Knesset passes law to strip terrorists of Israeli citizenship

(Haartz) - MK David Rotem: There is no citizenship without loyalty; lawmakers also agree to revoke stipend of MK Azmi Bishara, suspected of series of crimes against national security.

The Knesset plenum on Monday gave its final seal of approval to a law that would enable Israel's

Supreme Court to revoke the citizenship of anyone convicted of espionage, treason or aiding the enemy during war.

"Anyone who betrays the state and carries out acts of terror must know – citizenship and loyalty go together," said Yisrael Beiteinu MK David Rotem, who initiated the bill, which passed in its second and third reading. "There is no citizenship without loyalty."

READ FULL STORY

Ammo factory blast in Yemen kills at least 121

(CNN) -- At least 121 people were killed and 45 injured in an explosion at an ammunition factory in southern Yemen on Monday, medical sources said.

The death toll was expected to rise, said the sources, who asked that they not be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the news media. Two of them work at Republican Hospital in Abyan.

Most of the dead and injured were locals who had been ransacking the factory after it was taken over Sunday by militants, security officials said.

The explosion took place in Abyan Province, they said.

It comes after months of demonstrations against Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and a weekend of violence between government forces and the local al Qaeda group.

Fighting over the past two days between Yemeni security forces and members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula left people on both sides dead, Yemeni security forces said Sunday.

Saleh has been fighting to hold onto power, arguing that he is best equipped to lead the fight against Islamists.

Three "al Qaeda terrorists were killed" and six others were arrested in Lawdar district, Yemen's official news agency Saba reported Saturday.

READ THE COMPLETE STORY

Libya Live Blog - March 28

(Al Jazeera) - As the uprising in Libya continues, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe. Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.
Blog: Feb17 - Feb18 - Feb19 - Feb20 - Feb21 - Feb22 - Feb23 - Feb24 - Feb25 - Feb26 - Feb27 - Feb28 - Mar1 - Mar2 - Mar3 - Mar4 - Mar5 - Mar6 - Mar7 - Mar8 - Mar9 - Mar10 - Mar 11 - Mar12 - Mar13 - Mar14 - Mar15 - Mar16 - Mar 17 - Mar 18 - Mar 19 - Mar 20 - Mar 21 - Mar 22 - Mar 23 - Mar 24 - Mar 25 - Mar 26 - Mar 27

AJE Live Stream - Special Coverage: Libya Uprising - Operation Odyssey Dawn - Twitter Audio - Tweeting revolutions

(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)

9:26pm Reuters news agency has reported that the Libyan television said on Monday, quoting a military official: "western coalition air strikes hit civilian and military areas in the towns of Garyan and Mizdah."

9:05pm Spencer Ackerman from Wired.com wrote that NATO is taking command of the Libya war. But the real strategy for victory over Moammar Gadhafi is found on the airwaves above Libya: communications frequencies telling his commanders to simply give up fighting. If that sounds like hope masquerading as a plan, then you’re receiving the message loud and clear.

Flying over Libya is the Commando Solo, the Air Force’s special operations aircraft. It’s capable of hijacking radio and TV frequencies to disrupt enemy communications and broadcast the messaging that the U.S. wants. Last week, it informed Libyan naval officers that if they left port to challenge the American, French and Italian ships floating nearby, they’d be destroyed.

• READ THE FULL BLOG

Libyan rebels facing tough fight for Sirte

(Al Jazeera) - Rebels are attempting to seize control of Muammar Gaddafi's hometown, but government forces are gathered to stop them.

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are resisting an advance by Libyan rebels towards the embattled Libyan leader's hometown of Sirte in the fiercest clashes since the start of a sweeping offensive that has brought a string of coastal towns under opposition control.

The rebels, backed by international coalition air strikes, have advanced largely unchecked since Friday but claims in Benghazi, the rebel's eastern stronghold, earlier on Monday that Sirte had also fallen were premature.

Opposition fighters are now engaged in clashes about 100km east of the city, with pro-Gaddafi forces shelling their front lines.

