CAIRO (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said there was no
justification for a U.N. resolution aimed at ending violence in Libya and called
it "blatant colonialism," al Jazeera reported on Saturday.
Al Jazeera said the remarks were made after Libya's response to the U.N.
resolution were given by Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa on Friday but it was not
immediately clear where he made the comments, which were aired by the television
channel.
"This is blatant colonialism. It does not have any justification. This will have
serious consequences on the Mediterranean and on Europe," he said.
"There must be safe air or sea navigation whatever the case. In 2011 they are
colonizing us, massacring us, and imposing one no-fly zone after the other and
one military attack after an other. What is this racism? What is this hatred?"
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians vote on Saturday in a referendum on
constitutional changes that are designed to allow free and fair elections but
have splintered the reform movement that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
The vote has divided Egypt between those who say much deeper constitutional
change is needed and others who argue that the amendments will suffice for now.
A high turnout is expected.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a well organized Islamist group, has come out in favor
of the amendments, setting it at odds with secular groups and prominent reform
advocates including Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa, both candidates for the
presidency.
The military council to which Mubarak handed power on February 11 is hoping the
amendments will pass so it can move along the path it has set toward
parliamentary and presidential elections that will allow it to cede power to an
elected government.
"This will be a watershed vote," said Ahmed Saleh, an activist now coordinating
ElBaradei's presidential campaign. "People's appetite for voting is high now and
change is in the air."
The military council to which Mubarak handed power on February 11 called for a
strong turnout. "The goal of this referendum is to create an adequate climate
for parliamentary and presidential elections but more important than the outcome
is that Egyptians participate and give their voice," it said.
The council asked a judicial committee to draft the amendments, which include a
two-term limit on the presidency, restricting to eight years the time a leader
can serve in the office Mubarak held for three decades.
Rejection of the amendments will force the council to rethink its strategy and
prolong a transitional period that it wants to keep as short as possible.
But the reforms fall far short of the demands of reformists who want the
constitution completely rewritten. Youth groups who organized the protests
against Mubarak said the amendments were an attempt to "abort the revolution."
TIGHT TIMETABLE
More broadly, they are worried that a tight timetable set by the military for
elections will not give enough time for parties to recover from years of
oppression and give an advantage to the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of
Mubarak's administration.
General Ismail Etman, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said
this week that amending the constitution was "the best and not the most ideal
solution."
In an interview with Al Gomhuria newspaper published on Thursday, he said
approval of the amendments would lead to new laws that would open up political
life, including an end to restrictions of political party formation.
Newspapers, television stations and social networking sites have been alive with
debate over how to vote.
The "No" camp pressed its campaign on Friday in a full-page advert in Al Masry
Al Youm, a popular Egyptian newspaper.
"How can I agree to a historic decision without time or adequate information?"
was one of the objections listed alongside pictures of actors, politicians,
religious figures and businessmen who are urging voters to reject the
amendments.
On the next page, a Muslim Brotherhood leader gave the opposing view:
"Supporting the constitutional amendments is a step toward realizing the demands
of the revolution ... the ones who reject them have not offered a clear
alternative."
Up to 45 million of Egypt's population of 80 million are eligible to vote and a
high turnout is expected from voters accustomed to elections marred by violence
and vote-rigging under Mubarak.
"Of course I will vote. I never felt my vote would count as much as it will on
Saturday," said Ahmed Adel, 35, who added he would vote for the amendments to
help get his country back on track. "We need a parliament and president as soon
as possible."
Activist Ziad el-Elemi disagreed: "We are holding workshops across the country
to raise awareness among citizens that constitutional amendments are not
enough."
(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed, Sherine El Madany and Tom Perry;
Writing by
Tom Perry and Marwa Awad, Editing by Kevin Liffey)
MANAMA | Fri Mar 18, 2011
3:49pm EDT
Reuters
By Erika Solomon and Lin Noueihed
MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain is committed to talks with the
opposition but security is a priority and more Gulf troops will arrive in the
kingdom to help restore order after weeks of unrest, the foreign minister said
on Friday.
Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa said three or four Gulf states were sending
troops and the forces would remain for as long as it took to bring calm after
protests by the Shi'ite majority slid into sectarian violence and crippled the
economy.
Their role would be limited to guarding strategic assets such as oil facilities,
however, and they will not be involved in quelling protests, he told a news
conference in Manama.
"We look with all confidence to the return of normal life in Bahrain," Sheikh
Khaled said. "We know dialogue is our path."
Sunni-ruled Bahrain has arrested seven opposition leaders and driven
pro-democracy demonstrators from the streets after weeks of protests that
prompted the king to declare martial law and sucked in troops from fellow
Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia.
Three protesters died in the security sweep. Three policemen were also killed,
hit by cars driven by demonstrators.
On Friday, diggers tore down the statue at the center of Pearl roundabout, focal
point of weeks of protests, in what the foreign minister said was an effort to
erase "bad memories."
The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across
Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has
stunned Bahrain's Shi'ites.
Shouting "down with King Hamad," thousands buried an activist killed in a
crackdown that has angered Iran and raised tension in the world's largest
oil-exporting region.
Mourners carrying pictures of activist Ahmed Farhan, killed on Wednesday,
followed a car carrying his flag-covered coffin.
A helicopter buzzed overhead and tanks lined the entrance to Sitra, where Farhan
was buried, but did not disperse mourners.
"This is a big loss... They can say what they want about us but we are
non-violent. We will never use violence," said Yousif Hasan Ali, who was in jail
with Farhan, 30, for over two years.
"They may silence this generation but another will rise up to demand revenge for
the blood that was shed now."
FRIDAY PROTESTS
Sheikh Issa Qassim, Bahrain's most influential Shi'ite cleric, said in his
Friday sermon that Gulf troops would have been better off helping Palestinians
in Gaza than entering Bahrain and thanked those who died or resigned in the
uprising.
"The violence of the authorities has created a deep, wide and dangerous wound
between the government and people," he said.
"The government wants to break our will so we give up our calls for substantial
and meaningful reforms, but they will never break our will. They can use tanks
and planes to smash our bodies but will never break our souls and our will for
reforms."
Sheikh Khaled said, however, that the royals had done their utmost to push for
dialogue, allowing protests and offering assurances, but the opposition had
rejected talks and started blocking main streets, while civilians began to clash
daily.
"In volatile situations you do expect violence to happen but there is no
systematic violence against the people," he said.
In an effort to wipe out all trace of the uprising, drills hammered at the base
of Bahrain's most recognizable landmark until it collapsed into a mound of
rubble on Friday.
The statue comprised six sails symbolizing each of the six members of the Gulf
Cooperation Council, holding up a pearl, symbol of the pearl fishing heritage
that was the economic mainstay of the region before the discovery of oil.
"It is a kind of psychological victory for the protesters," said Hussein Oraibi,
who works in telecoms. "It upset them so much that people were gathering there,
they had to go out of their way to pull this down and change the traffic
directions."
No troops or police could be seen as thousands stood outside Draz mosque after
Qassim's sermon, demanding Gulf troops leave.
"Peninsula Shield Out," they called, and "Bahrain is free."
Showing its desire to avoid new violence, the largest Shi'ite party Wefaq told
its followers by text message not to provoke police and not to use slogans that
offend the royals.
The mourners appeared not to adhere to those requests.
Shaking their fists, mourners shouted "death to al-Khalifa" and "death to Al
Saud," referring to the royal families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
"I'm not really afraid, the worst is that I get killed and it would be for
Bahrain, right? Better to die trying to get our freedom," said Haitham, 45, a
Shi'ite from Sitra.
More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most are campaigning for a
constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the overthrow of the
monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran, separated from
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by only a short stretch of Gulf waters.
Shi'ite Muslim power Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon,
complained to the United Nations and asked other neighbors to join it in urging
Saudi Arabia to withdraw.
In a sign of rising tension, Sheikh Khaled condemned what he said was Iran's
interference in Bahrain's internal affairs.
Capital flight is starting to put pressure on Bahrain's currency and threaten
its position as a Gulf financial center.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services slashed its long- and short-term sovereign
debt rating to BBB/A-3 from A-/A-2 and maintained negative watch.
In free Egypt, Jihad leader says time for gun is over
NAHIA, Egypt | Fri Mar 18, 2011
1:35pm EDT
Reuters
By Tom Perry
NAHIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Abboud al-Zumar went to jail 30 years
ago for his role in killing Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Now a free man, he
believes democracy will prevent Islamists from ever again taking up the gun
against the state.
Zumar was a prisoner for as long as Sadat's successor, Hosni Mubarak, was
president.
His release with other leading Islamists jailed for militancy is a sign of
dramatic change in Egypt in the five weeks since Mubarak was swept from power by
mass protests.
Zumar, 64, was a founding member of the Islamic Jihad group which gunned down
Sadat during a military parade in 1981. He was released along with his cousin,
Tarek al-Zumar, who had also spent three decades in jail on similar charges.
"The revolution created a new mechanism: the mechanism of strong, peaceful
protests," said Zumar, released on March 12 and one of the political prisoners
who owes his freedom to the peaceful revolt against Mubarak.
"Public squares around the Arab world are ready to receive millions who can stop
any ruler and expose him," added Zumar in an interview in his home village of
Nahia on the rural outskirts of Cairo.
To many Egyptians, Zumar's name evokes a violent chapter in the history of a
country that has been an incubator for Islamist militancy.
His release has alarmed those concerned by the Islamists' move to the heart of
public life in the new Egypt, where groups including the Muslim Brotherhood are
making the most of new freedoms to organize and speak out.
Seeking to ease concerns, Zumar describes the Islamist movement as the "first
line of defense" of Egyptian society. Islamists merely want to enjoy the same
freedoms as everyone else in the new Egypt, he says.
He was in prison with Ayman al-Zawahiri, now al Qaeda No. 2, who was released in
1984 and went on to assume the leadership of Islamic Jihad. Zawahiri's brother,
Mohammed, was released on Thursday after spending a decade in jail.
Zumar has not seen Ayman al-Zawahiri since 1984 but remembers him as a "man who
loves his religion and justice."
He supports what he described as Zawahiri's fight against foreign occupation
across the Arab and Islamic world in Afghanistan and Iraq but opposes al Qaeda's
attacks on civilians anywhere.
A military intelligence officer at the time of the Sadat assassination, Zumar
dismisses a story that he was its mastermind. He plays down the significance of
his role, saying he merely supplied the ammunition.
If Sadat had been in power in today's Egypt, Zumar says he could have been held
to account by the judiciary. "There would have been a different mechanism of
implementation," he said.
"VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE"
"The coming period does not at all require armed struggle with the ruler," he
added.
Zumar's cousin Tarek is a leading figure in the Gama'a al-Islamiya -- another
Islamist group that took up arms against the state. He had also been in prison
since 1981.
Their lawyers had been campaigning for their release on the grounds that they
completed their sentences a decade ago.
Considered two of Egypt's most famous political prisoners, they have been guests
on primetime TV, appearing in a string of interviews that have drawn criticism
from secularists who say the pair have been given too much attention.
The Zumars have sought to reassure Egyptians, saying they support rights for
all, including the Christian minority, and declaring past militancy a result of
state oppression.
"Violence breeds violence," said Abboud al-Zumar.
In their village, the Zumars have been receiving a steady stream of
well-wishers, including youths who pose for photos and ask questions about their
time in prison and their views on the meaning of jihad, or Islamic holy
struggle.
They have shown no regret about the Sadat assassination, a killing driven by
grievances including the crackdown he mounted against dissidents, among them
Islamists, and the peace treaty he concluded with Israel in 1979.
"We loved Egypt and we wanted good for it. Today, we love Egypt and we want good
for it," Abboud al-Zumar said.
Having assumed office in the shadow of the Sadat killing, Mubarak saw the
Islamists as a danger throughout his rule. He was himself the target of an
Islamist assassination attempt.
ISLAMIC STATE TO BE DECIDED AT BALLOT BOX
In the 1990s, hostility between the state and the Islamists spilled into a
low-level guerrilla war in which hundreds of people were killed.
The conflict ended in 1997 when the Gama'a al-Islamiya's jailed leadership
declared a ceasefire. Later that year, a Gama'a splinter group massacred 62
people, most of them tourists, at a pharaonic temple in Luxor.
The Zumars say Mubarak's administration stood in the way of at least one
initiative in the 1980s aimed at halting violence.
The specter of militancy suited Mubarak, they say, allowing him to justify
autocratic government and restrict freedoms that have blossomed since he handed
power to the military.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is now steering Egypt's course toward
elections that it hopes will allow it to hand power to an elected government
later this year.
"The climate for armed action is finished and the main reason is the atmosphere
of freedom we are now establishing," said Tarek al-Zumar, still a leading figure
in the Gama'a al-Islamiya.
Enjoying freedom to organize for the first time since the 1970s, the Gama'a
al-Islamiya is now regrouping. It is expected to become part of a more diverse
Egyptian Islamist movement that is currently dominated by the Muslim
Brotherhood.
"Our concern in this period is to anchor the basis of a just political system
which guarantees freedoms and the state of law," said Tarek al-Zumar, who
studied for a law doctorate while in prison.
"The project of establishing the Islamic state as a political model will be
determined by the ballot box ... and the thing that will determine its
continuation in power is the choice of the people," he said.
CAIRO | Sat Mar 19, 2011
12:23am EDT
Reuters
By Marwa Awad
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt holds a referendum on Saturday on
constitutional changes in the first such vote since protests toppled longtime
president Hosni Mubarak.
The referendum, designed to usher in free legislative and presidential
elections, has divided the country's reform movement between those in favor of
amending the constitution and those who want it completely rewritten.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest organized opposition group, and other
Islamists support the amendments.
Other opposition parties and prominent reformists, including prospective
presidential candidates Mohamed ElBaradei and Amr Moussa, oppose them.
A high turnout is expected and the referendum could go a long way to restore
faith in elections, which were marred by violence and vote-rigging under
Mubarak's rule.
"The referendum is an important step from a democratic viewpoint because
Egyptians feel the result is in their hands and no one else's," political
analyst Diaa Rashwan said.
Some 45 million of Egypt's 80 million people are eligible to vote.
"Things will be different from now onwards, no more sham elections, no more
thugs chasing voters away," prospective voter Youssef Ali, 29, said.
"I have never voted in my life because with Mubarak free elections were
impossible. But today my vote will count."
The military council, which took power from Mubarak on February 11 after he
stepped down in the face of mass protests, hopes the changes will pass, enabling
it to hold parliamentary and presidential polls and cede power to an elected
government within months.
It called for a high turnout and said participation in a free electoral process
was more important than the outcome. The army will deploy 37,000 soldiers to
help police forces secure the streets.
Rejecting the amendments will force the council to extend an interim period,
which it wants to keep as short as possible, and to form a new judicial
committee to re-write the constitution.
That scenario could push back a parliamentary election to December, a security
source said, four months later than the September vote the military is planning
at the moment. The presidential election is expected after the parliamentary
one.
The European Parliament said 14 of its members will monitor the referendum and
meet with Muslim Brotherhood members and activists in a short trip to Egypt, the
state-run MENA news agency reported.
Polls open from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. (2 a.m.-1 p.m. ET).
(Additional reporting by Sherine El Madany; Writing by Marwa
Awad; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Factbox: Arabs respond to U.N. resolution on Libya
Fri Mar 18, 2011
10:30am EDT
Reuters
(Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council authorized a no-fly zone over Libya and
"all necessary measures" to protect civilians after Muammar Gaddafi's forces
closed in on Libyan rebels. The Libyan government has declared a ceasefire.
Following are Arab reactions to Thursday's U.N. resolution:
AMR MOUSSA, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE ARAB LEAGUE
"The goal is to protect civilians first of all, and not to invade or occupy. The
resolution is clear on that point. We don't want any side to go too far,
including Libya by attacking the civilian population. Our main task is to
protect the Libyan civilian population. This is our task, this is our goal.
"The Arab League decision was clear, what we need is a no-fly zone and safe
areas."
FAWZI SALLOUKH, FORMER LEBANESE FOREIGN MINISTER
"It was a good and necessary decision to safeguard the stability of Libya ...
From what I can see, some Arab countries will take part in the implementation of
the resolution, but I can't say which ones until they themselves declare it."
AZZAN HUNAIDI, JORDANIAN ISLAMIST ACTIVIST
"I don't think this is military intervention as long as there are no troops or
an occupation of Libya. In the face of these crimes which Gaddafi is committing
against a defenseless people that is moving peacefully to demand changes ... the
least is to stop the air bombardment."
RIYAD AL-NAWAYSEH, JORDANIAN INDEPENDENT OPPOSITION FIGURE
"This intervention gives a pretext to foreign forces to intervene in the Arab
world and it's not acceptable to resort to the foreigner under any pretext...
The most glaring example of the deviation of this behavior was what happened in
Iraq."
RAMI KHOURI, BEIRUT-BASED POLITICAL COMMENTATOR
"People talk of Arab honor, solidarity and dignity. Nobody has trampled on those
things in the last 40 years more than Muammar Gaddafi. If there is a resolution,
Arab consensus and international support and the Libyan people are clearly for
it, then the Arabs should stop being so hypocritical and engage in providing
military, economic, political, diplomatic and humanitarian support ... and end
this nightmare of the Gaddafi regime."
HILAL KHASHAN, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR AT AMERICAN
UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT
"It's not what Arab ruling elites want, it's what the people want ... Libyans in
Benghazi are welcoming the West, they're hoisting the French flag because
(France) recognized the transitional council."
SHI'ITE WOMAN AT MOSQUE IN BAHRAIN
"I'm happy about this. It was the right decision but it came too late. It gives
us optimism that if conditions get worse in Bahrain, we would also get U.N.
help."
SALAH MOHAMED, 64, SUDANESE RETIREE LIVING IN CAIRO
"This military action should not be viewed as a war because they are moving to
stop Gaddafi who wants to wipe out his own people, which is madness."
SAFINAZ MAHMOUD, 58, CAIRO HOUSEWIFE
"I do not want the U.N. forces to remain in Libya after Gaddafi falls ... Egypt
has its own problems now and is trying to overcome the counter-revolution. The
army is busy handling domestic issues, and the time is not suitable for any
intervention by Egypt."
AMIRA MOHAMED, 26, EGYPTIAN BANKER
"If this U.N. military action overthrows Gaddafi, other protesters will be
inspired and encouraged to stage protests to topple their repressive regimes.
But if Gaddafi succeeds in suppressing the rebels ... other Arab protesters will
be deterred from starting revolutions against their autocratic rulers."
KHADEEJA ABU AL-AFW, LEBANESE WOMAN
"I am with freeing the Libyan people but I am against the occupation of Libya by
the United States and others under the auspices of the United Nations."
JOHN SFAKIANAKIS, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT BANQUE SAUDI FRANSI
"I don't think Saudi Arabia will get involved in strikes (on Libya) as they
exhibit moderation and I don't think it will be in their best interests. The
issue right now for Saudi Arabia is to address the political economy and the
situation in Bahrain. I don't think it would be prudent to open many fronts at
this stage."
KHALID AL-DAKHIL, SAUDI POLITICAL ANALYST
"I don't think Saudi Arabia will get involved. Firstly, it is too far from Libya
and secondly the Saudis have their hands full with events in the Gulf, with Oman
and Bahrain. Libya's neighbors would be in a better position to do that --
Morocco, Egypt or Algeria."
JEDDAH RESIDENT
"They are doing exactly what they did in Iraq, using an excuse to get into where
they want to go ... This will be more bloodshed and another occupation of an
Arab country, one that America cannot afford."
(Compiled by Alistair Lyon, reporting by Sherine El Madany and Edmund Blair in
Cairo, Erika Solomon in Bahrain, Jason Benham in Riyadh, Asma Alsharif in
Jeddah, Alistair Lyon and Yara Bayoumy in Beirut and Suleiman al-Khalidi in
Amman)
Analysis: Arabs not eager to join military action in Libya
BEIRUT | Fri Mar 18, 2011
10:11am EDT
Reuters
By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Arab states that urged the imposition of a U.N.-backed
no-fly zone on Libya showed little enthusiasm Friday for joining any military
action there -- even before Libya surprised the world by declaring a ceasefire.
The wary Arab response to a U.N. Security Council resolution authorizing "all
necessary measures" to protect civilians from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's
forces reflected Arab queasiness about Western military intervention in another
Muslim country.
But to some, any Arab failure to put military muscle behind verbal opposition to
Gaddafi would smack of hypocrisy.
"People talk of Arab honor, solidarity and dignity. Nobody has trampled on those
things in the last 40 years more than Muammar Gaddafi," said Beirut-based
commentator Rami Khouri.
"If there's a resolution -- Arab consensus and international support and the
Libyan people are clearly for it -- then the Arabs should stop being so
hypocritical and engage in providing military, economic, political, diplomatic
and humanitarian support ... and end this nightmare of the Gaddafi regime."
