benghazi. Opposition activist Azeldin al-Sharif said rebel forces had brought their own plane down by mistake.

Al Jazeera said there were 26 dead and more than 40 wounded in Jala hospital in Benghazi, without giving further details.

U.S. President Barack Obama has made clear any military action would aim to change conditions across Libya, rather than just in the rebel-held east, by calling on Gaddafi's forces to pull back from the western cities of Zawiyah and Misrata as well as from the east.

"Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiyah, and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya," Obama said on Friday.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Tom Perry in Cairo, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers; John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris, Writing by Myra MacDonald; Editing by Jon Boyle)

    French plane fires first shot in Libya intervention, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110319

Three U.S. submarines ready for Libya action: official

WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 19, 2011
3:17pm EDT
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy has three submarines outfitted with Tomahawk missiles in the Mediterranean prepared to participate in operations against Libya, a U.S. defense official said on Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three submarines, including attack submarines Newport News and the Providence, were joined by two Navy ships.

The submarines were equipped with Tomahawk missiles that can cripple aircraft or anti-aircraft defenses in a no-fly operation, the official said.

    Three U.S. submarines ready for Libya action: official, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-usa-submarines-idUSTRE72I3IO20110319

Amid Crises, Obama Lands in South America

March 19, 2011
The New York Times
By JACKIE CALMES

BRASÍLIA— President Obama and his family arrived here on Saturday morning for his first trip to South America, a five-day tour intended to underscore economic ties to the region but overshadowed by crises in the Middle East and Japan.

“As we respond to these immediate crises abroad, we also will not let up in our efforts to tackle the pressing, ongoing challenges facing our country, including accelerating economic growth,” Mr. Obama said in his weekly Saturday address on the radio and the Internet.

“One of the main reasons for my trip is to strengthen economic partnerships abroad so that we create good jobs at home,” he added, estimating that American exports to Brazil and Chile — his two destinations — account for more than 300,000 jobs in the United States, in manufacturing, high technology, chemicals, military equipment and clean-energy products.

Also, the United States is interested in helping to develop recently discovered deepwater oil reserves in Brazil and to build infrastructure in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Mr. Obama’s visit has also been billed as way for him to connect more generally with Latin Americans, especially in Brazil, a multiracial society where he has been wildly popular since his presidential campaign. But the White House’s plans to stage a speech in a plaza where thousands of Brazilians could see him were aborted in favor of one indoors, at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, because of the Secret Service’s security concerns.

“Due to a number of concerns about staging the event outdoors, the most practical course is to hold the President’s speech inside,” a statement from the American Embassy here said.

Up to the time Mr. Obama departed for his overnight flight here, there was speculation that he would postpone the trip because of the crises elsewhere; a Brazilian journalist’s Twitter report late on Friday that he had indeed done so briefly shook officials here until they confirmed otherwise.

The Brazilians under the new presidency of Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, are eager to build closer economic and political ties to the Obama administration. But their occasional differences on the international stage were reflected on Thursday night when Brazil was one of five nations to abstain in the vote of the United Nations Security Council to authorize force against Libya.

The Obama administration from the start has described the trip, especially its Brazil leg, in terms of its potential job-creating benefits for the United States — in keeping with Mr. Obama’s main domestic theme. So White House officials expressed confidence that Mr. Obama’s absence from Washington was easily justifiable in terms most Americans could support — especially given the ever-present communications and crisis-management systems available to a traveling president.

“In an increasingly global economy, our partnership with these nations is only going to become more vital” for both the United States and Latin America, Mr. Obama said in his address, echoing his message on Friday in an essay he wrote for USA Today.

South America largely escaped the global recession and prospered, increasing its markets for American goods and services. But as Mr. Obama points out, China and other trade rivals of the United States also have increased their investments and trade ties in the region, particularly with Brazil, raising the competitive stakes for American companies.

