Security forces pull back in Libyan city: witness

AP – Demonstrators gather near the White House in Washington in a show of solidarity with the Libyan protestors …

• Slideshow:Anti-government protests in Libya

– 1 hr 50 mins ago

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Security forces in Libya's second city killed at least three people on Saturday but have withdrawn to a fortified compound, a witness said, after the worst unrest in Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.

Human Rights Watch said 84 people have been killed over the past three days in a fierce security crackdown mounted in response to anti-government protests that sought to emulate uprisings in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia.

There was no sign of a nationwide revolt, with the violence concentrated around the city of Benghazi, 1,000 km (625 miles) east of the capital, where support for Gaddafi traditionally has been weaker than in the rest of the country.

A resident in Benghazi said security forces which killed dozens of protesters over the past 72 hours were confined to a compound, which he called the Command Center, from which snipers were firing at protesters.

"They shot dead three protesters from that building today," the witness, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.

"Right now, the only military presence in Benghazi is confined to the Command Center Complex in the city. The rest of the city is liberated," he said.

"Thousands and thousands of people have gathered in front of Benghazi's court house. There are now makeshift clinics, ambulances, speakers, electricity. It's fully-equipped."

"There is no shortage of food although not all stores are open. Banks are shut. All of the revolutionary committee (local government) offices and police stations in the city have been burned," he said.

The account could not be independently verified. A security source earlier gave a different account, saying the situation in the Benghazi region was "80 percent under control."

In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he had reports that heavy weapons fire and sniper units were being used against demonstrators. "This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying," he said in a statement.

The private Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi and has been linked to one of Gaddafi's sons, said 24 people were killed in Benghazi on Friday. It said security forces had opened fire to stop protesters attacking the police headquarters and a military base where weapons were stored. "The guards were forced to use bullets," the paper said.

The government has not released any casualty figures or made any official comment on the violence.

"HORRIFYING" VIOLENCE

A group of 50 religious Libyan scholars appealed for an end to the violence. A copy of the appeal was made available to Reuters.

Away from the eastern region, Libya appeared calm.

In Green Square in the center of Tripoli, next to the walled old city, several hundred people gathered, waving portraits of Gaddafi and chanting "Our revolutionary leader!" and "We follow your path," a Reuters reporter said.

A state-controlled newspaper said the violence was part of "the dirty plans and the conspiracies designed by America and Zionism and the traitors of the West."

State television showed footage of one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons, Saadi Gaddafi, who was this week put in charge of Benghazi, touring Green Square in the center of Tripoli.

He was cheered by about 1,000 people, most of them supporters of the capital's two main soccer clubs, Al-Ahly and Al-Ettihad, as he toured the square on the roof of a car, waving and shaking the hands of supporters.

The crowd chanted "God, Libya and Muammar only."

Libya-watchers say an Egypt-style nationwide revolt is unlikely because Gaddafi has oil cash to smooth over social problems, and is still respected in much of the country.

Noman Benotman, a former dissident Islamist, told Reuters the government was talking to tribal leaders in Benghazi to try to defuse tensions. But he said if the authorities decided to restore order by force it would be done "toughly."

POLICE STATIONS TORCHED

The security source said clashes were still going on in the region between Benghazi and the town of Al Bayda, about 200 km away, where local people said dozens also had been killed by security forces in the past 72 hours.

"The situation in the eastern area from Al Bayda to Benghazi is 80 percent under control ... A lot of police stations have been set on fire or damaged," the security source told Reuters. He also said: "Please do not believe what foreign radio and television are saying. Their information is not accurate."

Foreign journalists have not been allowed to enter Libya since the unrest began, local reporters have been barred from traveling to Benghazi and mobile phone connections frequently have been out of service.

(Additional reporting by Souhail Karam in Rabat and Matt Falloon and William Maclean in London and Tom Heneghan in Paris; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Jon Boyle)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110219/wl_nm/us_libya_protests

Egypt revolt becomes global case study

AP – Pro-Mubarak demonstrators stand under a poster of the former president in the Mohandessin neighborhood …

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Christopher Torchia, Associated Press – 1 hr 52 mins ago

CAIRO – It seems naive to hope the fallout from cataclysmic events in the Middle East and North Africa can spill beyond the region and stir distant, repressed populations with no cultural or historical affinity. Yet successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia have captivated dissidents and activists around the world who have campaigned in vain for radical change, in some cases for decades.

This week, South Korean activists even hoisted helium balloons into the air and watched them drift into North Korea with a message attached: discard your leaders, just as the Egyptians did.

"The Egyptian people rose up in a revolution to topple a 30-year dictatorship," said one of the leaflets coasting over the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. "The North Koreans too must revolt against a 60-year-old dictatorship."

The strain of poverty and inefficient government in North Korea, which has been targeted by international sanctions, matches or exceeds that of Arab autocracies currently buffeted by street protests. Its human rights record, along with those of Myanmar and Zimbabwe, is routinely condemned in international forums.

But there are no clear signs that these countries will face the same kind of upheaval sweeping Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and elsewhere.

"Everything depends on local conditions," said Charles Ries, a senior fellow at the U.S.-based RAND Corp. who recently oversaw economic issues while stationed at the American Embassy in Baghdad.

North Korea, after all, has a cult-like leadership rooted in its World War II-era separation from the south; Myanmar brutally stamped out revolts in 1988 and 2007; and Zimbabwe has a shaky coalition government and plans elections later this year.

Dissidents and authoritarian governments on other continents are undoubtedly reviewing the playbook of their counterparts in the Middle East — social media networking for the protesters, and hasty reform pledges and thugs in civilian clothes for the leaders. Unrest even spread to Djibouti, a city-state across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, where protesters reportedly clashed with security forces on Friday.

Fear of bloody retaliation, sharp curbs on information, tactical decisions to avoid a showdown and the lack of a trigger — severe food shortages or a fuel price hike, for example — are deterrents to popular revolt in repressive systems.

Protesters in Egypt and the region used Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to organize, and benefited from pan-Arab media outlets such as Al-Jazeera television that spread word of the uprisings.

