NATO chief stresses keeping military pressure on Gaddafi

More than three month after Western countries launched military operations in Libya, NATO Secretary General Rasmussen said here Thursday that the main objective of the campaign remains unchanged: force Gaddafi to leave power.

Rasmussen made the remarks at a press conference after talks with Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger. "The message to Gaddafi's regime is very clear. Your time is up, it's time to leave. I do believe that continued, strong military pressure on Gaddafi's regime is the best way to facilitate the political solution to the conflicts in Libya," Rasmussen said.

Admitting that military measures alone could not end the conflicts, Rasmussen stressed that military pressure will reinforce political pressure on Gaddafi, and the combination of both pressures will lead to the collapse of the regime.

He said NATO has all the resources as long as it needs to successfully achieve the goal.

Responding to questions about France's airdropping weapons to Libya's opposition forces, Rasmussen insisted that NATO operations is still within the mandate of the UN resolution to protect civilians.

Opposition forces do the fighting, and NATO will not deploy ground troops in Libya, he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Libya's opposition leader Mahmoud Jebril also appeared at a press conference hosted by Austrian Foreign Ministry, calling for urgent financial and military aids from the outside world for anti-Gaddafi camp.

ICC may make it harder to get rid of Gaddafi

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Monday June 27, 2011 for Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, his son and his intelligence chief for crimes against humanity in the early days of their struggle to cling to power. 

Moammar Kadafi is a fitting target for the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court. Whatever one's opinion of the court — and The Times' editorial board has been divided on the subject — the charges lodged against the Libyan strongman and two relatives dramatize the worldwide condemnation of Kadafi's war against his own people. He is now formally what he has been in fact since the Arab Spring came to Libya: an outlaw.

The grounds for the warrant, according to the court, are that Kadafi allegedly committed crimes against humanity — specifically murder and persecution. Judges said there was sufficient evidence that he, his son and his brother-in-law ordered the killing and imprisonment of hundreds of civilians in February.

But although the charges against Kadafi bring moral clarity to the discussion of his conduct, we're sorry the court went through with them. We take this view not because of any particular doubts about Kadafi's guilt but because the warrants against him and his relatives could complicate efforts to reach a political solution under which he would step down.

The International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization that aims to resolve international conflicts, stated the problem clearly: "To insist that he both leave the country and face trial in the International Criminal Court is virtually to ensure that he will stay in Libya to the bitter end and go down fighting." A political solution is an option NATO and the United States should keep on the table, offensive as the idea of Kadafi enjoying a pleasant retirement may be.

In the absence of such a deal, it's not all that unlikely that Kadafi would end up killed in one of NATO's air raids. That would be too bad, partly because the NATO mission is ostensibly intended to protect civilians, but also because Kadafi is not Osama bin Laden, and his killing would no doubt lead to widespread criticism. Better to seek a negotiated settlement.

How to deal with dictators guilty of human rights abuses is a familiar dilemma, pitting those who prize justice above all against pragmatists who believe that exile for a despicable leader — even exile in comfort — is preferable to continued oppression and violence. There is no single right answer, but in the case of Libya, a political settlement that ensured the departure of Kadafi — international outlaw or not — would be justified.

More than 1,000 hurt in Egypt clashes

<< A protester takes cover during clashes with riot police in front of the Interior Ministry in Cairo.


A senior official says more than 1,000 people have been hurt in two days of clashes between police and protesters over demands that the country's military rulers speed up the prosecution of police officers accused of killing protesters early this year.

The official Middle East News Agency on Wednesday quoted assistant health minister Abdul-Hameed Abazah as saying that of the injured, some 900 were treated on the spot and more than 120 admitted to hospital.

The violence began Tuesday night in Cairo and was continuing on Wednesday with riot police firing in the air and using tear gas to disperse the protesters, who pelted them with rocks and firebombs.

The violence was reminiscent of the Jan. 25-Feb. 11 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. 

Afghanistan: Top hotel in Kabul attacked by suicide bombers

Two suicide bombers attacked a major hotel frequented by Westerners in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul late Tuesday, a police source said, and a witness said gunfire was heard for several minutes after one blast.

Gunfire tapered off several minutes after the blast was heard, the witness said. The police source, who asked not to be identified, had initially said a gunfight was still going on.

The police source said a wedding party was underway when the attack happened in or near the Intercontinental Hotel, one of two major hotels in the western part of Kabul often frequented by foreigners. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The hotel is built on a hillside in Kabul's west with heavy fortifications all round and is often used for conferences and by Western officials visiting the city. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said several fighters from the Islamist group had attacked the hotel, where Afghan and Western officials were supposedly holding security talks. Mujahid, who spoke to Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location, said heavy casualties had been inflicted.

The Taliban often exaggerate the number of casualties in attacks against Western and Afghan government targets. Police threw up roadblocks immediately after the blast, stopping people from approaching the area, and power was cut in the hotel and surrounding areas, the Reuters witness said.

Violence has flared across Afghanistan since the Taliban announced the start of a spring offensive at the beginning of May, with attacks in areas across the country. The increase in violence comes as NATO-led forces prepare to hand security responsibility to Afghans in seven areas from next month at the start of a gradual transition process that will end with all foreign troops leaving Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Violence across Afghanistan in 2010 had already its worst levels since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

Arrest warrant could make Gaddafi more dangerous

The international criminal court's decision to charge Muammar Gaddafi with crimes against humanity both tightens and legitimises the noose that David Cameron and others had gratuitously hung around the Libyan leader's neck.

But far from hastening his removal from power, the court's demarche may reinforce Gaddafi's determination to stay and fight to the bitter end. Few would dispute that Gaddafi and two close associates, his son, Saif al-Islam, and Libya's military intelligence chief, Abdullah al- Senussi, have a case to answer.