He was speaking before Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa said his country
had declared a ceasefire to protect civilians and comply with the United Nations
resolution adopted overnight.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said the U.N. resolution aimed to protect
civilians, not to authorize any invasion of Libya.
The participation of any Arab country in any action would be discussed
bilaterally because the League's own resolution backing a no-fly zone had not
specified other steps by states.
"We don't want any side to go too far, including Libya, by attacking the
civilian population. Our main task is to protect the Libyan civilian
population," Moussa told Reuters in Cairo.
The Cairo-based League suspended Libya over its handling of the revolt and
called for a no-fly zone on March 12, a step that was crucial in securing U.S.
and European backing for the move.
Only Qatar had vowed to join "international efforts aimed at stopping the
bloodshed and protecting civilians in Libya," but the Gulf state did not say if
this would include military help.
EGYPT ARMING REBELS?
The Wall Street Journal reported that Egypt's military had begun sending weapons
across the border to Libyan rebels with Washington's knowledge. There was no
official confirmation.
In Lebanon, which co-sponsored the U.N. resolution with the United States,
Britain and France, former Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh welcomed the measure
as a means to stabilize Libya.
"From what I can see, some Arab countries will take part in the implementation
of the resolution, but I can't say which ones until they themselves declare it,"
he said.
Saudi Arabia, at the forefront of last week's call by the Gulf Cooperation
Council for a no-fly zone in Libya, appeared unlikely to contribute to any
military effort there.
"I don't think Saudi Arabia will get involved in this," said Saudi political
analyst Khalid al-Dakhil.
"Firstly, it is too far from Libya and secondly, the Saudis have their hands
full with events in the Gulf, with Oman and Bahrain. Libya's neighbors would be
in a better position to do that -- Morocco, Egypt or Algeria," he added.
Saudi Arabia dispatched 1,000 soldiers to neighboring Sunni-ruled Bahrain Monday
to help the authorities suppress pro-democracy protesters, mostly from the
island's Shi'ite majority.
"It would be slightly strange if the Saudis got involved in Libya because they
are sending their troops to Bahrain to put down a revolt," Khouri said.
In Bahrain, a Shi'ite woman entering a mosque for Friday prayers said the U.N.
resolution was correct, if late. "It gives us optimism that if conditions get
worse in Bahrain, we would also get U.N. help," she said, declining to be named.
PUBLIC OPINION DIVIDED
Opinion on the streets of Cairo was divided between sympathy for Libyan rebels
and suspicion of Western motives.
A 27-year-old accountant who gave her name only as Mina said the Libyans, not
outsiders had to liberate their country.
"This could turn into a form of colonization that would lead into chaos, and we
already saw that happen in Iraq."
But Salah Mohamed, 64, said: "This military action should not be viewed as a war
because they are moving to stop Gaddafi who wants to wipe out his own people,
which is madness."
Safinaz Mahmoud, 58, a housewife, said she backed military action under the U.N.
umbrella to defeat the "tyrant" Gaddafi, but said Egypt's army was too busy with
domestic issues to help.
"Egypt has its own problems now and is trying to overcome the
counter-revolution," she said, referring to perceived threats to the movement
that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.
In Beirut, distrust of the United Nations also vied with a desire to save Libyan
rebels from Gaddafi's advancing forces.
"The Security Council is usually biased but there's no other way to save the
Libyan people except through its intervention," said Sawsan Jouni, 40, while
having her hair styled.
Hilal Khashan, political science professor at the American University of Beirut,
said Arab sentiment favored international intervention in Libya, partly because
Libyans had asked for it.
"It's not what Arab ruling elites want, it's what the people want," he said.
(Additional reporting by Jason Benham in Riyadh, Asma Alsharif in Jeddah, Yara
Bayoumy in Beirut, Sherine El Medany in Cairo and Erika Solomon in Bahrain;
editing by Philippa Fletcher)
American Official Warns That Qaddafi May Lash Out With New
Terrorist Attacks
March 18, 2011
The New York Times
By ERIC SCHMITT
The United States is bracing for possible Libyan-backed terrorist attacks,
President Obama’s top counterterrorism official said on Friday.
The official, John O. Brennan, said that the military attacks on civilians
ordered in recent days by Libya’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, coupled with
his track record as a sponsor of terrorism, had heightened worries within the
administration as an international coalition threatens military action against
Libya.
Asked if American officials feared whether Colonel Qaddafi could open a new
terrorism front, Mr. Brennan said: “Qaddafi has the penchant to do things of a
very concerning nature. We have to anticipate and be prepared for things he
might try to do to flout the will of the international community.”
Among the threats the United States is focusing on is Libya’s stockpile of
deadly mustard gas, he said.
Mr. Brennan spoke to reporters after addressing the Brennan Center for Justice
at New York University Law School in Manhattan. The center is named for Supreme
Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr., who died in 1997 and was no relation to
Mr. Brennan.
After renouncing its nascent nuclear weapons program in 2003, and enjoying a
brief interlude as Washington’s partner in combating Al Qaeda’s branch in North
Africa, Libya has reverted to its status as a pariah government whose
intelligence operatives blew up Pan Am Flight 103 above Scotland in 1988.
Mr. Brennan acknowledged that the political turmoil in the Middle East in the
past three months had breached or weakened counterterrorism cooperation among
some Arab countries. But he added that the United States had taken unspecified
steps in recent months to offset its losses in that area. Among those steps may
be more electronic eavesdropping, spy satellite coverage and more informants on
the ground, independent intelligence specialists said.
“We’ve been able to weather some of these storms, but clearly there have been
effects,” he said. “We need to work hard to ensure that the cooperation that
existed before with certain countries continues.”
Mr. Brennan declined to provide details of what the United States was doing or
which countries it was focusing on, but it is no secret that American spy
agencies have worked closely with counterparts in countries like Egypt, Tunisia
and Yemen.
“When politics change, frequently security and intelligence services that are
dedicated to thwarting transnational terrorist groups, they remain largely
unaffected because their focus is on those elements that are trying to undermine
the security and stability of the country,” Mr. Brennan said.
He said American spy services and law enforcement agencies had worked with some
Arab counterparts in recent weeks to disrupt terrorist plots that allied
officials had been tracking even before the political tumult in the region
boiled over. He said a number of jailed terrorism suspects or sympathizers in
those countries who had been released or escaped in the recent chaos had been
“rounded up and brought back.”
But not all. Egypt’s governing military council released the younger brother of
Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda’s second in command, from prison on Thursday after
holding him for a decade on charges of conspiracy to overthrow the government.
Asked about the release of this prominent prisoner, Mr. Brennan barely disguised
his frustration with Egyptian military officials. “I’m concerned if any
individual who is involved in terrorism is released either intentionally or as a
result of the lack of security,” he said.
Any terrorism threat from Colonel Qaddafi would join a regional roster that
includes affiliates of Al Qaeda in Yemen and North Africa, which may seek to
carve out a safe haven in Libya’s south. “Al Qaeda has a demonstrated track
record of trying to exploit political vacuums, political change or uncertainty
in a number of countries,” Mr. Brennan said. “The situation in Libya now will be
no exception.”
Obama Takes Hard Line With Libya After Shift by Clinton
March 18, 2011
The New York Times
By HELENE COOPER and STEVEN LEE MYERS
WASHINGTON — In a Paris hotel room on Monday night, Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton found herself juggling the inconsistencies of American
foreign policy in a turbulent Middle East. She criticized the foreign minister
of the United Arab Emirates for sending troops to quash protests in Bahrain even
as she pressed him to send planes to intervene in Libya.
Only the day before, Mrs. Clinton — along with her boss, President Obama — was a
skeptic on whether the United States should take military action in Libya. But
that night, with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces turning back the rebellion
that threatened his rule, Mrs. Clinton changed course, forming an unlikely
alliance with a handful of top administration aides who had been arguing for
intervention.
Within hours, Mrs. Clinton and the aides had convinced Mr. Obama that the United
States had to act, and the president ordered up military plans, which Adm. Mike
Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hand-delivered to the White House
the next day. On Thursday, during an hour-and-a -half meeting, Mr. Obama signed
off on allowing American pilots to join Europeans and Arabs in military strikes
against the Libyan government.
The president had a caveat, though. The American involvement in military action
in Libya should be limited — no ground troops — and finite. “Days, not weeks,” a
senior White House official recalled him saying.
The shift in the administration’s position — from strong words against Libya to
action — was forced largely by the events beyond its control: the crumbling of
the uprising raised the prospect that Colonel Qaddafi would remain in power to
kill “many thousands,” as Mr. Obama said at the White House on Friday.
The change became possible, though, only after Mrs. Clinton joined Samantha
Power, a senior aide at the National Security Council, and Susan Rice, Mr.
Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, who had been pressing the case for
military action, according to senior administration officials speaking only on
condition of anonymity. Ms. Power is a former journalist and human rights
advocate; Ms. Rice was an Africa adviser to President Clinton when the United
States failed to intervene to stop the Rwanda genocide, which Mr. Clinton has
called his biggest regret.
Now, the three women were pushing for American intervention to stop a looming
humanitarian catastrophe in Libya.
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, one of the early advocates for military
action in Libya, described the debate within the administration as “healthy.” He
said that “the memory of Rwanda, alongside Iraq in ’91, made it clear” that the
United States needed to act but needed international support.
In joining Ms. Rice and Ms. Power, Mrs. Clinton made an unusual break with
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who, along with the national security
adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, and the counterterrorism chief, John O. Brennan, had
urged caution. Libya was not vital to American national security interests, the
men argued, and Mr. Brennan worried that the Libyan rebels remained largely
unknown to American officials, and could have ties to Al Qaeda.
The administration’s shift also became possible only after the United States won
not just the support of Arab countries but their active participation in
military operations against one of their own.
“Hillary and Susan Rice were key parts of this story because Hillary got the
Arab buy-in and Susan worked the U.N. to get a 10-to-5 vote, which is no easy
thing,” said Brian Katulis, a national security expert with the Center for
American Progress, a liberal group with close ties to the administration. This
“puts the United States in a much stronger position because they’ve got the
international support that makes this more like the 1991 gulf war than the 2003
Iraq war.”
Ever since the democracy protests in the region began three months ago, the
Obama administration has struggled to balance America’s national security
interests against support for democratic principles, a struggle that has left
Mr. Obama subject to criticism from all sides of the political spectrum. And by
taking a case-by-case approach — quickly embracing protesters in Tunisia,
eventually coming around to fully endorse their cause in Egypt, but backing the
rulers in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen — the administration at times has
appeared inconsistent. While calling for Colonel Qaddafi’s ouster,
administration officials indicated Mr. Obama was more concerned with unfolding
events in Yemen, Bahrain and Egypt than with removing the Libyan leader.
There was high drama right up to the surprising Security Council vote on
Thursday night, when the ambassador for South Africa, viewed as critical to
getting the nine votes needed to pass the resolution, failed to show up for the
final vote, causing Ms. Rice to rush from the chamber in search of him.
South Africa and Nigeria — along with Brazil and India — had all initially
balked at authorizing force, but administration officials believed they had
brought the Africans around. Mr. Obama had already been on the phone pressing
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa to support the resolution, White House
officials said. Eventually, the South African representative showed up to vote
yes, as did the Nigerian representative, giving the United States one vote more
than required. Brazil and India, meanwhile, joined Russia, China and Germany in
abstaining.
The pivotal decision for Mr. Obama came on Tuesday though, after Mrs. Clinton
had called from Paris with news that the Arab governments were willing to
participate in military action. That would solve one of Mr. Gates’s concerns,
that the United States not be viewed on the Arab street as going to war against
another Muslim country.
Mrs. Clinton “had the proof,” one senior administration official said, “that not
only was the Arab League in favor, but that the Emirates were serious about
participating.”
During a meeting with Mr. Obama and his top national security aides — Ms. Rice
was on video teleconference from New York; Mrs. Clinton from Paris — Ms. Rice
sought to allay Mr. Gates’s concern that a no-fly zone by itself would not be
enough to halt Colonel Qaddafi’s progress, recalled officials attending the
meeting.
“Susan basically said that it was possible to get a tougher resolution” that
would authorize a fuller range of options, including the ability to bomb Libyan
government tanks on the road to Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in the east,
administration official said.
“That was the turning point” for Mr. Obama, the official said. The president was
scheduled to go to a dinner with military veterans that night; he told his aides
to draw up military plans. And he instructed Ms. Rice to move forward with a
broader resolution at the Security Council.
She already had one ready — drawn up the week before, just in case, officials
said. Besides asking for an expanded military campaign, Ms. Rice loaded up the
resolution with other items on the American wish list, including the
authorization to use force to back an arms embargo against Libya. “We knew it
would be a heavy lift to get any resolution through; our view was we might as
well get as much as we could,” Ms. Rice said in a telephone interview.
On Wednesday at the Security Council, Russia put forward a competing resolution,
calling for a cease-fire — well short of what the United States wanted. But the
French, who had been trying to get a straight no-fly resolution through,
switched to back the tougher American wording. And they “put it in blue” ink —
U.N. code for calling for a vote.
“It was a brilliant tactical move,” an American official said. “They hijacked
the text, which means it could be called to a vote at any time.”
On Thursday, the South Africans, Nigerians, Portuguese and Bosnians — all of
them question marks — said they would support the tougher resolution.
Even after getting the Security Council endorsement, Mr. Obama made clear that
the military action would be an international effort.
“The change in the region will not and cannot be imposed by the United States or
any foreign power,” the president told reporters at the White House on Friday.
“Ultimately, it will be driven by the people of the Arab world.”
March 18,
2011
The New York Times
By ELISABETH BUMILLER, DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and ALAN COWELL
WASHINGTON
— President Obama ordered Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi on Friday to implement a
cease-fire immediately and stop all attacks on Libyan civilians or face military
action from the United States and its allies in Europe and the Arab world.
In one of the most forceful statements he has issued from the White House Mr.
Obama said that his demands were not negotiable: Colonel Qaddafi had to pull his
forces back from major cities in Libya or the United States and its allies would
stop him. The president said that he was forced to act because Colonel Qaddafi
had turned on his own people and had shown, Mr. Obama said, “no mercy on his own
citizens.”
The president said that with the passage on Thursday night of a United Nations
Security Council resolution authorizing military action against Colonel Qadaffi
to protect Libyan civilians, the United States would not act alone, and in fact
that France, Britain and Arab nations would take the lead. That is the clear
desire of the Pentagon, which has been strongly resistant to another American
war in the Middle East. Mr. Obama said flatly that American ground forces would
not enter Libya.
“Muammar Qaddafi has a choice,” he said. “The United States, the United Kingdom,
France and Arab states agree that a cease-fire must be implemented immediately.
That means all attacks against civilians must stop.”
“Let me be clear, these terms are not negotiable,” Mr. Obama said in the East
Room of the White House. “If Colonel Qaddafi does not comply with the
resolution, the international community will impose consequences. The resolution
will be enforced through miitary action.”
He set no deadline and gave no hint when the military action would commence, but
said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would travel to Paris on
Saturday to consult with allies on further action. An allied military strike
against Libya did not appear to be imminent.
Specifically, Mr. Obama said, Colonel Qaddafi must stop his troops from
advancing against the town of Benghazi and pull them back from other cities, and
water, electricity and gas supplies must be allowed in, as well as other
humanitarian aid.
He spoke as the United States, Britain and France pushed forward against Libya
on Friday as they declared that a cease-fire abruptly announced by Colonel
Qaddafi’s government was not enough, and as reports came in from the region of
continuing attacks in some places.
Mrs. Clinton, echoing remarks hours earlier by Prime Minister David Cameron of
Britain, said in Washington on Friday morning that the United States would be
“not responsive or impressed by words.”‘ She said that the allies would “have to
see actions on the ground, and that is not yet at all clear.”
Those actions included, she said, a clear move by Colonel Qaddafi’s forces away
from the east, where they were threatening a final assault on the rebels’
stronghold in Benghazi.
Only hours after the United Nations Security Council voted late Thursday to
authorize military action and a no-fly zone, Libya executed a remarkable
about-face on Friday, saying it would call an “immediate cease-fire and the
stoppage of all military operations” against rebels seeking to oust Colonel
Qaddafi.
But people fleeing the eastern city of Ajdabiya said government forces were
still bombing and conducting other assaults at 4 p.m. local time.
A spokesman for the rebels, Mustafa Gheriani, said that attacks continued
against both that city and Misurata, in the west, according to news agency
reports. “He’s bombing Misurata and Ajdabiya from 7 a.m. this morning until
now,” Mr. Gehriani said, according to The Associated Press.
The announcement of cease-fire came from Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa after
Western powers said they were preparing imminent airstrikes to prevent Libyan
forces from launching a threatened final assault on Benghazi.
In London, Mr. Cameron told the BBC of Colonel Qaddafi: “We will judge him by
his actions, not his words.”
Mr. Cameron told the House of Commons that the British Air Force would deploy
Tornado jets and Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes, “as well as air-to-air refueling
and surveillance aircraft.”
“Preparations to deploy these have already started, and in the coming hours they
will move to airbases from where they can take the necessary action,” Mr.
Cameron said.
The Typhoon is a fighter jet armed with air-to-air missiles for shooting down
airplanes, as well as laser-guided bombs for targets on the ground. The Tornado
is especially well suited for attacking runways — that was its first combat
mission, in the Persian Gulf war, when the planes swooped in to bomb runways in
Iraq, facing thick anti-aircraft defenses that shot down several of the planes.
In Paris the French foreign ministry spokesman, Bernard Valero, said that
Colonel Qaddafi “begins to be afraid, but on the ground, the threat hasn’t
changed.” He added, “We have to be very cautious.”
Earlier François Baroin, a French government spokesman, told RTL radio that
action would come “rapidly,” perhaps within hours, after the United Nations
resolution authorized “all necessary measures” to protect civilians.
But he insisted the military action was “not an occupation of Libyan territory.”
Rather, he said, it was intended to protect the Libyan people and “allow them to
go all the way in their drive, which means bringing down the Qaddafi regime.”
Other French officials said that Mr. Baroin was speaking to heighten the warning
to Colonel Qaddafi, and that in fact any military action was not that imminent,
but was still being coordinated with allies including Britain and the United
States.
Obama administration officials said that allied action against Libya had to
include the participation of Arab countries and were insistent, as one senior
official put it, that the red, green and black of Arab nations’ flags be
prominent in military operations. As of Thursday night, the United States said
it had firm commitments from both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to
contribute fighter jets to the effort, and that Jordan had also agreed to take
part, although to what extent was not yet clear by Friday.
The administration also spoke to Egyptian officials about taking part but Egypt
— the leading military power of the Arab world — was concerned that air strikes
could endanger some million Egyptians who live in Libya. In addition, protesters
only last month toppled the 30-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak and
Egypt’s transitional military government remains fragile.
Administration officials said it remained unclear on Friday morning which
country would take the lead as the air traffic controller of an operation that
might involve waves of fighter jets from multiple countries in the skies above
Libya, taking turns or at the same time. But the United States was expected to
play a major role, as were Britain and France.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Mr. Cameron will attend the meeting in
Paris on Saturday with European, European Union, African Union and Arab League
officials to discuss Libya, Mr. Sarkozy’s office announced. Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations will also take part, his office said.
Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, which had supported the
no-fly proposal, told Reuters on Friday: “‘The goal is to protect civilians
first of all, and not to invade or occupy.”
Apparently pulling back from the increasingly bellicose statements that came as
recently as Thursday from Colonel Qaddafi and his son Seif al-Islam, Mr. Koussa
— his hands shaking as he read a statement at a news conference in Tripoli on
Friday afternoon — said the Qaddafi government would comply with the United
Nations resolution by halting combat operations.
“Libya has decided an immediate cease-fire and the stoppage of all military
operations,” Mr. Koussa said. He did not take questions.
It was not immediately possible to confirm that military action. Mr. Koussa did
not say whether the Libyan government intended to restore water, electricity and
telecommunications to Misurata.
He expressed “our sadness” that the imposition of a no-fly zone would also stop
commercial and civilian aircraft, saying such measures “will have a negative
impact on the general life of the Libyan people.”
And he called it “strange and unreasonable” that the resolution authorized the
use of force against the Qaddafi government, “and there are signs that this may
indeed take place.” Mr. Koussa called the resolution a violation of Libyan
sovereignty as well as of the United Nations charter, and repeated a call for a
“fact-finding mission” to evaluate the situation on the ground.
Government minders told journalists in Tripoli on Friday that they could not
leave their hotel for their own safety, saying that in the aftermath of the
United Nations vote, residents might attack or even shoot foreigners. The extent
of the danger was unclear.
Shortly before Mr. Koussa spoke Mr. Cameron told Parliament in London: “This is
about protecting the Libyan people and saving lives. The world has watched
Qaddafi brutally crushing his own people. We expect brutal attacks. Qaddafi is
preparing for a violent assault on Benghazi.”