But there is no sign of an organized opposition in North Korea, where most people do not have access to outside TV and radio, or the Internet. The leadership had long-standing ties to ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. On Jan. 23, two days before protests broke out in Egypt, ruler Kim Jong Il, who rarely meets foreigners, hosted the head of Cairo-based Orascom Telecom, which built a 3G telephone service network in North Korea.

Dissidents in military-ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, want to know more about what happened in Egypt despite a state media blackout.

"Everyone is trying to find out information and is interested," said Mark Farmaner of the Burma Campaign UK, which is based in London. Dissidents are "talking about whether they can learn anything from this, and what examples there are," he said.

However, Farmaner said there no signs that anti-government groups want to try a revolt similar to the 18-day uprising in Egypt, where a military council took power and promised to oversee a democratic transition. The military sided with protesters in pushing out Mubarak.

In Myanmar, "the army has always been prepared to shoot when it's ordered to," Farmaner said. "There's no separation of president and military in any way."

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called for dialogue with Myanmar's leaders, reflecting concern that a popular upheaval that could end in bloodshed.

"We are interested in the parallels in Egypt and the parallels with Burma but the institutions are not exactly the same. I think protests are one way of bringing about change but not necessarily the best way," she told the BBC in early February, before Mubarak was ousted.

There are plenty of precedents for politically potent ideas taking flight across continents. Ries, the former U.S. diplomat, said European thinkers provided some intellectual backbone for the American Revolution, which did the same for the French Revolution, which in turn inspired Haitian slaves in their revolt against French colonizers, all in the space of a few decades in the late 18th century.

"You look at other places where there are huge numbers of people who have little to lose by banding together and applying these new techniques," Ries said of today's uprisings. "It also exposes, in a sense, the impotence of repression against huge numbers."

Some Arab countries, however, have not yielded to protests, responding instead with deadly force. Prof. Hurst Hannum, an international law expert at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, cautioned against predictions of a worldwide "outbreak of 'democracy.'"

In an e-mail, he recalled the "rather premature" thesis of Francis Fukuyama, a U.S. academic whose 1992 book, "The End of History and the Last Man," declared that Western-style democracy would prevail over other systems in the wake of communism's fall.

On Feb. 3, state-run radio in Zimbabwe accused Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a former opposition leader, of trying to spark anti-government uprisings similar to those in Tunisia and Egypt. Tsvangirai said before he joined the governing coalition that he would not lead his followers into danger and that he stood for peaceful change.

State radio is controlled by loyalists of President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power for three decades.

Political scientist John Makumbe wrote an essay titled "Is Egypt possible in Zimbabwe?" in which he speculated that the military would crack down on any revolt, but he drew inspiration from the uprisings to the north.

"Thank you, Tunisia and Egypt, for making us realize what is possible with people power," he wrote on the website of Nehanda Radio, an independent station.

The North Korean system, which survived a famine in the 1990s, has long defied predictions of collapse. Kim Jong Il, who inherited power from his father, has tightened his grip with perks for the military and a propaganda machine that seeks to rouse national pride by demonizing declared enemies.

North Korean state media have not reported events in Egypt, and it is doubtful that the leaflets of the South Korean activists, who also send short-wave radio broadcasts to the north, will reach or convince many people. But they draw a clear dynastic parallel — some images show Mubarak and his son, Gamal, once thought to be his successor, and Kim Jong Il and his third son and heir, Kim Jong Un.

Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute research center near Seoul, speculated that top government and trade leaders in North Korea were "definitely aware" of what is happening in Egypt. But a similar uprising is unlikely, he said.

"There are so many differences in terms of ideology, in terms of power structure, in terms of domestic and external relationships," Paik said. "North Korea is basically an isolated, socialist regime, protected by a most reliable and most supportive big power, China."

China itself portrayed the protests as the kind of chaos that comes with Western-style democracy, underscoring how wary it is of any potential source of unrest that might threaten its power. As Mubarak's hold slipped, Chinese censors blocked the ability to search the term "Egypt" on microblogging sites, and user comments that drew parallels to China were deleted from Internet forums.

In Myanmar, many people with access to satellite dishes followed the historic events in Egypt, quietly wishing for the same thing.

"Tears welled in my eyes when I watched the Egyptians, overjoyed after Mubarak left. I want to tell them that your fight has paid off but we don't know where our future lies," said a 53-year-old private tutor in Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city. The tutor spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from the authorities.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_other_regimes

Protesters return to square in Bahrain capital

AP – Bahraini protesters celebrates at the Pearl roundabout soon after the military pulled out in Manama, …

• Slideshow:Protests in Bahrain

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI and BARBARA SURK, Associated Press Hadeel Al-shalchi And Barbara Surk, Associated Press – 2 hrs 37 mins ago

MANAMA, Bahrain – Thousands of singing and dancing protesters streamed back into Manama's central Pearl Square on Saturday after Bahrain's leaders withdrew tanks and riot police following a bloody crackdown by security forces in the tiny monarchy.

The royal family, which was quick to use force earlier this week against demonstrators in the landmark square that has been the heart of the anti-government demonstrations, appeared to back away from further confrontation following international pressure from the West.

The demonstrators had sought to emulate successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt in attempting to bring political change to Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet — the centerpiece of Washington's efforts to confront Iranian military influence in the region.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, deputy supreme commander of the armed forces, appealed for calm and political dialogue in a brief address on state TV.

A leader of Al Wefaq, the Shiite opposition group, said the crown prince "did the right thing" by withdrawing security forces from the streets and letting people return to Pearl Square.

"The crown prince opened the door for dialogue because he prevented more killing from occurring and allowed people to demand their rights," said the leader, Abdul-Jalil Khalil.

People circling through the square clapped, whistled and wept. Some wore white sheets symbolizing their readiness for martyrdom, while others carried Bahraini flags, flowers and signs that said "Peaceful."

"We are victorious!" they chanted as they marched back into the square that has been the headquarters for their revolt against the Sunni monarchy in the predominantly Shiite island nation.

Click image to see photos of protests in Bahrain

AFP/Joseph Eid

They also chanted: "The people want the removal of the regime."