The pre-trial chamber judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe the three men conspired to impose a state policy "aimed at deterring and quelling, by any means, including by the use of lethal force, the demonstrations of civilians against the regime which started in February".

Gaddafi "had absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control over the Libyan state apparatus of power, including the security forces", and used it to enforce his plan to crush the uprising, the judges declared. Saif Gaddafi, his father's "unspoken successor and the most influential person within his inner circle", and Senussi "both made an essential contribution to implement that plan", the court alleged.

The ICC's action will be applauded by advocates of universal justice and humanitarian law and by supporters of UN notions of the international community's responsibility to protect. It will also be welcomed by the British and French governments, prime movers in the Libyan military intervention, as further evidence that their parallel, non-military campaign to isolate, ostracise, delegitimise and undermine Gaddafi is working, even if Nato bombing is not.

"The warrants demonstrate why Gaddafi has lost all legitimacy and why he should go immediately," said the British foreign secretary, William Hague. He went on to urge Gaddafi supporters to consider their own positions in the light of the ICC ruling. "People at all levels of seniority should think carefully about the consequences of what they do," Hague warned.

Those involved in continuing regime attacks on civilians would be held responsible. It's an obvious divide-and-rule tactic, but it may slowly be having a cumulative effect. Reports this week of secret talks in Tunisia involving senior Libyan cabinet members, high-profile defections and a renewed offer by the regime spokesman (later partially withdrawn) to put Gaddafi's continued tenure to a popular vote have encouraged those looking for fatal cracks in the Tripoli edifice.

Welcoming the warrants, a rebel spokesman suggested they meant Gaddafi was finished and there was no longer any point in even trying to negotiate with a "war criminal" regime. As usual, there is a large dose of unreality and wishful thinking about all this. The ICC's action could easily backfire, as have other aspects of Libyan policy.

The court's personal targeting of Gaddafi will revive questions about the wisdom of the Anglo- French-US approach (distinct from that of Nato) of making his removal from power the key measure of success in Libya. It will also fuel claims that the ICC is only interested in pursuing African leaders, as in Sudan and Kenya, and that the US in particular (which is not a party to the ICC) is guilty of double standards.

The UN security council resolution authorising military intervention was silent on the issue of Gaddafi's status. It had to be. If the resolution had been openly portrayed as authorising regime change, or a de facto assassination, it would certainly have been vetoed by Russia or China or both.

Yet British officials now privately admit that nothing less than a fresh start will suffice – and that if Gaddafi were perchance to die in a bombing raid on a command and control target, his killing would be regarded as justified. Thus is one man's fate now dictating the course of the war and the wider international policy associated with it. For his part, Gaddafi and his people are adamant he will not stand down, will not leave the country and will not hand himself over to the ICC or anybody else.

"Muammar Gaddafi is Libya's historical symbol and he is above all political actions and tactical games," said Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim. "In this current stage and in the future, Gaddafi is the historical choice which we cannot drop."

On his refusal to budge, Gaddafi has been entirely consistent from the outset and, because he has nowhere to go and because the ICC has effectively branded him an international outlaw, it seems implausible to believe he will change his mind now. The ICC has added its weight to attempts to corner Gaddafi. But cornered, he is rendered all the more dangerous.

Libya: Fierce fighting south-west of Tripoli

<< The rebels on their way to Tripoli

Rebel forces in Libya have clashed with troops loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi about 80km (50 miles) south-west of the capital, Tripoli.

A rebel spokesman in the Nafusa mountains said there had been heavy fighting on the outskirts of the strategic town of Bir al-Ghanam.

The rebels were making a push for Tripoli. Meanwhile the International Criminal Court is to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for Col Gaddafi.

A decision by a three-judge panel is expected at 1100 GMT. The ICC's chief prosecutor has also requested arrest warrants for Col Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, and the head of Libyan intelligence, Abdullah Senussi.

The warrants are for alleged crimes against humanity committed against opponents of the regime.

The Nato operation in Libya entered its 100th day on Monday, with the rebels still struggling to take advantage of coalition air strikes on Col Gaddafi's military infrastructure.

The Libyan news agency reported fresh strikes on Tripoli overnight.

The rebels control the east of the country as well as pockets of western Libya, including the Nafusa mountains.

Guma el-Gamaty, a spokesman for the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC), told AP news agency that Bir al-Ghanam - the focus of the latest fighting - was important as it was barely 30km (18 miles) south of Zawiya, a western gateway to Tripoli.

Opposition fighters seized Zawiya in March before government troops drove the rebels out of the oil-refinery city. Fighting again broke out there this month.

The BBC's Mark Doyle, who is in the village of Bir Ayad near Bir al-Ghanam, says Sunday's fighting began when government forces tried to cut off the rebels by attacking from behind.

Clashes continued in the distance, where the boom of artillery, the rattle of automatic gunfire and the occasional rumble of Nato jets could be heard, he says.

A medic said two rebels had died in the battle. The rebels said government forces suffered far greater casualties, although that cannot be confirmed.

The rebels came down into the plains from the Nafusa mountains in early June, adds our correspondent. But they have met strong resistance from Col Gaddafi's forces.

He says that although it is a shifting front line, the rebels appear to be gradually consolidating their position in the mountains.

The minister of defence for Libya's rebels, Jalal al-Dgheli, told the BBC that because their weapons were so limited, most of them were focused on the push from the western mountains towards Tripoli.

But in the near future there could be an advance from the east near Brega towards Tripoli, he told the BBC's Bridget Kendall in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

"What we're learning from defectors is that Gaddafi's supporters are getting fewer, people who are close to him are abandoning him, and his inner circle is getting smaller by the day."

He added that he hoped Col Gaddafi could be gone by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in August, but our correspondent said this could be wishful thinking.

'Election proposal'

The Libyan government on Sunday meanwhile reportedly renewed its offer for a vote on whether Col Gaddafi should stay in power.