“Any decision to put the men and women of our armed forces into harm’s way
should only be taken when absolutely necessary,” he said. “But I believe that we
cannot stand back and let a dictator whose people have rejected him kill his
people indiscriminately. To do so would send a chilling signal to others.”
“The clock is now ticking,” Mr. Cameron said. “We need a sense of urgency
because we don’t want to see a bloodbath in Benghazi.” Responding to criticism
from members of Parliament about getting Britain involved militarily, Mr.
Cameron retorted: “To pass a resolution like this and then just stand back and
hope someone in the region would enforce it is wrong.”
Before the cease-fire was announced, the Libyan leader signaled his intentions
in Benghazi.
“We will come house by house, room by room,” Colonel Qaddafi said Thursday on a
radio call-in show before the United Nations vote. It’s over. The issue has been
decided.” To those who continued to resist, he vowed: “We will find you in your
closets. We will have no mercy and no pity.”
In a television broadcast later, he added: “The world is crazy, and we will be
crazy, too.”
Before Mr. Koussa’s announcement of a cease-fire, forces loyal to Colonel
Qaddafi unleashed a barrage of fire against Misurata, news reports said, while
his son was quoted as saying government forces would encircle Benghazi.
Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic control agency, said in Brussels on Friday
that Libya had closed its airspace. It was not immediately clear whether
loyalist troops had begun honoring the cease-fire.
The Security Council vote seemed to have divided Europeans, with Germany saying
it would not take part while Norway was reported as saying it would. In the
region, Turkey was reported to have registered opposition, but Qatar said it
would support the operation.
On Thursday night in New York, after days of often acrimonious debate played out
against a desperate clock, and with Colonel Qaddafi’s troops within 100 miles of
Benghazi, the Security Council authorized member nations to take “all necessary
measures” to protect civilians, diplomatic code words calling for military
action.
Diplomats said the resolution — which passed with 10 votes, including that of
the United States, and abstentions from Russia, China, Germany, Brazil and India
— was written in sweeping terms to allow for a wide range of actions, including
strikes on air-defense systems and missile attacks from ships.
Benghazi erupted in celebration at news of the resolution’s passage. “We are
embracing each other,” said Imam Bugaighis, spokeswoman for the rebel council in
Benghazi. “The people are euphoric. Although a bit late, the international
society did not let us down.”
A Pentagon official said Thursday that decisions were still being made about
what kind of military action, if any, the United States might take with the
allies against Libya. The official said that contingency planning continued
across a full range of operations, including a no-fly zone, but that it was
unclear how much the United States would become involved beyond providing
support.
That support is likely to consist of much of what the United States already has
in the region — Awacs radar planes to help with air traffic control should there
be airstrikes, other surveillance aircraft and about 400 Marines aboard two
amphibious assault ships in the region, the Kearsarge and the Ponce.
The Americans could also provide signal-jamming aircraft in international
airspace to muddle Libyan government communications with its military units.
Elisabeth Bumiller reported from Washington, David D. Kirkpatrick from
Tripoli, and Alan Cowell from Paris. Reporting was contributed by Kareem Fahim
from eastern Libya; Dan Bilefsky from the United Nations; Mark Landler from
Washington; Steven Erlanger from Paris; Julia Werdigier from London; Helene
Cooper from Washington; and Steven Lee Myers from Tunis.
March 18,
2011
The New York Times
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
PORT SAID,
Egypt — When a few youthful organizers of the Tahrir Square revolution brought
their democracy road show to this graceful Suez Canal port one recent evening,
an animated throng rushed the tented stage as the speeches ended.
Some merely wanted to touch the Tahrir icons or take snapshots with them. But
many shouted questions in a cacophony that drowned out the chill wind rattling
the palm fronds on Port Said’s main square:
¶“Are you worried about Egypt’s future?”
¶“Why are the ruling generals so slow in implementing the people’s demands?”
¶“Are the counterrevolutionaries a threat?”
¶“Are you running for president?”
¶“What about reforming the education system?
¶“What about a political party?”
The organizers could not possibly answer them all, but one of them, Amr Hamzawy,
a 43-year-old political science professor, responded to the question about a
political party. “We are still searching for a good name for a party and an idea
that attracts people’s attention,” he said.
A nucleus of about 15 men and women who helped guide the popular movement that
brought down President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11 find themselves in an
unanticipated position. To prevent more established political groups like the
Muslim Brotherhood from filling the political vacuum they helped to create, they
are trying to establish at least one national political organization in minimal
time.
Scenes like the one here unfold almost nightly up and down Egypt. “They did well
on Facebook, but now they have to take it onto the streets,” said Michael
Meunier, a political organizer and consultant.
The Tahrir activists inspired millions to pour into the streets in protest, of
course. But they are finding that translating a protest movement into supporters
who will give them seats in Parliament and a permanent voice in national affairs
is a far more grinding task.
They have no headquarters — a few camp out in a backpacker hostel in what was
once a glamorous apartment house in downtown Cairo that has seen its best days.
They meet endlessly in smoke-filled rooms, and sweat to find an original name.
They have little money, although offers are coming in. Perhaps most difficult of
all, they have to figure out how to present a largely leftist, secular ideology
into a language that will appeal to a conservative, religious society.
“If you want to change the political life, you have to transform it from one
about individuals to one about institutions,” Nasser Abdel Hamid, 28, told a
rapt audience of about 40 well-to-do men and women in a Cairo hair products
salon converted to a political salon for the evening. Instead of the top-down
model prevalent in the Arab world, he said, “this is the only chance to have a
party that grows from the bottom up.”
The young activists demur when asked if they represent the Egyptian people or
even the young. Their main goal is to complete the unfinished work of the
uprising: to dismantle the entire authoritarian system.
They face their first electoral test on Saturday, when the ruling Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces has scheduled a national referendum on eight
constitutional amendments to lay the groundwork for legislative elections in
June and a presidential vote in August. At nightly rallies the activists try to
muster the “no” vote, to create public pressure to delay the process by at least
six months to give the democratic forces more chance to organize.
Barring that, they are preparing a national list of candidates for the
parliamentary vote, though they do not expect to be able to pull their disparate
supporters into an organized party by then.
The young liberals have split into two groups, divided mostly by economic
issues. The more left-wing have come up with a few planks focused on social
justice issues, like pushing for a minimum wage of $200 a month, said Sally
Moore, 32, a half-Irish, half-Egyptian Copt psychiatrist. (It is currently about
$35 and widely ignored.)
Joined by labor organizers, human rights groups and others, this faction
announced Friday that it had formed the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. In a
show of hands, “Egyptian” won over 10 alternatives, including “the Square,” a
reference to Tahrir.
They struggle to define a party that can appeal broadly to all Egyptians,
including minority groups like the Copts, the Nubians and the Sinai Bedouins.
Take the idea of being a secular party. In recent years, the jihadists have
successfully distorted the word “ilmani,” a direct translation of “secular,”
into a synonym for “kufr” or infidel. “The word secular does not go over so
well,” sighed Ms. Moore. Instead, they tell audiences that their goal is a
modern, civil, democratic country.
This tension dates back over 100 years, to the birth of Egypt’s independence
movement. Tarek Heggy, a businessman also organizing a party, loves to talk
about the experience of Ahmed Lutfi Sayyid, among Egypt’s pioneer advocates of
Western-style democracy. During the 1923 campaign for Parliament, his opponents
started a whispering campaign that “democracy” was a Western term for
“wife-swapping.” So at a major rural rally, the audience stormed out after a
farmer asked Mr. Lutfi Sayyid whether he was a democrat and he proudly declared,
“Yes!”
That such ignorance persists prompted the April 6 Movement, one of some 10
groups in the Revolution Youth Coalition, to try to become a political watchdog
organization rather than a party. The group plans to assess government
performance and press for democracy.
“We must launch political education campaigns to pave the way for a sound
political life here,” Ahmed Maher, one of the movement’s founders, told a recent
rally in Ismailia, another Suez Canal city. He said that people in another
governorate asked him how to convince Cairo to replace its Mubarak-appointed
governor. “My question to them was: Why don’t you go to his office and kick him
out?”
The Muslim Brotherhood, operating sub rosa since it was banned in 1954, seems
the most prepared for the five elections that are expected over the next 18
months. Its members radiate barely suppressed glee that their moment has come,
even though they have promised not to contest the presidency and to seek only 35
percent of the parliamentary seats.
Egypt still lacks a political party law, but the Ikhwan, as the members of the
Brotherhood are known in Arabic, threw themselves a huge coming-out bash last
weekend in Cairo anyway. Spotlights raked the sky and swooshed across a huge
banner hung on the front of a conference hall that read “Muslim Brotherhood
Celebration” in Arabic and English. Formerly such a sign would have been a
recipe for instant arrest.
Given widely voiced trepidation that they are ayatollahs in sheep’s clothing,
the Ikhwan remain on message about national unity.
“The Muslim Brotherhood welcomes all social and political segments: Muslims,
Christians and all political powers,” said Khairat al-Shatir, the keynote
speaker, who recently emerged from jail. “We welcome all those who were
oppressed under Mubarak. We must join hands to solve the problems of this
country.”
With some six religious parties in the making, however, even the Ikhwan face
competition for their base. The others range from a party built around Amr
Khaled, a populist Muslim preacher, a sort of Egyptian Pat Robertson, to Gamaa
al-Islamiya, a militant group previously dedicated to Mr. Mubarak’s violent
demise.
Outside the religious faction, it is a jumble. “Every five people are forming a
party,” said Mr. Meunier, the political consultant. He said he recently
convinced three groups — the Youth Revolution Party, the Nile Party and the
Egyptian Dream Party — to combine forces. Former members of Mr. Mubarak’s
rejected National Democratic Party are said to be working the words “youth” and
“Jan. 25” (the date of the first demonstration in Tahrir Square that culminated
less than three weeks later in Mr. Mubarak’s fall) into their new party names.
Egyptians bubble with curiosity about politics, even if the absence of laws and
experience means the political sphere exists in a kind of twilight.
“I cannot believe myself that we are standing on the banks of the Nile in Cairo,
meeting an Egyptian citizen who decided to run for president,” roared Mohamed
el-Sawy, the impresario behind a popular cultural center, just before Amr
Moussa, a former foreign minister and longtime secretary general of the Arab
League, held the first town-hall-style meeting of his nascent presidential
campaign.
The crowd roared back, and Mr. Sawy was soon begging for calm, suggesting that
perhaps 100 people should not try to grab the microphone at once to ask
questions. The area in front of the stage became a giant mosh pit, with young
Egyptians hurling accusatory questions at Mr. Moussa about his entire career.
Many find the process bewildering.
“All of a sudden, you are expected to have a democratic opinion when you never
practiced democracy — in fact before, you were expected not to,” said Zeinab
Farouq, 33, who attended the Moussa event.
In Port Said and elsewhere, audience members kept repeating that they came to
see the Tahrir Square veterans because, having succeeded in toppling Mr.
Mubarak, they expect the young activists to rescue them from the political
wilderness.
“We trust their opinion,” said Mohamed el-Sayed, 31, a middle-school English
teacher. “These people are the leaders, the teachers who will lead us to a new
democratic life in Egypt.”
Amr Emam contributed reporting from Port Said, and Mona El-Naggar from
Cairo.
BAGHDAD –
In the southern port city of Basra, the slums of Sadr City, the divided city of
Kirkuk in the north and other areas across Iraq, followers of Moktada al-Sadr,
the populist Shiite cleric, flooded the streets after Friday prayers to denounce
the violence unleashed on Shiite demonstrators in Bahrain and the presence of
Saudi troops there.
In Kirkuk demonstrators chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia, asking why, if it
can send troops to Bahrain, it hasn’t sent an army to “free Palestine,” while a
preacher in a mosque in Sadr City, the vast Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, said
volunteers were ready to go to Bahrain to help their fellow Shiites.
Saudi troops rolled into Bahrain Tuesday to help quash the demonstrations there.
They moved in as part of a force of 2,000 under the aegis of the Gulf
Cooperation Council, an alliance of Sunni rulers.
“No, No to America! No, no to Israel! No, no to the occupier!” the preacher,
Sayid Muhanad al-Moussawi, exhorted his followers. Sheik Maytham al-Jumairi, a
member of the Bahraini opposition, took part in the Sadr City demonstrations,
saying, “there are real massacres in Bahrain, it is a bath of blood.”
The protests were a show of Shiite solidarity against the Sunni ruling class of
Bahrain with echoes of Iraq’s own sectarian history – the American invasion here
upended decades of oppression by a Sunni government over an impoverished Shiite
majority – but the demonstrations were also weighted with deeper meaning for
Iraq’s own current politics.
In his ability to move his supporters from the mosque to the street, Mr. Sadr is
perhaps the most pivotal Iraqi public figure aside from the prime minister, and
the Friday protests were another signal to the political class here of Mr.
Sadr’s power. Members of parliament affiliated with Mr. Sadr, who once led an
anti-American insurgency and whose militia fought the Iraqi army as recently as
2008, were instrumental in ending the months-long deadlock after last year’s
election. In January Mr. Sadr returned to Iraq from his exile in Iran, although
he has since gone back to Qum, Iran, to carry on his religious studies. Last
month, when thousands of protesters decried corruption and demanded better
services, including basics like electricity, in gatherings inspired by the
protests in Egypt and Tunisia and organized in part on Facebook, Mr. Sadr told
his supporters to give the government time, and they stayed off the streets.
Instead, Mr. Sadr gave the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki six
months to improve services before he would direct his supporters to demonstrate
against the government. “By slogans, by speech, Moktada is able to push people,”
said Ibrahim al-Sumydai, an Iraqi political analyst.
The political nightmare for Mr. Maliki, who largely owes his second term as
prime minister to the support of the Sadrist bloc, is mobs of Sadr supporters
demonstrating against the Iraqi government.
“We’d find maybe a million people demonstrating against the Iraqi government,”
said Mr. Sumydai.
Mr. Sadr’s political power and his steadfast anti-Americanism – to this day
Sadrist lawmakers refuse to speak with American diplomats – has also complicated
negotiations between the United States government and Mr. Maliki over what the
American role will be in Iraq after the end of 2011, when all American troops
are scheduled to leave. The conundrum is this: most diplomats and security
officials on both sides agree that Iraq will still need American forces for
training and advising well beyond 2011, but it is so politically risky for Mr.
Maliki to maintain an American presence that he may not ask for one, as he must
under the current security agreement that binds the two nations.
The upshot is that domestic politics here has severely hampered negotiations
over the future Iraqi-American relationship.
The protests across Iraq on Friday, which has lately become a day for protest as
well as prayer across the Middle East, appeared to eclipse, at least in sheer
size, the large demonstration last month that was billed as a “Day of Rage.” The
protests in Iraq on Friday were largely peaceful.
The issue of Bahrain has exposed Iraq’s still-evident sectarian tensions. Sunni
mosques were largely silent on the issue Friday, and in the Sunni-dominated
Anbar province, perhaps a few hundred gathered to demand the release of
detainees, but they were dispersed by security forces for not having permission
to gather.
Both sides seized on the sectarian implications of Bahrain: In the holy Shiite
city of Najaf, in southern Iraq, an estimated 3,000 people gathered, some of
them chanting, “Saudi is a signal for sectarianism!”
Sheik Ali Hulael, a preacher at a Sunni mosque in Anbar, criticized the
pro-Bahrain demonstrations as being motivated by sectarianism and described them
as a diversion from the issues facing Iraq. “The timing of these demonstrations
in Iraq now is really bad,” he said. “The situation can really be escalated
again in Iraq if they do not put an end to it.”
Duraid Adnan
and Zaid Thaker contributed reporting from Baghdad; Iraqi employees of The New
York Times contributed reporting from Basra, Kirkuk, Najaf, Sadr City and Anbar
Province.
March 18,
2011
The New York Times
By ETHAN BRONNER
MANAMA,
Bahrain — Bahrain on Friday tore down the protest movement’s defining monument,
the pearl at the center of Pearl Square, a symbolic strike that carried a sense
of finality. The official news agency described the razing as a facelift.
“We did it to remove a bad memory,” Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheik Khalid bin
Ahmed al-Khalifa, said at a news conference. “The whole thing caused our society
to be polarized. We don’t want a monument to a bad memory.”
The destruction of the monument was part of a chain of events that, in a matter
of days, turned Bahrain from a symbol of hopeful pro-democratic protest into one
of violent repression.
On Friday, the family of Ahmed Farhan, 30, who was killed on Tuesday by security
forces in Sitra, an activist Shiite village south of the capital, received the
body of their son, with its shotgun pellet wounds to the back and a gaping hole
in the skull. The family had been trying to bring him home to Sitra and bury him
there, but permission had been withheld.
In Bahrain, the Arab spring turned to winter in less than a week. Martial law
was declared on Tuesday. It is now illegal to hold rallies. Tanks remain outside
the central hospital and Saudi troops are here as back-up.
Still, on Friday the Farhan family buried their son and, despite the ban on
protests and gatherings, some 5,000 people helped them do it. Sitra, once an
island, is now linked to the mainland by landfill and causeway. It turned into a
sea of raised fists and tearful wailing, piety and political indignation, the
core of what has been driving the Bahraini protests since mid-February.
The Farhan family is poor, like many in this village and like many of the 70
percent of the country that is Shiite. Ahmed Farhan, who never married, lived
with his family in a ramshackle structure around a courtyard, having lost his
job as a fisherman some years ago after harbor construction made fishing
impossible. He was taking part in a protest demonstration when he was killed.
The battle to turn this kingdom into a democracy has also been a battle of class
and ethnicity — poor majority Shiites against the Sunni elite and royal family.
It is also an international struggle, with Saudi Arabia on one side, Iran on the
other.
Mr. Farhan’s body arrived hours after it was scheduled and came in a van owned
by a local aluminum kitchen supply company. The authorities claimed they had no
driver to bring it back, so the family had to ask neighbors at the last minute
for help.
The body was swathed in white cloth, the face exposed, the skull covered in
netting to hide the wound. The enormous bullet removed from his head was shown
around. As the body was slid from the van, there were shouts of “God is great.”
It was washed and placed in a coffin draped in the Bahraini flag and covered
with his photographs. Posters of the martyr were widely distributed.
“There is no god but God,” those watching chanted.
Prayers were recited outside the mosque attached to the cemetery. Hundreds of
men crowded the main street. Women, draped nearly all in black, stood to one
side.
After praise of God and his prophet, the leader turned to politics and the
Bahraini royal family. “Down with the Khalifas!” he shouted to thunderous
repetition. “Occupation forces out! Death to the Saudis! Death to Khalifa!
Freedom for Bahrain!”
They added: “With our soul and our blood, we will redeem you, o martyr.”
A military helicopter circled high in the sky, and at the village entrance,
troops and tanks awaited trouble. None came.
Shiite preachers at noon prayer across this island kingdom called for ongoing
nonviolence. “The peaceful approach has been our choice since Day 1,” Sheik Issa
Qassem, the country’s top Shiite clergyman, said in his sermon. But rage and
fear are spreading fast, and nonviolence is likely to be a victim.
Basel Hamad, a 35-year-old information technology manager, lives in Sitra as did
his parents and grandparents, and he took part in the funeral march on Friday.
He has three daughters and is wondering whether to move to Europe given what has
happened in recent days.
“When this started, I thought the king would accept the changes,” he said. “Now
the people are very angry.”
Ali Hbel, a taxi driver injured in the police action at Pearl Square on
Wednesday, was also at the funeral. He showed his splintered arm and pointed at
the coffin of Mr. Farhan and said, “This is not going to go for free.”
Yemen
calls state of emergency after protest massacre
SANAA | Fri
Mar 18, 2011
12:32pm EDT
Reuters
By Mohamed Sudam and Mohammed Ghobari
SANAA
(Reuters) - Yemen's beleaguered president declared a state of emergency on
Friday after at least 25 protesters were killed at an anti-government rally,
saying armed groups rather than the police were behind the violence.
Medical sources and witnesses had told Reuters that Yemeni security forces and
unidentified snipers had opened fire on the crowds after Muslim prayers in the
capital, Sanaa.
The interior ministry put the death toll at 25, but doctors said 42 people had
died and at least 300 were injured.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, struggling to maintain his 32-year grip on power
in the impoverished nation, denied that his police were to blame and said the
deaths happened during clashes between various protesters.
He declared a state of emergency, saying this meant that ordinary citizens would
not be able to carry weapons.
Yemen, which is home to an active al Qaeda cell, is the second country in the
region to announce emergency rule this week, following Bahrain's introduction of
martial law on Tuesday which was followed by a major crackdown on protesters.
However, it was not immediately clear if Saleh had the military power to impose
such an order, with the Arabian Peninsula nation deeply divided and wracked by
weeks of civil disturbance that have left well over 70 people dead.