As night fell, defiant protesters erected barriers, wired a sound system, set up a makeshift medical tent and deployed lookouts to warn of approaching security forces.

Bahrain's trade unions called for a general strike on Sunday. Some students on the square said they will skip class for a week to mourn those killed in the uprising.

President Barack Obama discussed the situation with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, asking him to hold those responsible for the violence accountable. He said in a statement that Bahrain must respect the "universal rights" of its people and embrace "meaningful reform."

Britain welcomed the move to withdraw the tanks and strongly supported efforts to initiate a dialogue, Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a telephone conversation with the crown prince, who has been delegated by Bahrain's royal family to open a dialogue with the opposition.

"The sooner we return to calm, the sooner we can reach our goals," Salman said. "Citizens of Bahrain, let's work together with all political blocs to help return the security situation to normal so we can announce a day of mourning for those we've lost."

The violence forced the cancellation of a lower-tier auto race in Bahrain scheduled for this weekend. Formula One officials also are weighing whether to cancel the season-opening event in Bahrain on March 13 — a move that would be a huge blow to the nation's prestige.

Ibrahim Sharif, head of the opposition Waad Society, said that pulling the armed forces off the streets of Manama was not enough and demanded guarantees that protesters can stage rallies without fear of being attacked. Waad is an umbrella group of protest factions.

Some protesters were wary of Bahrain's leaders, despite the military withdrawal.

"Of course we don't trust them," said Ahmed al-Shaik, a 23-year-old civil servant. "They will probably attack more and more, but we have no fear now."

He was skeptical that dialogue could proceed after the crackdown and said the government should step down.

Hassan Youssef, 33, said the crown prince's speech was self-serving.

"He is afraid for his Formula One contract and thinks by just telling us to calm down we will listen," Youssef said. "We want the entire royal family to step aside. We don't want dialogue."

Anti-government protesters took over the square earlier in the week, setting up a camp with tents and placards, but they were driven out by riot police in an assault Thursday that killed five people and injured more than 200. The government then clamped down on Manama by sending tanks and other armored vehicles into the streets, putting up barbed wire and establishing checkpoints to deter gatherings.

On Friday, army units opened fire on marchers streaming toward the square. More than 50 were injured.

The protest movement began with calls to weaken the Sunni monarchy's power and address claims of discrimination against the Shiite majority. The mood turned toward defiance of the entire ruling system after the crackdown.

Some members of Bahrain's Sunni ruling system worry that Shiite powerhouse Iran could use Bahrain's majority Shiites as a further foothold in the region.

On Saturday morning, jubilant Bahrainis honked car horns, waved flags and flashed v-for-victory signs as the tanks moved away from the square. An Associated Press photographer saw a contingent of riot police who replaced the military forces fire tear gas at people celebrating the military withdrawal from the square and detain at least 10 people.

But the police then drove away, allowing thousands of protesters to return to the square.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain_protests

Libya, Yemen crack down; Bahrain pulls back tanks

AP – A masked anti-government demonstrator seen during clashes with Yemeni government supporters, unseen, …

By MAGGIE MICHAEL and BRIAN FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Maggie Michael And Brian Friedman, Associated Press – 40 mins ago

CAIRO – Security forces in Libya and Yemen fired on pro-democracy demonstrators Saturday as the two hard-line regimes struck back against the wave of protests that has already toppled autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia. At least 15 died when police shot into crowds of mourners in Libya's second-largest city, a hospital official said.

Even as Bahrain's king bowed to international pressure and withdrew tanks to allow demonstrators to retake a symbolic square in the capital, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh made clear they plan to stamp out opposition and not be dragged down by the reform movements that have grown in nations from Algeria to Djibouti to Jordan.

Libyans returned to the street for a fifth straight day of protests against Gadhafi, the most serious uprising in his 42-year reign, despite estimates by human rights groups of 84 deaths in the North African country — with 35 on Friday alone.

Saturday's deaths, which would push the overall toll to 99, occurred when snipers fired on thousands of mourners in Benghazi, a focal point of unrest, as they attended the funerals of other protesters, a hospital official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

"Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "They are crying and I keep telling them to please stand up and help us."

Earlier, special forces had attacked hundreds of demonstrators, including lawyers and judges, who were camped out in front of a courthouse in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city.

Authorities also cut off the Internet across Libya, further isolating the country. Just after 2 a.m. local time in Libya, the U.S.-based Arbor Networks security company detected a total cessation of online traffic. Protesters confirmed they could not get online.

Reports could not be independently confirmed. Information is tightly controlled in Libya, where journalists cannot work freely, and activists this week have posted videos on the Internet that have been an important source of images of the revolt. Other information about the protests has come from opposition activists in exile.

Click image to see photos of protests in Bahrain

AFP/Joseph Eid

A female protester in Tripoli, the capital city to the west, said it was much harder to demonstrate there. Police were out in force and Gadhafi was greeted rapturously when he drove through town in a motorcade on Thursday.

Throughout the Middle East, protesters for weeks have been crying out against a similar litany of injustices: repressive governments, corrupt officials and pathetic wages among them. Government responses seem to be hardening. While there was violence during the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the government retaliation in Yemen and Libya in particular appeared to be more sustained.

In Yemen's capital of Sanaa, riot police opened fire on thousands of protesters, killing one anti-government demonstrator and injuring five others on a 10th day of revolt against Saleh, a key U.S. ally in fighting al-Qaida.

As on other days earlier this week, protesters marching from Sanaa's university were met by police and government supporters with clubs and knives who engaged in a stone-throwing battle with the demonstrators. At one point, police fired in the air to disperse the march.

A medical official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said one man was shot in the neck and killed, raising the total death toll from Yemen protests to seven.

In a meeting with civic leaders, Saleh said Yemenis have the right to express themselves peacefully and the perpetrators of the unrest were trying to seize power by fomenting instability.

"The homeland is facing a foreign plot that threatens its future," Saleh said, without elaborating.

Saleh, who has been in power for three decades, has tried to blunt discontent by promising not to seek re-election when his term ends in 2013.