The region is considered a key to the president’s goal of doubling exports by 2014. Brazil, with its growing economy and middle class, is now the eighth-largest partner of the United States. American companies export three times more goods and services to Brazil, with which the United States has a trade surplus, than to China, with which the United States has a large and politically sensitive deficit.

After a bilateral get-acquainted meeting with Ms. Rousseff, Mr. Obama was to address separate meetings of business leaders from the United States and Brazil that were scheduled to coincide with his visit.

Ms. Rousseff in her few months in office has signaled a desire for closer relations with the United States than existed under her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for whom she was chief of staff; he especially antagonized American officials by his overtures to Iran.

“She has been very positive about the type of relationship that she wants to pursue with the United States,” said Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, in a briefing before the trip.

But the Obama-Rousseff relationship-building got off to an inauspicious start when, before Mr. Obama boarded Air Force One, came word that Ms. Rousseff was refusing to hold the scheduled joint press conference with Mr. Obama here on Saturday after their first meeting. Such events are common when American presidents travel abroad, with reporters from each country getting at least a question or two.

But Brazilian officials say they only agreed that the leaders would make statements to the media, and Ms. Rousseff has been cautious generally with the press. They denied speculation among Brazilian reporters and American officials here and in Washington that Ms. Rousseff did not want to face questions about either Brazil’s United Nations. vote on Libya — it opposed the authorization of force as too broad — or whether the United States would support Brazil’s getting a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Mr. Obama endorsed a seat for India on a trip there, but administration officials have been noncommittal about Brazil.

“That decision to not take questions was not made today or yesterday and it has nothing to do with the situation at the U.N.,” said a Brazilian press officer.

On Saturday morning, American officials still were trying to persuade the Rousseff administration to reconsider. But, a senior administration official said, “these things are the host country’s call.”

Mr. Obama is traveling with his family — the first lady, Michelle Obama; his daughters, Malia and Sasha, who are on spring break; his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson; and Eleanor Kaye Wilson, his daughters’ godmother. They are to go to Santiago, Chile, on Monday and El Salvador on Tuesday.

Mrs. Obama has her own schedule of events in Brazil, Chile and El Salvador, primarily emphasizing education of youth.


Alexei Barrionuevo contributed reporting.

    Amid Crises, Obama Lands in South America, NYT, 19.3.2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/americas/20obama-brazil.html

Clinton says U.S. pressing Bahrain on dialogue

PARIS | Sat Mar 19, 2011
1:23pm EDT
Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - The United States is pressing Bahrain's leaders to make good on offers of dialogue with anti-government protesters, although it recognizes the tiny state's right to call in security help from its Gulf neighbors, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

"We have made clear that security alone cannot resolve the challenges facing Bahrain... Violence is not the answer, a political process is," Clinton told reporters in Paris, where she met several Arab ministers on the sidelines of a conference on Libya. She added the United States had raised its concerns directly with Bahrain's leadership and would continue to do so.

(Reporting by Andrew Quinn; Editing by Louise Ireland)

    Clinton says U.S. pressing Bahrain on dialogue, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-bahrain-clinton-idUSTRE72I34L20110319

Allied planes fly over Libya; Gaddafi hits Benghazi

BENGHAZI, Libya | Sat Mar 19, 2011
12:46pm EDT
Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Allied warplanes have gone into in action to stop Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces attacking the rebel-held city of Benghazi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Saturday.

Gaddafi's troops on Saturday morning pushed into the outskirts of Benghazi, a city of 670,000 people, in an apparent attempt to pre-empt Western military intervention expected after a meeting of Western and Arab leaders in Paris.

But as the meeting ended, Sarkozy announced that allied air forces had already gone into action.

"It's a grave decision we've had to take," Sarkozy said after meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other leaders in Paris.

"Along with our Arab, European and North American partners, France has decided to play its part before history."

Sarkozy said of the meeting: "Those taking part agreed to put in place all necessary means, especially military, to enforce the decisions of the United Nations Security Council.

