Rebels claim Gaddafi laid mines around Sirte
This video, posted on Facebook on March 30 by group that calls itself the “Intifada of February 17, 2011,” claims to show rebels discovering and holding landmines on the approach to Sirte. The description, translated from Arabic, says: “Battalions of Gaddafi laid the mines in the path of the advance freedom revolutionaries’ advance to the city of Sirte..rare courage in how the revolutionaries are dealing with these mines.”
Attacks and Counterattacks From All Sides
Human Rights Watch Libya: Government Use of Landmines Confirmed
(Benghazi) – Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have laid both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines during the current conflict with armed opposition groups, Human Rights Watch confirmed today.
And more news from the Arab uprisings:
Gaddafi’s stand risks stalemate in the east
Without coalition air strikes, outgunned rebels fall back through Ras Lanuf and complain about lack of support.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/03/201133061249171629.html
Misrata battle killed 18 residents on Tuesday:rebels
ALGIERS, March 30 (Reuters) – Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi killed 18 civilians in the city of Misrata on Tuesday and the troops are still shelling and fighting skirmishes with rebels, a rebel spokesman said. But a blockade of Misrata’s Mediterranean port by pro-Gaddafi forces has now ended, allowing two ships to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate people wounded in the fighting, the spokesman told Reuters by telephone.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/misrata-battle-killed-18-residents-on-tuesdayrebels
Gaddafi forces push rebels back
Rebels in Libya are struggling to hold their front line after Col Muammar Gaddafi’s forces recaptured several towns in the east of the country.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12906562
Kadafi’s troops defending Surt force rebels to retreat 100 miles
Without the support of allied airstrikes, hundreds of rebels flee east in the face of rocket attacks, reversing much of their advance over the weekend. A sustained counterattack by Libyan government troops Tuesday sent overmatched rebel fighters fleeing eastward for almost 100 miles, erasing much of the weekend gains by opposition forces attempting to overthrow Moammar Kadafi.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/O2CmT5NvhWk/la-fg-libya-counterattack-20110330,0,5614079.story
Libyan rebels retreat from Bin Jawad
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have forced opposition fighters to abandon the town of Bin Jawad, a day after they had taken it, and retreat further east to Ras Lanuf. Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher reports.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL-UQ6QbTDk&feature=youtube_gdata
Misrata rebels say under intense Libya attack
ALGIERS, March 29 (Reuters) – Rebels in the Libyan city of Misrata said they were under intense attack on Tuesday by forces loyal to leader Muammar Gaddafi, and they appealed to governments meeting in London to help them. “Gaddafi’s forces are launching intensive and vicious military campaigns against us in Misrata,” rebel spokesman Mohamed said by satellite telephone. “They are determined to capture the city. Today was tough for the rebels.”
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/misrata-rebels-say-under-intense-libya-attack
Rebel Advance Stalls as Qaddafi Forces Counterattack
Having halted a westward push by rebel fighters, pro-Qaddafi forces on Tuesday marched eastward to Ras Lanuf, an oil town.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=78f8b1e71c2fa15ba49af024697b9a65
Libya coalition launches 22 Tomahawk strikes-US
WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) – A coalition of countries conducting air strikes against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces launched 22 Tomahawk missiles in the last 24 hours, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Coalition countries also flew 115 strike sorties, the Pentagon said in a new tally of military activities over the last 24 hours.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libya-coalition-launches-22-tomahawk-strikes-us
Powerful blasts rock Libyan capital Tripoli
TRIPOLI, March 29 (Reuters) – A series of powerful explosions rocked Tripoli on Tuesday and state television said several targets in the Libyan capital had come under attack from “crusader aggressors”. Reuters reporters heard at least three explosions from their location in central Tripoli at around 1540 GMT. Libyan state television said several “civilian and military targets” had been bombed by “colonial, crusader aggressors”.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/powerful-blasts-rock-libyan-capital-tripoli
Qaddafi likens Western airstrikes to ‘Hitler’s campaigns’
Amid London talks on Libya’s future, Qaddafi shows no signs of stepping down and loyalist troops today repelled the westward advance of rebels who had gotten nearly to Sirte, Qaddafi’s hometown.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/rNVxPoGrQ0c/Qaddafi-likens-Western-airstrikes-to-Hitler-s-campaigns
NATO chief: No military solution to Libya crisis
Anders Fogh Rasmussen says there could be no solely military solution to Libya crisis, urges all parties to seek political solution as soon as possible. NATO agreed to take over Libya operations from coalition forces on Sunday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4049572,00.html
Gaddafi forces intimidate rebels
Al Jazeera has received video which appears to show soldiers loyal to Muammar Gaddafi beating pro-democracy fighters who they had detained.