But he is facing a restless population, with threats from al-Qaida militants who want to oust him, a southern secessionist movement and a sporadic armed rebellion in the north. To try to quell new outbursts of dissent, Saleh also has reached out to tribal chiefs, who are a major base of support for him. So far, however, that has not changed the response in the streets.

In the tiny island nation of Bahrain, thousands of joyful protesters streamed back into the capital's central Pearl Square after the armed forces withdrew from the streets following two straight days of a bloody crackdown.

The royal family, which was quick to use force earlier this week against demonstrators in the landmark square that has been the heart of the anti-government demonstrations, appeared to back away from further confrontation following international pressure.

President Barack Obama discussed the situation with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, asking him to hold those responsible for the violence accountable. He said in a statement that Bahrain must respect the "universal rights" of its people and embrace "meaningful reform."

In a telephone call to the crown prince, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he welcomed the government's military withdrawal and strongly supported efforts to initiate a dialogue.

The demonstrators have emulated protesters in Tunisia and Egypt by attempting to bring political change to the government in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet — the centerpiece of Washington's efforts to confront Iranian military influence in the region.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, deputy supreme commander of the armed forces, appealed for calm and political dialogue in a brief address on state TV.

As night fell, though, defiant protesters in Pearl Square erected barriers, wired a sound system, set up a makeshift medical tent and deployed lookouts to warn of approaching security forces.

Protesters took over the square earlier in the week, setting up a camp with tents and placards, but they were driven out by riot police in a deadly assault Thursday that killed five people and injured more than 200. The government then clamped down on Manama by sending the tanks and other armored vehicles into the streets around the square, putting up barbed wire and establishing checkpoints to deter gatherings.

On Friday, army units shot at marchers streaming toward the square. More than 50 people were injured.

Some of the protesters were wary of Bahrain's leaders, despite the military withdrawal.

"Of course we don't trust them," said Ahmed al-Shaik, a 23-year-old civil servant. "They will probably attack more and more, but we have no fear now."

The cries against the king and his inner circle reflected a sharp escalation of the political uprising, which began with calls to weaken the Sunni monarchy's power and address claims of discrimination against the Shiite majority.

Algerian police, meanwhile, thwarted a rally by thousands of pro-democracy supporters, breaking up the crowd into isolated groups to keep them from marching.

Police brandishing clubs, but no firearms, weaved their way through the crowd in central Algiers, banging their shields, tackling some protesters and keeping traffic flowing through the planned march route.

A demonstrating lawmaker was hospitalized after suffering a head wound when he fell after police kicked and hit him, colleagues said.

The gathering, organized by the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, comes a week after a similar protest, which organizers said brought an estimated 10,000 people and up to 26,000 riot police onto the streets of Algiers. Algeria has also been hit by numerous strikes over the past month.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has promised to lift the state of emergency, which has been in place since early 1992 to combat a budding insurgency by Islamist extremists. The insurgency, which continues sporadically, has killed an estimated 200,000 people.

Bouteflika has warned, however, that a long-standing ban on protests in Algiers would remain in place, even once the state of emergency is lifted.

Algeria does have many of the ingredients for a popular revolt. It is riddled with corruption and has never successfully grappled with its soaring jobless rate among youth — estimated by some to be up to 42 percent — despite its oil and gas wealth.

"The people are for change, but peacefully," said sociologist Nasser Djebbi. "We have paid a high price."

Play Video Mideast Video:Waves of change wash of Mideast AP

Play Video Mideast Video:Lebanon's Hariri moves into opposition ranks AFP

Play Video Mideast Video:Labor unrest in Egypt, more Yemen demos AP

___

Ahmed al-Haj in Sanaa, Yemen; Hadeel al-Shalchi and Barbara Surk in Manama, Bahrain; Elaine Ganley in Algiers, Algeria, and John Affleck in Cairo contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_mideast_protests

Libya: Snipers shoot mourners, killing 15

AP – Pro-Gadhafi supporters gather in Green Square after traditional Friday prayers in Tripoli, Libya, Friday, …

• Slideshow:Anti-government protests in Libya

By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Maggie Michael, Associated Press – Sat Feb 19, 12:35 pm ET

CAIRO – Moammar Gadhafi's forces fired on mourners leaving a funeral for protesters Saturday in the eastern city of Benghazi, killing at least 15 people and wounding scores more as the regime tried to squelch calls for an end to the ruler's 42-year grip on power.

Libyan protesters were back on the street for the fifth straight day, but Gadhafi has taken a hard line toward the dissent that has ripped through the Middle East and swept him up with it. Government forces also wiped out a protest encampment and clamped down on Internet service throughout Libya

Snipers fired on thousands of people gathered in Benghazi, a focal point of the unrest, to mourn 35 protesters who were shot on Friday, a hospital official said.

A hospital official said 15 people were killed, including one man who was apparently hit in the head with an anti-aircraft missile. The weapons apparently were used to intimidate the population.

"Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "They are crying and I keep telling them to please stand up and help us."

The official said many people were shot in the head and chest. The hospital was overwhelmed and people were streaming to the facility to donate blood.

Like most Libyans who have talked to The Associated Press during the revolt, the hospital official spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Before Saturday's violence, Human Rights Watch had estimated at least 84 people have been killed.

Just after 2 a.m. local time in Libya, the U.S.-based Arbor Networks security company detected a total cessation of online traffic in the North African country. Protesters confirmed they could not get online.

Information is tightly controlled in Libya, where journalists cannot work freely, and activists this week have posted videos on the Internet that have been an important source of images of the revolt. Other information about the protests has come from opposition activists in exile. Egyptian officials briefly tried to cut Internet service during the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, but that move was unsuccessful.

Libya is more isolated, however, and the Internet is one of the few links to the outside world. The Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information released a report back in 2004 that said nearly 1 million people among Libya's population of about 6 million had Internet access at the time. That was just three years after Internet service had been extended to the public.

About 5 a.m. Saturday, special forces attacked hundreds of protesters, including lawyers and judges, camped out in front of the courthouse in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city.

