Mubarak to be moved to military hospital

                     Mubarak to be moved to military hospital                 

Authorities say Mubarak will eventually be moved to a prison in Cairo where his sons are also held [AFP]

Egypt's prosecutor general ordered that Hosni Mubarak, the former president, be moved from his hospital in a Red Sea resort town to a military medical facility, according to prosecutor's website.

Sunday's announcement is the latest in a string of setbacks for the former strongman, who is held on suspicion of corruption and violence against protesters in the uprising that toppled him.

Mubarak was originally supposed to be moved to Cairo's Tora prison hospital, but it was deemed not yet ready to receive him, said a spokesman for Prosecutor General Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud.

Instead the former president will stay in a military hospital until the prison facility is ready, said the spokesman in a statement posted on the prosecutor's Facebook page.

"The public prosecutor addressed the interior minister, informing him to take the necessary steps to move the former president ... to a military hospital, to implement a custody order," the statement said.

A report by a top forensic medical official said Mubarak could be moved without endangering his health, as long as he was given appropriate medical treatment.

Mubarak's two sons are also being investigated for corruption allegations, and for their role in the shooting of protesters during the 18 days of demonstrations against their father's rule.

Mubarak is scheduled to stay in custody until April 28, but his detention will most likely be extended.
Thousands of Egyptians had demanded that Mubarak be placed in a prison compound, where his sons and many of his former ministers and officials are housed, instead of staying in hospital.

The detention of Mubarak, his sons and many of their top allies was a key demand for the pro-democracy protesters.

NATO air strike pounds Gaddafi compound | NATO hits Gaddafi's compound| Air strike destroys buildings in Gaddafi's compound

NATO air strike pounds Gaddafi compound

Libyan officials claim 45 people were injured, 15 seriously, in the late-night NATO air strike [REUTERS]

NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound early on Monday, in what a press official from Gaddafi's government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader's life.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in a part of the ruined building a few hours after the attack, when foreign journalists were brought to the scene in Tripoli.

The press official, who asked not to be identified, said 45 people were hurt in the strike, 15 of them seriously, and some were still missing. That could not be independently confirmed.

Gaddafi's compound has been struck before, but NATO forces appear to be stepping up the pace of strikes in Tripoli in recent days.

A target nearby, which the government called a car park but which appeared to cover a bunker, was hit two days ago.

The United States, Britain and France say they will not stop their air campaign over Libya until Gaddafi leaves power.

Washington has taken a backseat in the air war since turning over command to NATO at the end of March but is under pressure to do more. This week it deployed Predator drone aircraft, which fired for the first time on Saturday.

Misurata bombarded

Government troops bombarded the western rebel bastion of Misurata again on Sunday, a day after announcing their withdrawal following a two-month siege.

A government spokesman said the army was still carrying out its plan to withdraw from the city, but had fired back when retreating troops were attacked.

"As our army was withdrawing from Misurata it came under attack by the rebels. The army fought back but continued its withdrawal from the city," Mussa Ibrahim told reporters.

The government says its army is withdrawing from the city and sending in armed tribesmen instead. Rebels say the announcement may be part of a ruse to mask troop movements or stir violence between rebels and locals in nearby towns.

Rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference in Kuwait that the Gulf state had agreed to contribute $177m to his rebel council to help pay workers in the east of the country under its control.

"This amount will help us a lot in paying the salaries of employees who did not [get paid] for two months," he said.

"We are capable of only covering 40 per cent of this amount. We are in need of urgent aid."

The rebels have been seeking international recognition as well as material support from the West and the Arab world.

They have been unable to advance from eastern Libya as they fight back and forth with Gaddafi's troops on the coastal road between the towns of Ajdabiya and Brega, hampered by their lack of firepower, equipment and training.

Libya's growing humanitarian crisis 

Libya's growing humanitarian crisis 

Humanitarian coordination in Libya   

Humanitarian coordination in Libya   

Deaths reported in Syrian protests Gunfire and deaths reported amid more protests in Syria but identities of perpetrators and victims remains unclear.

Deaths reported in Syrian protests

Gunfire and deaths reported amid more protests in Syria but identities of perpetrators and victims remains unclear.