Gaddafi spokesman Moussa Ibrahim was quoted as telling reporters in Tripoli that the government was proposing a period of national dialogue and an election overseen by the UN and African Union.

A Libyan woman fires at a graduation ceremony after a weapons training course in Tripoli

"If the Libyan people decide Gaddafi should leave he will leave," Mr Ibrahim was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying. "If the people decide he should stay he will stay."

But he said Col Gaddafi - who has run the oil-producing country since a military coup in 1969 - would not go into exile.

The idea of holding an election was first raised earlier this month by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

Since then Italy has called for a political settlement to the conflict, following a Nato strike in Tripoli on 19 June that killed several civilians.

In a separate development, African leaders meeting in Pretoria said Col Gaddafi has agreed to stay out of talks aimed at ending the conflict.

In a communique after talks on Sunday, the African Union panel on Libya said it welcomed "Col Gaddafi's acceptance of not being part of the negotiations process".

Afghanistan: 60 dead in a car bombing in Kabul hospital

A huge car bomb at a hospital today killed 60 in Afghanistan's worst attack for three years, days after US President Barack Obama said 10,000 US forces would leave the country this year.

The brazen suicide attack in Logar province, about 75 kilometres south of the capital Kabul, killed women and children and also wounded 120.

As an eyewitness described horrific scenes of victims on fire following the blast in the usually safe Azra district, officials described the attack as "unprecedented" in the near-decade-long Afghan war.

"Sixty of our countrymen including children, women, youths and men... have been martyred and 120 others including health workers have been injured," the ministry of public health said in a statement.

"This inhumane act is unprecedented in the history of the conflict in our country and targeted a place where wounds are healed and patients receive treatment."

Din Mohammad Darwaish, the Logar provincial spokesman, said the blast -- which took place close to Afghanistan's border with Pakistan -- was a suicide car bombing.

The Taliban denied it was behind the attack, which completely destroyed the building. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: "We condemn this attack on a hospital... whoever has done this wants to defame the Taliban."

One man who lives near the hospital, Abdul Rahman, told AFP that he lost seven relatives in the explosion.

"Seven members of my family including three women and two children went to that hospital this morning," he said, through tears.
"I was at home, then I heard a big explosion. When I rushed to the site, I saw many dead and injured people.

"Many of them were burning, on fire. There were body parts everywhere. My family is dead, I can't find them, they are under the rubble."

The huge blast caused the highest death toll in Afghanistan since a July 2008 car bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul killed more than 60 people.
It came at the end of a week when Obama announced that 33,000 US forces would leave Afghanistan by the end of next summer.

All foreign combat forces are due to pull out of the country by the end of 2014. There are currently up to 150,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan, including about 99,000 from the US.

Some analysts fear that Afghan security forces may struggle to contain the insurgency, which has hit record levels of violence, as withdrawals begin.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack as "savage and ignorant" in a statement released by his office.

It came as Karzai told a counterterrorism summit in Tehran that militancy was on the rise in both his country and the region.

"Not only has Afghanistan not yet achieved peace and security but terrorism is expanding and threatening more than ever Afghanistan and the region," he told the opening session.

The two-day summit is being attended by the heads of state of six regional countries, including Afghan neighbours Iran and Pakistan.

The blast in Logar is the second major attack in Afghanistan in two days. Yesterday, 10 people were killed by a bicycle bomb which went off in a busy bazaar in Khad Abad district of the northern province of Kunduz.

New Nato raid in Libya kills 15 civilians

Nato admitted conducting an air strike in Sorman on Monday but insisted the target was of a military nature after Libya said 15 people, including three children, were killed in a Nato air strike on Monday.
The military alliance said in a statement that Nato warplanes carried out a precision air strike against a "high-level" command and control node in the Sorman area on Monday.

The fresh civilian deaths came just hours after Nato acknowledged that one of its missiles had gone astray early on Sunday and struck a residential neighbourhood of Tripoli.

A Nato official said the alliance was aware of regime allegations that 15 people, including three children, were killed in the air raid but had no way of verifying them. Another official said earlier that the alliance had not conducted any air strikes in Sorman.

Earlier, the government spokesman accused Nato of a "cowardly terrorist act which cannot be justified" as journalists were shown damaged buildings on the sprawling estate of a veteran comrade of Muammar Gaddafi west of the capital and nine corpses, as well as body parts including one of a child.

Journalists were taken on an escorted tour of the estate of Khuwildi Hemidi, who served on the Revolution Command Council which Kadhafi set up when he seized power in 1969.

Later the journalists were driven to the Sabratha hospital where a news correspondent saw nine corpses, including the bodies of two children. There were also body parts of other victims, including a child's head.

A second Libyan official charged that eight missiles had struck the estate at 4 am. He said most of the dead were members of Hemidi's family, including two of his grandchildren, and that the rest came from two other families living on the estate. Hemidi himself escaped unharmed, the official added.
Meanwhile, Nato admitted that a missile strike had killed nine cilvilians on Sunday. "Nato acknowledges civilian casualties in Tripoli strike," a statement said.

Gaddafi vows to fight to death and ‘beyond’

Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi said he did not fear death and defiantly vowed to fight "to the beyond" , as Nato insisted there would be no letup in its air war despite Italian calls for a cessation.

"We will resist and the battle will continue to the beyond, until you're wiped out. But we will not be finished," Gaddafi said in an audio message broadcast on Libyan television late on Wednesday.

"There's no longer any agreement after you killed our children and our grandchildren... You (the West) can move back," the strongman said in homage to his comrade Khuwildi Hemidi, several members of whose family were killed on Monday in Nato raids on his residence.

Gaddafi considering leaving capital Tripoli

Libyan leader Gaddafi is "seriously considering" leaving the capital Tripoli following a blistering series of Nato air raids, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing US officials.