"They fired tear gas on protesters in tents and cleared the areas after many fled carrying the dead and the injured," one protester said over the phone.

Doctors in Benghazi said Friday that 35 bodies had been brought to the hospital following attacks by security forces backed by militias, on top of more than a dozen killed the day before. Standing in front of Jalaa Hospital morgue, a witness said that the bodies bore wounds from being shot "directly at the head and the chests."

Residents of the city set up neighborhood patrols on Saturday, after police left the streets.

"We don't see a single policeman in the streets, not even traffic police," a lawyer in Benghazi said. People regarded the disappearance of the police as an ominous sign, fearing that pro-government forces would soon follow up the encampment raid with house-to-house attacks.

Switzerland-based Libyan activist Fathi al-Warfali said that several other activists had been detained including Abdel-Hafez Gougha, a well-known organizer who was being held after security forces stormed his house in a night raid.

Gadhafi is facing the biggest popular uprising of his autocratic reign, with much of the action in the country's impoverished east.

The nation has huge oil reserves but poverty is a significant problem. U.S. diplomats have said in newly leaked memos that Gadhafi's regime seems to neglect the east intentionally, letting unemployment and poverty rise to weaken opponents there.

The British Foreign Office on Saturday warned against all but essential travel to five cities in eastern Libya where demonstrations have been concentrated, including Benghazi.

A female protester in Tripoli, the capital city to the west, said it was much harder to demonstrate there. Police were out in force and Gadhafi was greeted rapturously when he drove through town in a motorcade on Thursday. "People are under siege and those who dare to show up are arrested," she said.

Earlier in the week, forces from the military's elite Khamis Brigade moved into Benghazi, Beyida and several other cities, residents said. They were accompanied by militias that seemed to include foreign mercenaries, they added. Several witnesses reported French-speaking fighters, believed to be Tunisians or sub-Saharan Africans, among militiamen wearing blue uniforms and yellow helmets.

The Khamis Brigade is led by Gadhafi's youngest son Khamis Gadhafi, and U.S. diplomats in leaked memos have called it "the most well-trained and well-equipped force in the Libyan military." The witnesses' reports that it had been deployed could not be independently confirmed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110219/ap_on_re_af/af_libya_protests

‘Bila kita bernikah?’

SHAH ALAM: Seorang isteri mendakwa menempuh kehidupan penuh celaru hampir setahun selepas suaminya lari mengikut seorang wanita warga Indonesia.

Mangsa, Halimatun Sa’diah Mhd Sirat, 37, mendakwa suaminya, Mohamad Shah Mochtar, 50, mengabaikan tanggungjawab sebagai suami dan ayah selepas mengenali wanita terbabit yang dikenali sebagai Yani, 29.

Katanya, lebih memilukan suami yang dikahwini sejak 14 tahun lalu itu kini tinggal serumah dengan wanita terbabit tanpa ikatan sah di Sungai Serai, Kajang, dekat sini dan tidak lagi pulang ke rumahnya di Seksyen 24, di sini.

“Dia tidak pulang sejak Ogos lalu dan mengabaikan tanggungjawab sebagai suami dan anak perempuannya.

“Saya syak dia menjadi mangsa bomoh wanita terbabit kerana apabila saya bertemunya dia tanya bila dia bernikah dengan saya,” katanya di sini, semalam.

Halimatun berkata, suaminya yang bekerja sebagai kontraktor dan memegang status penduduk tetap (PR), manakala wanita terbabit seorang pembantu rumah yang melarikan dari daripada majikannya.

Berikutan kejadian itu, Halimatun membuat satu laporan polis di Balai Polis Seksyen 16, di sini selain mengadu kepada Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) berhubung kejadian itu tetapi tidak mendapat pembelaan sewajarnya.

Dia kini membantu rakannya berniaga kecil-kecilan di pusat beli-belah di Seksyen 18, di sini bagi menyara kehidupannya bersama anak perempuan berusia lapan tahun.

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/2011021901415120110219014151/Article/index_html

‘Pegawai KDN’ putar alam

Oleh Muhaamad Hafis Nawawi
mhafis@hmetro.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Bijak menggunakan kata-kata manis selain mengamalkan ilmu penunduk menjadi taktik seorang lelaki berusia 30-an untuk memperdaya mangsa yang terdesak untuk mendapatkan status pemastautin tetap (PR) sebelum melarikan ribuan ringgit.

Difahamkan, setiap individu yang bertentang mata dengan suspek akan patuh kepada arahannya termasuk menyerahkan wang yang dimintanya.

Lebih membuatkan mangsa mempercayai suspek apabila dia mendakwa pegawai Bahagian Perisikan Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) dan mengenali Pengarah Kanan Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) berpangkat Datuk yang boleh membantu mangsa memperoleh PR dengan cara mudah.

Tambah meyakinkan ‘penipu putar alam’ terbabit berani membawa mangsa ke pejabat JPN di Putrajaya seolah-olah segala urusan akan dijalankan, namun terbongkar apabila suspek menghilangkan diri selepas itu.

Dalam kejadian terbaru, seorang wanita dikenali sebagai Rohani, 45, menjadi mangsa lelaki terbabit ketika ingin memohon PR buat suami dan adik iparnya yang juga warga Pakistan.

Rohani berkata, dia mengenali lelaki terbabit di sebuah Stesen Aliran Ringan (LRT) di Jalan Hang Tuah, di sini apabila disapa suspek yang memberitahu mengenalinya ketika dia bekerja di restoran abangnya di Johor.

“Lelaki terbabit yang dikenali sebagai Azlan menawarkan diri dengan memberitahu mengenali seorang Pengarah JPN bergelar Datuk yang boleh membantu mendapatkan PR buat suami dan adik ipar saya,” katanya.

Menurutnya, dia membuat temu janji dengan lelaki itu pada 7 Februari lalu kira-kira jam 9 pagi untuk membuat permohonan itu di pejabat JPN. “Saya diminta menyerahkan dua sampul surat bertulis nama suami dan adik ipar yang diisi wang tunai RM2,200 dalam setiap sampul,” katanya.