Witnesses said security forces at first fired into the air on Friday to prevent
anti-government protesters from marching out of the encampment in front of Sanaa
University, which has become the focal point of the demonstration movement.
After the initial gunfire, the shooting continued and the toll mounted. It was
not clear who was responsible for the deaths, with witnesses saying firing
appeared to come from different directions.
"The police were not present and did not open fire. The clashes happened between
citizens and demonstrators," Saleh told a news conference. "It is clear there
are armed elements among the demonstrators."
AMERICAN
CONDEMNATION
The United States, which has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against al Qaeda,
condemned the bloodshed and repeated its call for a negotiated end to the
political crisis.
"The violence needs to end, negotiations need to be pursued in order to reach a
political solution," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters after
meeting Ireland's deputy prime minister in Washington.
However, after the deaths, Yemen's opposition said there was no way they could
negotiate with Saleh's government.
"We condemn these crimes," said Yassin Noman, rotating president of Yemen's
umbrella opposition group.
"There is no longer any possibility of mutual understanding with this regime and
he (Saleh) has not choice but to surrender authority to the people."
Tens of thousands of Yemenis had gathered in Sanaa for competing prayers and
protesters accused plainclothes snipers of firing on the crowds from rooftops.
"The youth stormed one of the buildings and arrested seven snipers who were
firing on the demonstrators," said activist Mohamed al-Sharaby.
Saleh has promised to step down in 2013 and offered a new constitution giving
more powers to parliament, but he has refused his critics' main demand to quit
immediately.
A string of Saleh's allies have recently defected to the protesters, who are
frustrated by rampant corruption and soaring unemployment. Some 40 percent of
the population live on $2 a day or less in Yemen, and a third face chronic
hunger.
(Writing by
Cynthia Johnston and Crispian Balmer, editing by Samia Nakhoul)
Syrian
forces kill three protesters in southern city
DERAA,
Syria | Fri Mar 18, 2011
7:00pm EDT
Reuters
By Suleiman al-Khalidi
DERAA,
Syria (Reuters) - Syrian security forces killed three protesters in the southern
city of Deraa on Friday, residents said, in the most violent response to
protests against Syria's ruling elite since revolts swept through the Arab
world.
The demonstrators were taking part in a peaceful protest demanding political
freedoms and an end to corruption in Syria, which has been ruled under emergency
laws by President Bashar al-Assad's Baath Party for nearly half a century.
Smaller protests took place in the central city of Homs and the coastal town of
Banias, home to one of Syria's two oil refineries, activists said.
A crowd briefly chanted slogans for freedom inside the Umayyad Mosque in Old
Damascus before security forces closed in.
Syrian authorities, which stepped up arrests of dissidents since the Arab
uprisings began in January, have a history of crushing dissent. In 1982, Assad's
father sent troops to put down an rebellion in the city of Hama, killing
thousands.
In Deraa on Friday, three to four thousand people leaving the city's Omari
mosque after midday prayers chanted "God, Syria, Freedom" and slogans accusing
the president's family of corruption, residents said.
Security forces fired water canon at them, and then opened fire with live
ammunition. Protesters threw stones in response and set fire to a car and a
police kiosk, one witness said.
Hussam Abdel Wali Ayyash, Akram Jawabreh and Ayhem al-Hariri were shot dead by
security forces who were reinforced with troops flown in by helicopters. Scores
were wounded in the attack in the old quarter of Deraa near the border with
Jordan.
An official statement said "infiltrators" tried to take advantage of what it
termed as a gathering in Deraa by burning cars and trying to cause chaos, which
required intervention by security forces. The statement did not mention any
casualties.
The United States, which under President Barack Obama has sought engagement with
Assad, condemned the attack on protesters and urged the government to allow
people to demonstrate freely.
"Those responsible for today's violence must be held accountable," White House
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
"SITUATION
IS DANGEROUS"
After two or three hours of clashes, the city was quieter at nightfall, with a
heavy security presence. Stones lay on the road where protesters and security
forces clashed, and people said they were not allowed to visit the wounded in
hospital.
Residents said relatives of the dead had refused to accept condolences, a sign
in tribal Arab society they might seek vengeance for their loss.
"The situation is dangerous, the people feel under pressure," said a lawyer and
activist who attended part of the protest. "If (authorities) hand over the
bodies there will be demonstrations. People will call for revenge."
Citing economic liberalization and a hard line against Israel, Syria's rulers
have indicated they believe they are immune from uprisings which have toppled
entrenched leaders in Egypt and Tunisia. But small non-violent protests this
week challenged their authority for the first time in years.
A video aired on Facebook showed what it described as demonstrators in Deraa
shouting slogans earlier in the day against Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf, a
cousin of Assad's who owns several large businesses.
"Makhlouf you thief!" shouted dozens of demonstrators marching in the streets.
Deraa is home for thousands of refugees who escaped a water crisis that has hit
eastern Syria over the past six years, resulting in the displacement of up to
one million people. Experts say state mismanagement of resources has been behind
the crisis, together with consecutive droughts.
The city is an administrative center of the Hauran plateau, which used to be a
Middle East bread basket. The region has also been affected by diminishing water
levels, with yields per hectare falling by a quarter in Deraa last year.
In the capital Damascus, plain-clothed security forces wielding batons dispersed
150 demonstrators on Wednesday who had gathered outside the Interior Ministry to
demand the release of political prisoners.
Assad, who succeeded his father 11 years ago, is also head of the Baath party,
which has been in power since 1963, banning opposition and imposing the
emergency law still in force.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said Syria's authorities were among the
worst violators of human rights in 2010, jailing lawyers, torturing opponents
and using violence to repress ethnic Kurds.
Bashar's father, Hafez al-Assad, sent troops into the city of Hama in 1982 to
finish off the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Around 30,000 people were
killed and much of the old quarter of the city was razed to the ground.
In 2004, Kurds in eastern Syria, many of whom are not allowed Syrian
citizenship, mounted violent demonstrations that spread in Kurdish regions
across Syria, resulting in 30 deaths.
(Additional
reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Damascus; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Libya
declares ceasefire after West threatens attack
TRIPOLI |
Fri Mar 18, 2011
11:17am EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina
TRIPOLI
(Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's government said it was declaring a unilateral
ceasefire in its offensive to crush Libya's revolt, as Western warplanes
prepared to attack his forces.
But government troops pounded the rebel-held western city of Misrata on Friday,
killing at least 25 people including children, a doctor there told Reuters.
Residents said there was no sign of a ceasefire.
And in the rebel-controlled east, the government declaration was dismissed as a
ruse or a sign Gaddafi was desperate.
"We have to be very cautious. He is now starting to be afraid, but on the ground
the threat has not changed," a French spokesman said. Britain, like France a
strong advocate of armed action, said it would judge Gaddafi by "actions, not
his words."
Turkey, an opponent of military action, said the ceasefire should go into effect
immediately.
"We decided on an immediate ceasefire and on an immediate stop to all military
operations," Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa told reporters in Tripoli on
Friday, after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorizing military
action.
He called for dialogue with all sides. Gaddafi had vowed to show "no mercy, no
pity" on Thursday, and rebels pleaded for foreign aid before time ran out.
The ceasefire offer was probably prompted by Gaddafi's realization that air
strikes could seriously degrade the Libyan military, said John Drake, senior
risk consultant at AKE.
"The Gaddafi regime may be willing to negotiate," he told Reuters. "With talk of
strikes against military convoys he may be concerned about a significant attack
on his military." Western officials said military action could include France,
Britain, the United States and one or more Arab countries.
"Britain will deploy Tornadoes and Typhoons as well as air-to-air refueling and
surveillance aircraft," Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament.
"Preparations to deploy these aircraft have already started and in the coming
hours they will move to airbases from where they can start to take the necessary
action."
Gulf state Qatar said it would take part but it was unclear whether that meant
military help, while Italy said it would make military bases, equipment and
troops available.
Denmark and Canada said they planned to contribute warplanes. France is to host
talks on Saturday to discuss the action with British, Arab League and other
leaders.
People in Misrata said the rebel-held western city was under heavy bombardment
by Gaddafi's forces on Friday.
"They are bombing everything, houses, mosques and even ambulances," Gemal, a
rebel spokesman, told Reuters by phone from the last big rebel stronghold in the
west.
Another rebel named Saadoun said: "We believe they want to enter the city at any
cost before the international community starts implementing the U.N. resolution.
"We call on the international community to do something before it's too late.
They must act now."
A fighter named Mohammed said tanks were advancing on the city center. "All the
people of Misrata are desperately trying to defend the city," he said.
Al Arabiya also said the rebel-held western town of Zintan was attacked by
rockets on Friday. The fighting reports could not be independently confirmed.
Authorities were preventing Tripoli-based foreign journalists from reporting
freely.
"HOUSE BY
HOUSE"
In rebel-controlled Tobruk in the east, there was scorn for the ceasefire call.
On Thursday, Gaddafi had vowed "no mercy and no pity."
"See how things change from night to day," said Ashraf Afgair. "They are just
trying to calm international opinion. It's a desperate attempt by Gaddafi to
cling to power."
Idris Khamis said: "They have reached the end of the line. That's why they are
accepting the U.N. decision. Otherwise it's the same fate for Gaddafi as Hitler
and Mussolini."
But Gaddafi's troops did not fulfill his threat to overrun the rebel base of
Benghazi overnight after their rapid counter-offensive brought them to within
100 km (60 miles) of the eastern city.
The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution endorsing a no-fly zone and "all
necessary measures" to protect civilians from Gaddafi's forces.
Libya's military airfields are mostly strung along the Mediterranean coast, as
are its population centers. Gaddafi's ground troops are advancing from the west
along the main coast road toward Benghazi in the east.
While other countries or NATO may play roles in military action, U.S. officials
expect the United States with its extensive air and sea forces to do the heavy
lifting in a campaign likely to include air strikes on tanks and artillery.
Ten of the Council's 15 member states voted in favor of the resolution, while
Russia, China and Germany were among five that abstained. The resolution was
co-sponsored by France, Britain, Lebanon and the United States.
Apart from military action, it expands sanctions against Gaddafi and associates.
Among firms whose assets it orders frozen are the Libyan National Oil Corp and
the central bank.
Rebel National Council head Mustafa Abdel Jalil told Al Jazeera television air
strikes, beyond the no-fly zone, were essential to stop Gaddafi.
Some in the Arab world sense a Gaddafi victory could turn the tide against
pro-democracy movements that have unseated autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt and
inspired mass protests in Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere.
RETALIATION
Gaddafi's Defense Ministry warned of swift retaliation, even beyond Libyan
frontiers, against hostile action.
"Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic
in the Mediterranean Sea to danger and civilian and military (facilities) will
become targets of Libya's counter-attack," the ministry said in a statement.
Foreign military action could include no-fly and no-drive zones, a maritime
exclusion zone, jamming army communications and intelligence help. Air strikes
would almost certainly be launched to knock out Libyan radar and air defenses.
"Mission creep" worries some. Western powers, chastened by protracted wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, would be wary of getting drawn into any ground action in
Libya.
Germany said it saw "considerable dangers and risks." NATO member Turkey also
said it opposed the operation.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said the U.N. resolution was aimed at protecting
civilians and not did not authorize invasion, and said he did not want any side
"to go too far."
Gaddafi would be guilty of war crimes if he carries out a threat to attack
civilians in Benghazi, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor Luis
Moreno-Ocampo said.
Oil prices fell after the ceasefire announcement. Brent crude was 69 cents lower
at $114.21 by 1352 GMT (9:52 a.m. EST).
(Additional
reporting by a Reuters reporter in Benghazi, Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Mariam
Karouny and Tarek Amara in Tunisia, Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip at the
United Nations and John Irish in Paris; writing by Andrew Roche; editing by
Giles Elgood)
MANAMA |
Fri Mar 18, 2011
10:57am EDT
By Erika Solomon and Lin Noueihed
MANAMA
(Reuters) - Shouting "down with King Hamad," thousands of Bahrainis buried an
activist killed in a crackdown on mainly Shi'ite protesters that has angered
Iran and raised tension in the world's largest oil-exporting region.
Mourners carrying pictures of activist Ahmed Farhan, killed on Wednesday,
followed a car carrying his flag-covered coffin.
No security forces were present, but a helicopter buzzed overhead and it was
unclear if police would disperse the mourners in line with a blanket ban on
public gatherings.
"This is a big loss... They can say what they want about us but we are
non-violent. We will never use violence," said Yousif Hasan Ali, who was in jail
with Farhan, 30, for over two years.
"They may silence this generation but another will rise up to demand revenge for
the blood that was shed now."
Bahrain has arrested seven opposition leaders and driven pro-democracy
demonstrators from the streets after weeks of protests that prompted the king to
declare martial law and led to the arrival of troops from fellow Sunni-ruled
Saudi Arabia.
Three protesters died in the security sweep. Three policemen were also killed,
hit by cars driven by demonstrators.
Sheikh Issa Qassim, Bahrain's most influential Shi'ite cleric, said in his
Friday sermon that Gulf troops would have been better off helping Palestinians
in Gaza than entering Bahrain and thanked those who died or resigned in the
uprising.
"The violence of the authorities has created a deep, wide and dangerous wound
between the government and people," he said.
"The government wants to break our will so we give up our calls for substantial
and meaningful reforms, but they will never break our will. They can use tanks
and planes to smash our bodies but will never break our souls and our will for
reforms."
No troops or police could be seen as thousands of worshippers stood outside Draz
mosque after Qassim's sermon, calling for Gulf troops to leave and vowing to
fight what they called this "corrupt and oppressive regime."
"Peninsula Shield Out," they called, and "Bahrain is free."
The protest lasted less than half an hour and worshippers dispersed to attend
the funeral.
Showing its desire to avoid new violence, the largest Shi'ite party Wefaq told
its followers by text message not to provoke police and not to use slogans that
offend the royals.
SHI'ITE
SYMPATHY PROTESTS
Shaking their fists, mourners shouted "death to al-Khalifa" and "death to Al
Saud," referring to the Sunni ruling families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
"I'm not really afraid, the worst is that I get killed and it would be for
Bahrain, right? Better to die trying to get our freedom," said Haitham, 45, a
Shi'ite from Sitra.
The crackdown in Bahrain has provoked sympathy protests by Shi'ites across the
region, including in top oil exporter Saudi Arabia which has sent over 1,000
troops to its tiny neighbor.
Shi'ite Muslim power Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon,
complained to the United Nations and asked other neighbors to join it in urging
Saudi Arabia to withdraw.
"How could one accept a government to invite foreign military forces to suppress
its own citizens?" Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a letter to
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, also addressed to the Arab League.
In a sign of rising tension, Bahrain replied: "Iran's move does not serve
security and stability in the Gulf region."
More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most are campaigning for a
constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the overthrow of the
monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran, separated from
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by only a short stretch of Gulf waters.
Analysts say the intervention of Saudi Arabia, which worries that protests by
Bahraini Shi'ites will incite its own Shi'ite minority, could worsen already
poor ties with Iran.
One woman praying at Draz said she was Sunni: "The government is making this a
sectarian issue. I see the way my friends are treated and I came here to show
solidarity."
Oil jumped more than $1 to $116 on fears of rising geopolitical tensions in the
Middle East and North Africa.
Capital flight is starting to put pressure on Bahrain's currency and threaten
its position as a Gulf financial center.
Most Western nations have urged their citizens to leave.
The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across
Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has
stunned Bahrain's Shi'ites.
Opposition groups have said they will press on with peaceful resistance,
standing outside their homes at certain hours, flying the flag from their
rooftops and calling "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great," from rooftops at night.
It was not clear what else they could do without provoking a confrontation.
(Additional
reporting by Robin Pomeroy in Iran and Andrew Hammond in Dubai; Editing by Tim
Pearce)
SANAA
(Reuters) - Yemeni security forces and unidentified snipers opened fire at a
protest in Sanaa after Muslim prayers Friday, killing at least 30 people and
wounding 200 others, medical sources and witnesses told Reuters.
Security forces at first fired into the air to prevent anti-government
protesters from marching after prayers from their headquarters at Sanaa
University.
After the initial gunfire, the shooting continued and the toll mounted. It was
not immediately clear who was responsible for the deaths, with witnesses saying
firing appeared to come from different directions.
Tens of thousands of Yemenis had gathered in Sanaa for competing prayers and
protests as businessmen floated a proposal to end a standoff between President
Ali Abdullah Saleh and protesters demanding he step down immediately.
"The situation is tragic. There are dozens killed and hundreds wounded. We
couldn't send relief," said Abdul-Qawi al-Shumeiri, secretary-general of the
doctor's syndicate.
Protesters accused plainclothes snipers of firing from rooftops, and said they
had detained several of the gunmen.
"The youth stormed one of the buildings and arrested seven snipers who were
firing on the demonstrators," said activist Mohamed al-Sharaby.
Yemen, next door to top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, has been rocked by weeks of
demonstrations that have undermined Saleh's grip on power. Tens of thousands of
protesters were also gathered in cities across Yemen, from the southern port
city of Aden to Hodeida in the west.
The United States, which has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against a dynamic al
Qaeda wing based in Yemen, has condemned the bloodshed and backed the right for
peaceful protest, but has insisted only dialogue can end the political crisis.
Saleh has promised to step down in 2013 and offered a new constitution giving
more powers to parliament, but he has refused his critics' main demand to quit
immediately.
A string of Saleh's allies have recently defected to the protesters, who are
frustrated by rampant corruption and soaring unemployment. Some 40 percent of
the population live on $2 a day or less in Yemen, and a third face chronic
hunger.
(Reporting by
Mohammed Ghobari and Mohamed Sudam; Writing by Cynthia Johnston, editing by
Sonya Hepinstall)
MANAMA |
Fri Mar 18, 2011
6:54am EDT
Reuters
By Erika Solomon and Lin Noueihed
MANAMA
(Reuters) - Hundreds of Bahrainis gathered on Friday to bury an activist killed
in a crackdown on mainly Shi'ite Muslim protesters that has angered Iran and
raised tension in the world's largest oil-exporting region.
Mourners carrying black flags and pictures of activist Ahmed Farhan, killed on
Wednesday, waited at the cemetery for his body to arrive. No security forces
were present, but a helicopter buzzed overhead and it was unclear if police
would disperse the mourners under a blanket ban on public gatherings.
Funerals of protesters killed in a crackdown last month drew thousands of
mourners who shouted anti-government slogans, but opposition leaders have
advised people this time to avoid clashing with security forces and disperse if
asked to do so.
"This is a big loss... They can say what they want about us but we are
non-violent. We will never use violence," said Yousif Hasan Ali, who was in jail
with Farhan, 30, for over two years.
"They may silence this generation but another will rise up to demand revenge for
the blood that was shed now."
Bahrain has arrested seven opposition leaders and driven pro-democracy
demonstrators from the streets after weeks of protests that prompted the king to
declare martial law and led to the arrival of troops from fellow Sunni-ruled
Saudi Arabia.
Three protesters died in the security sweep. Three policemen were also killed,
hit by cars driven by demonstrators.
The crackdown has provoked sympathy protests by Shi'ites across the region,
including in top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, which has sent more than 1,000
troops into its tiny neighbor.
Shi'ite Muslim power Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon,
has complained to the United Nations and asked other neighbors to join it in
urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw.
"How could one accept a government to invite foreign military forces to suppress
its own citizens?" Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a letter to
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, also addressed to the Arab League.
In a sign of rising tension, Bahrain replied: "Iran's move does not serve
security and stability in the Gulf region."
Iran's call was echoed on Thursday by Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of Bahrain's
largest Shi'ite Muslim party Wefaq.
Sheikh Issa Qassim, Bahrain's most influential Shi'ite cleric, said in his
Friday sermon that Gulf troops would have been better off helping Palestinians
in Gaza than entering Bahrain and thanked those who died or resigned in the
uprising.
"Despite these policies of arrests and fabrications against our people we will
continue and we will be patient," he said.
FRIDAY
PRAYERS
No troops or police could be seen as thousands of worshippers stood outside Draz
mosque after Qassim's sermon, calling for Gulf troops to leave and vowing to
fight what they called this "corrupt and oppressive regime."
"Peninsula Shield Out," they called, and "Bahrain is free."
The protest was over in less than half an hour and worshippers dispersed to
attend the funeral.
More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most are campaigning for a
constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the overthrow of the
monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran, located across a
short stretch of Gulf waters from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Analysts say the intervention of Saudi Arabia, which worries that protests by
Bahraini Shi'ites will incite its own Shi'ite minority, could worsen already
poor ties with Iran.
One woman praying at Draz said she was Sunni: "The government is making this a
sectarian issue. I see the way my friends are treated and I came here to show
solidarity."