Fighting is ongoing at Nawfaliya, about 180km east of Sirte, where opposition forces say they have come upon a heavily mined road. Pro-Gaddafi forces have dug into positions near the front line, and are shelling opposition fighters.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from the east of Nawfaliya, said: "I've not been able to confirm that there has actually been an advance in the town itself [Sirte]. They [rebels] managed to get really close to Sirte but they didn't get in."

"Sirte will not be easy to take," said General Hamdi Hassi, an opposition commander from the city of Bin Jawad.

"Now, because of NATO strikes on [the government's] heavy weapons, we're almost fighting with the same weapons."

READ THE FULL STORY

Maliki says foreign troops presence in Bahrain must end: Al Arabiya

BAGHDAD (Agencies)

(Al Arabiya) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has warned that the "intervention" in Shiite-majority Bahrain by the Gulf kingdom's Sunni neighbors risked a sectarian war in the region.

In an interview with the BBC television's Arabic service aired late Friday, Maliki said a Shiite-led revolt in Bahrain was different from other uprisings in the Arab world.

"The issue in Bahrain is different from Libya and Egypt, where there is no religious issue. In Bahrain, it has become a Shiite-Sunni issue with the entrance of forces from Sunni Arab countries," Maliki said.

READ THE FULL STORY

Israel 'declares war on its people'

(Al Jazeera) - You could easily miss the thin, gravel road that leads to Al Arakib, a Bedouin village in the north Negev. It is a bit ironic, given the enormity of the struggle there and its deep implications for the Jewish state.

Israeli forces have razed the village five times since late July, sparking cries of ethnic cleansing and leaving more than 300 Bedouin homeless. But the equally determined residents, along with a handful of Jewish activists, continue to rebuild.

The government claims that Al Arakib was abandoned and, as such, belongs to the state. Israel calls the Bedouin squatters who "infiltrate" the area and settle it illegally. According to the state, these people must be removed to make way for a forest to be planted by the Jewish National Fund.

Villagers, some of whom hold Ottoman-era deeds to the property, say that the Israeli army asked them to leave temporarily in 1951. Believing they would be able to move back, they left. It was then, they say, that the state declared Al Arakib abandoned and expropriated it.

READ THE FULL STORY

Libyan rebels celebrate as Ajdabiya falls

(Al Jazeera) - Key eastern town is back in rebel hands as Gaddafi forces retreat west following bombardment by coalition warplanes.

Libyan rebels are celebrating the recapture of the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya from government control, our correspondent there reports.

Fighting in Libya continues

"There is no doubt about it, you can probably hear some of the celebrations behind me, Ajdabiya is in opposition hands," Al Jazeera's James Bays said from the city on Saturday as celebratory gunfire rang out.

"Gaddafi forces have been controlling the ring road that goes around Ajdabiya ... that has been the situation for six days, but they have now been cleared from that position."

"The opposition forces tell me there may be some pro-Gaddafi forces hiding, snipers possibly on buildings, they are telling us to take care," he said, but he added that Ajdabiya was "firmly back under the control of opposition fighters".

But Libyan government officials said that the army had withdrawn to save residents from more bloodshed.

Rebel forces had initially captured Ajdabiya during an advance along Libya's east coast that was halted and reversed in a counter-offensive by government forces backed by superior air power earlier this month. But coalition airstrikes have tipped the balance back towards the rebels, Bays said.

Rebel fighters were now reportedly on their way to the key oil port town of Brega, where Gaddafi forces have retreated, witnesses said.

"The road is open beyond Ajdabiya, and [the rebels] are heading, streaming along that road ... they are on the road and they are moving forward," Bays reported.

READ THE FULL REPORT

Ivory Coast: One million refugees feared, UNHCR says

(BBC) - Up to one million people may have fled their homes because of violence following Ivory Coast's disputed elections, the UN refugee agency says.

The UNHCR says most had run away from recent violence in Abidjan.

Aid agencies are said to be unable to reach parts of the west where forces loyal to disputed President Laurent Gbagbo have been losing ground.

West African migrants have been targeted by Gbagbo supporters

France has circulated a draft resolution at the UN calling for sanctions against Mr Gbagbo.