Rohani berkata, lelaki itu menyuruh dia menunggu di kafe sementara dia naik berjumpa Datuk terbabit.

“Selepas dua jam, saya menghantar khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) bertanyakan hal itu, namun suspek memberitahu urusan belum selesai dan diberikan nombor telefon Datuk terbabit yang dikenali sebagai Zainal.

“Dia memberitahu Datuk Zainal akan menghubungi saya. Selang beberapa minit saya menerima SMS dari pada Datuk terbabit menyuruh saya datang semula pada jam 3 petang.

“Saya menghantar SMS kepada lelaki itu memberitahu dengan siapa saya perlu berjumpa dan adakah dia akan menemani, namun tidak berbalas. Puas saya cuba menghubunginya telefonnya, tetapi tidak dijawab,” katanya.

Dia yang menyedari ditipu membuat laporan di Balai Polis Pandan Indah pada malam kejadian sebelum kes itu dirujuk ke Putrajaya.

Difahamkan, kelmarin mangsa mendapat satu lagi kiriman SMS daripada Datuk terbabit memintanya memasukkan RM1,500 dan apabila mangsa enggan, lelaki itu mengugut menahan suaminya.

Sementara itu, Ketua Pengarah JPN, Datuk Alwi Ibrahim berkata, orang ramai jangan mudah terpedaya dengan individu yang mendakwa mengenali pegawai JPN dan boleh membantu mereka menggunakan jalan mudah melalui bayaran tertentu.

Menurutnya, mereka yang ingin membuat permohonan seperti kad pengenalan diri, warganegara dan PR perlu datang sendiri ke pejabat JPN untuk berurusan.

“Tiada bayaran sehingga RM2,200 untuk mendapatkan PR.

“Pihak Jabatan juga tidak mengenali Datuk Zainal seperti didakwa mangsa,” katanya.

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/2011021901422020110219014220/Article/index_html

Protes Hari Kemarahan: 24 maut dibunuh rejim Gaddafi

LUAH PERASAAN...penunjuk perasaan memusnahkan monumen dibina kerajaan Libya di Tobruk, semalam.

KAHERAH: Perarakan Hari Kemarahan di Libya bertukar menjadi ganas apabila anggota keselamatan rejim Muammar Gaddafi menembak mati sekurang-kurangnya 24 orang, semalam.

Pertubuhan hak asasi manusia, Human Rights Watch (HRW), berkata keganasan berlaku di dua bandar utama Libya, Benghazi dan al-Baida.

Memetik sumber tidak dikenali, HRW berkata, penunjuk perasaan ditembak dengan peluru hidup.

Pengarah HRW bagi rantau Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara, Sarah Leah Whitson, berkata serangan ganas ke atas demonstrasi aman itu adalah bukti jelas kekejaman Gaddafi jika dia berdepan dengan rasa tidak puas hati rakyatnya.

“Warga Libya sepatutnya tidak perlu merisikokan diri sendiri untuk mendapatkan hak sebagai manusia,” katanya.

Pembangkang menggunakan Facebook bagi menggerakkan orang ramai menyertai perarakan Hari Kemarahan semalam, tetapi Gaddafi, 68, membalasnya dengan menganjurkan demonstrasi penyokong kerajaan di tengah Tripoli.

Ratusan orang menyertai perhimpunan di Dataran Hijau di ibu negara Libya sambil membawa sepanduk memuji-muji Gaddafi, antara lain sebagai ‘pemimpin revolusi.’ Dia turut muncul seketika sejurus selepas tengah malam dan mendapat sambutan hangat.

Tulang belakang rejim Gaddafi, Jawatankuasa Revolusi, berkata mereka tidak akan membiarkan protes rakyat menggagalkan kejayaan rakyat, mengancam keselamatan serta kestabilan negara.

Di bandar raya kedua terbesar di Libya, Benghazi, HRW berkata, protes disertai ratusan peguam, aktivis dan orang ramai yang mahu kedaulatan undang-undang dihormati. - AFP

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/ProtesHariKemarahan_24mautdibunuhrejimGaddafi/Article/index_html

Warga Kaherah berkumpul kenang pejuang reformasi

KAHERAH: Ribuan bendera dikibar di Dataran Tahrir, semalam, bagi meraikan kejatuhan Hosni Mubarak serta memberi tekanan berterusan kepada junta tentera Mesir.

Jumlah itu dijangka terus bertambah apabila warga Kaherah selesai menunaikan solat Jumaat.

Pada masa sama, sebuah pancaragam tentera yang lengkap beruniform memainkan lagu patriotik bagi meraikan orang ramai.

Aktivis reformasi menyeru orang ramai menyertai perarakan besar-besaran di dataran itu bagi memperingati penunjuk perasan yang syahid dalam memperjuangkan pembaharuan.

Ia juga memberi tekanan kepada junta tentera membebaskan ramai lagi tahanan politik di penjara Mesir.

Kumpulan penggerak reformasi Mesir, Gabungan Pemuda Revolusi, berkata rakyat Mesir perlu berhimpun bagi mengenang pejuang ‘kebebasan, maruah dan keadilan.’ Sekurang-kurangnya 365 orang maut dan 5,500 cedera dalam kebangkitan rakyat Mesir menggulingkan Hosni baru-baru ini. - AFP

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/WargaKaherahberkumpulkenangpejuangreformasi/Article/index_html

Rakyat mahu raja disingkir

MANAMA: Beribu-ribu orang yang berkabung atas kematian penunjuk perasaan menyeru rakyat Bahrain bangkit menumbangkan pemerintah monarki dan melaksanakan reformasi, semalam.

Ketika orang ramai menyertai perarakan mengebumikan mangsa pembunuhan itu, sejumlah kereta kebal ditempatkan di jalan raya bagi mengawal keadaan di negara yang menjadi sekutu Barat paling strategik di Teluk.

Desakan menumbangkan pemerintahan beraja di Bahrain membayangkan peningkatan kemarahan politik rakyat - majoritinya berfahaman Syiah - yang tidak puas hati dengan pemerintahan kerajaan berfahaman Sunnah.

