Recap of developments in Middle East, North Africa
AFP
CAIRO- Latest developments in the unrest sweeping the Middle East and North Africa in the past 24 hours.
LIBYA: Rebels retreated from Brega under heavy shelling as Moamer Kadhafi's forces swept closer towards the main opposition-held city of Benghazi.
- Forces loyal to Kadhafi are "marching to cleanse the country" of insurgents, military spokesman Colonel Milad Hussein told a news conference.
- Rebels abandoned the key oil town of Ras Lanuf amid air strikes and shelling.
- Rebel chief General Abdel Fatah Yunis, Kadhafi's former interior minister, said his forces would defend the strategic town of Ajdabiya at all costs.
- Libya asked foreign firms to resume oil exports from the North African nation, saying its ports are safe.
- Thousands of Libyan women marched in Benghazi for a no-fly zone.
- The US, Britain, Canada welcome an Arab League resolution calling for a no-fly zone over Libya and stating that Kadhafi's regime had "lost legitimacy."
- Tripoli said the Arab League decision was based on "fallacious allegations."
- France is pushing to "speed up" multilateral efforts for a no-fly zone over Libya.
- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves for an overseas tour to find ways to help the Libyan opposition oust Kadhafi.
- The effectiveness of sanctions against Kadhafi's regime needs to be evaluated before more are agreed, the EU's foreign policy chief said.
- UN envoy Rashid Khalikov arrived in Tripoli for talks on humanitarian aid.
- Senior Al-Qaeda militant Abu Yahya al-Libi urged rebels to fight Kadhafi and warned of the heavy price of defeat, in a videotape posted online.
- Libyan security forces have unleashed a wave of arbitrary arrests and "disappearances" in Tripoli, Human Rights Watch said.
- International rights groups condemned the killing of an Al-Jazeera cameraman and warned of a campaign of attacks targeting journalists.
- Aid group Doctors Without Borders warned Libyan rebels are being denied medical help.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross said it shipped seven truckloads of food and medicine from Jordan to Benghazi.
- Three Dutch marines freed from Libya arrived home.
MOROCCO: Dozens of protesters were injured, some seriously, during a clash with security forces who tried to storm the headquarters of a left-wing party in Casablanca, witnesses and reporters said.
SYRIA: A military court sentenced writer and opposition activist Ali Abdullah to 18 months in prison for "harming Syrian relations with a foreign country," rights groups said.
- Syrian Kurdish blogger Kamal Hussein Sheikho was released from jail but remains on trial for publishing reports allegedly harmful to the country.
LEBANON: Tens of thousands of Lebanese opposition supporters demanded Hezbollah be disarmed as they rallied to mark the sixth anniversary of a popular uprising against Syrian troops in the country.
YEMEN: Dozens were injured when police and loyalists of the ruling General People's Congress party attacked protesters occupying Sanaa's University Square with live gunfire and tear gas, witnesses said.
- The death toll from violence in Yemen rose to eight in 24 hours.
- Britain called on all its citizens to leave Yemen.
BAHRAIN: Police clashed with demonstrators trying to occupy Manama's banking centre, as protests spread from a peaceful sit-in to the heart of the strategic Gulf state's business district.
OMAN: Sultan Qaboos grants parliament legislative powers after weeks of anti-government protests in the strategic Gulf state.
EGYPT: The army is to begin rebuilding a church that was set ablaze last week, sparking deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians.
- Curbs on forming political parties will be lifted after Egypt's March 19 referendum on constitutional reform, a military official said on Saturday.
TUNISIA: Two of ousted leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's top lieutenants and a former president of parliament have been arrested and are being held in military detention, judicial sources said on Saturday.
ALGERIA: Police launched a massive security operation Saturday to head off marchers calling for an end to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's regime.
JORDAN: Around 4,000 government doctors went on strike to demand improved living conditions and better salaries.
KUWAIT: The emirate's Human Rights Association called on the government on Saturday to free people arrested during a crackdown on a protest by stateless Arabs demanding citizenship and other rights.
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- Rebel chief General Abdel Fatah Yunis, Kadhafi's former interior minister, said his forces would defend the strategic town of Ajdabiya at all costs.
- Libya asked foreign firms to resume oil exports from the North African nation, saying its ports are safe.
- Thousands of Libyan women marched in Benghazi for a no-fly zone.
- The US, Britain, Canada welcome an Arab League resolution calling for a no-fly zone over Libya and stating that Kadhafi's regime had "lost legitimacy."
- Tripoli said the Arab League decision was based on "fallacious allegations."
- France is pushing to "speed up" multilateral efforts for a no-fly zone over Libya.
- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves for an overseas tour to find ways to help the Libyan opposition oust Kadhafi.
- The effectiveness of sanctions against Kadhafi's regime needs to be evaluated before more are agreed, the EU's foreign policy chief said.
- UN envoy Rashid Khalikov arrived in Tripoli for talks on humanitarian aid.
- Senior Al-Qaeda militant Abu Yahya al-Libi urged rebels to fight Kadhafi and warned of the heavy price of defeat, in a videotape posted online.
- Libyan security forces have unleashed a wave of arbitrary arrests and "disappearances" in Tripoli, Human Rights Watch said.
- International rights groups condemned the killing of an Al-Jazeera cameraman and warned of a campaign of attacks targeting journalists.
- Aid group Doctors Without Borders warned Libyan rebels are being denied medical help.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross said it shipped seven truckloads of food and medicine from Jordan to Benghazi.
- Three Dutch marines freed from Libya arrived home.
MOROCCO: Dozens of protesters were injured, some seriously, during a clash with security forces who tried to storm the headquarters of a left-wing party in Casablanca, witnesses and reporters said.
SYRIA: A military court sentenced writer and opposition activist Ali Abdullah to 18 months in prison for "harming Syrian relations with a foreign country," rights groups said.
- Syrian Kurdish blogger Kamal Hussein Sheikho was released from jail but remains on trial for publishing reports allegedly harmful to the country.
LEBANON: Tens of thousands of Lebanese opposition supporters demanded Hezbollah be disarmed as they rallied to mark the sixth anniversary of a popular uprising against Syrian troops in the country.
YEMEN: Dozens were injured when police and loyalists of the ruling General People's Congress party attacked protesters occupying Sanaa's University Square with live gunfire and tear gas, witnesses said.
- The death toll from violence in Yemen rose to eight in 24 hours.
- Britain called on all its citizens to leave Yemen.
BAHRAIN: Police clashed with demonstrators trying to occupy Manama's banking centre, as protests spread from a peaceful sit-in to the heart of the strategic Gulf state's business district.
OMAN: Sultan Qaboos grants parliament legislative powers after weeks of anti-government protests in the strategic Gulf state.
EGYPT: The army is to begin rebuilding a church that was set ablaze last week, sparking deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians.
- Curbs on forming political parties will be lifted after Egypt's March 19 referendum on constitutional reform, a military official said on Saturday.
TUNISIA: Two of ousted leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's top lieutenants and a former president of parliament have been arrested and are being held in military detention, judicial sources said on Saturday.
ALGERIA: Police launched a massive security operation Saturday to head off marchers calling for an end to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's regime.
JORDAN: Around 4,000 government doctors went on strike to demand improved living conditions and better salaries.
KUWAIT: The emirate's Human Rights Association called on the government on Saturday to free people arrested during a crackdown on a protest by stateless Arabs demanding citizenship and other rights.
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