This follows a calls for UN sanctions and tougher action to oust him by West African leaders.

Fear of war

Mr Gbagbo is resisting calls for him to cede power to his rival, Alassane Ouattara - widely recognised as the winner of last year's election in the world's largest cocoa producer.

Guiglo is in a lawless zone, there is no functioning police, everyone does what they want”Jacques FranquinUNHCR

"The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fuelled by fears of all-out war," said UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming at the agency's headquarters in Geneva.

She pointed out that the estimate of up to a million displaced was double the figure from just a week ago.

Ivory Coast's population is about 22 million.

Many of those fleeing are migrants from Ivory Coast's poorer northern neighbours, who went there looking for work when it was West Africa's economic powerhouse.

Some of Mr Gbagbo's supporters have accused the migrants and their descendents of backing Mr Ouattara and some have been singled out for attack.

READ THE FULL STORY

Syria protests: How secure is President Assad?

(BBC) - The unrest in Syria does not yet appear to have reached the crucial tipping-point which led to the downfall of the Tunisian and Egyptian rulers in January and February.

But neither the conciliatory measures announced on Thursday nor the security crackdown against protesters have succeeded in stifling dissent and defusing the crisis.

Trouble continued on Friday in the south of the country, with reports of 10 or more people killed in the town of Sanamein, near Deraa, the city that has become the epicentre of the current unrest.

An official Syrian report said those who died in Sanamein were part of an "armed gang" that had attacked the local popular army base. Other accounts said they were protesters shot by security forces as they tried to head for Deraa.

Defiance continued in Deraa itself, where a demonstration by thousands of angry people was dispersed by gunfire after they attacked a statue of the late President Hafez al-Assad, whose son Bashar assumed power on his death in 2000.

The al-Omari mosque, which was stormed by security forces on Tuesday night, was reported to be back in the hands of protesters after troops withdrew. The mosque has been the focal point of dissent in Deraa.

The incidents indicated that the measures announced on Thursday, some of them aimed specifically at reducing tensions in Deraa, have yet to produce results.

In the early stages of their doomed struggle for survival, the Tunisian and Egyptian leaders also blamed their troubles on outsiders rather than recognising that they had a home-grown problem”

There has been no information indicating a rapid follow-up on the announcements, including the formation of a high-level commission to investigate and take action on the city's grievances.

Protests in Damascus and other cities, on what activists had billed as a "Friday of dignity", appeared to involve hundreds rather than many thousands of people.  

READ THE COMPLETE STORY

Libyans flee fighting in Ajdabiya, end up in harshness of desert

From Arwa Damon, CNN

March 26, 2011 -- Updated 0129 GMT (0929 HKT)

Ajdabiya, Libya (CNN) -- Outside the Libyan city of Ajdabiya, tents have sprouted in the rolling desert, where the sands blow and farmers grow figs and grapes.

In the city, a fierce fight rages for control between the Libyan opposition and forces loyal to strongman Moammar Gadhafi, whose tanks lob shells to push their foes back.

At night, coalition planes roar overhead, pounding Gadhafi's positions. Early Friday, British jets pounded Libyan armored vehicles. But they have not been able to stop the battle on the ground, and residents are escaping to safer ground.

"I couldn't even begin to describe to you the horror that I have seen," one man said. "Leaving Ajdabiya, we saw dead bodies in the street. No one would ever dare go to recover them."

Read the complete story.

UN human rights office sends high-level staff to Tunisia and Egypt to assess situation

(Africa Leader) - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is deploying staff to Tunisia and Egypt to meet with senior officials, civil society groups and others to help map out its role in the wake of the popular uprisings that removed the long-standing regimes in both North African countries.

A five-member OHCHR team will travel to Egypt on Sunday for talks with the Supreme Army Council, Government ministers, judges, lawyers, human rights defenders, youth leaders and others, spokesperson Rupert Colville told journalists today in Geneva.