US intelligence shows that the Libyan strongman "doesn't feel safe anymore" in the capital where he has ruled for over four decades, the Journal quoted a senior US national security official as saying.

However, officials told the Journal they did not see the move as imminent and did not believe Gaddafi would leave the country, a key demand of Libyan rebels who have been battling his forces in a weeks-old stalemate. Gaddafi is believed to have numerous safe houses and other facilities both within the capital and outside of it to which he might relocate.

The news comes as US President Barack Obama faces rising criticism from fellow Democrats and rival Republicans in Congress over his refusal to seek Congressional authorisation for the three-month-old military operation.

The Obama administration has said approval under the 1973 War Powers Resolution is not required because US participation in the NATO-led air war does not rise to the level of "hostilities," a logic rejected by critics.

A senior US commander meanwhile said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and Libya's African allies had not adequately planned for the aftermath of Gaddafi's possible fall.

"We, the international community, could be in post-conflict Libya tomorrow and there isn't a plan, there is not a good plan," the senior US commander in Africa, General Carter Ham, told the Journal.
He predicted that Gaddafi could fall quickly, and said there may be a need for substantial ground forces in the country to preserve order.

Gaddafi vows to resist NATO strikes

NATO acknowledged on Sunday that an air strike in Tripoli had killed several civilians.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has accused NATO of murder and said his regime has its "back to the wall" , three days after a NATO air strike on a house in Tripoli killed civilians.

"We will resist and the battle will continue to the beyond, until you're wiped out. But we will not be finished," Gaddafi said in an audio tape broadcast on state televisionon on Wednesday night

"You said, 'we hit our targets with precision', you murderers ... One day we will respond to you likewise and your homes will be legitimate targets."

Gaddafi called the NATO campaign a "crusade" against a Muslim country. He referred to the June 19 strike specifically, likely to prove he is still alive and monitoring events.

"We will stay, we will resist and we will not give in. Strike with your missiles, two, three, 10 or 100 years," he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there's no doubt that Gaddafi's men have "their backs against the wall."

Clinton said Libya's opposition is making very clear progress on the ground in Libya.

Civilian deaths have raised serious misgivings about the UN-authorised NATO intervention in Libya among the most ardent supporters of the ongoing air campaign.
Italy's foreign minister and the outgoing head of the Arab League have each called for a halt to hostilities in the war-torn North African country.

Franco Frattini told members of parliament on Wednesday that the suspension of military operations in Libya was "essential" for immediate humanitarian aid, while Amr Moussa, the Arab League chief, called for a political solution to the crisis.

France expressed a different view, saying the military operations against Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, should be "intensified".

"Any pause in operations would risk allowing him to play for time and to reorganise. In the end, it would be the civilian population that would suffer from the smallest sign of weakness on our behalf," Bernard Valero, a French foreign ministry spokesman, said.
'Strikes to continue'

On Wednesday night, NATO warplanes were believed to be bombing a government ammunition depot near the city of Zintan, according to Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from a vantage point dozens of kilometres from the front line.

Explosions could be heard every 30 to 40 seconds, he said.

"Everyone talks about stalemate in Libya, but actually quietly there's been some very steady progress here in the Nafousa Mountains in the western part of Libya," he said. "Here, the opposition has very slowly pressed forward, they've taken villages, they've taken towns ... it appears that NATO realises that."

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO chief, said on Wednesday that the alliance will continue its operations in Libya.

"NATO will continue this mission because if we stop, countless more civilians could lose their lives," Rasmussen said in a video statement on the NATO website.

Rasmussen also addressed charges that NATO caused civilian deaths in recent air raids.

"Since the start of this mission we have conducted over 5,000 strikes sorties, and as our record shows we have taken utmost care to minimise the risk of civilian casualties and we continue to do that every day and every hour," he said.

"I deeply regret any loss of life in this conflict."

NATO on Sunday acknowledged responsibility for an air strike in Tripoli that killed several civilians.

The 28-nation alliance also acknowledged striking a military target a day later in the Sorman area west of the capital. The Libyan government said the attack had killed 19 people.

Moussa's 'missgivings'
In an interview to Britain's Guardian newspaper published on Tuesday, Moussa said the time was ripe for a political solution to the Libyan crisis.
Moussa, who played a central role in securing Arab support for NATO air strikes, also voiced reservations about his support for the NATO bombing campaign after seeing civilian casualties.

"When I see children being killed, I must have misgivings. That's why I warned about the risk of civilian casualties," Moussa told the Guardian.

Moussa said the military campaign would not produce a breakthrough. "You can't have a decisive ending. Now is the time to do whatever we can to reach a political solution," he said.

"That has to start with a genuine ceasefire under international supervision. Until the ceasefire, Gaddafi would remain in office ... Then there would be a move to a transitional period … to reach an understanding about the future of Libya."

Asked whether that meant a halt to the NATO air raids, he said: "A ceasefire is a ceasefire."

Italy breaks ranks

Moussa's sentiment was shared by the Italian foreign minister, who called for urgent humanitarian aid to trapped residents in cities like Tripoli and Misurata. 

He said the people in those areas face a "dramatic" humanitarian situation and added that a suspension of hostilities would also avoid "consolidating a division of Libya" between east and west.
He said he hoped the European Council in Brussels on Thursday would highlight an end to the fighting in Libya as "a practical solution".

Frattini had warned earlier this week that NATO's accidental killing of civilians in an air strike was endangering the alliance's credibility in the eyes of the world.

"With regard to NATO, it is fair to ask for increasingly detailed information on results as well as precise guidelines on the dramatic errors involving civilians," he said.

"This is clearly not part of NATO's mission."

Libya is a former Italian colony and Silvio Berlusconi's government had enjoyed close ties with the government of Gaddafi.

