Egypt withdraws ambassador from Israel
| Egypt withdraws ambassador from Israel |
Cabinet demands compensation and investigation into cross-border shooting incident that left five Egyptian police dead. |
The Egyptian government has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel for consultation in protest over a cross-border shooting incident on Thursday that left five Egyptian security personnel dead.
The cabinet has also summoned the Israeli ambassador in Cairo to provide answers on how an Israeli helicopter apparently accidentally killed Egyptian border police while chasing armed men whom Israel suspected of being connected to an attack near the port city of Eilat earlier that day.
The increased diplomatic pressure on Egypt's neighbour came after Prime Minister Essam Sharaf led the cabinet in a special meeting on Friday and hundreds of protesters attacked barriers outside Israeli embassy in Cairo through the night.
Shalom Cohen, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, landed in Cairo on Saturday to help smooth the frayed relations between the two countries.
Sharaf's cabinet has demanded an apology from Israel and compensation for the slain policemen.
By late Saturday afternoon, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak had expressed "regret" over the deaths.
Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence official, said earlier it was not yet clear how the Egyptians died.
"No [Israeli] soldier intentionally aims any weapons at Egyptian police or soldiers," Gilad said, adding that "perhaps terrorists fired at them, or something else occurred".
Barak ordered a military investigation and a joint inquiry with the Egyptian army to clarify the circumstances of Friday's incident.
Protesters tear down barriers
Demonstrators arrived at the Israeli embassy in southwest Cairo on Friday afternoon and stayed into Saturday morning, burning Israeli flags and demanding that Israel's ambassador be expelled.
They called on the Egyptian military do more to protect its border in the Sinai Peninsula.
Protesters tore down metal and concrete barriers surrounding the embassy and stomped on them, Al Jazeera correspondent Rawya Rageh reported from the scene.
"People are still gathered outside the embassy and they are making quite a lot of noise," she said.
"The protesters are insisting on making their voices heard and one of the protesters told me that they have no intention of leaving until the Israeli flag, perched on top of the 20th floor of the apartment building is brought down.
"Whether the deaths occurred as a result of direct gun fire or air raids still remains unclear and this is one the main contentious issues and one of the main reasons for the anger we were sensing outside the Israeli embassy … there is a lack of transparency regarding what exactly happened.
"We have not seen the army trying to forcefully remove protesters from the embassy, an indication perhaps that the military this time is really realising how strong the sentiment is on the street and how big the issue is for Egyptians, and that it has to thread carefully this time around."
'Urgent probe'
The killings came after four separate attacks in southern Israel on Thursday.
In the first attack, men with grenades, machine guns and a suicide vest struck a bus traveling between Beersheva and Eilat, a port city on the Egyptian border. Later, at least one bomb struck an Israeli army patrol along the border with Egypt, and more armed men fired an anti-tank missile at a civilian car.
Finally, during an evening press conference regarding the earlier events, Israeli counter-terrorism forces exchanged fire with more armed men north of Eilat.
Six civilians, one army soldier and one member of the counter-terrorism unit were killed. Israeli forces killed seven "terrorists" said to be involved in the attacks, the army said.
An Israeli helicopter pursuing armed men back into the Sinai Peninsula apparently accidentally shot and killed three Egyptian security personnel and fatally wounded two others later that night.
Israeli officials alleged that the attackers had come from Gaza and crossed into Israel after moving through the Sinai.
The killings have sparked anger among the Egyptian public, especially after Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, said the attacks reflected "the weakening of Egypt's hold in the Sinai and the broadening of activities by terror elements".
Khaled Fouda, the Sinai governor, refuted Barak's statements saying that Egypt has "increased security patrolling and checkpoints in Sinai".
Sami Enan, the Egyptian military chief of staff, visited Sinai on Friday to look into the deaths and speak to troops.
Amr Moussa, a front-runner for Egypt's upcoming presidential
elections who stepped down earlier this year as Arab League chief, urged a strong reaction.
"The blood of these conscripts is not cheap. All parties, including Israel, have to be warned against harming Egyptian soldiers," he said.
"Israel and any other (country) must understand that the day our sons get killed without a strong and an appropriate response, is gone and will not come back," Moussa wrote on Twitter.
"The blood of our martyrs which was spilled while carrying out their duties, will not be shed in vain."
Saad al-Katatni, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said in a statement published on the website for theShorouk newspaper that "the Zionists must realise that Egyptian blood now has a price".
Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former Brotherhood member who is running for president, said that Egypt should expel the Israeli ambassador and halt gas supplies to Israel.
Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979 which limits the number of military troops Egypt can station in the Sinai Peninsula, but protesters have called to revise the agreement after a popular revolution ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.
The military, which took power after Mubarak's overthrow, has said it would honour the treaty.
Begin the process of liberalization of Tripoli,Libyan rebels 'take control' of central Brega
| Libyan rebels 'take control' of central Brega |
Rebels claim centre of the eastern oil town, amid conflicting reports as to whether they control its oil facilities. |
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| Opposition fighters have also taken control of an oil refinery in the port city of Az Zawiyah [Reuters] |
Libyan rebels have reportedly taken control of the centre of the oil-rich eastern town of Brega, located east of Tripoli.
"It was in the early hours of Saturday morning that opposition forces were able to take the centre of Brega," Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reported from Benghazi.
"They were holed up in residential districts outside the town for a couple days. Very early on Saturday morning they moved in."
Questions remained about their control of the oil facilities there, she said.
"We are getting conflicted reports, though, about whether they have been able to get control of the oil and gas facility in Brega," she said.