The team will then make recommendations to High Commissioner Navi Pillay on what should be OHCHR's future role in Egypt after the downfall of leader Hosni Mubarak.In Tunisia, OHCHR has decided to open a country office and is sending a second human rights officer next week to follow up on recommendations made by a team of senior experts who made an assessment mission last month.

Anger about violations of human rights and impunity for perpetrators are among the key concerns expressed during protests that have swept across North Africa and the Middle East since the beginning of the year. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who recently travelled to Egypt and Tunisia following the popular uprisings there, said he was amazed by how even senior government officials were able to talk freely for the first time. "Clearly, the wind of change is sweeping across the region of the Middle East and North Africa," he said in an interview with UN Radio. "I believe this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity where people in the region are expressing their desires and aspirations to achieve genuine freedom, genuine democracy.

Libyan crisis: Kenneth Clarke warns UK at risk of new Lockerbie

Muammar Gaddafi could stage Lockerbie-style attack in revenge for UK's role in Libya campaign, warns lord chancellor.

Kenneth Clarke says the British people have 'reason to remember the
curse' of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

(Guardian News) - Kenneth Clarke has ratcheted up government pressure to depose Colonel Gaddafi by warning that the Libyan leader could stage a Lockerbie-style attack in revenge for Britain's role in the enforcement of the UN resolution if he is left in power.

The lord chancellor told the Guardian: "We do have one particular interest in the Maghreb [the western region of North Africa], which is Lockerbie.

"The British people have reason to remember the curse of Gaddafi – Gaddafi back in power, the old Gaddafi looking for revenge, we have a real interest in preventing that."

Clarke says in the interview that the UN resolution does not support regime change, adding that he would regard occupation as madness. But his remarks suggest British ministers recognise they now have a direct security interest in Gaddafi's removal in light of Libya's involvement in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 259 people on Pan Am flight 103 and 11 on the ground in the Scottish town.

The justice secretary is also extremely frank in admitting that the UK government has little idea how long the conflict will take or how it will be resolved.

He says: "I am not in the Foreign Office, fortunately, so I am not too worried by my remarks. But I am still not totally convinced anyone knows where we are going now".

His remarks came as a Guardian ICM poll shows more people oppose British involvement in the military action in Libya than support it: 42% against, compared with 36% in favour.

Asked about the purpose of British involvement, 80% support protecting civilians from attack by Gaddafi and 42% said the intervention should help Libyan rebels depose Gaddafi.

Clarke himself contends that "the British people will support us for as long as it takes, so long as they think we are protecting innocent civilians, many of whom seem to share our values against an evil dictator".

Clarke, who was an opponent of the Iraq war and a critic of "havering" over Bosnia, said the UN resolution on Libya "represented a significant event in the evolution of the world order".

Speaking as the cabinet's senior lawyer, he said: "What we seem to have almost established in the international law is the humanitarian basis which can, in exceptional cases, justify intervention by the international community."

He admitted victory would be hard to define: "ou cannot answer what is the destination, what it is going to be the moment when you can see the mission is accomplished. It is a little uncertain, but that would have been a dreadful reason for doing nothing." He added that no expert or pundit had foreseen the democratic uprising in Libya: "I don't think any of them saw it coming. I don't think any of them knew why it started or what started it.

He said: "We have already achieved a great deal by stopping the imminent invasion of Benghazi in the nick of time. We would have seen a lot of innocent people, some of them inspired by the best motives, being killed and a quite lunatic regime back in power, acting as an inspiration to others who want to imitate him. So we have already achieved something."

He admitted there was a risk that Libya could divide: "There has never been any love lost between Tripoli and Benghazi. I don't think at the moment, even on the ground in Libya, the average person who is shooting at the other side is quite clear where this is going to wind up." 

Asked if the public would tolerate a long war, Clarke said: "We have strong public support – but, I mean, the invasion of Iraq had strong public support." The public, he said, "will support our participation so long as they are satisfied we are doing it for reasons we said and we are not getting ourselves into the occupation of another complicated tribal country of uncertain politics."

He admitted members of the Obama administration that he had met "had not been interested in Arab uprisings", and had had enough of military adventures.