http://youtu.be/s6o7c-Ev8n4
Developments
Turkey to take over Benghazi airport
NATO member to distribute aid from rebel-held city as Erdogan suggests Ankara could mediate between rebels and Gaddafi.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/03/2011328131044101778.html
Clinton: UN resolution gives us authority to arm Libyan rebels
The United States paved the way to arming rebel groups in Libya as leaders from nearly 40 countries met in London to discuss the next moves against Colonel Gaddafi’s regime.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/clinton-un-resolution-gives-us-authority-to-arm-libyan-rebels-2256768.html
NATO’s in charge – so who is doing what in Libya?
After more than a week of debate about who should have what role in the international intervention in Libya, NATO is set to assume full command. The roles of other nations involved in Libya’s conflict are likely to change as well. What were those roles, and what will they be now?
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/Lz7SEIk6buQ/NATO-s-in-charge-so-who-is-doing-what-in-Libya
NATO may order ground forces into Libya, U.S. admiral admits
Speaking to members of Congress today, Adm. James Stavridis admitted that, while allied forces were not yet considering the deployment of troops on the ground in Libya, it was a possibility. This could run counter to President Barack Obama’s pledge that no U.S. soldiers would set foot on the ground in the embattled country, where the decades-long leadership of Col. Muammar Gaddafi has come under an intense challenge from civilian protesters.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/29/nato-may-order-ground-forces-into-libya-u-s-admiral-admits/
Gaddafi Can Live In Uganda
KAMPALA, Uganda — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is welcome to live in the East African nation of Uganda, the president’s spokesman told The Associated Press on Wednesday, in what appears to be the first country to offer him refuge. An intense diplomatic effort is under way to find a country where Gadhafi can go, as an international military effort against Gadhafi’s forces continues.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/30/gaddafi-uganda-exile_n_842451.html
Obama: Coalition’s objective is to topple Gadhafi
President Barack Obama tells NBC News he believes a Western air assault and international sanctions have left Gaddafi ‘greatly weakened’ and unable to control most of his country; Obama does not rule out arming rebels.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/obama-coalition-s-objective-is-to-topple-gadhafi-1.352753?localLinksEnabled=false
NATO: Gadhafi could leave under pressure from U.S. and its partners
NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe says intelligence on the rebel forces battling Gadhafi has shown ‘flickers’ of al-Qaida or Hezbollah presence.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/nato-gadhafi-could-leave-under-pressure-from-u-s-and-its-partners-1.352663?localLinksEnabled=false
‘More than reasonable chance’ Gaddafi will leave-US
WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is likely to leave power if an international military drive applies a full range of military pressure on him, a top U.S. and NATO commander said on Tuesday. “If we work all the elements of power, we have a more than reasonable chance of Gaddafi leaving, because the entire international community is arrayed against him,” Admiral James Stavridis, who is NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and also the commander of U.S. European Command, said during testimony at the U.S. Senate.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/more-than-reasonable-chance-gaddafi-will-leave-us
Best solution for Libya is Gaddafi’s departure-Italy
LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – The best solution to the Libyan crisis would be for leader Muammar Gaddafi to go into exile, but only the African Union could persuade him to do so, an Italian diplomatic source said on Tuesday. “There is a tacit agreement among everybody that the best thing would be for Gaddafi to go into exile, because the reason for continuing the war is the presence of Gaddafi,” the source said on the sidelines of a foreign ministers meeting in London to discuss Libya.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/best-solution-for-libya-is-gaddafis-departure-italy
Qatari PM urges Gaddafi to go within days
LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – Qatar’s Prime Minister urged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Tuesday to step down to halt bloodshed and said that he might only have a few days to negotiate an exit. “We urge Gaddafi and his people to leave,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/qatari-pm-urges-gaddafi-to-go-within-days
World leaders say Gaddafi must go
The United Kingdom has hosted a summit on the developing situation in Libya, with leaders from forty countries saying that Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, must leave the country. The British hosts of the summit said that they did not discuss arming the rebels, even though the French foreign minister said it was a subject that his government was prepared to bring up. What the UN, NATO, Arab League and government representatives did agree to, however, was to establish a “contact group” to coordinate all international action on Libya. Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan reports from London.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKnHc3zwh_Y&feature=youtube_gdata
New Libya contact group to meet in Qatar
London meeting agrees move will help efforts to map out Libya’s future, amid apparent split over arming rebels.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2011/03/2011329172644996505.html
Libyan opposition: We want international political support more than weapons
Members of the Libyan opposition’s Interim National Council appealed for support at the London meeting of world leaders.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/nhU0jQlCBbk/Libyan-opposition-We-want-international-political-support-more-than-weapons
France sends envoy to Libyan rebel stronghold
LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – France has sent a special envoy to the rebel city of Benghazi to liaise with the interim administration, its foreign minister said on Tuesday. “We have arranged a French diplomatic presence in Benghazi to liaise with the transitional (Libyan) National Council,” Alain Juppe told reporters.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/france-sends-envoy-to-libyan-rebel-stronghold
New Libya contact group to meet in Qatar
London meeting agrees move will help efforts to map out Libya’s future, amid apparent split over arming rebels.