"Initial reports from military commanders both here in Benghazi, and the frontlines, said yes, the rebels had taken that facility.
"But we are also hearing conflicted rumours that in fact a couple of vehicles went out, found the oil depot apparently deserted, and became suspicious, fearing possible booby traps and ambushes."
Clashes at Tunisia-Libyan border
Meanwhile on Saturday, Tunisian security forces said armed forces fought through the night against a group of armed Libyans who had infiltrated into Tunisia.
One security source said the group were driving vehicles with weapons and had been intercepted in the desert on Friday night. The fighting, which was continuing on Saturday, had caused several casualties.
A military source confirmed that the armed men were Libyans. He did not say whether they were supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi or rebels fighting to topple him.
The military source said a Tunisian military helicopter had crashed on Saturday morning in the border area, killing the pilot and co-pilot. He did not say whether the crash, blamed on a mechanical fault, was linked to fighting with the infiltrators.
The Tunisian army has reinforced its presence and intensified its operations in the border area in recent days.
Libya's rebels have advanced this week, cutting off Gaddafi's forces near the Tunisian border from their supply lines to Gaddafi's capital Tripoli.
Cities fall
The latest advance by the rebel forces come as Libyan opposition wrested control of the strategic cities of Az Zawiyah, Zlitan and as they pushed closer to the stronghold of Gaddafi.
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Fighting continued late on Friday as Gaddafi forces launched a fierce counterattack along the coastal highway 50km west of Tripoli.
Sustained blasts from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and anti-aircraft guns were heard from the direction of city's central square as a black column of smoke rose into the evening sky, the Reuters news agency said.
Reuters said that opposition fighters in city's central square exchanged heavy fire with Gaddafi forces occupying a floor of the city's main hospital nearby before driving them out.
This comes a day after rebels took complete control of Az Zawiyah's key oil refinery.
'Heavy losses'
To the east, rebels fought bloody street battles in the city of Zlitan, suffering heavy casualties, Reuters said.
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At least 26 rebels are reported to have been killed in the fighting for Zlitan, as forces loyal to Gaddafi used tanks and heavy weapons to repel the attack. Another 150 opposition fighters were reported injured.
The rebels said between 40 and 50 of Gaddafi's forces were also killed in the fighting.
Government troops have been fighting rebels in and around Zlitan for months. The town is a major obstacle in the path from the nearby city of Misrata trying to make their way to Tripoli.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, who visited Zlitan, confirmed the rebel victory there and said there were scenes of jubilation.
"The rebel fighters took heavy losses, they came under fire from artillery and rockets but they moved forward," Simmons said.
"After fighters from Misrata moved in, opposition fighters within Zlitan rose and took on, in small groupings, the Gaddafi forces.
"The Gaddafi troops pulled out leaving ammunition and a lot of equipment behind."
Foreigners to be evacuated
As fighting intensified, the International Organisation for Migration announced plans to start evacuating "large numbers'' of Egyptians and other foreigners, including some journalists, from Tripoli in coming days.
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| The capture of Zlitan, 150km east of the capital Tripoli, is a major boost for rebel fighters |
Simmons said for more than two months the [rebels] had been stuck on the outskirts of Zlitan.
"It was a major block because there wasn't overall support by the people of Zlitan initially," he said.
"Those civilians who may have been Gaddafi supporters were treated well by the opposition.
"It's a strategic town, [if] they want to advance on to Tripoli. Now they could do it very quickly. They have a clear run on this coastal road of almost 60km."
The rebels claimed on Thursday they had captured the 120,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Az Zawiyah, a potential turning point in the six-month war.
Opposition forces also claimed to be in control of the town of Surman, 60km west of Tripoli, and Gharyan, 50km to the south.
Significance of Az Zawiyah
Shashank Joshi, of the Royal United Service Institute in London, told Al Jazeera the rebels have learned from past mistakes to move forward methodically.
"They can't just rush ahead and take ground and then forced to move back," he said.
"They have observed that lesson and I think very effectively, and this is why they are still fighting to clear Az Zawiyah.
"They have taken a number of days to fight their way through to take the refinery and they have worked very hard for that, which is why they are very likely, this time around unlike on previous occasions, to actually hold the ground they had taken.
"The significance of Az Zawiyah cannot be seen in isolation, we have to see it in combination of what’s going on in Gharyan, south of Tripoli and Zlitan to the east.
"And all of these locations can be consolidated and their grip solidified, and we are going to see Tripoli being put in a state of siege."
NATO has stepped up bombings in Tripoli in recent days, while rebels have been seeking to sever supply lines from Tunisia to the west and to Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte in the east in a move to cut off the capital, prompt defections and spark an uprising inside Gaddafi's stronghold.
Al Jazeera journalist Samer Allawi held in Israeli prison ,Libya News
| Al Jazeera journalist held in Israeli prison |
Samer Allawi, network's Kabul bureau chief, held in prison since August 10 after being detained in occupied West Bank. |
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| Allawi was arrested when he was crossing the border between Jordan and the occupied West Bank |
Samer Allawi, Al Jazeera Arabic's Kabul bureau chief, has been brought before an Israeli military court, almost a week after he was arrested by Israeli officials when he tried to cross the border between Jordan and the occupied West Bank.
Israeli authorities extended his detention by seven days and charged him with being a member of Hamas on Tuesday.
Allawi was arrested on August 10 at the end of a three-week holiday in his home town of Sabastia near Nablus.