"This is why, in agreement with our partners, our air forces will counter any aggression by Colonel Gaddafi's aircraft against the population of Benghazi," he said.

"As of now, other French aircraft are ready to intervene against armored vehicles which threaten unarmed civilians."

Military action could be halted at any time if Gaddafi stopped his forces attacking, Sarkozy said.

"Colonel Gaddafi has made this happen," British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters after the meeting. "He has lied to the international community, he has promised a ceasefire, he has broken that ceasefire ... We cannot allow the slaughter of civilians to continue."

Gaddafi said Western powers had no right to intervene.

"This is injustice, this is clear aggression," government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim quoted Gaddafi as saying in a letter to France, Britain and the United Nations. "You will regret it if you take a step toward interfering in our internal affairs."

The Libyan government blamed the rebels, who it says are members of al Qaeda, for breaking the ceasefire around Benghazi.

A large crowd of Gaddafi supporters waving green Libyan flags and portraits of the leader gathered outside his house in Tripoli, in an apparent move to discourage foreign airstrikes.

THOUSANDS FLEE BENGHAZI

A large plume of black smoke rose from the edge of Benghazi mid-afternoon, live television pictures showed, but it was not clear what was causing the fire.

Residents set up make-shift barricades with furniture, benches, road signs and even a barbecue in one case at intervals along main streets. Each barricade was manned by half a dozen rebels, but only about half of those were armed.

Hundreds of cars full of refugees fled Benghazi toward the Egyptian border after the city came under a bombardment overnight. One family of 13 women from a grandmother to small children, rested at a roadside hotel.

"I'm here because when the bombing started last night my children were vomiting from fear," said one of them, a doctor. "All I want to do is get my family to a safe place and then get back to Benghazi to help. My husband is still there."

In the besieged western city of Misrata, residents said government forces shelled the rebel town again on Saturday and they were facing a humanitarian crisis as water supplies had been cut off for a third day.

"I am telling you, we are scared and we are alone," a Misrata resident, called Saadoun, told Reuters by telephone.

PLANE SHOT DOWN

As explosions shook Benghazi on Saturday morning, rebels said they were forced to retreat from the outskirts of the city, but later claimed victory after holding back the advance.

"We revolutionaries have taken control of four tanks inside Benghazi. Rebel forces have pushed Gaddafi's forces out of Benghazi," said Nasr al-Kikili, a lawyer who works for the rebel media center in Benghazi, as crowds celebrated by firing guns in the air and parading on top of a tank.

An unidentified warplane was shot down over Benghazi.

"I saw the plane circle around, come out of the clouds, head toward an apparent target, and then it was hit and went straight down in flames and a huge billow of black smoke went up," Reuters correspondent Angus MacSwan said.

"It seems it was attacking the Benghazi military barracks."

Al Jazeera said there were 26 dead and more than 40 wounded in Jala hospital in Benghazi, without giving further details.

U.S. President Barack Obama has made clear any military action would aim to change conditions across Libya, rather than just in the rebel-held east, by calling on Gaddafi's forces to pull back from the western cities of Zawiyah and Misrata as well as from the east.

"Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiyah, and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya," Obama said on Friday.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas and Angus MacSwan in Benghazi, Tom Perry in Cairo, Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Hamid Ould Ahmed and Christian Lowe in Algiers; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Giles Elgood)

    Allied planes fly over Libya; Gaddafi hits Benghazi, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110319

Analysis: Handouts dash Saudi king's "reformer" reputation

RIYADH | Sat Mar 19, 2011
10:57am EDT
Reuters
By Jason Benham and Amena Bakr

RIYADH (Reuters) - This week's announcement by Saudi King Abdullah of lavish social handouts and a boost to security and religious police, but no political change, leaves his prized reputation as a reformist in tatters, analysts say.

Saudis on the streets of Riyadh after the king announced $93 billion in social handouts reflected the divide in society.