Boys hold a banner in the port city of Baniyas. Protests took place in several cities across Syria on Sunday [Reuters]

At least five people are reported dead amid fresh protests near the restive Syrian city of Homs, but the identities of those killed remains unclear.
Government sources told Al Jazeera that two policemen were killed in the town of Talbiseh on Sunday while other reports claimed protesters had been killed.
Our correspondent Cal Perry, in Damascus, reported that more than a dozen people had been wounded in what officials said was a "co-ordinated attack from both rooftop sniper fire and fire from the ground".
He said it was unclear who was behind the firing. Officials blamed "foreign elements" while protesters said it was security forces dressed in civilian clothes.
"The situation is incredibly chaotic", he said.
The official news agency SANA reported that one policeman was killed in Talbiseh when "a group of armed criminals opened fire" on security personnel.

It said a military unit "returned fire" and killed three members of the armed groups and wounded 15.
Online activists told Al Jazeera that two civilians had been killed and many injured in Talbiseh. They said security forces opened fire as mourners gathered for a funeral for a person killed in protests a day earlier. Many people were arrested, they said.
They also said five protesters, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed when security forces and "government thugs" broke up a rally in Homs, using live ammunition.
Officials said "unknown assailants" were shooting from vehicles at people on the streets in Homs.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the differing accounts.
Protesters beaten
Earlier on Sunday, about 300 anti-government protesters took to the streets in the southern city of Suweida. Witnesses said they were attacked and badly beaten by government supporters.
Mazen Darwish, an activist in Damascus, said two people had been injured and taken to hospital.
"Protesters were sitting in the square, chanting slogans for political freedom," he told Al Jazeera. "After a few minutes, people in civilian clothes attacked them."
There were also reports of demonstrations in Aleppo, Syria's second biggest city, in the coastal city of Baniyas, and in Homs.
Suhair Atassi, a rights activist, said on Twitter that 400-500 people were protesting in Aleppo, chanting slogans for national unity.
In the town of Hirak, outside the southern city of Daraa, thousands of mourners at the funeral of a soldier reportedly chanted slogans calling on the president to step down, Reuters news agency reported.

A relative of the 20-year-old soldier said his family was told he was accidentally electrocuted at his military unit
near Damascus but mourners believed he had been tortured by security forces.
Sunday's demonstration came a day after Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, said the country's decades-long emergency laws would be lifted within a week and also promised a number of other reforms.
Activists had called for protests across Syria on Sunday, which is Syria's Independence Day, commemorating the departure of the last French soldiers 65 years ago and Syria's proclamation of independence.
The Damascus Declaration, an opposition umbrella group, called for peaceful protests in all Syrian cities and abroad to "bolster Syria's popular uprising and ensure its continuity".
'Blood of martyrs'
In a statement posted on its website, the Damascus Declaration said the government was responsible for killing and wounding hundreds of Syrians who have been calling for their legitimate rights in the past month.
"The regime alone stands fully responsible for the blood of martyrs and all that will happen next in the country,'' the statement said.
Other activists also called for protests through social network sites.
Assad promised on Saturday to end the emergency law, which had been a key demand of the protests which began one month ago. But the president coupled his concession with a stern warning that further unrest will be considered sabotage.

An activist posted this picture online, saying it showed a protest in Baniyas on Sunday

George Jabbour, a former member of the Syrian parliament who was an adviser to Assad's father, the former president Hafez al-Assad, said he thought the proposed reforms should be enough to quell anti-government demonstrations.
"It was greeted with, I suppose, satisfaction, by most people, maybe all. I'm glad he [said in his speech] that the lifting of emergency law will strengthen rather than weaken the security of Syria," he told Al Jazeera.
But our correspondent said what is more likely to keep protesters from the streets is gangs of armed pro-Assad protesters.

"The security forces by and large have been replaced by pro-Assad individuals who carry various instruments of destruction - pipes, sticks, at times AK47s," he said. 

