Tripoli, February 17
Hundreds of supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi rallied today but there were reports on social media sites that some people had heeded opposition calls for a “day of rage.”

Gaddafi opponents communicating anonymously online or working in exile had urged people to protest on Thursday to try to emulate popular uprisings which unseated long-serving rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.

In the capital of the oil exporting country there was no sign of any demonstrations, a Reuters reporter said, apart from the pro-Gaddafi demonstrators in the city’s Green Square chanting “We are defending Gaddafi!” and waving his portrait.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Libyan authorities had detained 14 activists and writers who had been preparing the anti-government protests, while telephone lines to parts of the country were out or order.

Libya’s Quryna newspaper reported that two young civilians were killed in clashes on Wednesday in the city of Al Bayda, in the east of the country, and that the regional security chief had been removed from his post as a result.

Al Bayda is not far from Benghazi, Libya’s second city, where, a witness told Reuters, protesters clashed with police and Gaddafi supporters on Tuesday night.

Snatches of information were trickling out from parts of the country on an Arabic-language Facebook page used by opposition activists, but the sources were not clear and it was not possible to verify the details.

One post said that protesters in Ar Rajban, near the border with Algeria, set fire to a local government headquarters. In Zenten, southwest of Tripoli, protesters shouted “We will win or die,” said another post, which also had a photograph of a building on fire.

However, there was calm in Libya’s capital. On Omar al-Mokhtar street, Tripoli’s main thoroughfare, traffic was moving as normal, banks and shops were open and there was no increased security presence.

The official Jana news agency reported that there were also rallies in support of Gaddafi in other cities. Though some Libyans complain about unemployment, inequality and limits on political freedoms, analysts say an Egypt-style revolt is unlikely because the government can use oil revenues to smooth over most social problems.

Libya has been tightly controlled for over 40 years by Gaddafi, who is now Africa’s longest-serving leader, and has immense oil wealth but the country has nevertheless felt the ripples from the uprisings in neighbouring states.

“We have problems,” Mustafa Fetouri, a Tripoli-based political analyst and university professor, told Reuters. “This is a society that is still behind in many ways, there are certain legitimate problems that have to be sorted out.

But he said: “I do not really see it (unrest) spreading... Gaddafi remains well respected and if there is any kind of measure of his popularity I am sure he would come out with a majority.”

Libya bans all political parties, public dissent is rarely tolerated and over his time in office, rights groups say, thousands of Gaddafi’s opponents have been put in prison. But Gaddafi and his supporters say Libya is a democracy because of his system of direct rule through grass-roots institutions called popular committees. — Reuters

Manama, February 17
Army patrols and tanks locked down the capital of this tiny Gulf kingdom after the riot police swinging clubs and firing tear gas smashed into demonstrators, many of them sleeping, in a pre-dawn assault today that uprooted their protest camp demanding political change. Medical officials said four persons were killed.

Hours after the attack on Manama’s main Pearl Square, the military announced on state TV that it had “key parts” of the capital under its control and that gatherings were banned.

The developments marked a major crackdown by the island nation’s rulers to put an end to days of protests inspired by Egypt’s revolt against Hosni Mubarak. Tiny Bahrain is a pillar of Washington’s military framework in the region. It hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is a critical counterbalance to Iran’s efforts to expand its clout in the region.

The capital Manama was effectively shut down today. For the first time, tanks and military checkpoints were deployed in the streets and army patrols circulated. The Interior Ministry warned Bahrainis to stay off the streets.

The protesters’ demands have two main objectives: force the ruling Sunni monarchy to give up its control over top government posts and all critical decisions, and address deep grievances held by the country’s majority Shiites who claim they face systematic discrimination and are effectively blocked from key roles in public service and the military. — AP

The Lahore High Court on Thursday allowed three more weeks to the Foreign Office to determine the status of American citizen Raymond Davis who is involved in double murder and claims diplomatic immunity.