"There is no other king in the world who would give us what King Abdullah gives us," said Fahad al-Dosri, a 37-year-old bank official as he drove his car slowly through thick traffic of Saudis honking their horns in joy over the king's largesse.

But Abdul-Ahmed Ibrahim, a 35-year-old businessman watching from the sidewalk was not buying it.

"No, it's not enough," he said despondently. "We want a change to the system. We want change because of the huge corruption."

The king, believed to be 87, has carefully crafted an image as a cautious reformer in a country ruled by a single generation of his brothers as absolute monarchs for nearly six decades.

But faced with unrest rocking much of the Arab world, he is playing the old game of buying support from key sectors of society to keep family rule as it is.

In a rare TV address to the nation on Friday, the king announced the new spending but gave no concessions on rights in a country where public space is dominated by the royal family, political parties are banned and there is no elected parliament.

There was no word either on a much anticipated reshuffle of a cabinet whose main posts are held by senior princes, some of whom have been in their jobs for more than four decades in the key U.S. ally and world's top oil exporter.

"I was expecting perhaps a cabinet reshuffle but unfortunately he focused on paying money and he has increased the role of the religious establishment," said Tawfiq al-Saif, a leading intellectual among minority Saudi Shi'ite Muslims.

"He is returning to the policy of the late King Fahd in the 1980s when money and religion was the only tool of the government," he said.

Measures to raise benefits for the unemployed, add jobs and increase the minimum wage were accompanied by the creation of 60,000 security positions and more money for the religious police who keep a firm grip on personal behavior.

And in a sign Saudi's ruling elite will not tolerate dissent, Abdullah said the media must respect the Sunni clerics who oversee the application of sharia law in the Islamic state.

NO CONCESSIONS

With a wave of unrest toppling the governments of Egypt and Tunisia and spreading to neighboring Yemen, Bahrain and Oman, the ruling family appears to have ruled out any big concessions, said Sam Ciszuk, senior analyst at IHS Global Insight.

"The Saudi regime wants to demonstrate stability now. They do not do anything under pressure. Handing out money 'from the bounty' is their traditional role anyway, so that in itself is no concession," Ciszuk said.

"They want to make sure that nothing they do looks like a concession to their citizens and in the region, hence no cabinet reshuffle and a lot of security jobs and buttressing of the religious police," he added.

The one concession to criticism appeared to be the creation of a new body with a large budget to fight corruption.

All this contrasts with the image of a reformer that King Abdullah's supporters and Saudi media had built up since he ascended the throne in 2005 when U.S. pressure was still strong because of presence of Saudis among the September 11 attackers.

That year Riyadh held its first municipal elections in four decades and the king stated his support for "cautious reform."

Since then political openings have dried up, while the country has continued to liberalize sections of its economy, attract foreign investment and outflank religious hardliners who were seen as encouraging al Qaeda militancy.

For all these efforts the country won praise from Western allies, accepting Riyadh's argument that the ruling dynasty was a bulwark against extremist religious forces who could take over if political reform moved too fast.

It is far from clear if the government's bet that there is not a critical mass of young Saudis prepared to fight for more rights will pay dividends in the longer term.

Shi'ites have staged marches in the Eastern Province, where most of Saudi Arabia's oil fields are located, but the authorities are used to Shi'ite activism which the Sunni clerics paint as typical acts by deviant and disloyal citizenry.

Few Saudis in major cities answered a Facebook call for protests on March 11. They would have faced a massive security deployment on the streets if they had tried.

(Editing by Andrew Hammond and Peter Graff)

    Analysis: Handouts dash Saudi king's "reformer" reputation, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-saudi-protests-king-idUSTRE72I2FT20110319

Negotiator Warren Christopher dies at 85

WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 19, 2011
3:44am EDT
Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who helped bring peace to Bosnia and negotiated the release of American hostages in Iran, died in California at age 85, news media reported.