http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2011/03/2011329172644996505.html
New Libya commander: Stalemate not in anybody’s interest
Adm. James Stavridis, the head of U.S. European Command and the top military official in the Libya war, told lawmakers on Tuesday that a number of scenarios are possible in Libya, but the continued rule of Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi was not in the interest of Libya, America, or the world. “A stalemate is not an acceptable solution,” Senate Armed Services Committee ranking Republican John McCain (R-AZ) told Stavridis at the Tuesday morning hearing. McCain said that while he supported the military intervention in Libya, “An opportunity was lost by not imposing a no-fly zone over Libya three weeks ago.”
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/29/new_libya_commander_stalemate_not_in_anybody_s_interest
Libya rebels not anti-West, but Qaeda a worry-group
LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – Libya’s rebels are not the anti-Western militants Muammar Gaddafi says they are, but worsening turmoil and killings of civilians by the West would help al Qaeda get a foothold, according to a British think tank. Quilliam, a group that studies Islamists, said in a report that while Libya had jihadist groups, “they are nowhere near as powerful or as widespread as the Gaddafi regime has claimed”.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/libya-rebels-not-anti-west-but-qaeda-a-worry-group
More countries slam NATO action in Libya
President Obama used the prime time speech to answer his critics and explain his case. The speech came as Russia and Indonesia called for an immediate ceasefire and Turkey offered to act as mediator.
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/201103/s3177136.htm
British officials ‘working with rebels in East
David Cameron said British officials were liaising with rebel ground forces in eastern Libya. “We are actually now in proper contact with the rebels and a Foreign Office official is now having proper discussions with them, which I think is vital as we need to get to know and work with them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/british-officials-working-with-rebels-in-east-2255739.html
Humanitarian Crisis
LIBYA: Aid workers call for access to the vulnerable
NIAMEY 29 March 2011 (IRIN) – Mechanisms must be established quickly to ensure humanitarian access to millions of Libyans trapped behind battle lines, relief officials say.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92313
Some 2,000 people flee from Tripoli by boat to Italy and Malta
GENEVA, March 29 (UNHCR) – For the first time since conflict erupted in Libya in mid-February, hundreds of people have been fleeing by boat from Tripoli in recent days across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy and Malta.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/some-2000-people-flee-from-tripoli-by-boat-to-italy-and-malta
Iraqis in Libya wait for evacuation
Displaced Iraqis who flew Iraq to build up a safe and prosperous life did not expect to witness the day where they would urge for evacuation and call to return to their homeland due to insecurity and turmoil in Arab countries.
http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-62268-Iraqis-in-Libya-wait-for-evacuation.html
Analysis/Op-ed
Qaddafi Forces Advance on All Fronts Despite Bombardment, Juan Cole
Leaders of much of the world agreed that Qaddafi must go on Wednesday morning at a conference in Europe. Canadian jets pounded an ammunition dump on Wednesday morning near the beleaguered city of Misrata. US naval vessels launched Tomahawks at munitions storage points in Tripoli. And US ships fired on and chased away ships of the Libyan navy, which had been harassing merchant vessels carrying goods to the harbor of Misrata. Qaddafi’s forces continued to try to take all of Misrata on Tuesday, pounding the city center with tank and artillery fire. The rebels made a stand at the harbor district and insisted that they continued to control it. Likewise, Qaddafi sent reinforcements to the tank brigade that has been attacking the southwestern rural town of Zintan, among the first cities to have defied him. Qaddafi’s forces also pushed back the rag tag military forces from Ben Jawad. back to Ra’s Lanuf. Qaddafi’s response to the UN Security Council Resolution 1973 calling for the protection of Libyan civilians has been to launch a wideranging war against his opponents, with an eye toward consolidating his territory in the west (Zintan, Misrata, Ra’s Lanuf) in ways that the no-fly zone cannot impede. Likely these advances will provoke further aerial intervention in coming days, leveling the playing field for the rebels.