"On Friday, when I drove through a section of Damascus, there were a variety of individuals, two dozens perhaps, standing in the streets with pipes, and it was clear they were doing that to send a message - if you're going to protest, you're taking the risk to run into these forces and being beaten up."
Relatives' release urged
Within hours of Assad's speech on Saturday, about 2,000 protesters staged a sit-in in the suburb of Douma, demanding the release of relatives arrested on Friday during a major day of nationwide protests, activists said.
The official SANA news agency also reported around 2,000 people demonstrated in the southern protest hub of Daraa late on Saturday, chanting slogans for "freedom" and the lifting of emergency laws.
The laws - in force since 1963 - restricts public gatherings and movement, authorises the interrogation of any individual and the monitoring of private communications and imposes media censorship.
Assad has said armed gangs and a "foreign conspiracy" were behind the unrest, not true reform-seekers.
SANA said on Sunday that security forces seized a large quantity of weapons hidden in a lorry coming from Iraq. It reported that the weapons were confiscated at the Tanaf crossing on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
It said the shipment included machine-guns, automatic rifles, night vision goggles and grenade launchers.

Libyan rebels resist Ajdabiya assault Anti-government forces hold sway in key town but frontline fighters complain of lack of supplies and fear infiltrators

Libyan rebels resist Ajdabiya assault Anti-government forces hold sway in key town but frontline fighters complain of lack of supplies

Rebel fighters in eastern Libya fought off an attack by government troops in the town of Ajdabiya on Sunday, a day after retreating from a key oil facility around 100 kilometres farther west.

Forces loyal to longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi advanced on Ajdabiya under a heavy artillery barrage in the morning and fought at close range with rebels on the town’s southern outskirts before a counterattack forced them back, witnesses said.

On Saturday, with the help of NATO air strikes along the main coastal road, rebels reached the outskirts of Brega, the site of a major oil and petrochemical port west of Ajdabiya.

But a sandstorm that began overnight hampered air cover, and by Sunday morning rebels had retreated.

Dozens of civilian vehicles, many of them carrying families, fled Ajdabiya throughout the morning, and some rebels also appeared to join the withdrawal.

Two fighters were injured in the battle, suffering superficial shrapnel wounds during the bombardment, but none were seriously injured or killed, doctors at Ajdabiya Hospital said.
In response to the advance by Gaddafi’s forces, the opposition Transitional National Council issued orders that casualties should no longer go to Ajdabiya Hospital and should instead be sent directly to Benghazi, the seat of the rebel government around 160 kilometres to the north, the doctors said.

Some of the wounded already at the hospital were also evacuated. At least five ambulances with flashing lights and sirens blaring could be seen driving north out of Ajdabiya before noon.

Dozens of explosions from incoming artillery fire could be heard south of the town, and fighters said there were at least 100 blasts throughout the morning.
Barrage of rockets
The rebels responded with a barrage of Grad rockets, their flames streaming upward against the backdrop of a sky darkened by the sandstorm, which often reduced visibility to just a few hundred metres and gave Gaddafi’s troops cover to advance rapidly on Ajdabiya.

The bombardment from regime forces hit near the town’s large, green western gate - a landmark and rallying point for rebel forces - but shells also landed on residential areas, said Muhammad Barwuin, a rebel fighter. No civilians were reported to have been hurt in the attack.

Just 10 days ago, women and children had begun to return to Ajdabiya, and businesses started to reopen. But on Sunday, the town, which has traded hands multiple times in the months-long conflict, was deserted, and only fighters walked its shattered streets.
Shortly after noon, more than 30 vehicles carrying rebel reinforcements streamed into Ajdabiya, carrying a by-now familiar assortment of jury-rigged weaponry: machine guns, recoilless rifles, anti-aircraft batteries, and dismounted helicopter rocket pods, all welded to the back of pick-up trucks.

After the bombardment lifted, small arms fire echoed from deeper inside the town, and the government troops involved in the attack apparently withdrew. Rebels took up defensive positions around Ajdabiya and erected roadblocks made of rocks and metal sheets at most major intersections.

