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Civil war stares at Libya
Rebels capture UK commandos
Yemen Oppn vows to intensify protests |
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Protesters besiege PM’s office in Bahrain
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Civil war stares at Libya
Cairo, March 6 Libyan jets targeted rebel-held areas Bin Zawad, oil port city of Ras Lanuf, Misurata and Az-Zawiyah, which lies just 50 km west of Tripoli, Al Jazeera said. Amid conflicting reports, Libyan state television claimed that shots were fired in celebration of Gaddafi forces having regained control of the cities of Misurata and Az-Zawiyah, a day after anti-government fighters repelled repeated attacks by forces loyal to Gaddafi. However, residents of Misurata said reports that the city had been recaptured were false, Al Jazeera said. Faced with international sanctions, 68-year-old Gaddafi in an interview to French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, warned of an "Islamic Jihad" if his regime continues to come under all round attack. "I want an investigation team of the UN or the African Union in Libya. We will allow the commission to go on the field without any hindrance," he said. More than two weeks since the uprising began against Gaddafi's 41-year rule, heavy gunfire was heard in the capital today. The gunfire began at about 0545 local time (0915 IST), BBC reported. The machine-gun and heavy weapons fire could be heard across the city. Anti-Gaddafi rebels have taken much of the country in the revolt that began on February 15 and have repeatedly denied government claims they have lost towns. BBC said Tobruk and Ras Lanuf remain in rebel hands. State TV showed pictures of tanks, armoured-personnel carriers and other weapons it said were seized on Saturday from rebels in Az-Zawiyah. But witnesses told Al Jazeera that rebel forces were able to repel heavy government assaults on their positions on Saturday. It said more than 30 persons were killed and as many as 200 injured in the violence. While Benghazi, the country's second largest city, is in the hands of anti-Gaddafi forces, Libyan military was moving fast to oust the opposition, reports said. In his interview to the French journal, Gaddafi said he favoured France "coordinating and leading" the investigative body. "France should have been the first to send a commission of inquiry. I hope that it will change its attitude towards us," he said. Gaddafi warned that the unrest in Libya would have serious consequences for Europe. "Thousands of people will invade Europe from Libya. And there will be nobody to stop them." He also claimed that al-Qaeda was behind the protests against his regime. "There will be an Islamic Jihad in front of you, in the Mediterranean ... People of (Osama) bin Laden will impose ransom on land and sea... This will really be a global emergency and a disaster for everybody," he told the paper. Separately, Gaddafi was quoted as saying by London's 'The Sunday Times' that he would not leave his hometown to live abroad in exile. — PTI
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Rebels capture UK commandos
London: Eight British special forces commandos, on a secret mission to put British diplomats in touch with leading opponents of Muammar Gadaffi in Libya, ended in humiliation after they were held by rebel forces, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday. The soldiers were captured as they escorted a junior diplomat through rebel-held territory in the east of the country. The SAS's intervention angered Libyan opposition figures who ordered the soldiers to be locked up on a military base. Gadaffi's opponents fear he could use any evidence of western military interference to rally patriotic support for his regime.
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Yemen Oppn vows to intensify protests
Sanaa: Yemen's opposition movement vowed on Sunday to intensify protests against the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, after the embattled leader refused to resign by the end of the year. With violence gripping the strategic US ally on multiple fronts, the United States and Britain advised citizens to consider leaving the Arabian peninsula nation and warned against all but essential travel. Mohammed Sabri, a leading member of the opposition Common Forum, vowed to step up anti-government demonstrations which have left at least 19 persons dead since February 16, according to an AFP toll. "We have called upon the people to widen demonstrations and escalate the peaceful struggle in all regions until he (Saleh) is left with one option, that is to leave," he said. The ultimatum came a day after the President, who has ruled the impoverished, deeply tribal nation since 1978, dismissed opposition calls for his resignation by the end of the year and vowed to stay on until 2013. In a statement carried on Saturday night on the state-run Saba news agency, an official close to the president said an opposition transition plan envisaging Saleh's departure before the end of the year was "vague and contradictory". —
AFP
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Protesters besiege PM’s office in Bahrain
Manama: Thousands of Shiite opposition supporters descended on the Prime Minister's office in Bahrain on Sunday as their campaign for reform in the strategic Gulf nation enters its third week.
Bahrain's Shiite majority has long complained of discrimination and political persecution in the island kingdom, the home of US Navy's 5th Fleet. The protesters demanded the PM step down because of corruption and a deadly crackdown on the opposition in which seven persons were killed. Sheik Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the PM and the King's uncle, has been in power for 40 years, part of a Sunni dynasty that has ruled Bahrain for two centuries. Khalifa was presiding over a weekly meeting of government ministers on Sunday as the protesters blocked the entrance to the premier's office, chanting slogans against ruling Al Khalifa family and calling for an elected government. Bahrain’s Shiite opposition groups are calling for a constitutional monarchy, but some of the protesters are demanding that the Sunni monarchy step aside altogether. Currently, one house of Bahrain’s Parliament is the only elected body, but it holds limited authority since all the country's decisions including the appointment of government ministers rest with the King.—
AP
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Petition filed in Pak SC for reopening of Sarabjit case
NASA readies Endeavour for final trip Bomb kills 12 in Afghanistan
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Libya appeared headed for a protracted civil war as fierce gunbattles raged between troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and rebels in eastern cities today.