Christopher "passed away peacefully, surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles" of complications from kidney and bladder cancer, KABC-TV quoted his family as saying in a statement late on Friday.

As the top U.S. statesman under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997, Christopher was a behind-the-scenes negotiator. Often called the "stealth" secretary of state, he was known for his understated, self-effacing manner.

"Careful listening may be the secret weapon," the New York Times quoted him as saying in a 1981 speech when he was deputy secretary of state. "I observed some time ago that I was better at listening than at talking."

That "secret weapon" helped Christopher weather diplomatic crises and bring enemies together.

In 1995, he intervened during the crucial final days of the U.S.-brokered Bosnian peace talks at Dayton, Ohio. He had an important role in closing the deal, according to his then deputy, Richard Holbrooke, the force behind the agreement.

Christopher not only spoke the language of diplomacy, he dressed the part. Favoring elegant, tailored suits, he was once named one of the best dressed men in America by People magazine for his "diplomatically dapper" style.

As secretary of state, Christopher devoted much of his time to the Middle East. He made at least 18 trips to the region in pursuit of peace and a ceasefire in southern Lebanon between Israel and the pro-Iranian Islamic group Hezbollah.

In 1994, he witnessed the signing of a peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.

As President Jimmy Carter's deputy secretary of state, he negotiated the release of 52 Americans taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The hostages were freed on January 20, 1981, minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in to succeed Carter.

Christopher received the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, for his efforts.

He also helped negotiate the Panama Canal treaty, worked on establishing normal relations with China and played a major role in developing Carter's human rights policies.

"Most talking is not glamorous," Christopher said in an address at Stanford University months after the Iranian hostage crisis ended. "Often it is tedious. It can be excruciating and exhausting. But talking can also tame conflict, lift the human condition and move us close to the ideal of peace."

Christopher was born on October 27, 1925, in Scranton, North Dakota, and grew up in Los Angeles.

(Reporting by John O'Callaghan; Additional reporting by Stacey Joyce)

    Negotiator Warren Christopher dies at 85, R, 19.3.2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-usa-christopher-idUSTRE72I12V20110319

Gaddafi forces attack rebel stronghold of Benghazi

BENGHAZI, Libya | Sat Mar 19, 2011
2:58am EDT
Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces attacked early on Saturday the eastern city of Benghazi, defying world demands for an immediate ceasefire and after France's U.N. envoy predicted an imminent military action.

Explosions shook Benghazi while a fighter jet was heard flying overhead, and residents said the eastern rebel stronghold was under attack from Gaddafi's forces.

"The explosions started about 2 a.m. Gaddafi's forces are advancing, we hear they're 20 km (12 miles) from Benghazi," Faraj Ali, a resident, said.

"It's land-based fire. We saw one aircraft," he added.

Libya had declared a unilateral ceasefire on Friday after the United Nations Security Council authorized a no-fly zone over Libya, but the United States said the ceasefire was not being respected.

Libyan rebels said on Saturday they were being forced to retreat by Gaddafi's forces.

"They were 60 km (40 miles) away yesterday, today they are 20 km away and they can be here in a half hour to 90 minutes," rebel fighter Khalid Ahmed told Reuters at a rebel base on the western edge of the city.

Elsewhere in the city, rebels also reported skirmishes and strikes by Gaddafi forces.

"Fighter jets bombed the road to the airport and there's been an air strike on the Abu Hadi district on the outskirts," Mohammed Dwo, a hospital worker and a rebel supporter, told Reuters.

He was speaking at the scene of an apparent firefight between rebels and what they claimed were two mercenaries who had infiltrated the city and were driving in a car which they said contained a crate of hand grenades.

The two men, in civilian clothes, had been shot and killed and rebels produced blood-soaked identity papers they said showed them to be of Nigerian nationality.

"We were sitting here and we received gunfire from this vehicle then we opened fire and after that it crashed," rebel fighter Meri Dersi said.