At the roundabout connecting two main roads, Tripoli and Bridge streets, rebels standing on the back of pickups stared attentively down the barrels of their machine guns, and an array of mounted rocket launchers pointed west.
Defensive line
Fighters also organised a defensive line along the southern edge of town, where they feared a counterattack from another major road that connects Ajdabiya to oil fields and towns to the south, where regime forces are rumoured to assemble.
Some fighters wore new, black body armour, while others have been seen carrying more advanced communications equipment, apparently supplied by the United Kingdom and Qatar.
But there was no evidence of any new weaponry, despite reports that rebels have begun using MILAN anti-tank rockets and a pledge from Qatar to provide them with similar weapons.
Supplies for the rebel army apparently remained tenuous. Several fighters said they were still primarily using rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. Some men have not eaten a full meal in days, and the frontlines needed fresh bread and water, one fighter on Bridge Street said.

There are also fears that Gaddafi’s forces, in the form of paid collaborators and ex-regime informants, continue to infiltrate rebel lines. Around midday, rebel cars arrived at a checkpoint east of Ajdabiya carrying a man who fighters said had been caught trying to steal a rebel vehicle.

They claimed the man wasn’t from Libya – like many suspected mercenaries and others singled out for arrest and violence by Libyans in the east, he was accused of coming from a neighbouring sub-Saharan country.

The rebels claimed two other suspected thieves had been arrested on Saturday and that they confessed to being paid a daily rate of 500 to 1,000 Libyan dinars ($414-$827) by Gaddafi’s forces to steal rebel cars, provide their location to loyalist troops, and sometimes open fire on them to sow chaos.

Several of the assembled fighters punched and kicked the man as he was loaded into the back of a sport utility vehicle that eventually drove off.

The rebels said he would be sent to Benghazi and would be appointed a lawyer by the opposition council.

Misurata besieged
In western Libya, fierce fighting continued for control of the country's third-largest city, Misurata.
At least six people were killed there in artillery fire on Sunday morning, with some 47 more injured. In the previous day's fighting, Misurata's food industry facilities were reportedly damaged.

Reporting from inside the city, Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull said a frontline cut the city in half with defenders appearing to be gaining ground.
A children's clinic has been transformed into a field hospital for wounded fighters and civilians, following the destruction of the main hospital several weeks ago, our correspondent said.
Khalid Abu Falgha, a spokesman for the clinic, said that on some days doctors had lost count of the number of wounded they had treated.
Some 99 Misurata residents were transported out of the besieged city overnight by Doctors Without Borders, arriving in the southern Tunisian port of Zarzis.
The group comprised of people injured in shelling and street fighting. It also included 64 people with serious injuries, and 10 patients in critical condition.
An International Committee of the Red Cross team is now in the city to assess the situation there, nearly a week after Libyan officials reportedly said that opening an aid corridor to the city would constitute "an act of war".

Yemen's Saleh 'welcomes' Gulf proposal

Yemen's Saleh 'welcomes' Gulf proposal 

Yemeni activists want legal action against Saleh and his sons, who hold key security and political posts [EPA]

Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's embattled president, has welcomed "efforts" by members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) to end his country's political crisis, according to a statement from his office.
A GCC statement on Sunday, talked of "the formation of a national unity government under the leadership of the opposition which has the right to form committees ... to draw up a constitution and hold elections".

It said Saleh should hand his authorities over to his vice president and that all parties should "stop all forms of revenge .. and [legal] pursuance, through guarantees offered" - wording that appeared to offer Saleh assurances of no prosecution for him or his family once he leaves office.
The statement from Saleh's office on Monday said: "In compliance with statements made several times ... the president has no reservation against transferring power peacefully and smoothly within the framework of the constitution."

The response did not make clear whether Saleh accepted the proposal for him to step down and ensure a peaceful transition of power to his deputy, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Sanaa said: "This has always been his position - the key words are 'within the constitution' which could either mean through elections at the end of the year, or if he chooses to resign it must be accepted by parliament.

"In which case, as we saw with the emergency law a few weeks ago, he can easily swing to make sure they don't accept his resignation."
'Blatant interference'
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Mahjoob Zweiri, professor of Middle Eastern history at Qatar University, said: "It is very difficult to say that what he [Saleh] is saying now is a positive response to the [GCC] initiative."