Oil jumped more than $1 to $116 on fears of rising geopolitical tensions in the
Middle East and North Africa.
Capital flight is starting to put pressure on Bahrain's currency and threaten
its position as a Gulf financial center.
Most Western nations have urged their citizens to leave.
The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across
Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has
stunned Bahrain's Shi'ites.
Opposition groups have said they will press on with peaceful resistance,
standing outside their homes at certain hours, flying the flag from their
rooftops and calling "Allahu Akbar," or "God is Great," from rooftops at night.
It was not clear what else they could do without provoking a confrontation.
Showing its desire to avoid new violence, Wefaq told its followers by text
message not to provoke security forces by carrying sticks and not to use slogans
that offended the royal family or the king.
Those detained on Wednesday night included Haq leader Hassan Mushaima and Wafa
leader Abdel Wahhab Hussein, who had led calls for the overthrow of the royal
family, Wefaq officials said.
Wefaq had limited its demands to constitutional and political reform. Also
arrested was Ibrahim Sharif, the Sunni head of the secular Left party Waad that
shared Wefaq's demands.
(Additional
reporting by Robin Pomeroy in Iran and Andrew Hammond in Dubai; Editing by Tim
Pearce)
TRIPOLI/UNITED NATIONS | Fri Mar 18, 2011
12:54am EDT
By Maria Golovnina and Patrick Worsnip
TRIPOLI/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations authorized military
strikes to curb Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, hours after he threatened to
storm the rebel bastion of Benghazi overnight, showing "no mercy, no pity."
"We will come. House by house, room by room," Gaddafi said in a radio address to
the eastern city late on Thursday.
Al Jazeera television showed thousands of people listening to the speech in a
central Benghazi square, then erupting in celebration after the U.N. vote,
waving anti-Gaddafi tricolors and chanting defiance of the man who has ruled for
four decades.
Fireworks burst over the city and gunfire rang out.
The U.N. Security Council, meeting in emergency session, passed a resolution
endorsing a no-fly zone to halt government troops now around 100 km (60 miles)
from Benghazi. It also authorized "all necessary measures" -- code for military
action -- to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces.
But time was clearly running short for the city that has been the heart of
Libya's month-old revolution.
French diplomatic sources said military action could follow within hours, and
could include France, Britain and possibly the United States and one or more
Arab states; but a U.S. military official said no immediate U.S. action was
expected.
While other countries or NATO may play roles in military action, U.S. officials
expect the United States with its extensive air and sea forces would do the
heavy lifting in a campaign that may include airstrikes on tanks and artillery.
Gaddafi warned Benghazi residents that only those who lay down their arms before
his advancing troops would be spared the vengeance awaiting 'rats and dogs'.
"It's over. The issue has been decided," Gaddafi said. "We are coming
tonight...We will find you in your closets.
"We will have no mercy and no pity."
AIR STRIKES
Residents said the Libyan air force unleashed three air raids on the city of
670,000 on Thursday and there has been fierce fighting along the Mediterranean
coastal highway.
Ten of the Council's 15 member states voted in favor of the resolution, with
Russia, China and Germany among the five that abstained. There were no votes
against the resolution, which was co-sponsored by France, Britain, Lebanon and
the United States.
Apart from military action, it expands sanctions against Gaddafi and associates
imposed last month. Among firms whose assets it orders frozen are the Libyan
National Oil Corp and the central bank.
U.S. President Barack Obama called British and French counterparts David Cameron
and Nicolas Sarkozy and agreed to coordinate closely on their next steps.
Libya said the resolution, which also demands a ceasefire by government forces,
was not worth the paper it was written on.
Rebel National Council head Mustafa Abdel Jalil told Al Jazeera television air
strikes, beyond the no-fly zone, were essential to stop Gaddafi.
"We stand on firm ground. We will not be intimidated by these lies and claims...
We will not settle for anything but liberation from this regime."
It was unclear if Gaddafi's threat to seize the city in the night was anything
more than bluster. But at the very least it increased the sense that a decisive
moment had arrived in an uprising that only months ago had seemed inconceivable.
Some in the Arab world sense a Gaddafi victory could turn the tide in the
region, weakening pro-democracy movements that have unseated autocrats in
Tunisia and Egypt and raised mass protests in Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere.
Gaddafi's Defense Ministry warned of swift retaliation, even beyond Libyan
frontiers, to any military action against the oil-exporting nation.
"Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic
in the Mediterranean Sea to danger and civilian and military (facilities) will
become targets of Libya's counter-attack," the ministry said in a statement.
RETALIATION
John Drake, senior risk consultant at UK-based consultancy AKE said he did not
think Gaddafi would strike against oil facilities or oil companies. "He would be
hurting himself."
"We don't think they have the capability to impose a no-fly zone over the whole
country immediately, although they could try to impose one over Benghazi and
maybe also Tripoli," he said.
Proposals for action could include no-fly and no-drive zones, a maritime
exclusion zone, jamming army communications and intelligence help. Air strikes
would almost certainly be launched to knock out Libyan radar and air defenses.
An Italian government source told Reuters Italy was ready to make its military
bases available. The airbase at Sigonella in Sicily, which provides logistical
support for the United States Sixth Fleet, is one of the closest NATO bases to
Libya.
Past no-fly zones have had mixed success.
The U.N. imposed a no-fly zone over Bosnia in the 1990s, although some analysts
say the measure did nothing to stop massacres such as the 1995 slaughter of more
than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the town of Srebrenica.
Former British foreign minister David Owen saw the vote as reflecting a serious
division in NATO and the EU, with Germany abstaining and declaring that the
venture carried "considerable dangers and risks."
"It's very late for this no-fly zone," Owen said. "Gaddafi's forces are very
close to Benghazi and may now push on."
The resolution followed a sharp shift in tone by the United States, which had
resisted calls to military action. Diplomats said Washington's change of mind
was influenced by an appeal to action by the Arab league and the prospect of a
Gaddafi government flush with oil wealth fomenting unrest in the region.
"Mission creep" poses a serious danger. Western powers, chastened by protracted
wars in two other Muslim countries, Afghanistan and Iraq, would be wary of
getting drawn into any ground action in Libya.
Rebels have retreated over the last two weeks as Gaddafi, dubbed the 'mad dog of
the Middle East' by president Ronald Reagan in 1986, has brought air power and
heavy armor to bear.
Residential areas of Ajdabiyah, a strategic town on the coast road to Benghazi,
were the scene of heavy fighting on Thursday and around 30 people were killed,
Al Arabiya reported.
On the approaches to Ajdabiyah, burned-out cars lay by the roadside while Libyan
government forces showed the foreign media artillery, tanks and mobile rocket
launchers -- much heavier weapons than those used by the rebels.
In Libya's third city, Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, rebels
and residents said they were preparing for a new attack by Libyan troops, who
had shelled the coastal city overnight. A government spokesman said Gaddafi's
forces expected to be in control of Misrata by Friday morning.
(Additional reporting by a Reuters reporter in Benghazi, Michael Georgy in
Tripoli, Mariam Karouny and Tarek Amara in Tunisia, Louis Charbonneau and
Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations, John Irish in Paris; Writing by Ralph
Boulton; Editing by Michael Roddy)
LONDON — For years I watched a “no-fly zone” in Bosnia. I watched Bosnian
Muslims being slaughtered as NATO patrolled the skies. The no-fly zone was
created by the United Nations Security Council in October 1992. The Srebrenica
massacre took place in July 1995. Enough said.
The Bosnian no-fly zone was an attempt to assuage Western consciences after the
Serb killing spree against Muslims in the first six month of the war. It was not
about saving lives: Lifting the grotesque arms embargo on Bosnia might have
achieved that. It was about allowing politicians in Washington and Paris to feel
they’d done something, however feeble, about genocide.
Having witnessed hypocrisy most foul in Bosnia — the West, in Margaret
Thatcher’s words, became “accomplice to a massacre” — I refuse to will similar
hypocrisy on the brave resistance fighters of Benghazi who face Muammar
el-Qaddafi’s superior tanks, now moving relentlessly eastward. No-fly zones are
for the birds.
The real question must be put up-front if the West’s Bosnian shame, its
smokescreen of useless agitation, is not to get a Libyan re-run: Should
President Barack Obama lead a coordinated, Arab League-backed Western military
intervention in Libya to stop Qaddafi?
That’s a tough question. I would have found it easy right after Bosnia, when —
like Leon Wieseltier of the The New Republic, but unlike him now — I was a
passionate interventionist. I don’t today.
Life must be lived forward but can only be understood backward, as Kierkegaard
noted. He might have added: “And if not, you’re in trouble.” Iraq and
Afghanistan have provided powerful lessons in the cost of facile planning (or
none), the ease of going in, the agony of getting out, and the limits of Western
firepower.
But there’s another historical lesson. Rwanda paid the price for the botched
U.S. intervention in Somalia. The 1994 Rwandan genocide took place as America
did nothing in part because the fiasco of Somalia disinclined the United States
to intervene. Can we then allow the fiasco of Iraq to prevent a Western
intervention in Libya as the Qaddafi clan delivers “rivers of blood”?
It’s a prosaic exercise, but let’s set forth arguments for and against a Western
military intervention:
Against:
1) The riveting moral power of the Arab Spring comes from its homegrown quality.
This is about Arabs overcoming fear to become agents of their own transformation
and liberation. Nothing would more quickly poison this movement at its
wellspring than Western colonialism in new form (that’s how Qaddafi will portray
it, and he will have an audience.)
2) U.S. intervention in Libya will reinforce the old argument that America only
gets involved in the Middle East to secure its oil interests. It will end up
hardening regional anti-Americanism.
3) The United States cannot afford a third war in a Muslim country. The very
talk of Western intervention betrays a profound misunderstanding of the West’s
declining power. When the Bosnian war broke out, major Western nations accounted
for about 70 percent of the global economy. Now that figure is just over 50
percent — and falling. The “white man’s burden” is not history; it is ancient
history.
4) Intervention will turn into a long military stalemate that will distract the
West from what must be its core strategic objective: A decent democratic outcome
in Egypt that, with more than 13 times the population of Libya, is the pivot of
the Arab awakening.
5) The legality of any intervention may be dubious.
For:
1) Obama and other Western leaders cannot declare the objective of removing
Qaddafi and then sit idly by as people rising to oust him get massacred. That’s
as criminal as encouraging the Shiites of Iraq to resistance in 1991 and then
watching them be slaughtered by Saddam.
2) Obama’s repeated pledges that he stands for universal human rights will be
shredded if Qaddafi prevails. Just as the bombarded people of Sarajevo deserved
American-backed firepower — which finally proved decisive in 1995 — so do the
people of Benghazi.
3) Qaddafi, like Milosevic, is a weak bully. He’s fighting along a narrow strip
of coastline. His support is shallow. Crater coast roads from warships in the
Mediterranean, jam his communications, provide weapons and money and training to
the ragtag resistance, and he will quickly crumble.
4) The Arab Spring across North Africa will be undercut at a critical juncture
if Qaddafi is allowed to recover. Wounded, a cornered beast, he may then do his
worst.
5) Qaddafi is a mass murderer who brought down Pan Am 103 (270 people aboard)
and UTA 772 (170 aboard), crimes now reconfirmed by his justice minister. He has
slaughtered thousands of his own people over decades. There could scarcely be a
more powerful moral case for the elimination of a leader.
What’s clear to me is that there is no halfway house. Spurn conscience-salving
gestures. The case against going in prevails unless the West, backed and joined
by the Arab League, decides it will, ruthlessly, stop, defeat, remove and, if
necessary, kill Qaddafi in short order. I’m skeptical, even after a vote from
the United Nations authorizing "all necessary measures," that this determination
can be forged. Only if it can be does intervention make sense.
Note: March 18, 2011
This column has been updated to reflect the United Nations vote on Libya.
Instant View: Reaction to U.N. council vote on Libya
LONDON |
Thu Mar 17, 2011
10:22pm EDT
Reuters
LONDON
(Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council voted on Thursday to authorize a no-fly
zone over Libya and "all necessary measures" -- code for military action -- to
protect civilians against leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
Below is a roundup of immediate reaction (new entries marked by asterisk):
* U.S. SENATOR FRANK LAUTENBERG:
"It is welcome news that the Security Council has voted to stop Gaddafi's
slaughter of thousands of Libyan people who are seeking freedom. The madness
employed by Gaddafi's guns, tanks, planes and artillery against innocent men and
women seeking human rights must be stopped immediately."
HERMAN VAN ROMPUY, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT, AND CATHERINE
ASHTON, EU HIGH REPRESENTATIVE:
"We fully endorse the U.N. demand for a complete end to the violence and all
attacks against, and abuses of, civilians, and finding a solution to the crisis.
"We underline the important role of the Arab League and our Arab partners. Their
cooperation is essential and their role is clearly recognized by the Resolution.
"The European Union is ready to implement this resolution within its mandate and
competences."
U.S. SENATORS JOHN MCCAIN, JOHN KERRY AND JOE LIEBERMAN:
"We applaud tonight's action by the U.N. Security Council authorizing 'all
necessary measures' to impose a no-fly zone in Libya and protect civilians and
civilian-populated areas under threat of attack.
"This was an important step on behalf of the people of Libya, but it will only
be as effective as its implementation.
"With Gaddafi's forces moving toward Benghazi, we must immediately work with our
friends in the Arab League and in NATO to enforce this resolution and turn the
tide before it is too late."
JERZY BUZEK, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT:
"It was high time for the Security Council to decide. I am glad and relieved
that the international community has finally taken concrete action to stop
Gaddafi killing his own people. There is no more time to waste to implement the
no-fly zone.
"I commend all the countries that promoted actively a firm reaction of the
international community against the atrocities committed by Gaddafi and his
mercenaries, within the U.N. Security Council and beyond. Now we have to follow
up our words with action."
ANDREW EXUM, FELLOW, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY, ON
HIS BLOG:
"It really does seem like we are going to go to war with another country in the
Arabic-speaking world. Incredible. I should be thankful for the broad
international coalition we have put together, and for the fact that a large
ground invasion is unlikely, but I mainly just have a horrible feeling in the
pit of my stomach."
FORMER BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER MALCOLM RIFKIND (TO BBC):
"I'm absolutely delighted. Without action of this kind, Benghazi would have been
a bloodbath. By the standards of the last 20 years, this is a remarkable vote.
This is a tremendous morale booster for Libyans, not just in Benghazi."
FORMER BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER DAVID OWEN:
"It's very late for this no-fly zone. Gaddafi's forces are very close to
Benghazi and may now push on. This is now legal action (but) we know that
Germany is against, it's a very serious division in the European Union, and it's
also a very serious division in NATO."
SHADI HAMID, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AT THE BROOKINGS CENTER
DOHA, ON TWITTER:
"Still far from over. The beginning of what we hope will be the end. Military
action will have to continue until Gaddafi is gone."
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY WILLIAM HAGUE:
Hague said the U.N. resolution was necessary "to avoid greater bloodshed and to
try to stop what is happening in terms of attacks on civilians."
"This places a responsibility on members of the United Nations and that is a
responsibility to which the United Kingdom will now respond."
JOHN DRAKE, SENIOR RISK CONSULTANT, UK-BASED RISK
CONSULTANCY AKE "We don't think they have the capability to impose a no-fly zone
over the whole country immediately, although they could try to impose one over
Benghazi and maybe also Tripoli. The U.N. resolution will probably come as a
morale boost to the defenders of Benghazi. Gaddafi's air strikes haven't been
terribly militarily effective but they have been damaging morale. Gaddafi will
still likely try to advance on Benghazi.
"In terms of retaliation, what could Gaddafi retaliate against? He probably
won't want to retaliate against oil facilities or oil companies because he would
be hurting himself. If there is military intervention, it may be difficult to
evacuate those foreigners still in Tripoli who are mainly media.
"The longer any conflict goes on, the more difficult it will be. Foreign
military action in a Muslim country is always going to be difficult. It's very
difficult to predict what will happen next."
March 17,
2011
The New York Times
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
MANAMA,
Bahrain — These days, Muhammad al-Maskati is a prisoner in his apartment, his
BlackBerry shut off by the government, the streets outside his apartment filled
with tanks, the hospitals around town packed with the wounded.
Mr. Maskati is a 24-year-old human rights activist who not long ago felt so
close to achieving Egypt’s kind of peaceful revolution, through a dogged
commitment to nonviolence. Then the Saudi tanks rolled into Bahrain, and
protesters came under attack, the full might of the state hammering at unarmed
civilians.
“We thought it would work,” Mr. Maskati said, his voice soft with depression,
yet edged with anger. “But now, the aggression is too much. Now it’s not about
the protest anymore, it’s about self-defense.”
The Arab Spring is not necessarily over, but it has run up against dictators
willing to use lethal force to preserve their power. The youth-led momentum for
change stalled first in Libya, where Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi unleashed troops on
his people, and then in Bahrain, where King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa enlisted
Saudi Arabia’s help to crush demonstrations.
Bahrain’s protests were part of a transformation sweeping the Middle East,
propelled by young people free of the fear that held back their parents.
At first, they seemed an unstoppable force, driven by the power of demographics
— about 60 percent of the population across the Arab world is under the age of
30. They started to reshape societies where the young defer to the old, toppling
old hierarchies along with governments.
The movement is still forcing change in places like Morocco and Jordan, guiding
transitions in Egypt and Tunisia, and playing out in countries like Algeria and
Yemen. Young people remain out front, wielding the online tools they grew up
with to mobilize protests, elude surveillance and cross class lines.
This generation’s access to a life without borders through the Internet and
pan-Arab television networks like Al Jazeera exposed them to other societies,
fueling anger at the repressive politics and economic stagnation that deprived
the region’s youth of opportunity and freedom.
It was long anticipated that young people would emerge as a powerful force
because the median age across the Middle East is just 26. But what surprised
many was the absence of religious discourse — and the embrace of pluralism —
from a generation that was more observant than its parents and often sought
solace from despotic rulers and blighted lives in an embrace of Islam.
This generation rejected traditional opposition leaders, like the toothless
political parties that served dictators by providing a veneer of democratic
legitimacy, or the Muslim Brotherhood, which many came to see as having been
co-opted by the status quo.
Young people interviewed across the region echoed the same ideas, tactics and
motivations that set off revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. In Morocco and
Jordan, monarchs have already offered concessions, fueling excitement and hope.
It is a force driven by young men like Tarek al-Naimat, 26, of Jordan, who
joined Facebook a few weeks ago, saying that it was a more powerful tool than
the Muslim Brotherhood.
And Oussama el-Khlifi, 23, who left the Socialist Union of Popular Forces in
Morocco to found a nonideological movement — initially organized on Facebook —
that has already rallied unmatched numbers in the streets of Morocco and pressed
the king to announce plans to modify the Constitution.
“We saw change would not happen through the parties, it would happen through the
people,” Mr. Khlifi said. “We created a Facebook group called Moroccans Discuss
the King, and in four or five days we had 3,000 members.”
The early victories in Tunisia and Egypt emboldened them. “I grew up in a world
where we believed we could not do anything,” said Mariam Abu Adas, 32, an online
activist in Jordan who helped create a company called Hiber to train young
people to use social media.
“Generations believed we could do nothing,” he said, “and now, in a matter of
weeks, we know that we can.”
It is a new model for the Middle East, not only because the young people are
taking the lead, but because their elders have started to listen and follow.
“The youth, we were afraid of, but we have come to see the youth are moving the
region,” said Mustafa Rawashdeh, a former headmaster at a school in Karak,
Jordan, who was fired after trying to form a teachers’ union. “Young people saw
the winds of change and drove us.”
And then Colonel Qaddafi’s forces opened fire, followed by King Hamad’s
crackdown. The young activists’ idealism has been challenged by the bitter
reality of repression, leaving them dispirited but resolute.
It is a sobering pause, as Bahrainis tend their wounded and Libya’s opposition
flees from the advance of pro-Qaddafi forces. The future of the Arab Spring is
at stake.
“I don’t believe the peaceful protests will go on,” Mr. Maskati said. “Now, it’s
about resisting the aggression.”
Jordan
The women at Ammon News stood firm when the Jordanian authorities told them to
take down a daring post critical of the monarchy and, in particular, Queen Rania
— a taboo in a nation where criticizing the royal family is a crime punishable
by three years in prison. The authorities promptly hijacked the Web site, and
the staff’s editor told them to give up and go home. Instead, the women took to
the streets in protest, and the authorities backed down.
“It was the principle,” said Ala Alyan, 22. “Liberty is very important.”
The incident hardly registered beyond the borders of Jordan, a close American
ally. But it illustrates the contagion of a movement determined not to allow its
governments to treat its citizens as subjects.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II is not facing the kind of popular revolt that forced
out the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia. But there have been demonstrations that
prompted the king to fire the cabinet, appoint a new government and promise
constitutional change. The open question, as in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, is
how far change will go, and whether young people will be satisfied.
