Protests continue in Mideast, N Africa
Mass protests continued on Saturday in some countries in the Middle
East and North Africa following those in Tunisia and Egypt.
Here are the latest developments of the unrest.
In Libya, protests broke out in several cities, particularly in the
second largest city of Benghazi, where demonstrators called for
political and economic reforms, which have left dozens dead over the
past three days.
Twenty bodies of protesters were found in Benghazi and seven in the
eastern city of Derna, the country’s independent Oea newspaper reported
on its website Friday.
The Libyan authorities have not reported on casualties.
The Dubai-based Al Arabia television channel reported Saturday
quoting Arbor Networks, a U.S.-based network monitoring company, as
saying that the internet service in Libya was suddenly cut off at about
2:00 a.m. (2300GMT) on Saturday.
In Bahrain, thousands of protesters returned to Manama’s Pearl
Square, the focal point of anti-regime demonstrations, after military
vehicles withdrew from the square on Saturday, Al Arabiya TV reported.
Bahrain ordered its military to withdraw on Saturday in response to
the opposition group’s demands for starting a dialogue to solve the
turmoil in the country after several protesters were killed and dozens
of others injured in clashes between security forces and anti-government
protesters.
In Yemen, the country’s Defense Ministry denied on Saturday that an
anti-regime protester was killed during clashes in the capital Sanaa on
the same day, saying the protester is still receiving treatment after
having sustained serious injury.
Earlier on Saturday, a police officer told Xinhua that Bassam Yaseen
Abdu, a 21-year-old university student protesting in a rally against
long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh, was shot dead and three
others were seriously injured by gunshots outside Sanaa University,
where about 1,000 anti-government protesters, mostly students, clashed
with more than 300 government backers.
Kuwaiti police on Saturday used teargas to disperse hundreds of
protestors in the western area of Sulaibiya, some 40 km from the capital
Kuwait City, where stateless Arabs living in Kuwait, or Bedoon, took to
the streets to demand for citizenship and basic social rights, a Xinhua
photographer said.
In Algeria, police arrested on Saturday some anti-government
demonstrators who tried to stage a rally in central Algiers.
About 450 protesters attempted to reach Concorde Square (former May 1
Square) in Algiers, but were blocked and dispersed by police, according
to a Xinhua reporter near the scene. Thousands of policemen had been
deployed along the roads leading to the square.
In Egypt, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces warned against more
strikes or protests in the country after allowing a week of strikes and
promising an orderly transition to civilian rule within six months.
The military council which has adopted a soft approach since it came
into power after the toppling of Hosni Mubarak, said in a statement late
Friday that the protests threatened national security.
“The strikes will be confronted and legal steps will be taken against
them to protect the national security and citizens,” said the statement
read on state media. Xinhua
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