Recap of developments in Middle East, North Africa



CAIRO- Latest developments in the unrest sweeping the Middle East and North Africa in the past 24 hours:
LIBYA: Western and Arab forces prepared for new raids on Libya to enforce a UN resolution aimed at halting its leader Moamer Kadhafi's attacks on civilians in suppressing a month-long uprising.



- A Libyan military spokesman announced a new ceasefire in the campaign against the uprising, following an African Union plea for an end to hostilities, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he hoped it would be kept.
- Anti-aircraft fire was heard in Tripoli near Kadhafi's residence Sunday, followed by a large explosion and a plume of smoke.
- The US, Britain and France pounded Libya with aircraft and cruise missiles after the UN Security Council authorised the use of "all necessary means" to protect civilians and enforce a ceasefire and no-fly zone against Kadhafi's forces.
- Kadhafi denounced the attacks as a "barbaric, unjustified Crusaders' aggression" that turned the Mediterranean into a "real battlefield" while he threatened a "long, drawn-out war with no limits."
- State television said Western warplanes bombed civilian targets in Tripoli Saturday, causing casualties, and that hundreds of Kadhafi supporters acted as human shields to protect potential targets, including Kadhafi's compound.
- At least 48 people died and 150 were injured in the first wave of raids, an official said.
- At least 94 people were killed in a two-day assault launched on the rebel-held Libyan city of Benghazi by forces loyal to Kadhafi, medics said.
- Dozens of Kadhafi military vehicles, including tanks, were destroyed in coalition air strikes west of Benghazi.
- State television said Libya had decided to suspend cooperation with Europe in the fight against illegal immigration.
- US President Barack Obama said he would not commit ground troops to Libya.
- The coalition aims to cut off logistical support to Kadhafi forces "in the next day or so," US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen said.
- Coalition airstrikes stem from a "big misunderstanding" about Libya's rebellion, Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam said, calling the rebels "gangsters" and "terrorists."
- Despite anger at the Western military action in Libya, there will be no retaliation on commercial flights around the Mediterranean, Kadhafi's son said.
- The Arab League criticised Western military strikes on Libya, a week after urging the United Nations to slap a no-fly zone on the oil-rich state.
- Foreign military strikes in Libya would not be needed if African leaders held their peers to account, South Africa's Desmond Tutu said.
- Russia called for an end to "indiscriminate use of force" by foreign states taking part in military operations in Libya.
- Germany's foreign minister warned that the West risked being dragged into a lengthy mission in Libya.
- Turkey urged a review of NATO's operational planning for Libya, saying the military intervention unleashed there "changed the parameters."
- Iran said it backs the revolt against Kadhafi but "doubts" the aims of Western powers pummelling the country with air strikes.
- China expressed regret at the multinational air strikes in Libya,
- France is "fully" applying the UN resolution on Libya and staying strictly within its terms, the defence ministry said.
- The US said the immediate goal of the coalition's intervention in Libya is to protect civilians with a no-fly zone, not to oust strongman Kadhafi.
- Kadhafi is feeling the "unified will" of the international community through the military campaign against his forces, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.
- Pope Benedict XVI appealed to political and military leaders to ensure "the safety of Libyan citizens and guarantee access to humanitarian aid".
- A seized Italian tugboat and its crew left the port of Tripoli escorted by people claiming to represent port authority and military officials.
- Two Agence France-Presse journalists have been missing since Saturday while working in the eastern Tobruk region.
SYRIA: Hundreds of protesters set alight the courthouse, other buildings and cars in the southern Syrian town of Daraa Sunday in a violent protest following a security crackdown that according to an activist killed one and injured scores.
LEBANON: Thousands of Lebanese held a protest Sunday in Beirut, the third in less than a month, to demand an end to the country's confessional system.
YEMEN: Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh sacked his government in the face of massive protests demanding his resignation, the state news agency Saba reported.
- Tens of thousands of people turned out for the Sanaa funerals of many of the 52 people gunned down by loyalists of Yemen's president, as more senior regime figures resigned over the killings.
BAHRAIN: A Bahraini Shiite was found dead with traces of torture on his body, a day after he went missing amid a heavy-handed police crackdown on Shiite protests, opposition MP Matar Matar said.
- Bahrain's cabinet regretted the "negative" response by opposition groups to an offer of dialogue aimed at ending a pro-democracy protest which police quelled this week.
ALGERIA: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promised wide-ranging reforms Saturday after police blocked anti-government protests in the capital.
EGYPT: Egyptians voted 77% in favour of the military's plans for a swift return to civilian rule after mass protests ousted president Hosni Mubarak last month, official results showed Sunday.
MOROCCO: Thousands of Moroccans demonstrated in Casablanca, Rabat and other cities calling for more democracy and social justice despite recent promises of deep political reform.
IRAN: Saudi Arabia on Saturday slammed "attacks" on its diplomatic missions in Iran, a day after Iranian protesters reportedly threw stones at a Saudi consulate.
IRAQ: Thousands of protesters in southern Iraq chanted slogans and carried effigies of Gulf rulers on Saturday in a third day of rallies supporting Shiite-led pro-democracy protests in Bahrain.
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Monday, March 21st 2011
AFP
           


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