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Monday
Feb282011

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: While We Were Watching Tripoli....

2200 GMT: We are going to take an overnight break. Coverage continues on our Live Feed from Al Jazeera English.

2150 GMT: The scene in Tahrir Square in Cairo tonight, where an activist claims 5000 protesters are gathered:

2040 GMT: The US has blocked $30 billion in assets of the Libyan Government since President Obama's executive order late Friday night imposing unilateral sanctions against Muammar Qaddafi and his family. This is the largest amount of foreign assets ever seized in applications of sanctions by the US.

1915 GMT: Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has said, in an interview with BBC and the American network ABC, "I'm surprised that we have an alliance with the West to fight al Qaeda, and now that we are fighting terrorists they have abandoned us. Perhaps they want to occupy Libya."

Qaddafi called President Barack Obama a "good man" but said he appeared to be misinformed about the situation in Libya: "The statements I have heard from him must have come from someone else. America is not the international police of the world."

Qaddafi also assured his interviewers that he is loved by the Libyan people, who would die for him.

1730 GMT: Writing for The Nation, Leila Lalami profiles Fadoua Laroui, the 25-year old Moroccan woman who died last week from self-immolation.

1700 GMT: Footage of Sunday's clashes in the Tunisian capital Tunis --- at least four people were killed over the weekend, with more than 100,000 demonstrators on the streets on Friday:

1650 GMT: A Libyan air force jet bombed a military base with heavy weapons and ammunition outside opposition-held Ajdabiya, 150 km (93 miles) west of Benghazi.

1635 GMT: Mohamed Afif Chelbi, Tunisia's industry and technology minister, has resigned from the government, a day after the departure of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi.

Chelbi's resignation leaves Mohamed Nouri Jouini, the Minister for International co-operation, as the only survivor in the cabinet from the era of ousted President Ben Ali.

1625 GMT: Libyan regime spokesman Musa Ibrahim said Monday that reports of government supporters firing on civilians were false and blamed outsiders for creating the chaos sweeping the country: "No massacres, no bombardments, no reckless violence against civilians."

1610 GMT: Protesters are on the streets of Oman for a third day in a row.

Hundreds of people blocked roads in Sohar, Oman's main industrial centre, while others maintained a vigil at a central roundabout. A supermarket was set on fire by protesters and looted, and state property was damaged.

The renewed demonstrations for political reform come after six protesters were killed on Sunday by security forces and even though Oman's ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said promised to create more jobs and announced a new ministerial committee to examine calls for more powers to be given to the elected consultative council.

Reuters said two demonstrations were also held in the capital Muscat.

1550 GMT: Back from an academic break to find that at least 300 people in the Tajoura district, in the east of Libya's capital Tripoli, have been chanting slogans against leader Muammar Qaddafi.

The rally began after the funeral of a person killed in attacks on demonstrators by pro-Qaddafi militias last week. Protesters quickly dispersed when a brigade of pro-Qaddafi fighters rushed to the scene, with security forces reportedly firing in the air.

1320 GMT: Represenatives of several youth groups, led by the 6th of April Movement, have met with the leaders of the Supreme Military Council for more than five hours on calls for measures to complete the transition to democracy and to remove all remnants of the Mubarak regime.

A statement on behalf of the groups says the youth began with attention to the military attack on protesters at Tahrir Square in Cairo early Saturday morning but then moved to the removal of the Shafiq Government, the state of emergency, the state security apparatus, wages, and labour rights.

The youth groups have restated their demands, including the removal of all current Governors as well as the national government. Mohamed Adel, the speaker for the 6th of April Movement said the movement would continue to apply all forms of civil pressure on the Supreme Military Council to ensure compliance with demands.

1057 GMT: Egypt's Public Prosecutor has imposed a travel ban on former President Hosni Mubarak and his family. Mubarak's assets have been frozen.

Mubarak has reportedly been in the Red Sea city of Sharm El Sheikh since he was ousted in mid-February.

1020 GMT: Reuters reports the opposition in Misurata, 210 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli, has down a regime helicopter, as it was firing on the local radio station, and captured the crew.

The news comes in amidst reports of a battle between Qaddafi forces and the opposition to control the military base near the city.

0940 GMT: French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said that Paris will send two planeloads of medical aid to the Libyan city of Benghazi, held by the opposition.