The Israeli authorities originally informed Allawi's family that he would be held for four days for questioning, saying that it was a "security-related arrest".
Last Thursday, the authorities told Al Jazeera that Allawi's detention would be extended.
He is currently in Israeli state custody in a prison camp at Petah Tikva detention centre.
Salim Waqim, Allawi's lawyer, told Al Jazeera that his client was interrogated about his work and management of Al Jazeera's Kabul bureau, his personal financial information, and his relationships with colleagues, friends, family and relatives.
Israeli authorities took his computer login information and during his interrogation Allawi was accused of being a member of Hamas and having contact with its military leadership, Waqim said.
Majed Khadr, output manager at Al Jazeera said that Allawi told his lawyer that he would be charged with transferring money and orders from Afghanistan to the occupied West Bank if he refused to act as an informant.
However, Allawi continued to refuse to cooporate with the authorities interrogating him.
Local human rights and press freedom groups have released statements condemning Allawi's arrest.
Mohamed Abdel Dayam, the Middle East and North Africa programme co-ordinator at the New York-based CPJ said: "Israel must clarify why it continues to hold Samer Allawi.
"Our concern for Allawi's well-being and his legal rights is amplified with every passing day he is held without due process."
Yemeni leader vows to return home soon,Libya News
| Yemeni leader vows to return home soon,Libya News |
Ali Abdullah Saleh says he will return soon during broadcast from Saudi Arabia where he is recovering from attack. |
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| Steet protests calling for the ousting of President Ali Abdullah Saleh have continued for months in Yemen [Reuters] |
Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president recovering in Saudi Arabia from wounds sustained in an attack on his palace in June, has vowed to return home soon.
Saleh, who appeared in good shape compared with previous appearances, spoke on Tuesday in a televised address.
The president renewed his calls for early presidential elections, telling supporters: "See you soon in the capital Sanaa."
He also blasted the opposition, saying they were made up of the "leftovers of Marxists, the Taliban and the imamate," Yemen's ousted monarchist rulers.
Parliament's Common Forum opposition is due to meet on Wednesday to elect an umbrella "national council" aimed at taking over power in the absence of the president.
The United States and Saleh's Saudi hosts have pressured him to remain in Saudi Arabia, fearing his return to Yemen could spark a civil war.
Saleh said he was willing to transfer power to his vice-president if the opposition pulls armed tribal fighters from the streets and the opposition ends its street rallies, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Fierce clashes
Saleh's address came as fierce clashes overnight between tribesmen and Yemen troops left 23 tribesmen dead, according to a tribal source.
"Twenty-three of our fighters were killed in fierce overnight clashes with the Republican Guard," said the source from the Bakil tribe, adding that the worst fighting was concentrated in the area of Sheheb Arhab.
The trouble began last week after the elite Republican Guard, which is led by Saleh's son, Ahmed, installed a checkpoint that allegedly harassed residents of the area that is considered the northeastern gate to Sanaa.
The source said troops chased tribesmen to their villages after few skirmishes, adding that the Republican Guard and the army had recently deployed reinforcements in Arhab, which lies 40km outside Sanaa.
Tribal sources claimed that the army was planning a war against the Bakil tribe, Yemen's largest confederation of smaller tribes.
But officials have claimed that gunmen belonging to the opposition were plotting to take control of a nearby army base and the Sanaa airport.
Dozens were allegedly killed in clashes that erupted in late July between armed tribesmen and the army at the nearby Samaa camp, which the defence ministry claimed gunmen wanted to control in order to seize the international airport.
Deputy information minister Abdo al-Janadi accused Mansur al-Hanaq, a former member of the influential opposition Islamist Al-Islah (Reform) party, of being behind the attack.
A military official said "these armed criminal elements aimed to control the Samaa camp in an attempt to take over Sanaa International airport as part of their plan to overthrow the constitutional legitimacy and seize power by force," according to defence ministry website 26sep.net.
The Republican Guard has been fighting tribes in various regions of Yemen as several of the heavily armed tribesmen sided with protesters demanding the ousting of Saleh since January.
Saleh, in power since 1978, has come under intense pressure from street protesters demanding his resignation and has remained in Saudi Arabia for nearly two months after his palace was attacked.
Libyan rebels tighten grip around Tripoli,Libya News
Libyan rebels tighten grip around Tripoli,Libya News
Libyan rebels tighten grip around Tripoli |
Opposition says its forces have reached Al-Heisha and captured two towns on supply roads in campaign to isolate capital. |
"The scouting teams of the revolutionaries reached the outskirts of Al-Heisha after expelling Gaddafi forces," the rebel military command said in a statement early on Wednesday.
It was just the latest in a series of battlefield operations to isolate the capital.Al-Heisha lies roughly 70km south of Misurata and 250km from Tripoli, near two key crossroads that link loyalist-held territory in the west with that in the oil-rich Sirte basin.
In addition to gaining a foothold in Az-Zawiyah, rebels said they had taken two towns near Tripoli on key supply roads Gharyan, 80 km south of the capital and Surman, less than 16 km west of Az-Zawiyah.
"Gharyan is fully in the hands of the revolutionaries," a rebel spokesman, Abdulrahman, said by telephone. "Gaddafi has been isolated. He has been cut off from the outside world."
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim acknowledged in remarks broadcast on state television that rebel fighters were in Gharyan. "There are still armed gangs inside the city. We are able to drive them out," he said.
But while rebels controlled most of Az-Zawiyah, Gaddafi forces shelled the city, wounding several civilians.
