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8 mourners shot dead as Syrians swarm streets
Libyan forces to pull out from Misrata |
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Lohan sentenced, released on bail
Los Angeles, April 23 Lindsay Lohan was ordered to jail for 120 days for violating her probation by allegedly stealing a necklace, but was later released on bail. Lindsay Lohan arrives for a hearing at the Airport Branch Courthouse in Los Angeles. — Reuters
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8 mourners shot dead as Syrians swarm streets
Damascus, April 23 Activists said the death toll from yesterday’s nationwide protests could reach 100 and expected fresh protests to form after the funerals. Yesterday’s deaths signalled no let-up from President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces used live ammunition and tear gas against demonstrators nationwide, witnesses and activists told AFP. The bloodshed erupted as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets for “Good Friday” protests to test long sought-after freedoms a day after Assad scrapped decades of draconian emergency rule. The Syrian Revolution 2011, a motor behind the protests, marked the tone on Saturday by posting on its main Facebook page a black banner with the word “Mourning” in English and Arabic. It came as tens of thousands of mourners packed buses and headed on Saturday for the southern town of Ezreh for the funerals of 18 persons killed the previous day, a rights activist told AFP by telephone. Another activist later said “12 martyrs were buried in Ezreh” and that two men - Yasser Nseirat and Jamal Qanbar-who were part of the funeral cortege heading for the town were shot dead by security forces. Other activists spoke of five mourners killed in Ezreh and outside a hospital in Daraa, with the toll expected to rise. “More than 150 buses left from Daraa and neighbouring villages to attend the funerals of 18 martyrs killed Friday in Ezreh,” in Daraa province, an activist requesting anonymity said. Daraa has been an epicentre of protests against the regime of Assad, who also scrapped the feared state security court on Thursday and signed a decree “to regulate” peaceful protests in the autocratic country. Snipers also pinned down mourners in the northern Damascus suburb of Douma, killing at least three people on Saturday, a witness and a human rights activist there told AFP. They opened fire from rooftops as mourners marched from a local mosque to a cemetery, the sources said, adding that tens of thousands of people took part in the procession. A group called the Committee of Martyrs of 15 March Revolution issued a list of 82 names of people killed yesterday, but said the toll from the “massacre” could reach 100 as it tried to confirm more deaths. Amnesty International, citing Syrian activists, said at least 75 people were killed yesterday when the “government launched its deadliest crackdown yet on demonstrators” seeking reform. — AFP
WORLD
REACTS
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government must respect international human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as well as the freedom of the press. Only an inclusive dialogue can ensure social peace. This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now. Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria’s citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies. The government and all non-government and religious forces in Syria must rule out violence and continue to search for a fair resolution to the brewing problems. Only constructive dialogue and socio-economic change can guarantee the stable and democratic development of the country. We call on Syrian authorities to renounce the use of violence and to respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of their citizens. Only an inclusive political dialogue responding to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian
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Libyan forces to pull out from Misrata
Tripoli/Washington, April 23 “The situation in Misrata will be dealt with by the tribes around Misrata and Misrata’s residents and not by the Libyan army,” Khaled Kaim, Libya’s deputy foreign minister, told reporters. “We will leave the tribes around Misrata and Misrata’s people to deal with the situation, either using force or negotiations,” he said late last night. Kaim said the Libyan army had been given an “ultimatum” to stop the rebellion in Misrata, 200 km east of the capital Tripoli. “There was an ultimatum to the Libyan army: if they cannot solve the problem in Misrata, then the people from (the neighbouring towns of) Zliten, Tarhuna, Bani Walid and Tawargha will move in and they will talk to the rebels. If they don’t surrender, then they will engage them in a fight,” he was quoted as saying by Al-Jazeera news channel. US drones commenced operations in Libya to help rebels bogged down in their bid to over throw Gaddafi as Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military’s joint chiefs of staff, warned that the conflict was “moving towards stalemate”. Amid the looming humanitarian crisis, fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi’s forces raged in Misrata, with reports saying that at least 10 people were killed today. Hours after the announcement of a shift in tactics in Misrata by the Libyan regime, NATO pounded what appeared to be a bunker near Gaddafi’s compound in central Tripoli. Government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said three people were killed by the “very powerful explosion” in a car park near the embattled leaders Bab al-Aziziyah compound. Mullen has admitted that while the NATO air strikes had weakened the Libyan forces, the conflict was moving into “stalemate”. Mullen, speaking to US troops in Iraq yesterday, said the fighting in Libya is “moving towards stalemate”, even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40 person of Gaddafi’s ground forces, BBC reported. US Senator John McCain, who became the most high- profile Western politician to visit Benghazi yesterday, praised the rebels as his “heroes” and sought international recognition for the opposition’s Transitional National Council (TNC). “These brave fighters” needed “every appropriate” means of assistance to increase pressure on Gaddafi and his loyalists, he said in the rebel-stronghold. He also called for urgently stepping up the NATO air campaign to protect Libyan civilians, especially in Misurata. — PTI US launches first drone strike
WASHINGTON: The United States launched its first Predator drone strike in Libya on Saturday, the Defence Department said in a statement. It did not provide details on the target of the strike, saying only that it occurred in the early afternoon local time in Libya. Gates announced on Thursday that the unmanned aircraft would be used in Libya. The US military has been using other drones to target militants along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The
drones in Libya were not taken from Afghanistan, US officials said. — Reuters
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Lohan sentenced, released on bail
Los Angeles, April 23 Los Angeles county superior court judge Stephanie Sautner also reduced the charge from a felony grand theft to a misdemeanour. The court ruled on Friday that the ‘Mean Girls’ star violated her 2007 drunk-driving probation by wearing a gold chain out of a Venice jewelry store, Kamofie & Co, in January and failing to return it until the police got involved, reported Los Angeles Times. Besides 120 days in jail, Sautner gave her 480 hours of community service. Defence attorney Shawn Chapman Holley immediately sought to post the $75,000 bail and filed an appeal of Sautner's decision. Lohan was processed at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood late Friday and was released on bail, the authorities said. The actress will remain free until her June 3 trial but is required to begin her community service by working 120 hours at the Los Angeles County morgue and 360 hours at the Downtown Women's Shelter on skid row, the judge ruled. — PTI
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Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi will withdraw from the western besieged city of Misrata in a bid to allow the local tribes to find a solution to the deepening civil war as NATO today intensified its air strikes on the Libyan capital Tripoli.