He said: "We are not going in anyone's dreams, [going] in to start occupying the country. We have ruled it out in the resolution, thank heavens. It would be mad to occupy another country while we are in Afghanistan."

Dozens of Syrians reported killed in Daraa

(CNN) -- Violent protests erupted Friday in Syria, with dozens of people people killed in and around the restive city of Daraa and a boy slain in the coastal town of Latakia, reports said.

"The situation in Syria has worsened considerably over the past week, with the use of live ammunition and tear gas by the authorities having resulted in a total of at least 37 people being killed in Daraa, including two children," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Among the dead were 15 people who tried to march to Daraa, sources said, and nine others who died when security forces fired on demonstrators in Daraa's main square, said Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist. 

READ THE REST OF THE STORY

Two dead, scores hurt in Jordanian clashes

(Al Jazeera) - Two person have been killed after being beaten to death by riot police and pro-government loyalists in the Jordanian capital of Amman, Al Jazeera has learned.

More than 100 people, including policemen, were injured in the clashes. "Two of the injured are in critical condition," a medical source at the scene said.

100 people were reportedly injured in clashes in the Jordanian capital of Amman [Reuters]

Anti-riot police also broke up a protest camp for students and arrested several of them, a security official told AFP news agency.

The clashes erupted after around 200 government supporters hurled large stones at more than 2,000 young demonstrators from different movements calling for reforms to the current leadership and more efforts to fight corruption, an AFP journalist reported.

"Our gathering is peaceful, but this did not prevent the attacks," demonstrators said.

"Does the king agree with such actions? We are Jordanians and we have the right to express ourselves," said Reda Darwish, aged 20.

"We as young Jordanians, and as a whole nation, are fed up to see our demands ignored by the government and official institutions of this country," youth activist Moadh Khawaldeh told Al Jazeera.

Read the full story at http://bit.ly/ga5JKG on Al Jazeera

Protests, Violence Spread Across The Arab World - NPR

(NPR) - Troops opened fire on anti-government protesters in several countries on Friday as unrest spread across the Arab world. The White House urged leaders in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain to cease attacks on protesters.

In Syria, soldiers fired on demonstrators in several cities, and rival protesters clashed in the streets of the capital in the most widespread unrest in years, witnesses said. Troops shot at demonstrators in Daraa after crowds set fire to a bronze statue of the country's late president, Hafez Assad.

"We will not forget the martyrs of Daraa," a resident told The Associated Press by telephone. "If they think this will silence us, they are wrong."

Yemen's longtime ruler, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, told supporters on Friday that he was ready to step down, but would only turn the country over to "good capable hands." Saleh hopes to avoid more bloodshed in the country, where pro- and anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets for weeks.

"There's certainly a fear among U.S. officials and Europeans that if Yemen gets even more unstable it could form a haven for al Qaida," Washington Post reporter Sudarsan Raghavan told NPR's Robert Siegel and Melissa Block. "The U.S. has put tens of millions of dollars into counterterrorism efforts in Yemen. If Saleh were to step down, who is going to replace him and would that person be a key ally as Saleh is?"

Several other Arab countries were rocked by demonstrations on Friday:

Jordan: The key U.S. ally saw protesters clash with government supporters, pelting each other with stones until security forces stormed the area. One person was killed and another 100 people were wounded. Protesters have been pressing King Abdullah II to hand over more power to the parliament.

Bahrain: Security forces fired tear gas into the anti-government masses who who gathered despite a ban imposed last week on marches and public demonstrations. Activists say an elderly man died after inhaling the gas. The conflict began after a prominent Shiite cleric vowed that their demands for the Sunni monarchy to loosen its grip on power would not be silenced by "brutal force."

Saudi Arabia: Several hundred Shiite Muslims rallied in the eastern part of the country, demanding the release of prisoners and the withdrawal of Saudi troops from Bahrain. For years, Shiites there have complained of discrimination and say they are barred from key positions in the military and government as well as denied an equal share of the country's wealth.

In Washington on Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney appealed to leaders in the Middle East to engage in political dialogue and refrain from violence.