Funerals were held for 23 others who rebels said were killed the previous day.
"We shut down all four pipelines to Tripoli," El-Bouaisi said, whose claim could not be verified.
NTC-Gaddafi talks denied
Meanwhile, a UN envoy has arrived in neighbouring Tunisia, where sources say rebels and representatives of the government are in talks on the island resort of Djerba.
The envoy, Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, told the Reuters news agency he would meet "Libyan personalities residing in Tunisia" to discuss the conflict.
Talks could signal the endgame of a battle that has drawn in the NATO alliance and emerged as one of the deadliest confrontations in the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world.
But spokesman Farhan Haq said the United Nations had "no concrete information" on any talks in Tunisia and that its Libya envoy, al-Khatib, was not taking part in any such talks.
The reports of rebel-government talks also sparked a swift denial from Gaddafi's government. His spokesman dismissed reports of negotiations about the Libyan leader's future as part of a "media war" against him."The leader is here in Libya, fighting for the freedom of our nation. He will not leave Libya," spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said.
Abdul Hafez Ghoga, vice chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC), also denied that such talks were under way.
Gaddafi forces on Sunday fired a scud missile near Brega on the main frontline in the east of the country; the first use of the weapon since the uprising against his rule began six months ago, according to a US military official said.
Although no one was hurt in the attack and the missiles are considered unreliable weapons, Richard Weitz, director of the Centre for Political and Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute, told Al Jazeera the use of scuds could signal Gaddafi's determination to fight.
Syrian troops 'withdraw' from key cities
| Syrian troops 'withdraw' from key cities |
State media say security operations ended in Deir ez-Zor and areas of Latakia after assaults said to have killed dozens. |
Syrian military and security forces are withdrawing from the city of Deir ez-Zor and key areas in Latakia, according to Syrian state media, following operations which anti-government activists say have left dozens dead.
Convoys of army vehicles were seen leaving Deir ez-Zor after the military cleared the area of "armed terrorist gangs," SANA, the state-run news agency, reported.
Journalists on a government-organised trip to the city on Tuesday reported armoured personnel carriers and other military vehicles were leaving, and footage showed pictures of crowds chanting and cheering as the soldiers left.
But only hours later, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that one person was killed when security forces opened fired to disperse an anti-government protest in the city when "hundreds of people" marched in Takaya street.
Residents said tanks were still present at the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor and that troops were raiding houses looking for wanted dissidents. Activists say at least 32 people have died since troops seized control of the city last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Syria's interior ministry said security forces had completed their operation in the al-Ramel al-Janoubi neighbourhood of the coastal city of Latakia, which had been subjected to a four-day assault that activists say has left at least 36 people dead.
Brigadier General Mohammad Hassan al-Ali said al-Ramel al-Janoubi, which houses a Palestinian refugee camp, "is recovering and the citizens are practicing their normal life that was spoiled by the acts of the terrorist groups," SANA reported.
Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify reports from Syria because of media restrictions.
Heavy fire
A resident of the al-Ramel al-Janoubi neighbourhood, who called himself Ismail, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that gunboats and tanks had been used in the assault on Latakia. He said snipers were stationed around the city, shooting at anyone who ventured into the streets.
Regional powers have turned up the pressure on Assad |
"What's happening is really severe ... The moment they see anything moving they will shoot it," he said.
Troops raided and destroyed houses in several neighbourhoods while gunfire could be heard, residents said.
"The heavy machine gun fire and bullets were intense in areas of Latakia, Ramel, Masbah al-Shaab and Ain Tamra for more than three hours," said the UK-based SOHR.
The group said soldiers raided the Sqanturi area and made dozens of arrests.
The UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees in Latakia said that thousands of refugees had fled their camp which reportedly came under fire after President Bashar al-Assad's forces began shelling the city.
"A forgotten population has become a disappeared population because we have no idea of the whereabouts of as many as 10,000 refugees who fled Latakia over the last few days,'' said UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness.
Anti-government protesters meanwhile continued to take to the streets on Tuesday night - including in Homs, Albu Kamal near the Iraqi border, Binnish in the north and in some Damascus suburbs - despite reports of deaths and arrests as the military cracked down on demonstrators.
Violence condemned
A senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation condemned the violence used against Palestinian refugees in Latakia.
"The shelling is taking place using gunships and tanks on houses built from tin, on people who have no place to run to or even a shelter to hide in. This is a crime against humanity." Yasser Abed Rabbo, the PLO secretary general, told the Reuters news agency.
British Foreign Minister, William Hague, meanwhile said in a statement: "The regime's violence continues despite widespread condemnation by the international community. The calls for the violence to stop, including from Syria's neighbours, have not been heeded."
Western diplomats said the UN's top human rights body is likely to hold an urgent meeting next week to discuss the escalating crackdown in Syria, according to the AP news agency.
The crackdown in Syria has escalated since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan, when nightly prayers became the occasion for more protests against Assad and 41 years of Baathist rule.
Syria's key regional ally Iran warned on Tuesday that any Western intervention in the "internal affairs" of Damascus would stoke "public hatred" in the region.
Egyptians voice frustrations in Tahrir Square
| Egyptians voice frustrations in Tahrir Square | |
Protesters gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square, venting anger at the government for its lack of speedy political reform.
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Deadly blasts target Iraqi cities
| Deadly blasts target Iraqi cities | ||
Explosion during Shia pilgrimage in Karbala kills three, while another blast wounds six in Baghdad.