“If you feel you have right on your side, you do not have fear,” said Heba
Alazari, 26, one of the Ammon News women who protested. “If an injustice
happened before, no one knew about it. Now you can deliver your voice in a
different way and everyone will know.”
In the Jordanian countryside, the cyberworld and the real world intersect. The
staff of Hiber, the social media training and blogging organization, recently
visited the village of Tafilah, two hours south of the capital, Amman. It is a
small, dry outpost of cinder-block and white-stone homes on rocky soil, with a
traffic circle, a few shops and lot of young people. Every woman on the street
was veiled, and fathers sternly police their daughters.
About 35 young people in the workshop run by Hiber, more than half of them
women, were eager to learn more. “The people in Egypt, who used these tools,
woke up after 30 years,” said Rasha Garabaa, 25, who wore a bright red head
scarf and heavy makeup.
Ramsey Tesdell, 27, who was leading the discussion, said that social media
allowed young women in the village to bypass the men — fathers, brothers,
husbands — who circumscribed their worlds and their ability to communicate. They
cannot go to the park unaccompanied and meet friends, but they can join a chat
room or send instant messages.
“In a lot of ways, it has taken the power away from the traditional powerful
leaders, especially older men,” Mr. Tesdell said.
Ms. Garabaa understood, and marveled at the changes. “Remember how they closed
Ammon the other day,” she said, almost in a whisper, to one of the other members
of the group. “Think how much the Internet can empower you. You have the world
at the tip of your fingers.”
Morocco
The secret password was tsk-tsk-tsk, and the door opened into the Feb. 20th
movement.
Inside a run-down apartment at the top of narrow darkened staircase, Montasser
Drissi, 19, was listening to traditional Moroccan music and working on subtitles
for a protest video. He was one of the young men who helped organize nationwide
protests on Feb. 20 that drew tens of thousands of demonstrators in a show of
opposition that has already begun to change Morocco’s political landscape.
“Our goal is a new constitution that serves the people, not the elite,” said Mr.
Drissi, a slight, understated young man with a dab of a beard.
The Feb. 20th movement is the loosely knit Moroccan manifestation of the youth
fever sweeping the region. Its members met on Facebook and decided that like
their peers in Egypt and Tunisia, they wanted to fight for change. Their goal
was not to oust the monarchy, but to reduce its near absolute authority and
strengthen elected institutions.
“We are young, we study, we have jobs — we’re normal,” said Yassine Falah, 23,
who recently quit his job selling insurance and moved from Fez to Rabat to
dedicate his time to the movement. “We tried hard to not politicize the thing,
we used Facebook, we came together and that’s how it started. Our spontaneity is
our strength.”
The government was concerned from the start. It tried to blunt the movement’s
impact, first by trying to demonize its young leaders as enemies of the state,
and then, when that failed, taking the creative approach of announcing that the
demonstration was canceled. But that did not work either. Instead, traditional
opposition parties that initially shunned the upstart movement jumped in, trying
to ride the wave churned up by the young.
King Mohammed VI apparently got the message and in a rare nationally televised
speech announced that he intended to meet some of the group’s core demands —
without ever actually acknowledging that the group existed.
The group helped break down barriers to join secular leftists with conservative
Islamists in the fight for democracy. “In Morocco, there has always been a war
between the left and the Islamists, and the state wants it that way,” said
Younes Belghazi, 20, as he flopped onto a mattress on the floor. “When the state
saw we had agreed on basic things, like values, change, democracy, they just
didn’t know what to do.”
Over in the corner, in what passes for the group’s video studio — a white sheet
taped to the tile wall and a camera on a tripod — Mr. Drissi’s new friend and
collaborator, Nizar Bennamate, 23, was discussing how the movement planned
another national protest on March 20. The challenge was to maintain momentum,
difficult for a leaderless organization whose members often could not agree on
when to meet, or even exactly what it was they were fighting for.
“The demands we talk about are the lowest common denominator, the first stage,”
Mr. Bennamate said. “Once we get these demands, we will be at an early stage of
democracy where different ideas can confront each other.”
The group’s secret headquarters was discovered recently by the police, who have
also visited the homes of some of the organizers in an attempt at intimidation.
But that also seems to be a sign of their power and success.
“I am an activist because I want change,” said Mr. Khlifi, an unemployed high
school graduate who has become one of the leading voices in the movement. “I
want a political dialogue. I want to criticize. I want democracy. I want the
people to have power.”
Bahrain
Mr. Maskati struggled to force out each painful word: “They. Shot. The. People.”
Bahrain’s army had just opened fire on demonstrators and he was trying to type
out “Urgent from Bahrain” on his BlackBerry and post a video link of the attack
to Twitter, Facebook and the extensive e-mail list of his human rights
organization.
For years, Mr. Maskati was dismissed as naïve for trying to convince people that
peaceful protests would be more effective than violence. And then, suddenly, the
protesters so embraced his view that a group walked into an army roadblock,
hands in the air, chanting “peacefully, peacefully.”
Nearly a month ago, the army opened fire, killing a young man after six were
killed by the police. But the protesters clung to nonviolence, taking to the
streets in remarkably large numbers, confident that international attention
would force the government to stop shooting. The government did back down, offer
concessions, release political prisoners, call for a national dialogue and
shuffle the cabinet.
Mr. Maskati marveled at the radical change in approach after years of watching
young people throw rocks and burn tires in the street, to no avail.
He founded the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, a small monitoring and
training organization that is one part of a youth-led movement that has posed
the most serious challenge to the monarchy since the Khalifa family took power
in the 18th century. Mr. Maskati’s main weapons are his phone and his
BlackBerry. He does not organize protests and he does not protest himself. He
sees his role as informing the world through Facebook, Twitter and his extensive
e-mail list.
From Feb. 14, the start of the demonstrations, Mr. Maskati was always on the
scene, dodging the police, hovering at the periphery, posting updates to the
Internet. He was one of the first to notify the world that the police had shot
and killed a 21-year-old man. “Mr. Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima was killed by the riot
police in Daih village.( 8:00 PM, 14 FEB. 2011 ),” his message said. “Ali was
not involved in the demonstration, but went out of his house to see what happens
in his village.”
The death galvanized the community of mainly Shiite protesters, and they turned
out by the thousands for the funeral. At the cemetery, mourners did more than
fume. They had a laptop computer and a wireless airstick, and as the young man’s
body was lowered into the ground, the image was immediately uploaded to the
Internet.
“They did a big mistake,” said Hussein Ramadan, 32, a manager in the local
aluminum plant, as he stood at the edge of the grave. “They will pay for it,
peacefully. We are not thinking about any violence. People are angry. But we can
control our anger. We tried violence before, now we try the other way. We are
ready to give our blood. It is our country.”
Mr. Maskati is from a wealthy Shiite family, part of the Shiite majority in
Bahrain that has smoldered under a repressive Sunni monarchy. He became
interested in human rights work when he was 14, but he said he found his calling
in 2006 after attending a training course in Jordan with Otpor, a Serbian youth
movement that also inspired the Egyptian activists, and then in Washington with
the Center for Nonviolence.
The next year, he founded his own group. He continues to monitor the events in
Bahrain and post his observations each day. Last week, Mr. Maskati and two other
human rights activists received death threats because of their work. But Mr.
Maskati was undeterred and instead sent word of the death threats out on
Twitter, Facebook and e-mail and to every blogger he knew.
Then the tanks rolled in, and on Thursday the police began rounding up
opposition leaders. Mr. Maskati kept sending messages until Wednesday morning,
when his phone number was shut off. He stayed home, using his computer, issuing
updates always titled “Urgent from Bahrain.”
UK, U.S.
and France agree to work closely on Libya
Thu, Mar 17
2011
WASHINGTON | Thu Mar 17, 2011
Reuters
9:45pm EDT
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama called his British and French counterparts on
Thursday and the three agreed Libya must comply with a new U.N. Security Council
resolution, the White House said.
Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
also agreed that violence against the civilian population of Libya must cease.
They agreed to coordinate closely on the next steps and to continue working with
Arab and other international partners to ensure the enforcement of U.N. Security
resolutions on Libya.
The Security Council voted on Thursday to authorize a no-fly zone over Libya and
"all necessary measures" -- code for military action -- to protect civilians
against leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
(Reporting by
Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Peter Cooney)
MANAMA | Thu Mar 17, 2011
6:00pm EDT
Reuters
By Frederik Richter and Lin Noueihed
MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain's largest opposition group urged Saudi Arabia to
withdraw its forces and called for a U.N. inquiry into a crackdown on mainly
Shi'ite protesters that has angered Iran and raised tensions in the
oil-exporting region.
Bahrain arrested seven opposition leaders on Thursday, a day after its forces
moved in to end weeks of pro-democracy protests that have sucked in troops from
its fellow Sunni-ruled neighbor and prompted the king to declare martial law.
"The military should withdraw from Bahrain, the military of Saudi Arabia, and
this is a call to the Saudi king," Sheikh Ali Salman, head of Wefaq, told Al
Jazeera television.
"We call for an investigation by the United Nations into what has happened from
February 14 up to now. If protesters were in the wrong, then they should be held
to account."
Three protesters died in the crackdown. Three policemen were also killed, hit by
demonstrators in fast-moving cars.
The crackdown has drawn sympathy protests from Shi'ites across the Gulf Arab
region, including the world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia. Iran has complained
to the United Nations.
Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon, asked countries in the
region to join it in urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw troops from the Gulf Arab
island state.
"How could one accept a government to invite foreign military forces to suppress
its own citizens?" Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a letter to
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, also addressed to the Arab League.
Bahrain said: "Iran's move does not serve security and stability in the Gulf
region."
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most say they want the same treatment
as Sunnis and a constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the
overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran.
Bahraini state TV called the detainees leaders of "civil strife" and said they
had been communicating with foreign countries and inciting murder and
destruction of properties.
It did not name the countries. Analysts say the intervention of troops from
Saudi Arabia, which is concerned Bahraini protests could inspire its own Shi'ite
Muslim minority, raises tension with Shi'ite power Iran.
Oil prices rose on Thursday as the Gulf tensions fueled fears of further supply
disruption while investors weighed the impact on energy demand from quake-hit
Japan. Capital flight from Bahrain is starting to pressure its currency and
threaten its position as a Gulf financial center.
Most Western nations have urged their citizens to leave Bahrain.
Among those detained overnight were Haq leader Hassan Mushaima and Wafa leader
Abdel Wahhab Hussein, who had led calls for the overthrow of the royal family,
Wefaq officials said.
More moderate Wefaq had limited its demands to political and constitutional
reform. Also arrested was Ibrahim Sharif, head of the secular leftist party Waad
that signed up to the same demands as Wefaq.
"Two of the thugs climbed over the fence to get in our yard, one went over and
pointed a gun in Ibrahim's face and the other went to our garage to let everyone
else in," Farida Ismail, Sharif's wife, told Reuters by telephone. "They were
going around wrecking things in the house."
In Geneva, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged Bahrain to
rein in its security forces, citing allegations that they had killed, beaten and
carried out arbitrary arrests of protesters and attacked medical workers.
On Thursday, more than a dozen casualties who had been taken to Bahrain
International Hospital during the crackdown were gone. Nurses said they had
mostly been suffering from teargas inhalation and cuts and bruises. The wards
were empty.
Tanks were still guarding the entrances to Salmaniya hospital on Thursday, after
raiding the compound during the crackdown to clear tents that had been set up in
the car park by opposition activists.
Pearl roundabout, focal point of weeks of protests, was a scene of devastation
on Thursday. Some tattered tents remained as diggers uprooted palm trees that
surrounded the statue where activists had been celebrating into the night only
days before.
Troops were allowing only residents in and a long line of cars was backed up
behind a checkpoint. They waved through drivers heading to work in the financial
district, where the protesters had tried to extend their sit-in early this week.
The military, which is now in charge of Bahrain, banned all protests from
Wednesday and imposed an open-ended curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. across a large
swathe of Manama. The curfew was cut back by four hours in some areas on
Thursday.
Kuwait said on Thursday its navy would had to Bahrain soon to protect its
waters.
(Additional reporting by Amena Bakr and Erika Solomon in Dubai, Robin Pomeroy in
Iran and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Janet
Lawrence)
U.S. military: Libya vote won't impact Japan mission
WASHINGTON | Thu Mar 17, 2011
11:01pm EDT
Reuters
By Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said a vote by the U.N. Security
Council on Thursday authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya would not negatively
impact its massive relief mission in Japan.
The assurance was given just hours after the U.N. vote by the head of U.S.
forces in the Pacific region, Admiral Robert Willard, who also said the U.S.
armed forces had a "long list" of capabilities to help Japan deal with its
nuclear crisis.
"We don't anticipate any negative effects from the standpoint of the United
(Nations) Security Council actions today," Willard said, briefing reporters at
the Pentagon remotely from his headquarters in Hawaii.
Willard said the United States was fortunate to have enough forces deployed
overseas "so that we can conduct these kind of operations simultaneously."
The U.S. relief operation outstrips even last year's effort in Haiti, with 20
ships already offshore around Japan and U.S. forces on the mainland mobilizing
to deliver aid.
"I would offer that I have additional options to bring either relieving forces
in or augmentation forces to bear if I need to," Willard said. "So I think we
were in a good posture to begin with."
The Security Council vote could thrust the U.S. military into risky new overseas
action and follows a dramatic pivot by Washington, which had been accused of
moving too slowly to support Libyan rebels as Muammar Gaddafi's forces looked
poised to snuff out their uprising.
The Pentagon, already stretched by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, is still
ramping up its relief efforts in Japan, which beyond delivering food and water
to survivors has also including providing Japan with radiation data and aerial
video of the crippled Fukushima power plant.
Japanese engineers were racing to restore a power cable to the quake-ravaged
nuclear power plant in hopes of restarting pumps needed to pour cold water on
overheating fuel rods and avert a catastrophic release of radiation.
Willard said he was cautiously optimistic, and added the United States had
provided the Japanese military with "a long list of areas in which we believe we
can help."
The Pentagon has already dispatched a nine-member team specializing in
biological and nuclear hazards to advise Japan's military. More could be
deployed, if necessary.
"I have requested a force of about 450 radiological and consequence management
experts to be available to us. They're on a prepare-to-deploy order," Willard
said.
WASHINGTON | Thu Mar 17, 2011
10:04pm EDT
Reuters
By JoAnne Allen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on
Wednesday the world must make clear that Iran would face "credible military
action" if sanctions do not shut down Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
Netanyahu, in an interview on CNN, said it was clear Iran was pursing its
nuclear ambitions despite international sanctions and was getting a lot closer
to obtaining nuclear arms.
"They have enriched enough material now almost for three nuclear bombs," he
said. "They still have to re-enrich it again but that is what they are doing.
"The only thing that will work is if Iran knew that if sanctions fail there will
be a credible military option."
Asked what would constitute a credible military action, Netanyahu said: "It
means action that will knock out their nuclear facility."
The U.N. Security Council has imposed sanctions on Tehran for refusing to freeze
its uranium enrichment program, which Western powers suspect is aimed at
producing a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies Israeli and Western allegations that it is enriching uranium to
produce atomic arms and maintains that its program is for peaceful energy needs.
Netanyahu said if military action was taken, he would prefer that it be lead by
the United States.
He said a nuclear-armed Iran would not be just a concern for Israel because it
would pose the risk of proliferation.
"This is not just our problem. This is the problem of Europe, and the United
States," he said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Netanyahu also said he was not surprised that Saudi
Arabia had dispatched forces to Bahrain after weeks of pro-democracy protests in
the Gulf Arab island state.
"I think they are concerned with a possible Iranian takeover of Bahrain, which
would put Iran effectively within spitting distance of the Arabian Peninsula,"
Netanyahu said of Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi Arabia is working to protect its own interests. But there is a very large
global interest in making sure the world's oil wells, that the largest reserves
of the world's oil supply do not fall into Iranian or pro-Iranian hands," he
said.
Asked about the pro-democracy protests sweeping the Arab world, Netanyahu said
the Middle East would have "a brilliant future" with real democratic change.
However, he said that if Iran remains immune to change "and meddles in other
places and transforms them into so-called Islamist republics... I would say that
is the worst nightmare."
(Reporting by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Bill "Trott)
Pentagon: "concern" about U.S. military action in Libya
WASHINGTON
| Thu Mar 17, 2011
12:48pm EDT
Reuters
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The Pentagon voiced concern on Thursday about the prospect of
military action in Libya as pressure grows for U.N. backing of a no-fly zone or
air strikes in Libya.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking to lawmakers in recent weeks, has
cautioned a no-fly zone would be a risky operation requiring air strikes to
cripple local air defenses.
"It would be logical if one of his concerns about a no-fly zone is the element
of attacking Libyan air defenses, then an option of air strikes would be pretty
similar," said Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman.
"I think you could safely say there would be a concern about conducting military
operations inside Libya."
Lapan said that five U.S. ships were now hovering in the Mediterranean. The
aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, however, has been moved away from the Red Sea
where it was positioned in recent weeks to the Arabian Sea, where it can support
the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
Asked about possible preparations in the region for military actions other than
a no-fly zone, should such a step be embraced by the White House, Lapan said:
"From DOD perspective nothing has changed; all those discussions are still
ongoing.
"When decisions are made we'll be ready to execute whatever we're asked to," he
said.
(Reporting by
Missy Ryan, Editing by Jackie Frank)
TRIPOLI
(Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi told Libyan rebels on Thursday his armed forces were
coming to their capital Benghazi tonight and would not show any mercy on
fighters who resisted them.
In a radio address, he told Benghazi residents that soldiers would search every
house in the city and people who had no arms had no reason to fear.
Gaddafi also told his troops not to pursue any rebels who drop their guns and
flee tonight when government forces reach the city.
(Reporting by
Souhail Karam, writing by Tom Heneghan; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
KHARTOUM |
Thu Mar 17, 2011
2:54pm EDT
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM
(Reuters) - South Sudan's army fought militia in two oil-producing states on
Thursday, underscoring the challenges ahead as southern leaders agreed to resume
talks with the government in Khartoum.
Southern Sudanese this year voted overwhelmingly to become an independent state
on July 9 and secede from the north they have fought for all but a few years
since 1955.
But the violence has soured relations with Khartoum, who the south says is
arming militias, stalling talks on the mechanics of separation.
Leaders from north and south met on Thursday and agreed to restart talks
suspended last week, said former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is
mediating the talks. A joint committee of representatives from armed forces in
the north and the south will look into documents released by the south alleging
Khartoum's support for the militias, he said.
"If there's any truth to any of those allegations, then necessary actions will
be taken against whoever it is who could have been involved in any action which
is intended to destabilize the government of South Sudan," Mbeki told a media
conference.
South Sudan's army (SPLA) spokesman Philip Aguer said a 1,000-strong militia had
moved from Khartoum last month to Unity state saying they would join the south's
separate army but refused to meet southern officials and had begun to illegally
tax civilians.
"They came under the pretext that they were coming to join the SPLA but they
spent more than one month guarding against integration," Aguer said. "It was
just buying time to recruit more soldiers and receive arms from Khartoum."
HEAVY
CASUALTIES FEARED
He said the fighting in Unity had dislodged the militia from their base but that
they had yet to receive casualty estimates.
"There will be heavy casualties because they were well armed and the SPLA force
which eventually took them on was also well armed," he said.
Aguer said the militia attacked the SPLA during a visit to investigate the
taxation complaints early on Thursday and the army responded by attacking their
base.
A spokeswoman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNMIS) Hua Jiang confirmed they
had reports of heavy casualties during the Unity state clashes but could not
confirm who the victims were.
"We have sent patrols out to near the area of the clashes," she said.
The northern Sudanese army denied any involvement in the fighting. The north
denies southern accusations that it arms militias there.
Clashes between militias and the southern army in three oil-rich areas have
killed hundreds this year, with at least 79 killed in fighting this month in
Upper Nile state alone.
Aguer said the two sides had again clashed in Upper Nile on Thursday but said he
was still awaiting reports on casualties.
Thursday's fighting will add to international fears of a breakdown in law and
order in the south which has long suffered from tribal and ethnic divisions.
Critics say the south risks becoming a failed state which could destabilize east
Africa if it is unable to maintain security.
Many flashpoints remain over the south's impending secession including
demarcating the border, sharing wealth from the oil which lies mainly in the
south but is reliant on infrastructure in the north and the disputed central
region of Abyei where troops have been seen amassing from both sides.
(Writing by
Opheera McDoom and Deepa Babington; Editing by Sophie Hares and Louise Ireland)
Gaddafi
forces push forward as U.S. mulls air strikes
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI | Thu Mar 17, 2011
1:52pm EDT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI (Reuters) - Libyan troops pushed forward toward the insurgent
stronghold of Benghazi on Thursday and launched air raids on its outskirts as
momentum gathered in support of air raids to stop Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
The United States hoped the U.N. Security Council would pass a resolution later
on Thursday that included, but was not limited to, the possibility of imposing a
no-fly zone over Libya, raising the prospect of bombing raids.