Opposition leaders will meet later on Monday to discuss the terms of the GCC plan.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Najib Ghaniem, a senior member of the opposition Islah party, said: "We are only interested in the end to the agony of our people.
"If this initiative means that Saleh steps down, then all issues can be put on the table to discuss later on."
Saleh has been in power since 1978 and has faced fierce protests demanding his departure since late January.
"The opposition has accepted the initiative in principle and they are discussing it. But the youth in Taghyeer square have not accepted it yet," Zweiri added.
On Friday, the president rejected a proposal for his exit, made by Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, Qatar's prime minister, as a "blatant interference in Yemeni affairs".

His statement came after the Qatari prime minister said that the GCC member countries "hope to reach a deal with the Yemeni president to step down".
More protests

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people filled the streets of Sanaa, Taiz, Hudaida, Ibb and the southeastern province of Hadramut to protest against the GCC plan on Monday, witnesses said.

Diplomatic sources say Saleh has dragged his heels for weeks over US attempts to get him to agree to step down and end the protests crippling the country.
With more than 100 protesters killed as security forces tried to break up the demonstrations with tear gas and live fire, activists say they want to see legal action against Saleh and his sons, who occupy key security and political posts.
Saleh has been manoeuvring to win guarantees that he and his sons do not face prosecution.

"I see that now Ali Abdullah Saleh is worried, he is under increased pressure from Washington, from EU, from GCC," Zweiri said.

"There has been a decision made by Washington that he should go, and he was relying on getting support from Washington."

Long regarded by the West as a vital ally against al-Qaeda, Saleh has warned of civil war and the break-up of Yemen if he is forced to leave power before organising parliamentary and presidential polls over the next year.

Saleh had sought Saudi mediation for some weeks, but Gulf diplomatic sources have said Riyadh was finally prompted by concern over the deteriorating security situation in its southern neighbour.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is the key financier of the Yemeni government as well as many Yemeni tribes on its border.

Many leaders in the region became convinced that Saleh is an obstacle to stability in a country that overlooks a shipping lane where over three million barrels of oil pass daily.

 

African leaders in Benghazi Libya for peace talks

African leaders in Benghazi for peace talks 

A delegation of five African presidents has arrived in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi in a bid to end hostilities and negotiate a way out of the deepening crisis.

But their visit on Monday was met with scepticism as rebels said they would only agree to a ceasefire if Muammar Gaddafi's forces were to be withdrawn from towns and streets, and freedom of expression was permitted across Libya.

Representing the African Union, the delegation, which met with Gaddafi on Sunday, had announced that he accepted a roadmap to peace, but refused to say whether the deal included his resignation--a key demand for rebels.

Around 200 people waving Libyan rebel flags were gathered outside the airport when the high-level African Union delegation arrived, welcoming its efforts but demanding Gaddafi's overthrow.

"The people must be allowed to go into the streets to express their opinion and the soldiers must return to their barracks," Shamsiddin Abdulmolah, a spokesman for the rebels' Transitional National Council, told the AFP news agency.

"If people are free to come out and demonstrate in Tripoli, then that's it. I imagine all of Libya will be liberated within moments."

He also demanded the release of hundreds of people who have gone missing since the outbreak of the popular uprising and are believed to be held by Gaddafi's forces.

International reaction
The African Union's plan has been given a cautious welcome in capitals around the world, with British foreign secretary William Hague stating that any ceasefire agreement must meet the terms of UN resolutions in full.
Franco Frattini, Italian foreign minister, said it was unlikely Gaddafi would respect any ceasefire, "after the horrific crimes enacted".

And NATO's secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said that any ceasefire must be "credible and verifiable".
Jacob Zuma, the South African president, said Tripoli had "accepted" the African Union's plan for a ceasefire which would halt a NATO bombing campaign that destroyed 26 loyalist tanks on Sunday alone.
But the rebels doubt the Libyan leader would adhere to such a deal.

"The world has seen these offers of ceasefires before and within 15 minutes [Gaddafi] starts shooting again," Abdulmolah said.

The rebels have said they would negotiate a political transition to democracy with certain senior regime figures but only on the condition that Gaddafi and his sons leave the country.

Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee, reporting from Benghazi, said there is "clearly a question over what people think the motivation of the AU visit is."

People are asking whether it is a "genuine attempt at conflict resolution" or whether it is "an attempt by people who have close economic and political ties to Gaddafi to try and shore up the appearance of legitimacy," he said,

The revolt against Gaddafi's 41-year reign began as a wave of protests across the country in late February but soon escalated into a civil war after Gaddafi's troops fired on demonstrators and the rebels seized several eastern towns.

The battle for Libya's third largest city, Misurata,continues, as Gaddafi's troops shell two neighbourhoods. The city has been the scene of fierce battles in recent weeks and has been largely closed off to reporters.
"Heavy and fierce fighting is now taking place at the eastern entrance to the city and in the centre ... on Tripoli Street," a resident named Abdelsalam told Reuters by telephone.

Recapturing Ajdabiya

The government's troops have also pushed the rebels back on the eastern front, launching a major attack on the town of Ajdabiya on Saturday before being repelled by rebel forces.
Libyans outside the airport echoed the rebels' official demands, saying they appreciated the African Union's efforts but wanted Gaddafi to step down.

"The main thing we want is for Gaddafi and his family to get out and to be judged ... And we want the withdrawal of all troops from the towns," Azza Hussein, a doctor waiting with the crowds outside the airport, said.

"Gaddafi is a big liar, so we are afraid if there is a ceasefire he won't follow it," Abdullah Barud, 17, another protester, said.

In the 1990s, Gaddafi oriented Libya away from the Arab world and towards the sub-Sahara, calling for a "United States of Africa"and cultivating close ties with a number of rulers and some rebel movements.

Libya has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism, telecommunications, banking and agriculture across several sub-Saharan countries via the Libya Africa Portfolio (LAP).

The rebels have accused Gaddafi of deploying African mercenariesagainst them - without providing much hard evidence - and have said they would be raising the subject with the delegation.
 

Gbagbo being held by Ouattara forces

Gbagbo being held by Ouattara forces

French armoured vehicles and tanks were seen advancing on Gbagbo's residence ahead of his capture [Reuters]

Cote d'Ivoire's Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered to the forces of presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara and is being held by them, the United Nations has said.
"The United Nations mission in Cote d'Ivoire has confirmed that former President Laurent Gbagbo has surrendered to the forces of Alassane Ouattara and is currently in their custody," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Monday.

Haq said the UN mission, known as UNOCI, was "providing protection and security in accordance with its mandate."

He told Reuters that UNOCI was mandated to protect political stakeholders in Cote d'Ivoire, which included Gbagbo.
Early reports said Gbagbo was arrested after a raid by French forces on a bunker at his residence in Abidjan.

Toussaint Alain, a Gbagbo advisor, told the Reuters news agency that the incumbent president had been "arrested by French special forces in his residence" and "handed over to the rebel leaders".

Jean Marc Simon, the French ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire, confirmed the capture to the AFP news agency, saying that he was detained by soldiers loyal to Ouattara.

A Ouattara spokesman told Al Jazeera that Gbagbo, along with his wife and several advisors, was being held at the Golf Hotel, which has been Ouattara's headquarters since a disputed presidential poll in late November.
Youssoufou Bamba, Cote d'Ivoire's ambassador to the United Nations, said that Gbagbo was "alive and well", and that he would "be brought to justice for the crimes he has committed".

A pro-Ouattara television station showed footage of Gbagbo being brought into the Golf Hotel shortly after news of his capture broke. Footage of him receiving medical treatment was also shown.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, spoke with Ouattara on the telephone at length shortly after Gbagbo's arrest, the Elysee palace said.

William Hague, the British foreign minister, greeted the news by saying that Gbagbo must be "treated with respect and any judicial process that follows should be a fair and properly organised judicial process".
Earlier on Monday, a column of more than 30 French armoured vehicles and tanks were seen advancing towards Gbagbo's residence.

Residents told the Associated Press that they had seen at least 10 armoured vehicles flying the French flag driving through the area around Gbagbo's residence, with two tanks seen taking up positions at a key intersection.

