Following is information on the present state of affairs in various Arab countries across the Middle East and Northern Africa. TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press
A summary of Monday’s developments in the Arab world, as instability and anti-government protests inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia spread in the region.
___
LIBYA:
Libyan government officials at home and abroad resign, air force pilots defect and Moammar Gadhafi’s grip on the country loosens Monday.
Protesters seeking his resignation call for another night of defiance against the Arab world’s longest-serving leader despite a crackdown. The capital of Tripoli was largely shut down with schools, government offices and most stores closed.
By Monday, protesters had claimed control of the city of Benghazi, overrunning its main security headquarters.
Gadhafi’s security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the region’s wave of protests. At least 233 people have been killed so far, according to Human Rights Watch.
In the early hours Monday, Gadhafi’s son, Seif al-Islam, went on state TV with a sometimes confused speech of nearly 40 minutes, vowing to fight and warning that if protests continue, a civil war will erupt in which Libya’s oil wealth “will be burned.”
These are the first major protests to hit an OPEC country — and major supplier to Europe — and they have sent oil prices jumping. The industry is now eyeing reserves touched only after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the first Gulf War in 1991.
___
TUNISIA:
The country has named its third interim foreign minister in a month following the ouster of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Mouldi Kefi, a career diplomat, has taken the post, according to Tunisia’s official news agency, TAP.
Tunisia’s government has asked Saudi Arabia whether its exiled former president is dead, and demanded his extradition if he is still alive, as thousands of people protested in the capital demanding that the caretaker government resigns.
The 74-year-old Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on Jan. 14, following 23 years of rule.
___
MOROCCO:
Five charred bodies are found in a bank set aflame by troublemakers on the sidelines of one of many nationwide protests pushing for more democracy in the kingdom.
Morocco’s interior minister, Taeib Cherqaoui, says at least 128 people were injured — mostly security forces — in unrest linked to protests a day earlier that drew at least 37,000 demonstrators in dozens of towns and cities.
The demonstrations marked Morocco’s entree into the Arab world’s wave of protests. Their main target was the parliament, though they will likely put pressure on King Mohammed VI, who is seen as a reformer, but still holds absolute authority.
___
YEMEN:
Yemen’s embattled leader rejects demands that he step down, calling demonstrations against his regime unacceptable acts of provocation and offers to begin a dialogue with protesters.
But protests seeking President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s ouster do not let up, as tens of thousands rally in four cities, including the capital of Sanaa.
The opposition rebuffs Saleh’s offer of dialogue and an influential group of Muslim clerics calls for a national unity government that would lead the country, the poorest Arab nation, to elections. Saleh has been in power for 32 years and is a key U.S. ally.
Saleh’s promises not to run for re-election in 2013 or to set up his son as an heir have failed to quell the anger.
At least 11 people have been killed since anti-government protests erupted earlier this month, including a youth shot dead Monday.
In an attempt to defuse anger over the violence, Saleh said that he has ordered troops not to fire at anti-government protesters, except in self defense.
___
BAHRAIN:
A prominent opposition figure accused by Bahrain of plotting against the state plans to return from London, and the move could bolster protesters and force authorities into difficult choices.
Hassan Meshaima, head of a group known as Haq, is set to arrive late Tuesday as the embattled monarchy tries to engage demonstrators in talks aimed at easing the week-long series of clashes and marches that have deeply divided the strategic Gulf nation.
Meshaima, considered by Bahrain’s officials as a potential enemy of the state, along with another London-based opposition leader are being tried in absentia among a total of 25 Shiite activists accused of plotting to overthrow Bahrain’s Sunni rulers.
It’s possible that Meshaima — even if taken into custody — could rally more hard-line elements among the protesters as they struggle to find a common voice.
Tensions are still high after riot police open fire on protesters trying to reclaim landmark Pearl Square last week. At least eight people have been killed and hundreds injured in the clashes.
Bahrain holds particular importance to Washington as the host of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, which is the main U.S. military counterweight to Iranian efforts to expand its military influence into the Gulf.