Kecenderungan itu semakin ketara selepas pihak berkuasa ganas menyuraikan penunjuk perasaan yang berkhemah di ibu negara Bahrain itu.

Setakat ini, sekurang-kurangnya lima orang terbunuh dan lebih 230 cedera.

Negara itu pula kini diperintah seperti di bawah undang-undang darurat.

Waris mangsa yang ditembak mati, Ahmed Makki Abu Taki, berkata kerajaan amat mengecewakannya.

“Ada sesuatu yang remuk di dalam hati ini. Semua orang yang berkumpul hari ini juga berkongsi rasa itu terhadap kerajaan,” katanya.

Adik Ahmed Makki, Mahmoud, 23, terbunuh dalam serangan mengejut pihak berkuasa ke atas khemah penunjuk perasaan di Dataran Pertama di Manama awal pagi kelmarin.

Menurut Ahmed Makki, sebelum ini mereka hanya mahu perdana menteri meletak jawatan.

“Kini kami menuntut seluruh keluarga diraja disingkirkan,” katanya.

Menggunakan kaedah pemerintahan monarki mutlat, Bahrain kini dikuasai Raja Hamad Isa al-Khalifa, manakala Khalifa Salman al-Khalifa bertindak sebagai perdana menteri.

Sementara itu, di luar masjid sebuah kampung di Pulau Sitra, ratusan orang menghadiri pengebumian tiga penunjuk perasaan yang terbunuh dalam keganasan pihak berkuasa.

Mayat pertama yang diselimut dengan kain baldu hitam dijulang dari satu tangan ke tangan lain sehingga ke liang lahad.

Kakitangan awam, Mohamed Ali, 40, berkata kerajaan melakukan kesilapan dan kini semua rakyat hilang keyakinan terhadap mereka.

“Kami membuat tuntutan aman dan mudah, iaitu singkirkan perdana menteri.

“Kini kami mahukan seluruh kerajaan digulingkan,” katanya. - AP

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/Rakyatmahurajadisingkir/Article/index_html

Arab Saudi mula cemas berdepan kebangkitan rakyat

RIYADH: Ahli keluarga diraja Arab Saudi, Putera Talal Abdul-Aziz, mengingatkan negara itu mungkin menjadi sasaran terbaru kebangkitan rakyat jika kerajaan tidak melakukan reformasi.

Katanya, masih belum terlambat bagi kerajaan mengelak kebangkitan rakyat itu jika langkah mengubah keadaan di Arab Saudi dilakukan segera.

Dalam temu bual dengan stesen BBC Arabic yang dibiayai kerajaan, Talal berkata, hanya Raja Abdullah yang mampu membawa perubahan diharapkan.

“Jika tidak, keadaan boleh bertukar menjadi sangat berbahaya,” katanya. - Press TV

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/ArabSaudimulacemasberdepankebangkitanrakyat/Article/index_html

Tuduh anak pembawa sial

Oleh Mary Victoria Dass
maryvictoria@hmetro.com.my

KEJAM...Shatini menunjukkan kesan dera di kedua-dua lengan akibat dipukul bapa.

ULU TIRAM: Seorang kanak-kanak perempuan dianggap pembawa sial kerana berpenyakit kulit sejak dilahirkan, dilayan lebih teruk daripada haiwan dan menjadi mangsa deraan bapa kandungnya di Taman Puteri Wangsa di sini, sejak lebih 10 tahun lalu.

Bapa kanak-kanak berusia 12 tahun itu bukan saja memukulnya menggunakan kayu serta topi keledar, malah kanak-kanak malang itu dicucuh dengan besi panas.

Bagaimanapun, perlakuan kejam lelaki berusia 40-an itu terdedah selepas mangsa yang hanya dikenali sebagai Shatini mengadu nasib malang menimpanya kepada jiran sebelum diselamatkan Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM), tengah hari semalam.

Shatini yang menghidap penyakit kulit di kaki dan tangan didapati mempunyai 20 kesan luka lama dipercayai akibat penderaan fizikal.

Menurut Shatini, bapanya memberi alasan dia diperlakukan sedemikian kononnya untuk mendidiknya lebih berdisiplin.

“Saya sudah lali dengan sikap panas baran bapa yang kerap memukul, menendang, memijak dan memaki hamun saya menggunakan perkataan lucah hampir setiap hari setiap kali pulang kerja.

“Berbeza dengan adik perempuan yang berusia lapan tahun, ibu dan bapa memanjakan dan menyayanginya kerana dia tidak memiliki sebarang kecacatan seperti saya,” katanya.

Shatini diberhentikan sekolah ketika tahun lima mendakwa, penderaan terbaru dialaminya kelmarin, selepas ibu bapanya bertengkar.

Menurutnya, bapanya yang menuduh dia punca masalah itu memanaskan besi sebelum menekap besi itu pada tumitnya.

“Selepas itu, ibu (berusia 30-an) pula memukul saya menggunakan paip PVC pada paha,” katanya.

Menurut anak sulung daripada dua beradik itu, sejak lebih setahun lalu, dia diarah tinggal di rumah dan membersihkan rumah ketika bapa serta ibunya keluar bekerja di Singapura.

“Bapa bekerja di bahagian pembersihan manakala ibu sebagai pengawal keselamatan. Saya hanya dibenar makan nasi dan lauk yang disimpan berhari-hari, kononnya bagi menjimatkan perbelanjaan.

“Ibu dan bapa mengatakan ia perlu dilakukan supaya mereka boleh mengumpul wang bagi mengubah suai rumah,” katanya.

Menurut Shatini, dia pernah bersekolah di sekitar bandar raya ini sehingga tahun empat sebelum dihantar ke Butterworth, Pulau Pinang, untuk tinggal bersama saudara ibu serta bersekolah di sana.

Bagaimanapun, ia hanya untuk setahun sebelum dibawa pulang ke Johor awal tahun lalu, dengan alasan mahu disekolahkan di sini.

“Itu semua hanya alasan kerana sebenarnya saya dijadikan tempat bapa melepaskan geram,” katanya.