http://www.juancole.com/2011/03/qaddafi-forces-advance-on-all-fronts-despite-bombardment.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+juancole%2Fymbn+%28Informed+Comment%29
Beneath veneer of true love for Qaddafi, rebellion simmers in Tripoli
While the chest thumping of many Qaddafi loyalists in Tripoli is authentic, other Libyans in the capital are not afraid to say they side with the rebels.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/VSbCfm3ua_A/Beneath-veneer-of-true-love-for-Qaddafi-rebellion-simmers-in-Tripoli
Can Libya’s people be protected if Qaddafi stays?
Libya’s rebels, many of whom have stories of loved ones lost to Muammar Qaddafi’s regime, are driven by his legacy of torture, murder, and disappearances.
http://rss.csmonitor.com/%7Er/feeds/world/%7E3/bmCSajKO-R0/Can-Libya-s-people-be-protected-if-Qaddafi-stays
Inside Story: Libya’s end game
World powers met in London to discuss arming rebel fighters in Libya. The talks focussed on military operations in the country and justifications for providing weapons to those opposed to Muammer Gaddafi, Libya’s embattled leader. The meeting follows Barack Obama, the US president’s first speech on Libya since the intervention began. Obama said he ordered the military action to enforce UN Resolution 1973, because if the coalition had waited one more day, there could have been a massacre among Libyans by Gaddafi’s forces. At the same time he spoke of the limitations of action and made a distinction between intervention and regime change. He delivered a straight dismissal of more aggressive action, describing any attempt to include regime change as a “mistake”. Which begs the question if the US and the rest of the international community are not trying to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi by force, then what is the proposed ‘end game’ for Libya? Inside Story presenter Kamahl Santamaria, discusses with: Oliver Miles, a former British ambassdor to Libya; Mustafa Alani, director of the Security Progamme at the Gulf Research Centre and Aly Abuzaakouk, president of the Libyan Human and Political Development Forum. This episode of Inside Story aired from Tuesday, March 29, 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpLeZehM0Rs&feature=youtube_gdata
The myth of tribal Libya | Alaa al-Ameri
Portraying Libya as ‘tribal’ is not only wrong – it dismisses the notion that our uprising has anything to do with national dignity. In the last few weeks, the word “tribalism” has been used extensively in the context of the Libyan democratic uprising – a spectre looming over the country, embodying the devil we don’t know. This was first introduced into the public mind by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi during his address last month in which he threatened the bloodshed and destruction that his father’s regime has let loose on the Libyan people.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/30/libya-tribal-myth-national-dignity
What international law?
“The constraints imposed on Libyan forces are similarly radical and far-reaching, going well beyond the obligations imposed by general international law on governments responding to insurgencies. The resolution demands ‘the immediate establishment of a ceasefire and a complete end to violence’, and bans all flights in Libyan airspace unless their sole purpose is ‘humanitarian’. If the expansive authority granted to international forces and the novel obligations imposed on Libya by Resolution 1973 are sanctioned by international law, what kind of law is this? And does it deserve our fidelity?
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-international-law.html
We’ve avoided a Libyan Srebrenica, so when is the bombing going to stop? | Jonathan Freeland
When there was a clear and present danger, intervention was the right thing to do. But the threat is receding. Barely through the entrance and we’re looking for the exit. The Libyan intervention is just 11 days old, but already the clamour is for an end. Polls show almost identical levels of weak support on both sides of the Atlantic, a meagre 45% in Britain and 47% in the US. (At the equivalent stage, 90% of Americans backed the war in Afghanistan, and 70% supported the invasion of Iraq.) Each day brings conflicting signals as to whether the end is near. News of rebel advances on Monday brought hope that Colonel Gaddafi might be gone by the end of the week. The morning bulletins on Tuesday brought word of pro-Gaddafi successes, suggesting that the dictator would not be out any time soon.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/29/libyan-srebrenica-time-stop-bombing
Why Obama’s Libya speech didn’t matter, Stephen M. Walt
The president is tiptoeing through a mine-field of conflicting imperatives, seeking to justify a war that he has launched even though there are no vital strategic interests at stake. And make no mistake: it is a war. When your forces are flying hundreds of sorties, and firing missiles and dropping bombs on another country’s armed forces, it is Orwellian to call it anything else.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/29/why_obamas_libya_speech_didnt_matter
Defending the motion, As’ad AbuKhalil
Sir Campbell wants Western governments to “nurture democracy and to exercise a benign influence”. This is the same argument made by colonial powers after the first world war either to deny independence to certain countries, or to accord them “mandate” systems—presumably to nurture their political development.