Italy was initially cautious in its reaction to the crackdown by the Libyan leader but has since played a key role in the NATO-led military operation by offering the use of its air bases to conduct air raids.

NATO launched its air campaign in Libya to protect civilians from a brutal crackdown launched by Gaddafi's regime in response to an uprising against his four-decades long rule.

Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant almost ready: Russia

Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant is almost complete, with all work set to finish on schedule, the chief of Russia's state-owned nuclear energy company has said.

"We have an agreed schedule, all of the work is in the final stages... We've sent a large group of our specialists to Iran, they are now adjusting the systems," Rosatom Director Sergey Kirienko said.

Under a bilateral agreement, which has received approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Russia will initially operate the plant, supplying fuel and taking away the spent fuel for the next two or three years, but will eventually hand over full control to Iran.

Syria forces storm border town near Turkey

Syrian troops and gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stormed a town near the Turkish border Saturday, burning houses and arresting dozens, witnesses said, in a persistent military campaign to crush popular revolt.

The latest assault followed another Friday of protests, which have grown in size and scope over the last three months, despite Assad's violent clampdown on public dissent. Activists said security forces shot dead 19 protesters Friday.

"They came at 7 a.m. to Bdama. I counted nine tanks, 10 armored carriers, 20 jeeps and 10 buses. I saw shabbiha (pro-Assad gunmen) setting fire to two houses," said Saria Hammouda, a lawyer living in the border town in the Jisr al-Shughour region, where thousands of Syrians had fled to Turkey after the army clamped down on the area this month.

Bdama is one of the nerve centers providing food and supplies to several thousand other Syrians who have escaped the violence from frontier villages but chose to take shelter temporarily in fields on the Syrian side of the boundary.

"Bdama's residents don't dare take bread to the refugees and the refugees are fearful of arrests if they go into Bdama for food," Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters.

Another witness said government troops were also burning crops on nearby hillsides in an apparent scorched earth policy.

European powers initiated a detente with Assad before the unrest to try to draw the Syrian leader away from Iran and also stabilize Lebanon..

But they now say Damascus should face tougher sanctions over the violence against demonstrators seeking more political freedoms and an end to corruption and poverty.
Syrian rights groups say at least 1,300 civilians have been killed and 10,000 people detained since March. One group has said more than 300 soldiers and police have also been killed.

"SECURITY GRIP IS WEAKENING"S

Tens of thousands rallied across Syria Friday, defying Assad's repression and ignoring a pledge that his tycoon cousin Rami Makhlouf, a symbol of corruption among the elite, would renounce his business empire and channel his wealth to charity.

People rallied in the southern province of Deraa where the revolt began, in the Kurdish northeast, the province of Deir al-Zor near Iraq's Sunni heartland, the city of Hama north of Damascus, on the coast and in suburbs of the capital itself.

"The security grip is weakening because the protests are growing in numbers and spreading. More people are risking their lives to demonstrate. The Syrian people realize that this is an opportunity for liberty that comes once in hundreds of years," opposition figure Walid al-Bunni told Reuters from Damascus.

The Local Coordination Committees, a main activist group linked to protesters, said 10 demonstrators were killed on Friday in Homs, a merchant city of 1 million people in central Syria.

State television said a policeman was killed by gunmen.

One protester was also reported killed in the northern commercial hub of Aleppo, the first to die there in the unrest.

Thousands of people turned up to a funeral of a dead protester in Deir al-Zor, chanting anti-government slogans, Abdulrahman said.

The state news agency said nine people, including civilians and police, were killed in attacks by gunmen. Syria blames armed gangs and Islamists, backed by foreign powers, for the violence.

The Syrian government has barred most international journalists from the country, making it difficult to verify accounts from activists and officials.

Two towns on the main Damascus-Aleppo highway north of Homs were also encircled by troops and tanks, residents said, five days after the army retook Jisr al-Shughour, ending thousands fleeing across the border into Turkey.

Refugees from the northwestern region said troops and gunmen loyal to Assad known as "shabbiha" were pressing on with a scorched earthed campaign in the hill farm area by burning crops, ransacking houses and shooting randomly.

The International Federation for Human Rights and the U.S.-based Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies said in a statement that, according to local sources, Syrian forces had killed more than 130 people and arrested over 2,000 in Jisr al-Shughour and surrounding villages over the last few days.

The number of refugees who have crossed over into Turkey from Syria has reached 10,114, and another 10,000 were sheltering by the border just inside Syria, according to Turkish officials.

Journalists were given a brief tour of the Boynuyogun refugee camp in Hatay, where some 3,500 people were living in 600 tents.

One refugee described how security forces clamped down on anti-Assad demonstrations.
"We wrote anti-regime slogans on the walls. Then the government reacted by erasing the slogans and they arrested the guy who tore down Assad's picture," said a 26-year-old man from Jisr al-Shughour who said his name was Mohammed.

Another refugee named Adam said security forces arrested people in the middle of the night a couple of weeks after the demonstrations.

"They came to my house ... they started hitting me with the butts of their rifles on my back and head. They said "Is this the freedom you're asking for?'"
SECURITY COUNCIL DEADLOCK

Assad has responded to the unrest with a mix of military repression and political gestures aimed at placating protesters.

He has faced international condemnation over the bloodshed, and has seen the first signs of cracks in his security forces after a clash in Jisr al-Shughour earlier this month in which the government said 120 security personnel were killed.

There have been no mass desertions from the military, but the loyalty of Sunni Muslim conscripts might waver if the crackdown on mainly Sunni protesters continues.

Assad's family and many military commanders are members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. In a spillover of the unrest into Lebanon, Sunni and Alawite gunmen clashed in the northern city of Tripoli and four people were killed.

NATO airstrikes hit residential area in Tripoli

The Libyan government said that civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike that struck a residential neighborhood in Tripoli on Sunday, adding to charges that the alliance is hitting nonmilitary targets.