Sementara itu, Pegawai JKM Johor Bahru, Mohd Faizal Abu Bakar berkata, selepas Shatini diselamatkan pihaknya melaporkan kes dera itu di Balai Polis Pelangi Indah.

“Kanak-kanak itu akan diberi perlindungan dan kesnya akan disiasat mengikut Akta Kanak-Kanak 2001.

“Dia sudah dibawa menjalani pemeriksaan kesihatan dan JKM juga akan mendapatkan maklumat daripada ibu bapanya secepat mungkin,” katanya.

Sementara itu, jurucakap Balai Polis Pelangi Indah mengesahkan menerima laporan itu dan akan mengambil keterangan ibu bapa kanak-kanak itu dalam tempoh terdekat.

http://www.hmetro.com.my/articles/Tuduhanakpembawasial/Article

Rakan pelakon ugut bunuh

Oleh Mohd Firdaus Ibrahim
mfirdaus@hmetro.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Seorang pelakon drama popular ditahan polis semalam selepas menyerah diri berhubung kes mengugut dua pegawai Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) yang menyiasat mengenai perkahwinan keduanya menggunakan sindiket nikah palsu.

Pelakon lelaki berusia 43 tahun itu pernah mencetuskan kontroversi dalam industri hiburan tanah air apabila gambar intimnya bersama seorang pelakon wanita tersebar di Internet. Menurut sumber polis, pelakon terbabit bersama tiga rakannya berusia 30-an mengugut dua pegawai penyiasat SPRM berkenaan, Isnin lalu.

“Menyedari kesalahannya selain yakin dia diburu pihak berkuasa, pelakon itu tampil menyerah diri di Balai Polis Kepong kira-kira jam 10 pagi (semalam) sebelum dia ditahan bagi membantu siasatan,” katanya.

Menurutnya, pelakon terbabit sebelum ini dipanggil SPRM untuk membantu siasatan satu sindiket pernikahan palsu didalangi seorang kakitangan Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) dan empat lelaki lain berikutan dia menggunakan khidmat sindiket itu untuk pernikahan keduanya.

Sumber itu berkata, pertemuan pelakon terbabit dengan dua pegawai SPRM yang mahu mengambil keterangannya diadakan di sebuah kafe di Danau Kota, di sini, kira-kira jam 11.20 malam Isnin lalu.

“Sebaik pelakon itu dan tiga rakannya masuk ke kafe berkenaan, seorang daripada rakannya memperkenalkan diri sebagai ‘Abang Joe’ dan mendakwa dia pegawai khas Ketua Polis Negara.

“Abang Joe mengarahkan dua pegawai SPRM berkenaan menghentikan siasatan ke atas pelakon itu. Apabila dua pegawai SPRM itu bertegas untuk meneruskan siasatan, Abang Joe mengugut dengan mengatakan akan membunuh mereka,” katanya.

Menurutnya, Abang Joe turut mengugut mahu menembak kedua-dua pegawai itu sehingga mati jika permintaannya tidak dipenuhi. “Selain itu, Abang Joe memberitahu dia boleh memerangkap dua pegawai SPRM berkenaan dengan meletakkan dadah dalam rumah atau kenderaan mereka supaya pegawai itu ditahan polis.

“Malah, Abang Joe mendakwa dia sanggup mati semata-mata bagi memastikan SPRM tidak meneruskan siasatan terhadap pelakon terbabit,” katanya.

Sumber itu berkata, pelakon terbabit dan tiga rakannya meninggalkan kafe berkenaan sebelum kedua-dua pegawai penyiasat SPRM itu membuat laporan kejadian itu di Balai Polis Wangsa Maju, di sini.

Menurutnya, pelakon terbabit direman lima hari bermula semalam dan kesnya disiasat mengikut Seksyen 506 Kanun Keseksaan.

Ketua Polis Sentul, Asisten Komisioner Zakaria Pagan ketika dihubungi mengesahkan penahanan pelakon terbabit.

Sementara itu, Timbalan Ketua Pesuruhjaya (Operasi) SPRM, Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull ketika dihubungi berkata, pihaknya tidak akan tunduk pada ugutan, tohmahan dan fitnah mana-mana pihak yang cuba menjejaskan siasatan sesuatu kes rasuah.

“Ini sebahagian cabaran yang perlu kami hadapi. Dalam kes sebegini, SPRM akan serahkan kepada polis mengambil tindakan sewajarnya.

“Kami akan teruskan siasatan sindiket pernikahan palsu itu,” katanya.

http://www.hmetro.com.my/articles/Rakanpelakonugutbunuh/Article

Bahrain haramkan perhimpunan

---

MANAMA - Pihak berkuasa Bahrain mengharamkan perhimpunan-perhimpunan awam dan menghantar kereta-kereta kebal ke jalan-jalan sekali gus memburukkan lagi cubaan untuk mengembalikan keamanan yang telah menyebabkan lima orang penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan terbunuh.

Dalam tunjuk perasan itu, lebih 200 yang lain cedera dan menjadikan sebuah hospital menjadi tempat melepaskan kemarahan terhadap pemerintahan monarki.

Jalan-jalan di Bahrain hampir kosong selepas insiden berdarah itu.

Namun, beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan terus berarak di bandar-bandar di Libya dan Yaman.

Gelombang ketidaktentuan politik dilihat berterusan di dunia Arab yang menyaksikan pemimpin di Mesir dan Tunisia berjaya ditumbangkan oleh rakyat.

Selepas membenarkan tunjuk perasaan puak Syiah selama beberapa hari di Manama, pasukan polis anti-rusuhan menggempur Dataran Pearl dengan melepaskan gas pemedih mata dan memukul penunjuk perasaam.

Pada minggu ini sahaja, jumlah kematian mencecah tujuh orang.

Menteri Luar Bahrain, Khalid Al Khalifa menegaskan tindakan itu wajar kerana penunjuk perasaan telah membahayakan negara dan menjurus kepada perselisihan mazhab. - Agensi

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/arkib.asp?y=2011&dt=0219&pub=Kosmo&sec=Dunia&pg=du_01.htm