http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/674/showCommentModule:1
A Debate on U.S. Military Intervention in Libya: Juan Cole v. Vijay Prashad
As President Obama defends the U.S.-led military attacks on Libya, we host a debate. University of Michigan Professor Juan Cole has just published an article titled “An Open Letter to the Left on Libya.” Cole defends the use of military force to prevent a massacre in Benghazi and to aid the Libyan rebel movement in their liberation struggle. In opposition to U.S. intervention in Libya, University of Trinity Professor Vijay Prashad warns the United States has involved itself in a decades-long internal Libyan struggle while it ignores violent crackdowns by U.S.-backed governments in Bahrain, Yemen and other countries in the region. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/29/a_debate_on_us_military_intervention
Libya, Obama, and Empire, William Blum
The words they find it very difficult to say — “civil war”. Libya is engaged in a civil war. The United States and the European Union and NATO — The Holy Triumvirate — are intervening, bloodily, in a civil war. To overthrow Moammar Gaddafi. First The Holy Triumvirate spoke only of imposing a no-fly zone. After getting support from international bodies on that understanding, they immediately began to wage war against Libyan military forces, and whoever was nearby, on a daily basis. In the world of commerce this is called “bait and switch”.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/03/libya-obama-and-empire/
Libya’s Blood for Oil, Susan Lindauer
Who are we kidding? The United States, Britain and NATO don’t care about bombing civilians to contain rebellion. Their militaries bomb civilians every day without mercy. They have destroyed most of the community infrastructure of Iraq and Afghanistan before turning their sights on Libya. So what’s really going on here?
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/03/libyas-blood-for-oil/
Meet the “leaders” of the Libyan “revolution”, As`ad AbuKhalil
“But oddly, the Libyan revolution has been led by inauspicious technocrats from within the Gadhafi regime. One of these is Mahmoud Jibril, a US-educated professor who became secretary of the national planning council under Gadhafi. Jibril spent years working with Gadhafi’s son Saif on political and economic reforms, and while many of those efforts were stifled by reactionary elements in the regime, the job put him in contact with international diplomats…But the chairman of the National Council is Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who was much more of a public figure under Gadhafi. He rose through Libya’s legal system to become justice minister...”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/03/meet-leaders-of-libyan-revolution.html
Bahrain
Human Rights Watch: The Violence in Bahrain was no “Accident”
Robert Cooper, a hand-picked senior adviser to Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, must not have gotten the memo. His boss had acknowledged that Bahraini security forces used violence and excessive force to suppress largely peaceful pro-democracy protests, offered her condolences to the families of those killed, and stressed that Bahrain’s rulers need to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/29/violence-bahrain-was-no-accident
Human Rights Watch Bahrain: Wounded Protesters Beaten, Detained
(Manama) – Bahraini authorities are systematically targeting demonstrators and bystanders wounded in anti-government protests for harassment and mistreatment, and in some cases denying them critical care, Human Rights Watch said today.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/30/bahrain-wounded-protesters-beaten-detained
Doctors in danger
The Bahrain hospital on the front line of unrest.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-middle-east-12899617
Bahrain arrests Internet activists – rights group
DUBAI, March 30 (Reuters) – Bahrain has arrested at least three Internet activists in a crackdown against pro-democracy protest that started two weeks ago, a human rights groups said on Wednesday. Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights named the three as prominent blogger Mahmood al-Yousif, teacher and trade unionist Sana Abdul-Razzaq Zinedine and Ayat al-Qurmozi, a poet and university student. The Bahrain Youth Movement also said Yousif and Qurmozi were arrested.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bahrain-arrests-internet-activists-rights-group
repression in Bahrain: not in the US press
Another source in Bahrain sent me this: ”They are arresting people left and right now. Its crazy. EVERYONE is getting arrested. It doesn’t matter who. They even arrested Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif (at 3 am by the way). I really have no idea why he would be arrested. I mean look at his blog. Its really tame. All he is known for is making “No Sunni No Shii just Bahraini” badges and calling for my internet freedom. I mean, yes he supported the February 14 movement but really thats about it. Arresting him is a new low. Now that he is arrested, they might as well arrest everyone who has ever blogged, tweeted, or posted facebook messages calling for reform (because he was calling for reform and not regime change). Basically – we can no longer have opinions in Bahrain. Here is his blog.”