Journalists based in the Libyan capital were taken by government officials to a neighborhood where it says the strike occurred in the early hours of Sunday. They were shown a destroyed building as rescue efforts were underway.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the damage was caused by NATO rockets and bombs. He wasn't immediately able to provide the number of casualties, but said there were no military facilities anywhere near the damaged building.

"This is targeting civilian areas of Tripoli," he said. "We know that NATO is accelerating its operations against us."

Journalists taken to a hospital after seeing the damaged building were shown at least four people said to be killed in the strike, including two young children.

It was not possible to independently verify the government's account of what happened.
Officials increasingly have sought to highlight what they say are attacks on civilian targets by NATO warplanes by taking journalists to visit alleged bombing sites. Foreign journalists in Tripoli are not allowed to travel and report freely and are almost always shadowed by government minders.

On Friday, Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi accused NATO of a "new level of aggression" in recent days, and claimed that the military alliance intentionally targeted civilian buildings, including a hotel and a university. He has called on the United Nations to take action to stop NATO's daily bombing runs.

The most recent figures from Libya's health ministry show 856 civilians have been killed in NATO airstrikes since they began in March. The figure could not be independently verified, and previous government-announced tolls from individual strikes have proven to be exaggerated.

NATO, which has a mandate to protect Libyan civilians, has been ramping up the pressure on Gaddafi's regime as a four-month uprising devolved into a civil war. It rejects allegations it targets civilians.

"We are conducting operations with utmost care and precision to avoid civilian casualties. Civilian casualties figures mentioned by the Libyan regime are pure propaganda," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Saturday.

Libya unrest: Government claims talks with rebels

Libya's prime minister has said his government has been in talks with the rebels, despite denials from the other side.

Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi called for new negotiations between the government and rebel leaders to resolve the conflict. He also accused Nato of crimes against humanity in its attacks on Libya. Earlier, Libyan rebels said that 10 civilians had been killed and 40 wounded in a rocket attack by Col Gaddafi's forces on Misrata.

"Our doors are open to all and we are in contact with all the parties," Mr Mahmudi said, according to Agence France-Presse.

He said meetings had taken place in Egypt, France, Norway and Tunisia, and that he could "name the persons" who attended from the rebels' side.

'No negotiation' But Mahmoud Jibril, the head of international affairs in the rebel National Transitional Council, said earlier on Friday that there had been "no negotiation" between the council and the regime.

Speaking in Naples after meeting Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, he said that were negotiations to take place, the TNC would "announce it out of commitment to our friends all over the world".

He added: "We pursue every means possible, whether political, whether military, to liberate our country and establish democratic government based on a constitution and equal rights." The prime minister's comments came as Nato planes carried out further raids on the capital, Tripoli, attacks which Mr al-Mahmudi said constituted war crimes. He called for "an urgent meeting" of the United Nations to examine "these crimes committed by Nato against Libyan civilians". On Friday, Libyan government forces bombarded the western rebel-held city of Misrata and territory held by rebel fighters between Dafniya and Zlitan. 'They ruined it'.

These are the next towns on the road to Tripoli from Misrata, as the rebels continued trying to advance westwards following weeks of being besieged by Gaddafi forces. The rebels returned fire from the front line,

about 32km (20 miles) from Misrata, with their own artillery and rocket launchers. A rebel commander, Mohammed Ali, said they were aiming at tanks and munitions stores in Naima, near Zlitan.

"We had a strategy to finish everything today but some of the fighters think it's a game," he told the Reuters news agency. "They shot when they weren't supposed to shoot and they have ruined it." Nato military spokesman Wing Cdr Mike Bracken told reporters that there were "some positive signs that civilians are

unifying against the Gaddafi regime" in the area. What started as a peaceful uprising against Col Gaddafi's 41-year-rule four months ago has grown into a civil war, with the rebels now holding a third of the country in the east and pockets in the west, including Misrata. 

Tripoli remains firmly under the control of the government, despite Nato launching more daytime air strikes. Following fresh air raids on Friday, Libyan state TV broadcast an audio message from Col Gaddafi, in which he shouted: "We are in our country and we are determined to stay and defend it. We are staying, we are staying. Let them even use nuclear bombs."

Gaddafi defies Nato with Misrata attack

Rockets hit Misrata as infantry backed by artillery attack eastern approach to city, wrong-footing rebels.

Libyan mechanics weld weaponry onto a pickup truck at an industrial college turned workshop in the besieged city of Misrata.

Muammar Gaddafi's forces have defied Nato warnings , reportedly killing a woman and wounding two children in rocket strikes on Misrata and launching a big attack to the east of the city.

The rocket attack in Habara , between the port and city centre, was the first time artillery has inflicted casualties in Misrata since rebel troops pushed government forces out of the city on 12 May.

Infantry forces backed by artillery launched a surprise attack on Kararimat, the eastern end of the enclave. The Hikma hospital reported 11 dead and 41 wounded from the attack. Radio Misrata said the rebel frontline had held off the assaults, which continued into the late afternoon.

The rebels, who were expecting Gaddafi's forces to attack from the west, were wrong-footed by the assault.

"Gaddafi brought his troops around and attacked from the other side," said Adel Ibrahim of Radio Misrata. "Now they are hitting civilian areas. One woman is killed, her children are hurt."

The attacks represent an act of defiance from the Gaddafi regime, three days after Nato dropped thousands of leaflets over government lines featuring pictures of an Apache helicopter and warning of attacks if civilian areas were shelled.

Nato has been wrestling with the problem of how to respond to continued rocket strikes on the enclave, with British commanders reportedly saying that the Apaches are too vulnerable to risk attacking by day. No Apache strikes have been reported since Friday's attacks, but Nato bombers flew over Misrata earlier in the day, followed by 23 explosions to the west of the city.

