| | Date: Sep 16, 2011 | Source: Associated Press | | Latest developments in Arab world's unrest |
LIBYA British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy offer broad support for Libya's new rulers, promising to unfreeze billions in assets and give help in finding Moammar Gadhafi, even as revolutionary forces attempt their first significant assault on the ousted leader's hometown. The Western leaders — the first to visit since Tripoli fell late last month — gets a welcome worthy of rock stars from jubilant Libyans grateful for NATO airstrikes that helped turn the tide of the war in their favor. ___ SYRIA A group of Syrian opposition activists announce the creation of a council designed to present a united front against President Bashar Assad's regime, which has waged a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters during the past six months. The Syrian opposition consists of a variety of groups with often differing ideologies, including Islamists and secularists, and there have been many meetings of dissidents who say they represent the opposition. Activists say the new "Syrian National Council," formed during a meeting in Turkey, is the most serious initiative aimed at bringing revolutionary forces together. ___ YEMEN Government troops shell the home district in the capital of the chief of the main tribe opposing Yemen's president, killing three and wounding five people. Heavy gunfire erupts in Sanaa's Hassaba district between forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the tribal confederation led by the al-Ahmar clan ___ EGYPT An Egyptian court convicts a powerful steel magnate who was a senior insider in the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak on corruption charges, sentencing him to 10 years in prison. Ahmed Ezz was a top ally of the ousted president's son and heir apparent, Gamal Mubarak, and together they all but ran the ruling party. Ezz became a symbol of the intertwining of business and politics that many Egyptians despised as corrupt, helping fuel the anti-Mubarak uprising. ___ JORDAN Only about 300 young protesters answer a call in Jordan for a "million man march" against the Israeli Embassy, after Israel cleared most of its staff out. Israeli media reported the staff was removed for fear of a riot similar to the one last Friday at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, but the Israeli Foreign Ministry insists the staff went home to Israel for the weekend as usual. It says a duty representative remained on call in Amman, as is routine procedure. In the end, the demonstration is small and peaceful. ___ TUNISIA Tunisian political parties agree on a roadmap for the country's transition to democracy, planning for parliamentary elections in just over a year — a relatively short timeline designed to prevent further instability. The declaration signed by the 12 main parties of the transition commission comes after a heated debate over how quickly the country would move on to writing a constitution and forming a permanent government after the Oct. 25 election of a constitutional assembly. ___ BAHRAIN Relatives of a man in Bahrain say he has died after inhaling tear gas fired by security forces trying to disperse anti-government protesters in the Gulf kingdom. The death could further increase tensions on the island nation between the ruling Sunni monarchy and majority Shiites seeking greater rights.
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