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- Kadhafi's regime accused the West of "a conspiracy to divide Libya" as Washington, under mounting pressure to help opposition forces, said it was premature to arm the rebels.
- Libyan warplanes hit a block of flats in the rebel-held town of Ras Lanuf, the first time homes have been hit there, as reports from the front line said strongman Moamer Kadhafi's forces were digging in for a lengthy battle.
- The Libyan rebel leadership will not pursue criminal charges against Kadhafi if he resigns and leaves the country, the head of their self-declared national council said.
- The head of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called on the United Nations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, but rejected any intervention on the ground.
- Arab foreign ministers are to hold crisis talks to discuss imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, Arab League officials said.
- The European Union agreed to slap new sanctions on Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's regime, notably targeting the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) -- the overseas investment vehicle for Tripoli's oil revenues.
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti youth activists were forced to change the venue of planned anti-government protests after police shut the original site, organisers said.
EGYPT: A Cairo criminal court upheld a decision to freeze the assets of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his family, the official MENA news agency reported.
JORDAN: Jordan's powerful Islamist opposition, which boycotted the November general election, called for the dissolution of parliament, accusing MPs of hindering reforms.
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Palestinian women took to the streets to call for unity and an end to the Israeli occupation in a series of rallies called to mark International Women's Day.
OMAN: Omanis protesting against corruption said they would not be mollified by a major cabinet reshuffle in which more than a third of the sultanate's ministers were sacked or shifted.
BAHRAIN: Dozens of activists on Monday protested at the US embassy in Manama calling for Washington to press Bahraini authorities for democratic reform after weeks of demonstrations.
- Housing Minister Majid al-Alawi announced plans to build 50,000 houses at a cost of at least $5.32 billion in the latest move to try to calm the protests gripping the small but strategic kingdom.
TUNISIA: Tunisia's newly legalised Islamist movement said it supported the country's ban on polygamy but urged the government to lift one on wearing headscarves in schools and universities.
- Tunisia on Monday announced a new interim government free of any members of the regime of toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and scrapped a security agency that had targeted political dissidents.
SUDAN: The Sudanese opposition on Monday rejected an offer of talks with the ruling National Congress Party, which has pushed for a broad-based government after the south gains independence in July, saying regime change is the only option.
SAUDI ARABIA: The United States said Monday that the right to protest must be respected everywhere, including in Saudi Arabia, where the interior minister has said protests are illegal.
- The kingdom released a Shiite cleric whose arrest last month provoked demonstrations and a Facebook call for a "Day of Rage", a human rights activist said Monday.
YEMEN: Riot police fired warning shots and used batons to disperse prisoners in Sanaa's central jail on Monday after they called for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
ALGERIA: Thousands of auxiliary police marched in Algiers on Monday to demand pay rises, breaking through heavy security to reach parliament in a rare mass show of dissent.
- The government is studying ways to improve dialogue with the public including the use of social media, a minister said Sunday, after police cracked down on anti-regime rallies.
MOROCCO: A few hundred people, mainly youths, attended a quickly improvised pro-democracy rally in front of the Moroccan parliament Sunday, calling for the rule of law and radical political reform.
- Young activists are using Facebook to call for new demonstrations on March 20 "for dignity and large scale political reforms."
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- Libyan warplanes hit a block of flats in the rebel-held town of Ras Lanuf, the first time homes have been hit there, as reports from the front line said strongman Moamer Kadhafi's forces were digging in for a lengthy battle.
- The Libyan rebel leadership will not pursue criminal charges against Kadhafi if he resigns and leaves the country, the head of their self-declared national council said.
- The head of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) called on the United Nations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, but rejected any intervention on the ground.
- Arab foreign ministers are to hold crisis talks to discuss imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, Arab League officials said.
- The European Union agreed to slap new sanctions on Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's regime, notably targeting the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) -- the overseas investment vehicle for Tripoli's oil revenues.
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti youth activists were forced to change the venue of planned anti-government protests after police shut the original site, organisers said.
EGYPT: A Cairo criminal court upheld a decision to freeze the assets of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his family, the official MENA news agency reported.
JORDAN: Jordan's powerful Islamist opposition, which boycotted the November general election, called for the dissolution of parliament, accusing MPs of hindering reforms.
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Palestinian women took to the streets to call for unity and an end to the Israeli occupation in a series of rallies called to mark International Women's Day.
OMAN: Omanis protesting against corruption said they would not be mollified by a major cabinet reshuffle in which more than a third of the sultanate's ministers were sacked or shifted.
BAHRAIN: Dozens of activists on Monday protested at the US embassy in Manama calling for Washington to press Bahraini authorities for democratic reform after weeks of demonstrations.
- Housing Minister Majid al-Alawi announced plans to build 50,000 houses at a cost of at least $5.32 billion in the latest move to try to calm the protests gripping the small but strategic kingdom.
TUNISIA: Tunisia's newly legalised Islamist movement said it supported the country's ban on polygamy but urged the government to lift one on wearing headscarves in schools and universities.
- Tunisia on Monday announced a new interim government free of any members of the regime of toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and scrapped a security agency that had targeted political dissidents.
SUDAN: The Sudanese opposition on Monday rejected an offer of talks with the ruling National Congress Party, which has pushed for a broad-based government after the south gains independence in July, saying regime change is the only option.
SAUDI ARABIA: The United States said Monday that the right to protest must be respected everywhere, including in Saudi Arabia, where the interior minister has said protests are illegal.
- The kingdom released a Shiite cleric whose arrest last month provoked demonstrations and a Facebook call for a "Day of Rage", a human rights activist said Monday.
YEMEN: Riot police fired warning shots and used batons to disperse prisoners in Sanaa's central jail on Monday after they called for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
ALGERIA: Thousands of auxiliary police marched in Algiers on Monday to demand pay rises, breaking through heavy security to reach parliament in a rare mass show of dissent.
- The government is studying ways to improve dialogue with the public including the use of social media, a minister said Sunday, after police cracked down on anti-regime rallies.
MOROCCO: A few hundred people, mainly youths, attended a quickly improvised pro-democracy rally in front of the Moroccan parliament Sunday, calling for the rule of law and radical political reform.
- Young activists are using Facebook to call for new demonstrations on March 20 "for dignity and large scale political reforms."
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