0910 GMT: Hundreds of anti-regime protesters (a Bahraini outlet says "thousands") have blocked access to Bahrain's Parliament, forcing officials to cancel a meeting of the ruler's envoys.

In the last week, protesters have shifted strategy by moving out of Pearl Roundabout into the centre of the capital Manama, including government and financial districts.

0855 GMT: Eighteen legislators in Bahrain's 40-member Parliament have resigned in protest against the killing of demonstrators.

A White House statement has declared, "The United States supports the national dialogue initiative led by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, and encourages a process that is meaningful, inclusive, non-sectarian, and responsive to the people of Bahrain. The dialogue offers an opportunity for meaningful reform and for all Bahrainis to forge a more just future together."

0845 GMT: Oman's security forces have blocked roads to the town of Sohar, 120 northwest of the capital Muscat, after Sunday's clashes between pro-democracy protesters and riot police.

0815 GMT: Al Jazeera English notes that, while the Egyptian committee considering constitutional reforms has proposed several significant changes, it does not mention lifting restrictions on the participation of religious organisations.

0805 GMT: Peter Beaumont of The Guardian offers a vivid portrait of Zawiyah, the Libyan city --- only 35 miles from Tripoli --- now in the hands of the opposition:

"If you go down there you will meet young men with guns," said one of the Libyan government minders. "Please be careful," he warned.

The crossing from the territory controlled by the regime of Colonel Gaddafi to rebel-held land was a short walk, as unexpected as it was bizarre.

Bizarre, because we had been delivered to the edge of the city of Zawiyah by Gaddafi's men, who were supposed to be showing us how far their leader's writ still extended. Instead they let us out of our cars and made no effort to prevent us crossing to the other side.

0800 GMT: A picture this morning of the Lulu Supermarket in Sohar in southern Oman, still on fire after clashes yesterday which killed six protesters:

0630 GMT: Al Jazeera English posts this slide-show of photographs of the opposition taking control in Benghazi, Libya's 2nd-largest city, and trying to restore public services:

0545 GMT: There was so much happening this weekend that we missed an entire protest.  Almost 1000 people rallied amidst a heavy police presence in Casablanca in Morocco on Saturday, demanding political reforms and a new constitution.

0540 GMT: Reuters, reporting from hospital sources, has revised the death toll in Sunday's clashes in Oman from two to at least six.

0515 GMT: An uneasy Sunday in Libya, but one in which there were few significant shifts, as both the Qaddafi regime and the opposition tried to establish position and prepare for the next conflict.

The "Free Libya" of the east now is moving from the phase of battle to one of establishing political, economic, and social networks. A national council was announced in Benghazi, shops and services were revived, and a declaration was made that oil would again be shipped.

Muammar Qaddafi, meanwhile, seemed to be looking beyond protecting his future in Tripoli --- a task that took up much of Friday and Saturday --- and counter-attacking the opposition in the west. Reports circulated through the day of the regime moving tanks and personnel from their strongholds, such as Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte, towards cities that the opposition had taken in the last 72 hours.

However, even that news pointed to the possible ebbing of the Qaddafi rule. Initially, the reports were that the regime would strike for Misurata, 210 km (130 miles) to the east of Tripoli. Last night, however, Qaddafi's forces were said to concentrate on a task closer to the capital, reversing the opposition's takeover of Zawiyah, 55 km (35 miles) from Tripoli.

But if Sunday brought a relative lull in Libya, it was far from so elsewhere. The day was marked by protests, deaths, and political maneouvres from the dramatic to the gradual. 

In Tunisia, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi suddenly stepped down, after days of renewed protests in which at least four people were killed.

In Bahrain, thousands put on another high-profile march from Pearl Roundabout to the centre of Manama, calling for the release of detainees and maintaining the demand for political reforms.

In Egypt, the Supreme Military Council, after its commanders apologised for the heavy-handed suppression of protest in Tahrir Square early Saturday morning, tried to edge back to the image of a "transition" to constitutional Government, but it was still beset by claims of harsh treatment of demonstrations and detainees.

On a new front, the regime in Oman joined the ranks of those using violence to try and check the marches for reform, as security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets, killing at least six protesters and wounding at least 10.

In Saudi Arabia, where public protest has been limited to demonstrations of hundreds of Shia in the east of the country, the monarchy announced further economic measures, promising to make temporary jobs permanent with the guarantee of pensions. The step following substantial changes on debt relief, housing, and interest-free loans on Wednesday.

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