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/03/repression-in-bahrain-not-in-us-press.html
Shiite ex-MPs exposed to prosecution in Bahrain (AFP)
AFP – Bahrain’s parliament on Tuesday accepted the resignation of 11 Shiite MPs, exposing them to possible legal action, after a news blackout on the arrests of top activists in a crackdown on anti-regime protests.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110329/wl_mideast_afp/bahrainpoliticsunrestparliament
BAHRAIN: Protesters try to get back to Pearl Square
Protesters broke the Bahrain government curfew early Saturday during a fierce sandstorm and tried to reach the Pearl Square traffic circle, where they had camped for weeks before authorities removed them in a violent crackdown. The antigovernment protesters from Shiite villages hoped to take advantage of the sandstorm to evade police and retake the traffic circle. Sayed Hadi Naser of Sanabis said he and about 25 friends were surprised not to encounter any security forces as they made their way there about 12:30 a.m.
http://feeds.latimes.com/%7Er/latimes/middleeast/%7E3/IMj6P_fM468/bahrain-king-hamad-bin-isa-al-khalifa-protesters-crackdown.html
Bahraini troops close in on protesters
Bahraini army troops have besieged mourning demonstrators in the northeastern village of Ma’ameer as the Persian Gulf state sees more violence against anti-government protests.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172152.html
Bahrain’s Shiite leader wants Saudi-led force out (AP)
AP – Bahrain’s Shiite opposition leader is demanding the Saudi-led force the Gulf nation’s Sunni rulers invited to help quell the anti-government protests leaves the country.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110330/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain_protests
Bahrain opposition urges Iran not to ‘meddle’ (AFP)
AFP – Bahrain’s Shiite opposition leader on Wednesday urged Shiite Iran to keep out of the Arab country’s internal affairs, after government charges that Tehran had orchestrated month-long protests.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110330/wl_mideast_afp/bahrainpoliticsunrestshiiteiran
Syria
Assad blames ‘conspirators’ for Syria unrest
Syrian president delivers first public speech since security forces curbed anti-government protests across the country.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/20113308737507793.html
Bashar al-Assad to Face the Nation, Qifa Nabki
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to address his people tomorrow afternoon, one day after sacking his cabinet in the wake of increasingly bloody nationwide protests. Speculation is rampant on Twitter, Facebook, and the media about what al-Assad is likely to say.
http://qifanabki.com/2011/03/29/bashar-al-assad-to-face-the-nation/
Yemen
‘US, Saudis keep Saleh in power’
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been able to stay in power only by relying on foreign supports and funding, especially from the US and Saudi Arabia, Director of Institute for [Persian] Gulf Affairs (IGA) says.
http://www.abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=233816
Yemeni protesters blame Saleh for violence
SANAA: Yemeni protesters demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule said Tuesday they would insist he leave power soon, blaming him for violence that has raised U.S. fears of chaos that could benefit militants.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=126563
Other Mideast
Saudi Arabia prints 1.5m copies of religious edict banning protests
Fatwa calls for united front under leadership following aborted attempt to stage mass demonstration earlier this month. Saudi Arabia is printing 1.5m copies of an edict by religious scholars outlawing protests in the conservative kingdom as un-Islamic, the state news agency said. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and a major US ally, is an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate any form of public dissent.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/saudi-arabia-edict-banning-protests
TUNISIA: Torched police station that symbolized repression turned into art exhibition
The police station in the Tunis suburb of La Goulette stands deserted at its posh location near the seaside boardwalk, its walls blackened by smoke and fire and windows smashed. Police officers’ notebooks and files lay in piles on the floor along with thousands of old applications for identity cards that date back to the 1970s, computers and remains of ancient typewriters. The storage room where the weapons used to be kept has been emptied. Graffitti sprayed on the walls tell ex-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to go to hell.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/03/tunisia-police-station-symbol-oppression-torture-art-photos-ben-ali-uprising.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmiddleeast+%28L.A.+Times+-+Middle+East%29