The HC adjourned the case till March 14 after Deputy Attorney-General Naveed Inayat Malik, who represented the federal government at hearing, told its Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry that the Foreign Ministry needed more time to submit a response on the diplomatic status of Davis. The CJ further ruled that Davis would remain on exit control list (ECL) imposing a ban on his leaving the country till final judgment in the case.

Naveed Inayet Malik informed the court that the name of Raymond Davis had been placed on ECL and all the concerned had been notified in this regard. He requested the court to grant three weeks time to file the foreign ministry reply.

“As the deputy Attorney-General has requested three weeks to submit a reply on the status of Raymond Davis, the case is adjourned until March 14,” Lahore HC Chief Justice Ijaz Mohammad Chaudhry said.

Punjab Advocate-General Khawaja Haris appearing on behalf of the provincial government said the US Embassy had made conflicting statements about the status of Raymond Davis. In the first instance it described him as a member of the technical staff in Lahore Consulate and later in the Embassy.

He said under the Vienna Conventions and the Pakistan law Consulate staff was not entitled to immunity against grave crimes like murder. The federal government has to certify that he enjoys immunity, which it has not yet done despite several reminders from the provincial government.

The US has insisted that 37-year-old Davis has diplomatic immunity and demanded that he should be released immediately. “We believe that diplomatic immunity (to Davis) is a fact. From our standpoint, it is not a matter in dispute. It’s certainly not a matter that should be resolved by courts in Pakistan,” State Department spokesman P J Crowley said in Washington.

Khwaja Haris, the Advocate-General of the Punjab government, told the Lahore High Court that the federal government alone could determine whether Davis has diplomatic immunity. He argued that the Vienna Convention does not give blanket immunity to persons involved in heinous crimes.

After hearing the arguments of the lawyers for the federal and provincial governments, Chief Justice Chaudhry said: “How can the court proceed further in the case till the Foreign Office tells us about his (Davis’) diplomatic status?” He subsequently adjourned the matter till March 14.

Dar es Salaam, February 17
A military ammunition depot in Tanzania’s largest city blew up overnight in a series of explosions that levelled homes, killed at least 25 persons and wounded about 145 others. Thousands ran for their lives, and 200 children have been unable to find their parents.

Several houses and a school were levelled during last night’s explosions, which sent huge orange bursts into the night sky over Dar es Salaam. Debris showered parts of the city 10 miles from the Gongola Mboto military base where the depot was located.

It was at least the second such ammunition depot explosion at a military base in Dar es Salaam since 2009.

Abdallah Shimbo, the army’s chief of staff, said today that 25 persons died from the blasts. A military spokesman said the explosions were accidental but gave no details. A hospital administrator, Mussa Wambura, said about 145 people were injured, some “badly hit by the blasts.” The blasts closed the city’s international airport, near the Gongola Mboto military base. Some 4,000 residents were evacuated to the national stadium in Dar es Salaam, which lies along the Indian Ocean in East Africa.

When the explosions hit, thousands of people living in nearby neighbourhoods fled, said Julius Kejo, a Red Cross worker helping at a shelter for displaced people. The blasts sent residents scrambling in all directions, scattering families and separating parents from their children.

“It was panic. It was many people moving away, because it happened in the night, thousands of people moving,” Kejo said. — AP

Halong City, February 17
Twelve persons, most of them foreign tourists, died today when their tour boat suddenly sank while they slept in Halong Bay, one of Vietnam's top tourist destinations, officials said.

A survivor recounted a frantic attempt to escape from below deck as the vessel went down abruptly before dawn in calm weather in the picturesque bay, renowned for its many limestone towers.

"Oh my God... The ship is sinking. We need to get off!" George Fosmire, a 23-year-old American, remembered his girlfriend warning after the listing ship tipped her out of bed in their cabin. "The whole thing took between 30 seconds and a minute," said Fosmire, who managed to escape through a window. — AFP