ANSD : Latest developments in Arab world's unrest

SAT 20 - 4 - 2024

Date: Sep 8, 2011
Source: Associated Press

Latest developments in Arab world's unrest

LIBYA
Tripoli's military commander claims Moammar Gadhafi is cornered and the days before he is captured or killed are numbered, but another senior defense official contends that Libya's new rulers have no idea where the fugitive former leader is. The ousted leader, who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years, hasn't been seen in public for months, and has released only audio messages trying to rally his supporters and lash out at his opponents. He went to ground after opposition fighters swept into Tripoli on Aug. 21.
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SYRIA
Syrian security forces unleash a barrage of gunfire, killing at least 11 people and leaving thousands cowering in their homes as President Bashar Assad's troops keep up the government's assault on a 6-month-old uprising. Nine of the dead are in Homs, a hotbed of opposition to Assad's autocratic regime. Two others are shot dead during raids in Sarameen in northern Syria. In a step the opposition says shows the regime is intractable, Assad's regime cancels a planned visit by the Arab League secretary general.
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YEMEN
Clashes in southern Yemen kill eight soldiers and at least three militants, and 20 civilians wounded in the fighting have to open field clinics because government hospitals have been shut down. Al-Qaida linked militants have taken advantage of internal political turmoil to take over parts of southern Yemen. The latest airstrikes target a high school, a hospital and a police station, where the military believes militants are seeking refuge.
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EGYPT
The judge in the trial of Hosni Mubarak summons the top brass in Egypt's new ruling military council and his former vice president to testify in closed sessions on the ousted leader's role in putting down protests against his rule. Both the defense and prosecution in the case against Mubarak and six of his top security chiefs seek the testimony of Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi, who was Mubarak's defense minister and is now the military ruler. The judge's decision comes in a stormy session during which a prosecution witness is detained on suspicion of perjury — but then quickly acquitted by the court.
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BAHRAIN
More than 100 jailed Bahraini activists, including doctors who treated injured protesters during months of anti-government protests and crackdowns in the Gulf kingdom, are on hunger strike, an international panel says. The Bahrain Commission of Inquiry says 84 opposition supporters are on hunger strike in prison. In addition, 17 detained activists have been hospitalized by the Interior Ministry for their refusal to eat. Hundreds of activists have been imprisoned since February when Shiite-led demonstrations for greater rights began in the Sunni-ruled Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
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ALGERIA
The countries of the Sahara, already dealing with armed militants and smugglers, are now confronted with an influx of fighters fleeing the Libyan war, Niger's foreign minister says. Mohamed Bazoum spoke during a two-day conference on terrorism in the Sahara that was originally expected to focus just on al-Qaida, but has now become tied up with the civil war in neighboring Libya. Algeria complains that the instability next door has sent a flood of weapons into hands of militants and smugglers in the desert.

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