Ibrahim echoed a common complaint heard across the city as the death toll mounts. "Where is Nato?' he said. "It seems they are on holiday."

We will kill new al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri just like Osama: US

Ayman al-Zawahiri 'lacks a peculiar charisma that Osama bin Laden had', says US officials.

US officials have said that new al-Qaeda Chief Ayman al-Zawahiri ‘lacks a peculiar charisma that Osama bin Laden had’, but warned that he would face the same fate as his predecessor.

Al-Qaeda named Egyptian born Ayman al-Zawahiri as the successor to bin Laden on Thursday. Calling the 59-year-old long-time number two as an "armchair general", the officials said that Zawahiri not only lacks combat experience, but is also a divisive figure who could divide al-Qaeda.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen warned Zawahiri to expect the same treatment like that of bin Laden, who was killed by US Special Forces in his Abbottabad hideout, Pakistan, on May 2. "As we did both seek to capture and kill – and succeed in killing – bin Laden, we certainly will do the same thing with Zawahiri," The Telegraph quoted Mullen, as saying.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned that the announcement should serve as a reminder of the continuing al-Qaeda threat. "First of all I think we should be mindful that this announcement by al-Qaeda reminds us that despite having suffered a huge loss... al-Qaeda seeks to perpetuate itself, seeks to find replacements for those who have been killed, and remains committed to the agenda that bin Laden put before them," he said.

"Bin Laden has been the leader of al-Qaeda essentially since its inception. In that particular context he had a peculiar charisma that I think Zawahiri does not have. I think he was much more operationally engaged than we have the sense Zawahiri has been," Gates added.

Rebels dismiss election offer from Gaddafi's son

Libya's Muammar Gaddafi is willing to hold elections and step aside if he lost, his son said, an offer quickly dismissed Thursday by rebels and the United States.

Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: "They (elections) could be held within three months. At the maximum by the end of the year, and the guarantee of transparency could be the presence of international observers."

He said his father would be ready to step aside if he lost the election, though he would not go into exile.

Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi later appeared to put the potential concession in question, telling reporters: "I would like to correct (that) and say that the leader of the revolution is not concerned by any referendum."

He added that there was no reason for the Libyan leader to step down in any case, because he had not held any formal political or administrative post since 1977.

A visiting Russian envoy said Al-Mahmoudi had told him Gaddafi would not leave power.

Gaddafi's officials have in the past said an eventual election could be part of a deal to end the crisis, while asserting that the country would rally behind Gaddafi in any vote. Rebels, who rose up four months ago, say they will not trust a political process arranged with Gaddafi still in power.

The rebel leadership in the eastern stronghold of Benghazi dismissed Gaddafi's son's election offer as "wasting our time."

"Saif al-Islam is not in a position to offer elections. Libya will have free elections and democracy but the Gaddafi family has no role to play in this process," Jalal el-Gallal, a rebel spokesman, told Reuters.

"These people are criminals, they have utter disregard for human life. They have to withdraw troops from our cities, allow humanitarian aid to reach people, they will face justice for their crimes. Only then we can talk about holding elections."

A U.S. State Department spokesperson also dismissed the election proposal, saying it was "a little late for that."

The United States, Britain and France, which are leading Western air strikes on Gaddafi's forces, have said they will not stop bombing until Gaddafi leaves power.

The election proposal -- which follows a series of moves the Libyan leader's officials portray as concessions but Western powers dismiss as ploys -- comes at a time when frustration is mounting in some NATO states at slow military progress.

Four months into the conflict, rebel advances toward Tripoli have been slow, while weeks of NATO air strikes pounding Gaddafi's compound and other targets have failed to end his 41-year-old rule over the oil-producing country.

The Russian envoy, Mikhail Margelov, said after talks with Mahmoudi that the issue of Gaddafi's departure from power was a "red line" the Libyan leadership was not willing to cross. He said his task was to soften that position through negotiation.

"I can say that today I am a cautious optimist regarding the resolution of the Libyan crisis," he said.

Late last month Moscow joined the West in calling for Gaddafi to step down, a major diplomatic setback for the leader.

ALLIANCE STRAINS

The NATO intervention in Libya has been going on for longer than many of its backers anticipated, and the strains are beginning to show within the alliance.

NATO officials have said they may not have the resources for a sustained campaign, and Republicans in the U.S. Congress have questioned the legal grounds for continued U.S. involvement.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said lawmakers had options for dealing with the conflict, including "the power of the purse" -- an implicit threat to cut off funding.

Mahmoudi appeared to seize on Washington's disunity.

"We are following the discussion at congress, we are assessing the matter and seeing which way they are going. We are still hoping for a better relationship with the United States based on mutual respect," he said.

Libya-watchers say Gaddafi is using his political skills, honed during decades when he was able to survive despite being an international pariah, to try to exploit divisions within the fragile Western alliance ranged against him.

Adding to the pressure on NATO, Russia and China issued a joint declaration underlining their concerns about the air strikes. The declaration was signed in Moscow by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

"To avoid further escalation of the violence it is necessary to provide for the meticulous adherence by all sides involved" to U.N. resolutions on Libya, the document said.

Russia and China both decided in March not to use their veto power to block air strikes on Libya, but have said NATO risks going beyond the U.N.-authorized mandate to protect civilians.

CAFE BOMBING

Libyan officials took foreign reporters, to a cafe in the center of Tripoli which they said had been destroyed in a NATO air strike overnight.

"There is no justification for this attack," Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told reporters, standing near the cafe. The building was a wreck of twisted metal and debris, and the dust from pulverized concrete coated the street.

Asked about the NATO bombing campaign, Kaim said: "It is not working and it will not work."

The cafe is near the Libyan parliament building and other government buildings, in an area which has been bombed several times. A Tripoli resident, who did not want to be identified, said the cafe was frequented by government officials.