France believes there is enough support to pass the resolution and military
intervention could take place within hours of that, a senior French diplomatic
source said.
Any action could include France, Britain, possibly the United States and one or
more Arab states, the source said.
The push toward action at the Security Council comes as pro-Gaddafi forces have
made rapid advances in their counter-attack against the rebels.
Undersecretary of State William Burns said Gaddafi's forces had made
"significant strides on the ground" and were now about 160 km (100 miles) from
Benghazi.
The Libyan army, which has been attacking rebel-held cities in the east and west
of the country, said it would halt its operations on Sunday to give the rebels a
chance to surrender, Al Arabiya television reported.
Libyan state television said government troops had taken Zueitina, an oil port
on the coastal highway 130 km (80 miles) from Benghazi, but the rebels said they
had surrounded the pro-Gaddafi units on the approaches to the town. In Benghazi,
the city where the revolution began, residents and a rebel spokesman reported
three air strikes on the outskirts, including at the airport, and another air
raid further south.
Residential areas of Ajdabiyah, a strategic town on the coast road to Benghazi,
was the scene of heavy fighting on Thursday and around 30 people were killed, Al
Arabiya reported.
On the approaches to Ajdabiyah, burned-out cars lay by the roadside while Libyan
government forces showed the foreign media artillery, tanks and mobile rocket
launchers -- much heavier weapons than those used by the rebels.
In Libya's third city, Misrata, about 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, rebels
and residents said they were preparing for a new attack by Libyan troops, who
had shelled the coastal city overnight. A government spokesman said Gaddafi's
forces expected to be in control of Misrata by Friday morning.
The United States, previously cool on the idea of a foreign military
intervention, said the U.N. Security Council should consider tougher action than
a no-fly zone over Libya.
Discussions are under way on the possible direct involvement of Arab nations in
any international military action against Gaddafi, Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said.
U.S. officials said on Thursday that Washington wanted the United Nations to
authorize not just a no-fly zone to aid Libyan rebels but also air strikes
against Libyan tanks and heavy artillery.
Referring to the U.N. resolution on Libya that Washington hopes will be passed
later on Thursday, Clinton said:
"It is important to recognize that military experts across the world know that a
no-fly zone requires certain actions taken to protect the planes and the pilots,
including bombing targets like the Libyan defense system."
Britain said the latest draft resolution on Libya under discussion at the United
Nations called for "all necessary measures short of an occupation force" to
protect civilians under threat of attack.
Russia, China, Germany, India and other council members are either undecided or
have voiced doubts about the proposal for a no-fly zone. Italy, a potential base
for military action, ruled out military intervention in the oil-exporting
country.
ARMY
ADVANCES
Gaddafi, in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro, said his troops' aim
was to liberate the people from "the armed gangs" that occupy Benghazi.
"If we used force, it would take just a day. But our aim is to progressively
dismantle the armed groups, through various means, such as encircling cities or
sending negotiators."
Asked if dialogue with the rebels was possible, he repeated his assertion that
they were linked to the al Qaeda Islamic militant group.
"These are not people with whom we aim to talk, as al Qaeda does not talk with
anybody."
On the fate of the rebel leadership, he said: "It is quite possible they will
flee. Anyway, it's not really a structure. It has no value."
(Additional
reporting by a Reuters reporter in Benghazi, Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Mariam
Karouny and Tarek Amara in Tunisia, Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip at the
United Nations; Editing by Giles Elgood and Peter Graff)
At least
84 wounded in new Yemen clashes: activists
SANAA | Thu
Mar 17, 2011
1:39pm EDT
Reuters
SANAA
(Reuters) - Yemeni security forces used live fire and tear gas Thursday on
protesters demanding an end to the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh,
wounding at least 84, activists said.
Protesters in the southern city of Taiz said 80 people were wounded there and
four were reported wounded in the capital Sanaa. State media made no mention of
the incidents.
Government website September 26 said there were marches in many cities in
support of Saleh and his offers of political reforms, including an offer not to
run for reelection in 2013.
The Arabian Peninsula state, neighbor to oil giant Saudi Arabia, has been hit by
weeks of protests trying to shake loose Saleh's 32-year grip on power.
The United States, which has long seen Saleh as a bulwark against an active al
Qaeda wing based in Yemen, has condemned the bloodshed and backed the right to
peaceful protest. But it has also insisted only dialogue can end the political
crisis.
September 26 said three militants suspected of links to al Qaeda were killed
when they tried to attack a military checkpoint Thursday in Marib province. Also
Thursday, security forces said they had arrested two suspected al Qaeda members.
Both pro- and anti-government factions appeared to be increasingly resorting to
violence, but activists said protesters had not used force in the latest
demonstrations.
Some 150 people were wounded Wednesday when security forces tried to break up a
rally in the Red Sea city of Hudaida.
Yemen's rial has fallen up to almost 8 percent against the dollar in the past
week as unrest takes its toll on the poor Arab country's economy, traders said
late Wednesday.
(Reporting by
Mohamed Ghobari; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
Arab
role in Libya intervention discussed: Clinton
TUNIS | Thu
Mar 17, 2011
1:14pm EDT
Reuters
TUNIS
(Reuters) - Discussions are under way on the possible direct involvement of Arab
nations in any international military action against Libyan leader Muammar
Gaddafi, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to Tunisia, Clinton also said the international
community was debating how best to stop Gaddafi from overrunning rebels fighting
to end his four-decade long rule.
Asked if Arab nations would have to take part by providing pilots or by bombing
or otherwise being directly involved in carrying out any eventual military
operation against Gaddafi, Clinton replied: "That is also being discussed."
U.S. officials said on Thursday that Washington, in a sharp shift in tone,
wanted the United Nations to authorize not just a no-fly zone to aid Libyan
rebels but also air strikes against Libyan tanks and heavy artillery.
Referring to a U.N. resolution on Libya that Washington hopes will be passed
later on Thursday, Clinton said:
"It is important to recognize that military experts across the world know that a
no-fly zone requires certain actions taken to protect the planes and the pilots,
including bombing targets like the Libyan defense system.
"There are many ways to write a resolution. Some would be a more general
authorization with certain goals laid out. Some would be more specific listing
of what was or wasn't authorized," she added.
(Reporting by
Arshad Mohammed, editing by Tim Pearce)
Saudi
troops must leave Bahrain: opposition leader
MANAMA |
Thu Mar 17, 2011
1:03pm EDT
Reuters
By Frederik Richter and Lin Noueihed
MANAMA
(Reuters) - The leader of Bahrain's largest opposition group has urged Saudi
Arabia to withdraw its forces and called for a U.N. inquiry into a crackdown on
mainly Shi'ite protesters that has raised tensions in the oil-exporting region.
Bahrain arrested seven opposition leaders on Thursday, a day after its forces
moved in to end weeks of pro-democracy protests that have sucked in troops from
its fellow Sunni-ruled neighbor and prompted the king to declare martial law.
"The military should withdraw from Bahrain, the military of Saudi Arabia, and
this is a call to the Saudi king," Sheikh Ali Salman, head of Wefaq, told Al
Jazeera television.
"We call for an investigation by the United Nations into what has happened from
February 14 up to now. If protesters were in the wrong, then they should be held
to account."
Three protesters died in the crackdown but so did three policemen mown down by
demonstrators in fast-moving cars.
The crackdown has drawn sympathy protests from Shi'ites across the Gulf Arab
region, including the world's top oil-exporter Saudi Arabia, and Iran has
complained to the United Nations.
Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon, asked countries in the
region to join it in urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw troops from the Gulf Arab
island state.
"How could one accept a government to invite foreign military forces to suppress
its own citizens?" Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a letter to
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, also addressed to the Arab League.
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most say they want the same treatment
as Sunnis and a constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the
overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran.
Bahraini state TV called the detainees leaders of "civil strife" and said they
had been communicating with foreign countries and inciting murder and
destruction of properties.
It did not name the countries. Analysts say the intervention of troops from
fellow Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which is concerned Bahraini protests could
inspire its own Shi'ite Muslim minority, raises tension with Shi'ite power Iran.
Oil was up over $1 on Thursday as the Gulf tensions fueled fears of further
supply disruption while investors weighed the impact on energy demand from
quake-hit Japan. Capital flight from Bahrain is starting to pressure its
currency and threaten its position as a Gulf financial center.
Most Western nations have urged their citizens to leave Bahrain.
OPPOSITION
DETAINED
Among those detained overnight were Haq leader Hassan Mushaima and Wafa leader
Abdel Wahhab Hussein, who had led calls for the overthrow of the royal family,
Wefaq officials said.
More moderate Wefaq had limited its demands to wide-ranging political and
constitutional reform. Also arrested was Ibrahim Sharif, head of the secular
leftist party Waad that signed up to the same demands as Wefaq.
"Two of the thugs climbed over the fence to get in our yard, one went over and
pointed a gun in Ibrahim's face and the other went to our garage to let everyone
else in," Farida Ismail, Sharif's wife, told Reuters by telephone. "They were
going around, wrecking things in the house."
In Geneva, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged Bahrain to
rein in its security forces, citing allegations that they had killed, beaten and
carried out arbitrary arrests of protesters, and attacked medical workers.
On Thursday, more than a dozen casualties who had been taken to Bahrain
International Hospital during the crackdown were gone. Nurses said they had
mostly been suffering from teargas inhalation and cuts and bruises. The wards
were empty.
Tanks were still guarding the entrances to Salmaniya hospital on Thursday, after
raiding the compound during the crackdown to clear tents that had been set up in
the car park by opposition activists.
Pearl roundabout, focal point of weeks of protests, was a scene of devastation
on Thursday. Some tattered tents remained as diggers uprooted palm trees that
surrounded the statue where activists had been celebrating into the night only
days before.
Troops were allowing only residents in and a long line of cars was backed up
behind a checkpoint. They waved through drivers heading to work in the financial
district, where the protesters had tried to extend their sit-in early this week.
The military, which is now in charge of Bahrain, banned all protests from
Wednesday and imposed an open-ended curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. across a large
swathe of Manama. The curfew was cut back by four hours in some areas on
Thursday.
Mansoor Al-Jamri, editor of Bahrain's only opposition newspaper Al Wasat, said
about 200 plainclothes men with knives and clubs surrounded his printing press,
holding up production.
"We are trying to get in contact with the ministry of interior to give us
protection against the thugs," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the kings of Saudi Arabia, a key ally of
Washington, and of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and a bulwark
against Iranian influence, to urge "maximum" restraint. But the violence
appeared to dash hopes for political talks that Washington had hoped for.
(Additional
reporting by Andrew Hammond, Amena Bakr and Erika Solomon in Dubai and Robin
Pomeroy in Iran; Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
Battle
for Benghazi looms, Libya army issues ultimatum
TRIPOLI |
Thu Mar 17, 2011
5:25am GMT
Reuters
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy
TRIPOLI
(Reuters) - The battle for control of rebel capital Benghazi looked just hours
away on Thursday after the Libyan army told people to leave opposition-held
locations and arms storage areas, but residents said the city was quiet.
Benghazi residents poured scorn on the army announcement, one of several recent
reports on Libyan television that have not been borne out. It said on Tuesday
that pro-Gaddafi masses were rallying in the city, which residents said never
happened.
"This is psychological warfare," Benghazi resident Faiza Ali told Reuters by
telephone.
Jibril al-Huweidi, a doctor at al-Jalaa Hospital in Benghazi said ambulances
were shuttling between Benghazi and Ajdabiya, a city further west where loyalist
and opposition forces clashed.
"They could not have made it repeatedly back and forth tonight if the evil
forces were closing in on Benghazi" he said.
A text on the screen of Al-Libya television addressed people in the eastern
city, saying the army was coming "to support you and to cleanse your city from
armed gangs."
"It urges you to keep out by midnight of areas where the armed men and weapon
storage areas are located," it said.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Lebanon's LBC TV he did not expect a
battle in Benghazi, seat of the insurgents' provisional national council,
because Libyan people have been helping get rid of "al Qaeda" elements there.
One of Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam, had told Euronews TV on Wednesday morning
that Libya's second largest city would fall whether or not the international
community agreed to impose a no-fly zone. "Everything will be over in 48 hours,"
he said.
NO NO-FLY
ZONE
Diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed remain mired. Three weeks after a no-fly
zone over Libya was first mooted, nothing has been agreed.
A U.N. Security Council draft resolution on a no-fly zone to protect civilians
was circulated on Tuesday after a meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers in
Paris this week failed to get the agreement France was hoping for.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate cease-fire by all
parties and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States hoped
for a U.N. Security Council vote aimed at ending Libya's conflict "no later than
Thursday."
Saying Gaddafi seemed determined to kill as many as Libyans as possible in his
violent effort to quell a month-long uprising, she said "many different actions"
were being considered, not just a no-fly zone.
The United States, Russia, China, Germany, India and other council members are
either undecided or voiced doubts about the proposal for a no-fly zone being
proposed by Britain and France.
In Geneva, former French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner lambasted the
international community for its delay in imposing a no-fly zone, saying it was
too late to save lives in the crackdown on an increasingly feeble-looking
uprising, inspired by pro-democracy revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.
"We've known since three weeks that the poor civil society, the poor people, are
dying. And we are doing nothing," he told World Radio Switzerland.
Italy, a potential base for a no-fly zone proposed by Britain and France, ruled
out military intervention in the oil-exporting north African country.
A MATTER OF
HOURS
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), among the only aid agencies
deployed in Benghazi, said on Wednesday it had withdrawn its aid workers from
the town.
But Libyan rebels fought back against Gaddafi's troops around the eastern town
of Ajdabiyah, 90 miles (150 km) south of Benghazi on the Gulf of Sirte and a
crucial gateway to Benghazi, hampering their push towards that city.
One rebel officer said earlier on Wednesday the town had been lost and the
fighters who remained had handed over their weapons. But some apparently refused
to surrender or flee.
By evening, residents said the rebels held the centre of town while loyalist
forces were mostly on its eastern outskirts.
In New York, anti-Gaddafi Libyan diplomat, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told reporters that
the international community had 10 hours to act against Gaddafi's troops.
"We think that ... in the coming hours, we will see a real genocide in Ajdabiyah
if the international community does not move quickly and prevent him from
attacking it with a large force," he said.
A rebel spokesman in Benghazi, Mustafa Gheriani, told Reuters by telephone that
they were holding Ajdabiyah.
"But the fighting is fierce. His supply lines are stretched so he can't push on
from Ajdabiyah. We've got some surprises in store. We're going to fight on and
we're going to win."
(Additional
reporting by Tom Pfeiffer on Libya/Egypt border, Mariam Karouny in Djerba,
Tunisia, Tarek Amara in Tunis, Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip at the
United Nations, Tom Heneghan in Algiers, James Regan, Tim Hepher and John Irish
in Paris, and Arshad Mohammed in Cairo; Writing by Louise Ireland; Editing by
Phillipa Fletcher)
MANAMA |
Thu Mar 17, 2011
5:07am GMT
Reuters
By Lin Noueihed
MANAMA
(Reuters) - The United States said Bahrain was on the "wrong track" in trying to
crush Shi'ite protests in the Sunni-ruled island, rare criticism that
highlighted concern the crackdown could ignite a wider regional conflict.
Bahraini forces used tanks and helicopters on Wednesday to clear a protest camp
set up by youths from the Shi'ite Muslim majority which complains of
discrimination by the Sunni royal family. Three police and three protesters were
killed.
The unrest has brought an influx of troops to Bahrain from fellow Sunni-ruled
neighbours Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, who fear
the uprising that began last month could play into the hands of non-Arab Shi'ite
power Iran.
It has also prompted sympathy protests from Shi'ites across the region,
including in Saudi Arabia's oil producing east.
Earlier this week, Washington said it understood why Bahrain's Sunni rulers had
called in reinforcements. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said
force was not the answer.
"We find what's happening in Bahrain alarming. We think that there is no
security answer to the aspirations and demands of the demonstrators," she told
CBS. "They are on the wrong track."
LIVE
BULLETS, PETROL BOMBS
A medical source said dozens of people were taken to Bahrain International
Hospital on Wednesday, hit by rubber bullets or shot gun pellets or suffering
tear gas inhalation, all weapons used by riot police.
One was hit by a live bullet in the clash, in which youths hurled petrol bombs
at police.
U.S. President Barack Obama called the kings of Saudi Arabia, a strategic ally
of Washington in the Middle East, and of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth
Fleet and seen as a bulwark against Iranian influence, to urge "maximum"
restraint.
Political analysts say the Obama administration, which gave strong support to
pro-democracy protests in Egypt and Tunisia, faced a new dilemma as violence in
Bahrain appeared to dash hopes for quick political talks.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman went to Bahrain on Monday to push
for talks to resolve the crisis. The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday he
had already left.
Gregory Gause, a Gulf expert at the University of Vermont, said Wednesday's
events showed the intent was to quash a rebellion rather than restore order to
allow political dialogue to resume as Washington has urged.
Iran condemned Bahrain's response to the protests, the worst unrest there since
the 1990s, and recalled its ambassador for consultations, Iranian state TV
reported.
"What has happened is bad, unjustifiable and irreparable," it quoted Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying.
On Tuesday Bahrain withdrew its ambassador for consultations to protest at
Tehran's criticisms.
Saudi Shi'ites held several demonstrations, including one in their main regional
centre, Qatif, on Wednesday, demanding the release of prisoners and voicing
support for Shi'ites in Bahrain, an activist and witnesses said.
"In Qatif, security shot in the air to disperse the protest," a Saudi Shi'ite
activist said.
A witness said two police helicopters hovered above the demonstration. "People
were demanding the withdrawal of the Peninsula force and called on Saudi Arabia
to withdraw from Bahrain," the witness said, referring to Gulf states' forces.
Leading Saudi Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar voiced dismay over events
in Bahrain and a member of parliament from Bahrain's largest Shi'ite opposition
group denounced the assault as a war on the Shi'ite community.
"This is war of annihilation. This does not happen even in wars and this is not
acceptable," Abdel Jalil Khalil, the head of Wefaq's 18-member parliament bloc,
said. "I saw them fire live rounds, in front of my own eyes."
A protest called by Bahrain's youth movement, which played a leading role in the
protest camp at Pearl roundabout, failed to materialise after the military
banned all gatherings and imposed a curfew from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. across a large
swathe of Manama.
A Reuters witness saw Bahraini tanks move in the direction of Budaya Street,
where the protest was set to take place.
"INTERNATIONALISED"
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most say they want only the same
treatment as Sunnis and a constitutional monarchy but calls by hardliners for
the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves
Iran.
Analysts say the intervention of Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab states in Bahrain might
provoke a response from Tehran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and
Lebanon.
"This was a major and a dangerous decision because this issue has been
internationalised now. There are protests in Iraq, in Iran, in Lebanon," said
Wefaq MP Jasim Hussein.
"There was no reason when our demands were local demands and nothing to do with
Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates."
The crackdown in Bahrain has galvanised Iraq's Shi'ite community, exacerbating
sectarian tension that led to years of war in Iraq. Iraq's Shi'ite prime
minister criticised the assault and Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for
protests.
In Lebanon, supporters of Shi'ite group Hezbollah also came out in solidarity
with their fellow Shia.
The United Nations and Britain have echoed the U.S. call for restraint and the
Group of Eight powers expressed concern.
"When the Gulf states now send military units to the small... island state,
there is a very critical risk that the situation will... be seen as part of a
broader confrontation," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on his blog.
"While there was most likely initially no Iranian interference, the
opportunities for Iran to take advantage of the situation now undeniably grow."
Gulf expert Gause said the latest developments had given Washington a serious
dilemma. "This is a really sticky situation, there is no question about that."
(Additional
reporting by Frederik Richter in Bahrain, Andrew Hammond in Dubai and Robin
Pomeroy in Iran, Caroline Cohn and Steve Slater in London, Andrew Quinn in
Washington; Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Louise Ireland)
WASHINGTON
| Thu Mar 17, 2011
4:32am GMT
Reuters
By Jeff Mason and Tom Doggett
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The United States showed increasing alarm about Japan's nuclear
crisis on Wednesday and urged its citizens to stay clear of an
earthquake-crippled power plant, going further in its warnings than Japan
itself.
The State Department said the United States has chartered aircraft to help
Americans leave Japan and had authorized the voluntary departure of family
members of diplomatic staff in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama -- about 600 people.
"The State Department strongly urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan at
this time and those in Japan should consider departing," it said.
As operators of the Fukushima plant tried to douse overheating reactors, U.S.
officials warned about the risks of getting anywhere near the area and relied on
their own officials for details about the danger.