A parked car bomb targeting a night club killed two people and wounded nine others in central Baghdad on Saturday, police and hospital sources quoted by the Reuters news agency said. A sticky bomb attached to a policeman's car went off near a checkpoint killing at least three people and wounding 15 others, mainly policemen, in eastern Kerbala, 80km south west of Baghdad, police and provincial council officials said. Sources at the Karbala general hospital who spoke to Al Jazeera confirmed one death. An annual pilgrimage has been going on Kerbala. In other bombing news, armed men in a speeding car using weapons equipped with silencers shot at a police checkpoint and wounded three people, including two policemen, in Baghdad's southeastern Zaafaraniya district, an interior ministry source said. Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Baghdad, said the attack in the capital was aimed at the general public without specific targets. Saturday's blast in Karbala was the third attack in the past two days on the holy city, as Shia pilgrims headed to visit the Imam al-Hussein shrine there to commemorate the birth of Imam Mohammed al-Mahdi. The anniversary has become one of the annual pilgrimages that show strength for Iraq's majority Shia since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Saddam Hussein banned Shia religious rites during his rule. Since his toppling, Sunni Islamists have frequently targeted Shias. Unlike in previous years, the Shia pilgrimages in recent months have largely gone by without incident. But this year's pilgrimage in Karbala has been the target of repeated attacks. On Friday, a car bomb exploded in a garage near a hospital west of Karbala, killing four people and wounding 20, police said. Separately, a bomb placed under a parked car killed two people and wounded four others in northern Karbala on Friday, according to an army commander. A hospital source said the blast killed three people and wounded 23 others. Last year, car bombs killed and wounded scores of people during the Imam Mahdi observance. |
Bahraini woman dies during protest
| Bahraini woman dies 'during protest' | ||
Rights group says her death occurred due to tear gas fired by police on Friday, as national dialogue falters.
Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said on Saturday that 47-year-old Zainab Hasan Ahmed al-Jumaa suffocated after inhaling tear gas fired by riot police during a demonstration on Friday near her home in Sitra, the hub of Bahrain's oil industry. Her death brings to 33 the number of those who have died since February when Bahrain's Shia majority started protests for greater freedoms in the Sunni-ruled island kingdom. Bahrain's interior ministry denied al-Jumaa's death was linked to a police operation and said in a statement posted on the ministry's website late on Friday that the woman died of natural causes. Friday protests On Friday, tens of thousands of people took part in a gathering of Bahrain's main Shia opposition bloc, which is considering withdrawing from the ongoing national dialogue. The Wefaq party rally in the Bilad al-Qadim area of Manama was attended by "around 50,000 people", Khalil al-Marzouk, a resigned member of parliament and head of its delegation at the national dialogue, told the AFP news agency. In a speech, Wefaq chief Sheikh Ali Salman reiterated the demand for "radical reform centring on a government elected by the people and a parliament with full legislative powers". He said the movement was not calling for the fall of Bahrain, which is ruled by the Sunni Muslim Al-Khalifa dynasty. Since the 2 July debut of the national dialogue, which is aimed at forwarding political reforms after Shia-led protests were crushed in a bloody crackdown in March, Wefaq has called for a government led by the parliamentary majority. The group won 18 of 40 seats in the most recent parliamentary elections, but its MPs resigned to protest against violence against demonstrators. The Wefaq delegation at the national dialogue has said it may withdraw from the talks, and is to announce its decision on Sunday. The bloc decided only at the last minute to participate in the dialogue, encouraged by the international community, including the US, whose Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain. |
Yemen protesters form council to run country
| Yemen protesters form council to run country | ||||
Coalition of anti-government protesters says presidential council to manage affairs when Saleh's government is toppled.
The council "is charged with leading the country during a transition period not to exceed nine months and with forming a government of technocrats," Tawakul Karman, one of the leaders of the protest movement against Saleh, said on Saturday. Saleh, who has been in power since 1978, was wounded in a bomb attack on his palace in Sanaa on June 3, and was admitted to hospital in Saudi Arabia the following day. Protesters have since January been calling for him to quit office. The council will also announce a 501-member "national assembly" that will draft a new constitution, and seeks to "protect the unity of the country before it completely collapses", Karman said.
The council consists of 17 Yemeni figures of different political affiliation from both inside Yemen and abroad. They include Ali Nasser Mohammed, the ex-president of formerly independent South Yemen; a former prime minister, Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas; and Abdullah al-Hakimi, an exiled long-time opponent of Saleh. The new body highlights the gap between Yemen's protesters and Yemen's official opposition parties, who protesters say were late in joining the anti-government rallies inspired by those in Tunisia and Egypt. Many protesters have criticised the parties for seeking to negotiate Saleh's exit instead of trying to bring down his entire government. Abdu al-Janadi, a spokesman for Saleh's government who is also Yemen's deputy information minister, said the move "pours gas on the fire". He said that Saleh is "the legal, democratically elected president, and an alternative will only come though elections, not through an illegal coup". Opposition party officials declined to comment. Al-Janadi also said that Saleh, who is currently receiving treatment for blast wounds, will return home "soon" from Saudi Arabia. "The president is in good health. He will return to Yemen soon, but is awaiting the decision of his doctors," he said without specifying a date. |
Deadly violence continues in Syria,Syria Revolution
| Deadly violence continues in Syria | ||||
Armed men under the watch of Syrian security forces fire on protesters in central city of Homs, witnesses say. Armed men under the watch of Syrian security forces looted shops and fired on crowds in the central city of Homs, killing at least one person and wounding many others, a witnesses have said. The fresh violence on Saturday night follows what is reported to have been one of the deadliest crackdowns on protesters since the anti-government uprisings began in Syria four months ago. "Armed thugs are randomly shooting at locals in various districts of Homs. One is reported killed and more than 20 others are injured," Majed, a resident from Homs, told Al Jazeera. "The thugs are looting local shops under the watch of Syrian security forces. Random shooting is still going on at the moment."