"The stability and future of this region depends upon the decision by governments to listen to their people, to act on their legitimate aspirations and to open up their systems so that the people of these countries can have a greater stake in the future of their country and their own futures," he said.

Obama Discusses Libya With US Lawmakers

(Voice of America) President Barack Obama talked with members of Congress Friday about the U.S. and allied military action in Libya. Officials say the president will speak to the nation about the mission in Libya within the coming days.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday President Obama was telling lawmakers about the progress made so far in the military action.

Carney told reporters the president would update the lawmakers on the transition of command and control over the Libya no-fly zone from the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The president’s spokesman said the U.S. and its allies have also agreed that leadership of civilian protection efforts will be transferred to NATO. However, he said details of the implementation have not been worked out.

Carney said Mr. Obama has fulfilled his promise that ending the U.S. leadership of the military mission would be a matter of days, not weeks. "As we brought to bear our unique assets and capabilities to create an environment in Libya that allowed our allies to enforce the no-fly zone and our allies to take the lead in civilian protection. That process is underway right now, as he said. He said what he would do and he is doing what he said," he said.

Carney said the president briefed the lawmakers by telephone, because Congress is in recess.

Some lawmakers in both parties say Mr. Obama should have asked for their approval before launching the U.S. military action, and that he has not adequately consulted them.

Carney contends that the administration has consulted with members of Congress on numerous occasions, before and after the start of the operation.

The press secretary also says that had the president waited for Congress to return to session before starting the mission, the rebel stronghold of Benghazi would have fallen to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, and many people would have died.

President Obama has not spoken publicly about the Libya mission since he returned from Latin America on Wednesday. But Carney said the president will do so soon. "The president, I can tell you with great confidence, will speak about this in the relatively near future, as he has numerous times in the last several days. He believes it is vitally important, as part of his role as president and commander-in-chief, to speak to the American people about an operation like this, and he will do that in the very near future," Carney said.

The Obama administration has said Mr. Gadhafi has lost legitimacy as a leader since attacking civilians, and should step down.

Carney was less specific about whether the White House would call on Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a longtime U.S. ally, to leave power. "It is not for us to decide the leaders of other countries. We have said to the leadership in Yemen what we have said to the leadership in other countries: It is not acceptable to use violence against peaceful protesters. We condemn that," he said.

Carney said U.S. forces are intervening in Libya but not other Middle Eastern countries where civilians are being attacked because of the scale of the violence taking place in Libya and the potential for greater civilian bloodshed.

Original article @ http://bit.ly/fy6adt

Syria Live Blog - March 25

Syria Live Blog - March 25 - Al Jazeera

As the situation in Syria escalates, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

AJE Live Stream - Special Coverage: Syria Unrest - Region in turmoil

(All times are local in Syria GMT+2)

• 10:54pm

  Thousands of supporters of president Bashar al-Assad flood the streets of Damascus tonight to counter demonstrations against his regime. Many people drive through town, chanting and honking in support of the president. 

   10:10pmIn this YouTube clip protesters in the central square of Daraa destroy the portrait of president Bashar Al-Assad: 

  Read the remainder of the live blog @ http://bit.ly/gBkYLK - Al Jazeera

Libyan Airspace 'Under Control' As Two Sides Meet

BENGHAZI, Libya -- France declared Libya's airspace "under control" on Friday, after NATO agreed to take command of the no-fly zone in a compromise that appeared to set up dual command centers and possibly new confusion. Coalition warplanes struck Moammar Gadhafi's forces outside the strategic eastern gateway city of Ajdabiya.

Representatives for the regime and the rebels were expected to meet formally for the first time Friday, in Ethiopia, in what the U.N. described as a part of an effort to reach a cease-fire and political solution.

The overnight French and British strikes on an artillery battery and armored vehicles were intended to give a measure of relief to Ajdabiya, where residents have fled or cowered under more than a week of shelling and fighting between rebels and government troops. Explosions also could be heard in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, before daybreak Friday, apparently from airstrikes.