"The situation has deteriorated in the days since the tsunami and ... the
situation has grown at times worse with potential greater damage and fallout
from the reactor," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
U.S. officials took pains not to criticise the Japanese government, which has
shown signs of being overwhelmed by the crisis that began after last Friday's
devastating 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami.
But Washington's actions indicated a divide with the Japanese about the
perilousness of the situation.
U.S. President Barack Obama told Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a
telephone call that the United States will do all it can to help Japan recover,
the White House said.
"The president briefed Prime Minister Kan on the additional support being
provided by the U.S., including specialized military assets with expertise in
nuclear response and consequence management," it said in a statement.
The State Department recommended that U.S. citizens within 50 miles (80 km) of
the plant leave the area or stay indoors.
Japan's government has asked people living within 12 miles (20 km) to evacuate
and those between 12 miles and 18 miles (30 km) to stay indoors.
PLUME OF
RADIATION
Gregory Jaczko, the top U.S. nuclear regulator, cast doubt on efforts to cool
overheating reactors, saying workers may be hit with "lethal doses" of
radiation.
"It would be very difficult for emergency workers to get near the reactors,"
Jaczko said.
A United Nations forecast projects the radioactive plume from the Fukushima
facility would reach the Aleutian Islands on Thursday and hit Southern
California late on Friday, The New York Times reported.
The projection, calculated on Tuesday and obtained by the newspaper, gives no
information about actual radiation levels, it said. Health and nuclear experts
emphasise that radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and will
have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, it reported.
The U.S. military has ordered its forces to stay 50 miles (80 km) away from the
plant, the Pentagon said. There are at least 55,000 members of the U.S. forces
in Japan and offshore assisting the relief operation.
"All of us are heartbroken by the images of what's happening in Japan and we're
reminded of how American leadership is critical to our closest allies," Obama
said in Washington.
"Even if those allies are themselves economically advanced and powerful, there
are moments where they need our help, and we're bound together by a common
humanity."
CONFLICTING
REPORTS
The State Department's warning to U.S. citizens was based on new information
collected by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy and
other U.S. sources.
The United States is trying to deploy equipment in Japan that can detect
radiation exposure at ground level, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a
congressional hearing.
The detection system is part of equipment and 39 personnel from the Energy
Department sent to Japan, he said. It has also provided equipment to monitor
airborne radiation.
The United States is deploying more radiation monitors on Hawaii and other U.S.
islands even though it does not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach U.S.
soil, environmental regulators said.
Chu declined to tell lawmakers, when asked, whether he was satisfied with
Japan's response so far to its nuclear crisis.
"I can't really say. I think we hear conflicting reports," Chu said. "This is
one of the reasons why (the United States is) there with boots on the ground ...
to know what is really happening."
Beyond the risk to workers at or near the damaged nuclear plant, one scientist,
Dr. Ira Helfand, warned of possible widespread contamination of people and land.
"We need ... to focus on the radioactive isotopes being dispersed at some
distance from the plant, because this is going to cause a whole different set of
health problems," Helfand, past president of the anti-nuclear group Physicians
for Social Responsibility, said in a telephone briefing.
The Obama administration has maintained its support for expanding U.S. use of
nuclear energy despite renewed fears about its safety after the events in Japan.
But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday the crisis raised
questions about the use of nuclear energy in the United States.
"What's happening in Japan raises questions about the costs and the risks
associated with nuclear power but we have to answer those," she said in an
interview with MSNBC in which she emphasized the need for a comprehensive U.S.
energy policy.
"We get 20 percent of our energy right now in the United States from nuclear
power."
(Additional
reporting by Ayesha Rascoe, David Morgan, Andrew Quinn, Paul Eckert, Matt
Spetalnick, Alister Bull, Patricia Zengerle, Steve Holland, Deborah Zabarenko
and Phil Stewart; Editing by Peter Cooney and John O'Callaghan)
TOBRUK,
Libya | Wed Mar 16, 2011
Reuters
2:41pm EDT By Mohammed Abbas
TOBRUK,
Libya (Reuters) - Libya's army pounded an opposition-held city in the country's
west and battled fighters trying to block its advance on a rebel bastion in the
east on Wednesday amid flagging diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate ceasefire by all
parties and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States hoped for
a U.N. Security Council vote aimed at ending Libya's conflict "no later than
Thursday.
Saying Muammar Gaddafi seemed determined to kill as many as Libyans as possible
in his violent effort to quell a month-long uprising, she said "many different
actions" were being considered not just a no-fly zone.
The United States, Russia, China, Germany, India and other council members are
either undecided or voiced doubts about the proposal for a no-fly zone being
proposed by Britain and France.
In Geneva, former French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner lambasted the
international community for its delay in imposing a no-fly zone, saying it was
too late to save lives.
"A no-fly zone is a minimum. It's certainly already too late," Kouchner said of
the crackdown on an increasingly vulnerable-looking uprising inspired by
pro-democracy revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.
"We've known since three weeks that the poor civil society, the poor people, are
dying. And we are doing nothing," he told World Radio Switzerland.
Italy, a potential base for a no-fly zone proposed by Britain and France, ruled
out military intervention in the oil-exporting north African country.
"We cannot have war, the international community should not, does not want and
cannot do it," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in Rome.
Gaddafi's forces used tanks and artillery to try to retake the city of Misrata,
the last big rebel stronghold in western Libya, residents said. But rebel
fighters in Misrata, on the Mediterranean coast about 200 km (130 miles) east of
Tripoli, said they had stalled a ground attack on the city and seized some tanks
from pro-Gaddafi units.
Near Ajdabiyah, a crucial city serving as a gateway to Benghazi, the seat of
opposition to Gaddafi and a prime target for government forces, Libyan soldiers
said they had met resistance from rebels when they fought for control of the
town.
Reuters photographer Ahmed Jadallah said he saw a number of tanks deployed along
the coastal road as well as tank carriers returning empty from the frontline.
One rebel, Mohammed al Maghrabi, said there were both rebels and government
forces in the town "and the fighting has been fierce. We control the eastern
gate, and more rebels are coming through from the east, so god willing we'll
push them out soon."
In Benghazi, seat of the insurgents' provisional national council, the mood was
a mixture of defiance and nervousness, with some citizens predicting a bloodbath
and others confident the rebels would still snatch victory.
Libyan state television said two major tribes in Benghazi, the Tarhuna and
Warfalla, told it they supported Gaddafi. The report could not immediately be
confirmed.
Clinton told CBS various options were being considered to end the conflict.
"Many different actions are being considered, yes, a no-fly zone, but others as
well to enable the protection of Libyan citizens against their own leader, who
seems determined to turn the clock back and kill as many of them as possible,"
she said.
A U.N. Security Council draft resolution on a no-fly zone over Libya to protect
civilians was circulated on Tuesday, which would authorize "all necessary
measures to enforce" a ban on flights.
A newspaper in Benghazi reported that a Russian-made MiG-36 aircraft, operated
by the rebels, had bombed the airport at Al Kardabiya near Gaddafi's hometown of
Sirte on Wednesday.
The Brnieq newspaper said the bombing raid was in retaliation for an attack by
warplanes on Benghazi's airport. Libya's Jana state news agency quoted the
director of Sirte airport as saying the report was "false and unfounded."
Both the rebel administration and the government in Tripoli have in the past few
days put out information about military gains which has later turned out to be
untrue.
"Everything will be over in 48 hours," he said.
Saif, once seen as Libya's Western-friendly face, lashed out at President
Nicolas Sarkozy for being the first foreign leader to condemn Gaddafi and back
the rebel Libyan National Council, calling him a "clown."
GADDAFI
CHALLENGES WEST
Libyan state television called on loyalist forces in the east to join the
government advance toward Benghazi.
Aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres said the violence had forced it to
withdraw its staff from Benghazi and begin moving teams to Alexandria in Egypt.
A meeting of Group of Eight foreign ministers in Paris this week failed to get
the agreement France was hoping for to support a no-fly zone being imposed over
Libya, an issue that has also divided the U.N. Security Council.
NATO has set three conditions for it to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya:
regional support, proof its help is needed and a Security Council resolution.
An Arab League call for a no-fly zone satisfies the first condition, but with
access to most of Libya barred by Gaddafi's security forces, hard evidence that
NATO intervention is needed to avert atrocities or a humanitarian disaster is
scarce.
Growing numbers of Libyans are now crossing into Egypt fleeing Gaddafi's
advance, the U.N. refugee agency said.
On the Egyoptian border, Egyptian and African guest workers as well as Libyans
trekked out of the country.
Issam Abdul Sattar from Ajdabiyah, 34, said he had left on Tuesday evening. "I
left last night after I saw jets bombing the city. I was terrified," he said.
(Reporting by
Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi, Mariam
Karouny in Djerba, Tunisia, Tarek Amara in Tunis, Louis Charbonneau and Patrick
Worsnip at the United Nations, James Regan, Tim Hepher, Arshad Mohammed and John
Irish in Paris; Writing by William Maclean; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Around
300 Tunisians protest ahead of Clinton visit
TUNIS | Wed
Mar 16, 2011
1:43pm EDT
Reuters
TUNIS
(Reuters) - Around 300 Tunisians held a protest in the capital on Wednesday
against an imminent visit to their country by Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, witnesses said.
The demonstrators gathered in Avenue Bourguiba, the tree-lined boulevard in
Tunis which was a focal point of the mass protests that ousted president Zine
al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14.
Some of them chanted "No to U.S. meddling in Tunisia's affairs" and "Tunisia
free, U.S. out."
A military helicopter buzzed overhead as security forces looked on.
Clinton was in Egypt her first visit there since long-time ally Hosni Mubarak
was toppled last month, and was due to arrive in Tunis later on Wednesday.
She is expected to meet Tunisia's interim authorities on Thursday to express her
support for the transition to democratic rule.
Washington, like other Western governments, is eager to present itself as a
partner to the mass protest movements that swept Mubarak and Ben Ali from power,
despite its long support for both authoritarian rulers.
(reporting by
Zoubeir Souissi and Tarek Amara; writing by Silvia Aloisi; editing by Giles
Elgood)
MANAMA |
Wed Mar 16, 2011
6:48am GMT
Reuters
By Lin Noueihed
MANAMA
(Reuters) - Helicopters flew overhead and Bahraini riot police fired teargas on
Wednesday as they cleared mainly Shi'ite protesters from a central roundabout
where they had been camped out for weeks, a Reuters witness said.
Protesters threw petrol bombs at police who advanced in thick lines from the
Bahrain Financial Harbour, the country's main financial district to the Pearl
roundabout, firing dozens of rounds of teargas.
Helicopters buzzed overhead as youths ran towards police in waves and scattered
when new rounds of teargas hit.
Young men drove at high speed in their cars as they left the area, knocking down
a policeman who was evacuated by ambulance, a Reuters witness who saw the
incident reported.
There were no immediate reports of other injuries and the roundabout had been
mostly cleared within two hours.
The security operation came a day after Bahrain's king declared martial law as
his government struggled to quell an uprising by the island's Shi'ite Muslim
majority that has drawn in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbour Saudi
Arabia.
It did not appear that Gulf Arab forces invited in by the government for support
were involved in the operation.
Thousands of protesters had been camped out at the Pearl roundabout, near the
financial district, during weeks of protests. On Sunday, they overwhelmed police
and blocked a main thoroughfare leading to the financial area.
Metal barricades and piles of rocks have blocked the main road since and most
shops in Bahrain have been shut.
Three people, including one policeman, were killed, and more than 200 were
wounded in various clashes on Tuesday.
The United States, a close ally of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has called for
restraint in the island kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
It sent U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman to Bahrain to push for
talks to resolve a crisis that has crippled the economy and shaken the world's
top oil-exporting region.
Over 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites who complain of discrimination at the
hands of the Sunni royal family. Calls for the overthrow of the monarchy have
alarmed the Sunni minority, which fears that unrest could serve non-Arab Shi'ite
power Iran.
SECTARIAN
VIOLENCE
Bahrain has been gripped by its worst unrest since the 1990s after protesters
took to the streets last month, inspired by uprisings that toppled the leaders
of Egypt and Tunisia.
Unlike those countries, where the mainly Sunni populations united against the
regime, Bahrain is split along sectarian lines, raising the risk of a slide into
civil conflict.
Violent clashes between youths wielding clubs, knives and rocks have become
daily occurrences, forcing Bahrain University and many schools to close in order
to avoid further trouble.
The United Nations and Britain have echoed the U.S. call for restraint and the
Group of Eight powers expressed concern, though analysts said the escalation
showed the limits of U.S. influence when security was threatened.
The unrest prompted Bahraini officials to issue stark warnings on Tuesday that
martial law could mean imposing a curfew, evacuating areas and dispersing
gatherings.
"In order for the situation to return to normal we have to establish order and
security and ... stop the violations which have spread disturbances among the
people of our dear country," Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed al-Khalifa said.
As protesters fled, Bahraini security forces in light armoured personnel
carriers began to clear the makeshift roadblocks. Refuse disposal trucks moved
in to remove the debris and tents, some of which protesters set on fire as they
left.
As protesters fled to surrounding suburbs and villages, black smoke was seen
rising from the Shi'ite Muslim area of Sanabis but the source of the smoke was
unclear. Small explosions occasionally reverberated through the capital Manama,
but the source also was unclear.
Even in further flung areas of Manama, residents said they could hear clashes
and police had cut off three bridges linking Bahrain's airport, on Muharraq
island, to the main island.
"There are shots near and far. It's not only shooting in the air, it's urban
warfare," said a resident who lives near the Budaya Highway in the northwest of
Bahrain
(Additional
reporting by Frederik Richter; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Assange
- WikiLeaks' cables spurred Arab uprisings
CAMBRIDGE,
England | Wed Mar 16, 2011
5:43am GMT
Reuters
By Isabel Coles
CAMBRIDGE,
England (Reuters) - Publishing U.S. diplomatic cables helped shape uprisings in
North Africa and the Middle East, WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange said on
Tuesday.
The computer expert, who infuriated the U.S. government by publishing thousands
of the secret cables, said the leaks may have persuaded some authoritarian
regimes that they could not rely on U.S. support if military force was used on
protesters.
They also made it difficult for the West to continue its support of the
long-standing regimes, Assange told hundreds of students at the Cambridge
University union.
"The Tunisian cables showed clearly that if it came down to it, the U.S., if it
came down to a fight between the military on the one hand, and (President Zine
al-Abidine) Ben Ali's political regime on the other, the U.S. would probably
support the military," he said.
"That is something that must have also caused neighbouring countries to Tunisia
some thought. That is that if they militarily intervened, they may not be on the
same side as the United States," Assange said.
The wave of unrest began in Tunisia last December, forcing the president to flee
the country a month later.
Protests then sprang up elsewhere in the region, encouraging Wikileaks to pump
out information on principal players in Egypt, Libya and Bahrain "as fast as we
could," Assange said.
The cables were published, not just so that the people in those countries would
know what was going on, "because many of them already knew what was going on in
great and grotesque detail, but rather so that it would not be possible for the
West to stand up and support the (authoritarian leaders)," he said.
In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in February after 18 days of
protests.
Assange, who is fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden over alleged sex
crimes, said cables released on Egypt's former intelligence chief and vice
president Omar Suleiman prevented the United States from supporting him as a
potential successor.
"It was not possible for (U.S. Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton to publicly
come out and support Mubarak's regime," he said.
About 800 students attended the talk, many having queued for hours, and they
applauded Assange enthusiastically.
CAIRO
(Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton toured Tahrir Square in central
Cairo on Wednesday, visiting the heart of the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak
from power in Egypt after 30 years and shook the Middle East.
She strolled around the square, flanked by security officials, and shook hands
with pedestrians, including a woman in a Muslim headscarf and an older man who
said: "Welcome to Tahrir Square."
She replied: "Hi, how are you?"
In the early days of the uprising, which began on January 25, the square was the
scene of violent clashes between demonstrators and police, who failed to quell
the revolt with their until then effective heavy-handed tactics.
The police where then withdrawn from the streets and the army was deployed,
surrounding the square with tanks but staying on the sidelines. When protesters
were charged by Mubarak supporters on camels and horses on February 2 the army
looked on.
But despite the clashes, demonstrations became both protests and festive
gatherings of hundreds of thousands. After Mubarak quit on February 11, hundreds
of thousands gathered to celebrate his departure.
Much of the anti-Mubarak graffiti has been cleaned away, traffic again flows
through the square where several thoroughfares meet and cobbled pavements are
being repaired after they were torn up to provide projectiles.
(Reporting by
Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Gaddafi
forces push towards rebels, no U.N. move yet
AJDABIYAH,
Libya | Wed Mar 16, 2011
3:10am GMT
Reuters
By Mohammed Abbas
AJDABIYAH,
Libya (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi's forces pushed eastwards towards the Libyan
rebel stronghold of Benghazi and his government predicted victory within days
while world powers debated imposing a no-fly zone to help stop him.
Foreign powers condemn the crackdown, but show little appetite for action to
support an uprising that was inspired by pro-democracy rebellions that toppled
the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents.
Many in the Arab world may fear a Gaddafi victory and a crackdown on protests in
Bahrain could turn the tide in the region.
Supporters of a no-fly zone to halt Libyan government air strikes on rebels
circulated a draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that would
authorise one, but other states said questions remained.
The draft was distributed at a closed-door meeting by Britain and Lebanon after
the Arab League called on the council on Saturday to set up a no-fly zone amid
advances by Gaddafi's troops against the rebels based in the east.
German Ambassador Peter Wittig told reporters after the meeting his country
still had queries.
"We raised questions we felt are still not fully answered, as to the Arab
participation in such a measure, as to whether the implementation of such a zone
would run counter to the intention of the Arab League itself, the Arab League
having pointed out that there should be no foreign intervention," Wittig said.
Veto powers Russia, China and the United States, along with Portugal, Germany
and South Africa are among the members that have doubts about the idea of a
no-fly zone for Libya.
A senior Libyan Foreign Ministry official said the government hoped to regain
control over all rebel-held territories soon.
"We hope (it will be done) as soon as possible. I hope it will be in a matter of
days," Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told Reuters in Tripoli.
In a televised speech, a defiant Gaddafi taunted Western countries that have
backed the imposition of a no-fly zone to come and get him.
"France now raises its head and says that it will strike Libya," he told a
gathering of supporters at his Bab al-Azizia fortified compound in central
Tripoli.
"Strike Libya?" he asked. "We'll be the one who strikes you! We struck you in
Algeria, in Vietnam. You want to strike us? Come and give it a try."
ROAD TO
BENGHAZI
At an evening rally in a huge tent in Tripoli, Gaddafi condemned the rebels as
rats, dogs, hypocrites and traitors. As he spoke, thousands gathered in a
Benghazi square denouncing him as a tyrant and throwing shoes and other objects
at his image projected upside down on a wall.
The rebels' eastern capital looked highly vulnerable after government troops
took control of the junction at Ajdabiyah, opening the way to Benghazi.
"The town of Ajdabiyah has been cleansed of mercenaries and terrorists linked to
the al Qaeda organisation," state TV said, referring to the rebels fighting to
end Gaddafi's 41 years of absolute power.
Looking ahead with confidence to future business deals in a Gaddafi-led Libya,
deputy foreign minister Kaim said Libya would honour existing contracts with
Western oil companies and that the crisis may influence future cooperation with
them.
Earlier on Tuesday, jets fired rockets at a rebel checkpoint at the western
entrance to Ajdabiyah, then unleashed a rolling artillery barrage on the town
and a nearby arms dump, following the same pattern of attack that has pushed
back rebels more than 100 miles (160 km) in a week-long counter-offensive.
As well as the coastal road to Benghazi, there is also a 400 km (250 mile)
desert road straight to Tobruk, near the Egyptian border, that would cut off
Benghazi. But it was not clear whether Gaddafi's forces were strong enough to
open a second front and if they could operate with such long supply lines.
The mood in Benghazi was defiant but shaky.
Mohamed Yasiri, unemployed and 55, said: "We are all afraid, to be honest."
NATO has set three conditions for it to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya:
regional support, proof its help is needed and a Security Council resolution.
An Arab League call for a no-fly zone satisfies the first condition, but with
access to most of Libya barred by Gaddafi's security forces, hard evidence that
NATO intervention is needed to avert atrocities or a humanitarian disaster is
scarce.
Growing numbers of Libyan are crossing into Egypt fleeing Gaddafi's advance, the
U.N. refugee agency said.
(Reporting by
Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy in Tripoli, Tom Pfeiffer in Benghazi, Mariam
Karouny in Djerba, Tunisia, Tarek Amara in Tunis, Louis Charbonneau and Patrick
Worsnip at the United Nations, James Regan, Tim Hepher, Arshad Mohammed and John
Irish in Paris; Writing by Michael Roddy; Editing by Robert Birsel)