Three protesters were shot dead in the northern city of Idlib, they said. On Saturday, tens of thousands of Syrians took to the streets, shouting "We want freedom" while carrying caskets of of some of the protesters killed during protest rallies on Friday. Activists said at least 32 people were killed when hundreds of thousands of demonstrators protested against the government of Bashar al-Assad, the president, following Friday prayers. About 23 people were killed in Damascus, which until now had seen only scattered protests, and its suburbs - the highest death toll for the city so far, Mohammad Abdullah, a spokesman for the Local Co-ordination Committee (LCC), said on Saturday. The LCC tracks anti-government demonstrations in the country. Civil disobedience Exiled Syrian dissidents met in Turkey on Saturday to urge their countrymen to launch a campaign of civil disobedience to try to force Assad from power. At least 400 members of the opposition, comprising conservative Islamists and liberals, attended the so-called National Salvation Congress in Istanbul on Saturday to try to unite behind the goal of ending 41 years of Assad family rule. "We want to raise the intensity of the peaceful confrontation by civil disobedience and to choke the regime economically and paralyse the state with the least damage," Wael al Hafez, an opposition figure, told the Istanbul gathering.
"We will build our council here in Istanbul with some branches to help the people's movement in the streets by money for example. And by meeting responsible people in Turkey to put pressure on the regime to stop attacking the people demonstrating on the streets," Haytham Al Maleh, a senior opposition leader, told Al Jazeera from Istanbul. Activists in Damascus also took part in Saturday's meeting by telephone. Organisers had planned to hold a conference in Damascus in tandem with the Turkey meeting, but it was cancelled after Friday's bloodshed. Addressing the conference by phone from the capital, Mashaal Tammo, an opposition figure, said Assad had lost his legitimacy to rule and called on him to step down. In an emotional speech, he said the "the existence of the regime was no longer justified" and called for a peaceful transition to a civil, pluralistic and democratic state. 'Brutality has to stop' The government crackdown has led to international condemnation and sanctions. "What's happening in Syria is very uncertain and troubling because many of us had hoped that President Assad would make the reforms that were necessary," Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said in Turkey on Saturday. "The brutality has to stop, there must be a legitimate sincere effort with the opposition to try to make changes.'' Activists say the government's crackdown on dissent has killed about 1,600 people since March, most of them unarmed protesters. But the regime disputes the toll and blames a foreign conspiracy for the unrest, saying religious extremists-not true reform-seekers-are behind it. |
Gaddafi to face new attacks from rebels
| Gaddafi to face new attacks from rebels |
Opposition fighters in eastern Libya poised to launch major offensive in their campaign to topple Libyan leader. Opposition fighters in rebel-held eastern Libya say they are preparing to launch another major offensive against Muammar Gadaffi's regime. They plan to push along the coastal front within days, perhaps even hours, with the aim of recapturing Brega, a strategic oil town that has already changed hands many times. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Ajdabiya. |
Lebya News,Key Libyan village back in rebel hands
| Key Libyan village back in rebel hands |
Opposition forces dig in to defend recaptured Qwalish, south of the Libyan capital, and plan new offensive in the east. Libyan rebel fighters are digging in to defend a village south of Tripoli following a see-saw battle for control with government forces that seen control of the village change hands several times. Rebel fighters took Qwalish, a staging post on the way to the capital about 100km north, a week ago, then lost it to government troops on Wednesday morning. But by nightfall they were back in control. Scores of fighters manned defensive positions throughout Qwalish on Thursday, supported by trucks with heavy machine guns mounted on the back. |
Karzai bans NATO strikes on Afghan homes Afghan president says foreign forces risk becoming an occupying force if they do not halt air strikes on civilians.
Karzai bans NATO strikes on Afghan homes
Afghan president says foreign forces risk becoming an occupying force if they do not halt air strikes on civilians.
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| President Karzai has been under pressure over mounting civilian casualties in NATO raids [EPA] |
Zuma says Gaddafi ready for truce Rebels reject offer as visiting South African president says Libyan leader is ready to stop fighting.
Zuma says Gaddafi ready for truce
Rebels reject offer as visiting South African president says Libyan leader is ready to stop fighting.
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| Zuma's office insists his visit to Tripoli was to address political reform and humanitarian concerns [AFP] |
Fighting raises Yemen civil war fears ,Truce collapses as forces loyal to president Saleh and opposition tribesmen clash in capital Sanaa.
Fighting raises Yemen civil war fears
Truce collapses as forces loyal to president Saleh and opposition tribesmen clash in capital Sanaa.
A tenuous truce declared a few days ago to end street fighting in the Yemeni capital between tribal groups and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh has broken down, sending the country closer to the brink of civil war.
"The ceasefire agreement has ended," a government official said on Tuesday without giving further details.
The announcement came as overnight clashes in Sanaa killed many people and left dozens injured.
Sources told Al Jazeera that the heaviest shelling took place near the interior ministry building and the house of Sadiq al-Ahmar, a powerful tribal leader ranged against President Saleh.
Truce collapses as forces loyal to president Saleh and opposition tribesmen clash in capital Sanaa.
