Civilian unrest continues across the Middle East
Source: Agencies |
February 20, 2011, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO of the Middle East's most entrenched leaders were battling to quell unrest yesterday after security forces killed dozens of protesters in Libya and police fired teargas at demonstrators in the Bahraini capital.
Unrest has spread from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Djibouti, as people of one country after another shed their fear of oppressive rulers and took to the streets demanding democratic change and economic opportunity.
Protesters in Algiers yesterday were surrounded by police and corralled into a courtyard, pro- and anti-government crowds in the Yemeni capital Sanaa hurled stones at each other, and protesters clashed with security forces in Djibouti.
Benghazi deaths
Libyan security forces killed 35 people in the eastern city of Benghazi late on Friday, Human Rights Watch cited witnesses and hospital sources as saying, in the worst violence of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.
Protests against Gaddafi's rule this week, inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, were met with a fierce security crackdown, especially around Benghazi.
A security source said clashes were still going yesterday in the region between Benghazi and Al Bayda, 200 kilometers away, where local people said security forces had killed dozens of people in the past 72 hours.
The area is "80 percent under control ... a lot of police stations have been set on fire or damaged," the source said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Friday's killings took to 84 its estimate for the death toll in three days of protests, mostly around Benghazi, against a ruling elite accused of hoarding Libya's oil wealth.
It said the deaths in the city, 1,000 kilometers east of Tripoli, happened when security forces opened fire on people protesting after funeral processions for people killed in earlier violence. There was no official word on the death toll.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Libya to stop using force against protesters and asked Middle East governments to respond to the "legitimate aspirations" of their people.
"I condemn the violence in Libya, including reports of the use of heavy weapons fire and a unit of snipers against demonstrators," Hague said in a statement. "This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying."
In Bahrain, soldiers and armoured vehicles left a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, hours after opposition groups rejected a royal call for dialogue unless the military stood down.
Police firing teargas beat back the few demonstrators who tried to move back into Pearl Square after the army pullout.
The crown prince, charged by King Hamad on Friday with opening a dialogue with the protesters, announced all soldiers had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order.
The announcement met one of the conditions for talks spelt out by a Shiite ex-lawmaker of the main Shiite opposition bloc, Wefax, which quit parliament on Thursday.
The spreading unrest helped drive Brent crude prices higher in the past week.
(Reuters)
Unrest has spread from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Djibouti, as people of one country after another shed their fear of oppressive rulers and took to the streets demanding democratic change and economic opportunity.
Protesters in Algiers yesterday were surrounded by police and corralled into a courtyard, pro- and anti-government crowds in the Yemeni capital Sanaa hurled stones at each other, and protesters clashed with security forces in Djibouti.
Benghazi deaths
Libyan security forces killed 35 people in the eastern city of Benghazi late on Friday, Human Rights Watch cited witnesses and hospital sources as saying, in the worst violence of Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power.
Protests against Gaddafi's rule this week, inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, were met with a fierce security crackdown, especially around Benghazi.
A security source said clashes were still going yesterday in the region between Benghazi and Al Bayda, 200 kilometers away, where local people said security forces had killed dozens of people in the past 72 hours.
The area is "80 percent under control ... a lot of police stations have been set on fire or damaged," the source said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said Friday's killings took to 84 its estimate for the death toll in three days of protests, mostly around Benghazi, against a ruling elite accused of hoarding Libya's oil wealth.
It said the deaths in the city, 1,000 kilometers east of Tripoli, happened when security forces opened fire on people protesting after funeral processions for people killed in earlier violence. There was no official word on the death toll.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Libya to stop using force against protesters and asked Middle East governments to respond to the "legitimate aspirations" of their people.
"I condemn the violence in Libya, including reports of the use of heavy weapons fire and a unit of snipers against demonstrators," Hague said in a statement. "This is clearly unacceptable and horrifying."
In Bahrain, soldiers and armoured vehicles left a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, hours after opposition groups rejected a royal call for dialogue unless the military stood down.
Police firing teargas beat back the few demonstrators who tried to move back into Pearl Square after the army pullout.
The crown prince, charged by King Hamad on Friday with opening a dialogue with the protesters, announced all soldiers had been ordered off the streets and that police would maintain order.
The announcement met one of the conditions for talks spelt out by a Shiite ex-lawmaker of the main Shiite opposition bloc, Wefax, which quit parliament on Thursday.
The spreading unrest helped drive Brent crude prices higher in the past week.
(Reuters)
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