Forces loyal to Gbagbo were seen fleeing the area, as the French forces advanced.
Meanwhile, forces loyal to Ouattara attacked positions around the state television station [which is still controlled by Gbagbo] and his home.
A French military representative denied that French operations had been co-ordinated with Ouattara's forces.
Clashes between French and pro-Gbagbo forces were also reported from around the nearby Plateau business district.

Helicopter attacks
Earlier in the day and through Sunday night, UN and French helicopters fired rockets at Gbagbo's residence in Abidjan.

The battle for Abidjan

This browser does not support the iframe element. Click on the map to navigate

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from the city, said five helicopters were used in the attack on Sunday and that they flew from a French airbase.

After flying to the Cocody area, where the presidential residence is located, they fired their rockets and returned to the airbase to reload. The process was then repeated.

Two residents from nearby neighborhoods saw two UN Mi-24 attack helicopters and a French helicopter open fire on the residence, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he has given orders to use "all necessary means" to stop Gbagbo''s heavy weapons.

"The continued use of heavy weapons against the civilian population and our peacekeepers, as well as the attack against the headquarters of the legitimate government, have compelled me, once again, to instruct UNOCI to use all necessary means to prevent the use of these weapons, pursuant to Security Council resolutions 1975 (2011) and 1962 (2010)," Ban said in a statement.

"We are pursuing our operation to neutralise Gbagbo heavy weapons. We had to stop the operation for a couple of days to evaluate and have realised that there are still some heavy weapons that they had used against civilians and the UN," Hamadoun Toure, a UN spokesman, said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Sunday, Toure said UN helicopters were only targeting heavy weapons sites and not Gbagbo himself.
"We are not trying to take control of his residence ... Our objective is not to capture anybody," Toure said.

Gaddafi "accepts peace roadmap": South Africa's Zuma

Muammar Gaddafi has accepted a roadmap for ending the civil war in Libya, South African President Jacob Zuma said after leading a delegation of African leaders at talks in Tripoli.

Zuma, who with four other African heads of state met Gaddafi for several hours at the Libyan leader's Bab al-Aziziyah compound, also called on NATO to stop air strikes on Libyan government targets to "give ceasefire a chance."

No one at the talks gave details of the roadmap for peace in this oil-producing nation. Rebels have said they will accept nothing less than an end to Gaddafi's four decades in power, but Libyan officials say he will not quit.

"The brother leader delegation has accepted the roadmap as presented by us. We have to give ceasefire a chance," Zuma said, adding that the African delegation would now travel to the eastern city of Benghazi for talks with anti-Gaddafi rebels.

NATO stepped up attacks on Gaddafi's armor on Sunday to weaken the bitter siege of Misrata in the west and disrupt a dangerous advance by Gaddafi's troops in the east.

The alliance said it destroyed 11 tanks on the outskirts of the eastern rebel town of Ajdabiyah, which looked in danger of being overrun on Sunday, and 14 near Misrata, a lone insurgent bastion in the west that has been under siege for six weeks.

There was no sign of any let-up in the fighting and despite the African leaders' peace roadmap hopes of a negotiated settlement looked slim.

A rebel spokesman rejected a deal with Gaddafi to end the conflict, bloodiest in a series of pro-democracy revolts across the Arab world that have ousted the autocratic leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.
"There is no other solution than the military solution, because this dictator's language is annihilation, and people who speak this language only understand this language," spokesman Ahmad Bani told al Jazeera television.

NATO INTENSIFIES ATTACKS
NATO said it had increased the tempo of its air operations over the weekend, after rebels accused it of responding too slowly to government attacks.
The insurgents hailed the more muscular approach.

The NATO strikes outside Ajdabiyah on Sunday helped break the biggest assault by Gaddafi's forces on the eastern front for at least a week.

The town is the gateway to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi 150 km (90 miles) north up the Mediterranean coast.

A Reuters reporter saw six burning hulks surrounded by 15 charred and dismembered bodies in two sites 300 metres (1,000 feet) apart on Ajdabiyah's western approaches which rebels said were hit by air strikes.