A tenuous truce declared a few days ago to end street fighting in the Yemeni capital between tribal groups and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh has broken down, sending the country closer to the brink of civil war.
"The ceasefire agreement has ended," a government official said on Tuesday without giving further details.
The announcement came as overnight clashes in Sanaa killed many people and left dozens injured.
Sources told Al Jazeera that the heaviest shelling took place near the interior ministry building and the house of Sadiq al-Ahmar, a powerful tribal leader ranged against President Saleh.
Are Palestinian children less worthy? Although Palestinian children endure lives of suffering, Obama's love for their Israeli counterparts knows no limit.
Are Palestinian children less worthy?
Although Palestinian children endure lives of suffering, Obama's love for their Israeli counterparts knows no limit.
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| During the first and second intifada, more than 700 Palestinian children were killed, and a further 313 children died in the Israeli shelling of Gaza in December 2008-July 2009 [GALLO/GETTY] |
Al Jazeera journalist released from detention
| Al Jazeera journalist released from detention |
Dorothy Parvaz, who disappeared on assignment in Syria 19 days ago, was sent back to Doha by Iranian authorities. |
Al Jazeera has confirmed the release of its journalist, Dorothy Parvaz, who was detained in Syria upon her arrival in Damascus while on an assignment, and then deported to Iran.
Parvaz landed in Doha, Qatar on May 18 on a flight from Iran.
An Al Jazeera spokesman said: "I'm delighted to let you know that Dorothy Parvaz has been released and is safe and well and back with us in Doha. She has been in contact with her family, and we are with her now to find out more about her ordeal over the last 19 days."
Her fiancé Todd Barker, posted on Facebook: "She is safe in Doha and will be coming to Vancouver BC soon. We can't wait to see her."
US imposes sanctions on Syrian president
| US imposes sanctions on Syrian president |
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| Syrian rights activists say at least 700 civilians have been killed in two months of clashes [Reuters] |
The United States is to impose sanctions on Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and six senior Syrian officials for human rights abuses over their brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.
The White House announced the sanctions on Wednesday, a day before Barack Obama, the US president, was to deliver a major speech on the uprisings throughout the Arab world with prominent mentions of Syria
The sanctions are part of "an effort to increase pressure on the government of Syria to end its violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system," a US official told the AFP news agency on the condition of anonymity.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama said he issued the new sanctions order as a response to the Syrian government's "continuous escalation of violence against the people of Syria".
Obama cited "attacks on protesters, arrests and harassment of protesters and political activists, and repression of democratic change, overseen and executed by numerous elements of the Syrian government".
The sanctions will freeze any assets Assad and the six Syrian government officials have in US jurisdiction and make it illegal for Americans to do business with them.
Syrian rights activists say at least 700 civilians have been killed in two months of clashes between goverment forces and protesters seeking an end to his 11-year rule.
Swiss sanctions
The US announcement came as Switzerland announced new sanctions against Syria on Wednesday, saying that it was following the European Union's lead in imposing an embargo on arms and equipment used for internal repression.
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"It also includes financial sanctions and travel restrictions on 13 people from the Damascus regime," it added.
The ministry said that through the new sanctions, "Switzerland is joining sanctions announced on May 9, 2011 by the European Union against Syria."
EU heavyweight Germany, meanwhile, is pushing for further sanctions against Bashar.
"Our demands are clear. Violence and repression against peaceful demonstrators must be stopped immediately," Guido Westerwelle, Germany's foreign minister, said.
Tighten sanctions
European governments agreed on Tuesday to tighten sanctions against the Syrian leadership, but said they would decide next week about whether to include Assad on the list.
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Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said his country would not support any UN resolutions on the use of force against the Syrian government.
"As for a resolution on Syria, I will not support such a resolution even if my friends and acquaintances ask me about it," Medvedev told reporters during a rare news conference on Wednesday, arguing Syria must be allowed to settle its domestic affairs.
He did not specify what he meant, adding that such resolutions were open to interpretation.
Last month, Obama signed an executive order imposing a first round of US sanctions against Syria's intelligence agency and two relatives of Assad's for alleged human rights abuses.
Britain Queen to make first visit to Ireland
| Britain Queen to make first visit to Ireland |
British police are on alert after a dissident Irish group warned of a bomb attack in London.
The alert came hours ahead of a groundbreaking but sensitive visit to the Republic of Ireland by Britain's Queen - the first by a British monarch.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports.
Queen visits Ireland after bomb scare
| Queen visits Ireland after bomb scare | ||
First visit by a British monarch in a century sparks security concern after three devices found near Dublin.