"Libyan airspace is under control, and we proved it yesterday, because a Libyan plane in the hands of pro-Gadhafi forces, which had just taken off from Misrata in order to bomb Misrata, was destroyed by a French Rafale," Adm. Edouard Guillaud said on France-Info radio.

But the compromise that puts NATO in charge of clearing the skies still leaves the U.S. responsible for the more difficult task of planning attacks on Gadhafi's ground forces and other targets.

Ajdabiya has been under siege for more than a week, with the rebels holding the city center and scattered checkpoints but facing relentless shelling from government troops on the outskirts. Residents are without electicity or drinking water, and many have fled.

The U.S. military said coalition jets flew about 150 on Thursday, about 70 of them with American planes.

"The operation is still focusing on tanks, combat vehicles, air defense targets – really whatever equipment and personnel are threatening the no-fly zone or civilians on the ground in such locations as Ajdabiya and along some other areas on the coast," Marine Corps Capt. Clint Gebke told reporters from aboard the USS Mount Whitney.

The U.S. has been trying to give up the lead role in the operation against Gadhafi's forces, and NATO agreed late Thursday to assume one element of it – control of the no-fly zone.

Read the rest of the story at http://huff.to/hufzqT - Huffington Post

Resident says troops open fire on protesters in Daraa, other Syrian cities

DAMASCUS, Syria — Violence erupted around Syria on Friday as troops opened fire on protesters in several cities and pro- and anti-government crowds clashed on the tense streets of the capital in the most widespread unrest in years, witnesses said.

Soldiers shot at demonstrators in the restive southern city of Daraa after crowds set fire to a bronze statue of the country’s late president, Hafez Assad, a resident told The Associated Press. Heavy gunfire could be heard in the city center and witnesses reported several casualties, the resident said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

An activist told the AP that witnesses had reported one demonstrator shot dead by security forces in the coastal city of Latakia, and another slain in the central city of Homs. He said several people had been hospitalized in Latakia.

In the capital, Damascus, people shouting in support of the Daraa protesters clashed with regime supporters outside the historic Umayyad mosque, hitting each other with leather belts.

The violence erupted after tens of thousands of Syrians took to the streets across the country, shouting calls for greater freedoms in support of a more than week-long uprising in Daraa, according to witnesses, activists and footage posted online.

Read the remainder of the story @ http://wapo.st/gHRxI9

Yemeni opposition rejects Saleh offer

Opposition coalition calls the president''s offer to step down "empty words" ahead of rally dubbed "Friday of departure".


Yemen''s opposition groups have dismissed President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s offer to stand down after a presidential election at the end of the year, stepping up efforts to remove him from power.

Yassin Noman, head of Yemen''s opposition coalition, dismissed Saleh''s offer as "empty words" and a spokesman said the umbrella coalition would not respond.

"No dialogue and no initiatives for this dead regime," opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabry said on Thursday.

Tensions ratcheted higher a day ahead of a planned rally that protesters have dubbed "Friday of Departure", and presidential guards loyal to Saleh clashed with army units backing opposition groups demanding his ouster.

The opposition stance was echoed by General Ali Mohsen, who has thrown his weight behind the protesters.

Defecting general

The general, who sent troops to protect pro-democracy protesters in Sanaa, said the options before Saleh were now few, and criticised what he described as his "stubbornness", but said the armed forces were committed to protecting protesters.

General Mohsen also said he had no desire to take power, as fears grew of a major confrontation between rival military units in the capital Sanaa or elsewhere.

He said military rule in Arab countries was outdated and that the people would decide who would govern them in the framework of a modern, civilian state.

"Ali Mohsen as an individual has served for 55 years and has no desire for any power or position," he told Reuters.

"I have no more ambition left except to spend the remainder of my life in tranquility, peace and relaxation far from the problems of politics and the demands of the job."

Mohsen, commander of the northwest military zone and Saleh''s kinsman from the al-Ahmar clan, is the most senior military officer to back the protests, and his move on Monday triggered a stream of defections in the military and government.

Read the full story at http://bit.ly/fgMeG2 on Al Jazeera.  

7BFE5PV6U7HA