LANDING BY BOAT

Jamal bin Nour, a member of a neighborhood watch group, told Reuters he had received a call to say government forces were landing by boat, but it was impossible to confirm the information.

The city has been so rife with rumors and hearsay that it is virtually impossible to verify due to lack of communications.

A unilateral ceasefire declared on Friday by the Libyan government appeared to have done little to convince outside powers to hold off on plans for air strikes to force an end to an increasingly bloody civil war.

Residents in the rebel-held western city of Misrata said they faced heavy bombardment on Friday -- a charge the government denied -- while a U.S. official said Gaddafi's forces were still advancing toward the rebels' eastern stronghold Benghazi.

Within hours of President Barack Obama saying the terms of a U.N. resolution meant to end fighting in Libya were non-negotiable, his U.N. envoy, Susan Rice, asked by CNN whether Gaddafi was in violation of these terms, said: "Yes, he is."

Gaddafi said there was no justification for the U.N. resolution.

"This is blatant colonialism. It does not have any justification. This will have serious consequences on the Mediterranean and on Europe," he said in comments reported by Al Jazeera television.

France, which along with Britain has been leading a drive for military intervention, will host a meeting on Saturday on Libya which will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Arab leaders.

"So I guess that after this summit, I think that in the coming hours, I think we will go to launch the military intervention," the French ambassador to the United Nations ambassador Gerard Araud told BBC's Newsnight.

Obama made clear any military action would aim to change conditions across Libya -- rather than just in the rebel-held east -- by calling on Gaddafi's forces to pull back from the western cities of Zawiyah and Misrata as well as from the east.

"All attacks against civilians must stop," Obama said, a day after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorizing international military intervention.

"Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiyah, and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas. Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya ...

"Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable... If Gaddafi does not comply ... the resolution will be enforced through military action."

MISRATA BOMBED, RESIDENTS SAY

A U.S. national security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later said the troop movements by Gaddafi's forces toward Benghazi were "purposeful." The assessment was based on official reporting reaching U.S. national security agencies.

It was impossible to contact anyone on the frontline far to the west of Benghazi to find out what was happening. But in Benghazi, rebels dismissed the ceasefire declaration as a ruse.

"He is lying. His troops are advancing. We don't believe what Gaddafi says," said Mohammed Ishmael al-Tajouri, from the rebel coalition in Benghazi. "When he comes to Benghazi he will be fighting. There is no negotiating with Gaddafi."

In Misrata, which like Zawiyah has been left stranded in the west while rebels who had advanced toward them from the east were beaten back by a counter-offensive by Gaddafi forces, residents said they had faced heavy bombardment on Friday.

One doctor said at least 38 people had been killed in the assault launched on Friday morning.

"Gaddafi's forces are bombarding the city with artillery shells and tanks," Dr Khaled Abou Selha told Reuters by satellite phone.

"They are even bombarding ambulances. I saw one little girl with half of her head blown off," he said, crying.

Another doctor, who declined to give his name, said by telephone late on Friday evening, "Now they are on the outskirts of the city. I can still hear bombing from time to time."

In Tripoli the government said there had been no bombing since it announced the ceasefire.

"We have had no bombardment of any kind since the ceasefire was declared," Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told journalists when asked about reports of continued government operations in Misrata and other parts of the country.

Kaim said Libya was asking China, Germany, Malta and Turkey to send observers to monitor its adherence to the ceasefire.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Friday everything was ready to launch military strikes in Libya.

The United States, after embarking on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, had insisted it would participate in rather than lead any military action. Obama said the United States would not deploy ground troops in Libya.

(Additional reporting by a Reuters reporter in Benghazi, Mariam Karouny and Tarek Amara in Tunisia, Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations, John Irish in Paris and Jodie Ginsberg in London; writing by Samia Nakhoul)

    Gaddafi forces attack rebel stronghold of Benghazi, R, 19.3.2011,
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-idUSTRE7270JP20110319