Queen Elizabeth II, the British queen, has arrived Ireland in the first visit by a UK royal in a century, despite a bomb being found on a bus near Dublin, the Irish capital. The four-day trip is intended to highlight good Anglo-Irish relations following years of animosity and peace in Northern Ireland. Earlier on Tuesday defence forces said they had carried out a controlled explosion on a "viable" explosive device found on a bus heading for Dublin. "It was on a bus and by the time our team was called in the bus was evacuated and parked at a bus stop," an army spokesman said. "The device was made safe in situ," he added. Andrew Simmons, Al Jazeera's reporter in Dublin, said: "The [first] device was on the outskirts in the commuter belt. It was inside a luggage compartment of a bus, and that bus was headed for the capital." "[There are] are no claims of responsibility but you can certainly say that it's highly likely that dissident Republican groups are involved in the attempts at disruption of this historic visit." A controlled explosion was also carried out on a second device, which turned out to be a hoax, the defence forces said. A third device found in the Summerhill area of Dublin also turned out to be a hoax. Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, said the queen's visit would not be affected by the incidents, and the British foreign office and Buckingham Palace, the monarch's official residence, said the state visit would still go ahead. "This is an historic and symbolic visit and it is dealing with the conclusion of the past and a message for the future," Kenny told RTE state radio. "These things happen when global personalities visit any countries ... and whether it be Ireland or other countries, adequate security arrangements are put in place." The queen is the first British monarch to visit Ireland since its independence from the UK in 1921. It severed its last ties to the British monachy in 1948, but the north of the island remains part of the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II's itinerary includes a visit to Croke Park, a Gaelic sports stadium where British troops killed 14 people in 1920 during Ireland's uprising against British rule. Her arrival also coincides with the 37th anniversary of bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, the single bloodiest day in a three-decade sectarian battle over Northern Ireland. Thousands of police have shut down key roads in the Irish capital and erected pedestrian barricades for several kilometers, while 1,000 Irish troops are on standby for her visit. Tuesday's events come a day after British police said they had received a bomb threat for central London from Irish dissident republicans. |
Iranian aid ships turned back from Bahrain
| Iranian aid ships turned back from Bahrain | ||
Two ships carrying Iranian activists return to docks after facing "threats" from warships en route to Bahrain
Two ships carrying 120 Iranian activists sailed for Bahrain on Monday in an act of solidarity with the island country's Shia majority population. The Iranian government ordered the two boats to return, while activists threw into the water letters they were carrying as "moral support" to Bahraini Shia, a journalist for Iran's English-language Press TV reported live aboard one of the vessels. The ships turned back towards Iran at a halfway point after facing "the emergence of threats" from warships belonging to a coalition of Gulf states which have lent support to Bahrain in its crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, the Washington Post reported, citing an announcement on the activists' website. Iranian authorities did not try to stop the ships' trip, the website said, according to the Washington Post. Mahdi Eghrarian, an organiser of the trip, earlier told the semi-official Fars news agency that the ships had embarked at the southwestern port of Dayyer. A third of the activists were women, 10 were children, and nobody on board was armed, Eghrarian said. The group is carrying 5,000 letters which convey the Iranian people's "moral support", he said, for the Shia of Bahrain. "We've started moving towards international waters. We will carry on sailing towards Bahrain's borders as far as possible in order to be able to hand over letters and messages of the Iranian nation to the Bahraini nation," Eghrarian said according to Fars. Last month, Iranian authorities stopped two boats carrying Iranian students from leaving the southern port city of Bushehr for Bahrain in a similar show of solidarity. Bahrain, a tiny island country in the Gulf, has a majority Shia population but is ruled by a Sunni king, who has cracked down on dissent since pro-democracy protests broke out in February. |
Pakistan protests over border strike
| Pakistan protests over border strike | ||
Two security personnel wounded as NATO helicopter opens fire on checkpoint near Afghan-Pakistan frontier.
Pakistan's army has lodged a strong protest and demanded talks with NATO commanders after an allliance helicopter hit a Pakistani checkpoint, injuring two security personnel. "It [the incursion] happened early morning," a Pakistani intelligence official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, told the Reuters news agency. "The helicopter hit a Pakistani checkpoint on the border in the Datta Khel area." A Western military official in Kabul, told Reuters that two NATO helicopters supporting a base in eastern Afghanistan had returned fire after being attacked from Pakistan. Pakistan's military said it had sought a meeting with NATO commanders over the incursion, which came a day after US senator John Kerry met Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, amid tensions in the country's relations since the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this month. Pakistan has condemned the US for conducting that operation in violation of its national sovereignty. Tuesday's incident came hours before Yusuf Raza Gilani, the Pakistani prime minister, arrives in China on a visit seen by some as a diplomatic effort to seek closer and more productive ties with another major power. Taliban stronghold Many fighters loyal to al-Qaeda, including foreign ones, are based in Datta Khel, a frequent target of US drone strikes. The place is also a stronghold of fighters loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a key Pakistani Taliban commander. A drone attack in the same place on Monday left seven suspected fighters dead, Pakistani officials said. A Western military official said Tuesday's operation started before dawn, when a NATO base in Afghanistan came under intermittent direct and indirect fire from the Pakistani side of the border. Two helicopters flew into the area to provide support, one of which fired across the border after being fired at twice from the Pakistani side, the official said. In a statement, the Pakistani army said its troops fired on a helicopter after it entered Pakistani airspace in the early hours of the morning. Two of its troops were injured when the helicopter returned fire, it said. 'NATO investigating' NATO, which confirmed the incident, said it was still trying to determine whether the helicopter crossed into Pakistani airspace, Lieutenant Colonel John Dorrian, the NATO spokesman, said. "We're investigating the incident to determine a flight path by examining GPS waypoints in the helicopter computer, to construct a sequence of events and ultimately determine what led to the exchange of fire," said Dorrian. He declined to say which coalition country was involved. But most of the helicopters that fly in that part of Afghanistan are American. Dorrian said NATO would work with the Pakistani government to determine what happened, saying they expect it will reflect the same good co-operation seen in recent military operations along the border. In recent weeks, NATO and Pakistan have launched co-ordinated offensives against fighters loyal to al-Qaeda on their respective sides of the border. "This is going to be transparently looked into," Dorrian said. North Waziristan is the base of the Haqqani network, a group of fighters allied to the Taliban which NATO says is fuelling the conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan. US-led drone aircraft have repeatedly targeted the area over the past year. |
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