NATO began air strikes on Tripoli after Gaddafi's troops used force to put down a rebellion against his rule in February.

The Libyan leader has described the rebels as "rats" and says NATO's campaign is an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing Libya's oil.

Rebel forces are now fighting Gaddafi's troops on three fronts: in the east of the country around the oil town of Brega, on the road to Tripoli from the rebel-held port of Misrata, and in the Western Mountains southwest of Tripoli.

They have made slow but important gains in the past few weeks in the mountains and near Misrata, bringing the front closer to Tripoli from the east and southwest.

French Armed Forces spokesman Thierry Burkhard told reporters Thursday the rebels were making advances "essentially in the West and in a belt they are now developing around the Tripoli region."

Gaddafi has also been weakened by defections of senior officials, who include the foreign minister, the country's top energy official, and dozens of military officers.

Tunisia's state news agency reported that a boat had docked in southern Tunisia Wednesday carrying 19 Libyan servicemen, including officers, who had fled the violence in their country.

U.S. dismisses election proposal by Gaddafi son

The United States on Thursday dismissed an election proposal by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son.

"I think it's a little late for that," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily briefing.

"It's a little late for any proposals by Gaddafi and his circle for democratic change. It's time for him to go," saying the only proposal the United States would entertain from Gaddafi would be his "stepping down from power."

Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera the long-time Libyan leader was willing to hold elections and step aside if he lost.

However, Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi later appeared to question the potential concession, telling reporters: "I would like to correct (that) and say that the leader of the revolution is not concerned by any referendum."

After all this bloodshed, there is no going back for Syria

Most Syrians did not want regime change until the state opened fire. Now they will not settle for less than democracy.

Syrian children hold a vigil for 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib, who activists say was tortured and killed by Syrian security forces. Photograph: Jamal Saidi/Reuters

Last January Syria seemed to belong with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states as the least likely candidates for revolution. If President Bashar al-Assad had run in a real election, he may well have won. It's difficult to remember today that most Syrians did credit, if grudgingly, the regime with ensuring security and prosecuting a vaguely nationalist foreign policy. It's that desire for security, the overwhelming fear of Iraq-style chaos, that keeps a section of Syrian society loyal to the regime even now.

To start with, although they were inspired by Tunisia and Egypt, most protesters didn't aim for regime change. The first demonstration, in the commercial heart of Damascus, was a response to police brutality. That ended peacefully, but when Deraa protested over the arrest of schoolchildren the regime spilt blood. Outraged, communities all over the country took to the streets and met greater violence, swelling the crowds further. A vicious circle began. All the intelligence and nationalist pretensions peeled away from the government to reveal a dark and thuggish core.

Worse still, the president spoke of reforms, of ending the state of emergency and abolishing the hated state security courts. Even as he spoke the slaughter intensified. There was no surer way of destroying his credibility. The torrent of horror stories – children tortured to death, women shot, residential areas shelled – destroyed the regime's legitimacy.

The state's extraordinary stupidity suggests either panic or dissension in the inner circle, of which Bashar may only be the figurehead. Syrians debate which arrangement of Assads and Makhloufs (Bashar's mother's family) composes the actual power structure. In any case, Syria's leaders can count on support from the Republican Guard and the army's upper echelons. Yet lower- and middle-ranking defections will increase as the regime seeks to crush the provinces.

So what next? There is a roadmap to a happy ending. The grassroots local co-ordination committees call for the president's immediate resignation, and a joint civilian and military council to oversee a six-month transition to a pluralist democracy. "The new Syria will be a republic and a civil state that belongs to all Syrians," reads the LCC statement, "and not to an individual, family or party. It will not be inherited from fathers to sons. All Syrians will be equal in rights and duties without discrimination."

If the transition began today it could work, but the chances of the regime bowing out gracefully are close to zero. This means the chaos will expand.

So far, despite Syria's often difficult history and the regime's divide-and-rule tactics, sectarian war appears unlikely. When 100,000 people marched in Hama last Friday they chanted: "From Qardaha to Sanamein, the Syrians are one people." Qardaha is the home town of the Assads, in Alawi country. Sanamein is a poor Sunni village near Deraa where many have been killed. And the chant was raised in Hama, the city taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982, and the site of a massacre when the regime took the city back. Such slogans of national unity show a new level of maturity and intelligence among Syrians, but these qualities will be challenged as the slaughter continues.

Western intervention is improbable – Nato is overstretched and a Syrian adventure requires a commitment to potential regional war – and wouldn't be welcomed by Syrians anyway. In Iraq intervention triggered civil war.

Turkish intervention is another matter. Celebrating the third-term re-election of his AK party on Sunday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, greeted "those who are focused on Turkey with great excitement … all capitals of neighbouring countries". In light of the Arab awakening, Turkey's "zero problems with neighbours" policy is about to be overturned. On Tuesday Erdogan again told Assad to stop the repression and implement reforms. The day before he'd expressed willingness to work with Britain towards a UN resolution condemning Syria. But it's facts on the ground that will count. If many more refugees join the 8,500 who have fled to Turkey, Erdogan may order a limited occupation of Syrian territory to establish a "safe haven". That – the regime's inability to hold a section of the homeland – may prove a tipping point. It could also offer Syria its Benghazi, a base for organised resistance.

If the first enemy of Syrian democrats is the Syrian regime, and the second the spectre of sectarian violence, the third is represented by external forces seeking to take advantage of events. The Syrian economy may not be far from collapse. Any future government may be particularly easy to bribe in future years.

Saudi Arabia is funnelling cash to Egypt's ruling military council. It remains to be seen what the catch is. Saudi money could play an important role in the new Syria too, and so could a motley crew of exiles – the president's uncle Rifaat al-Assad, organiser of the 1982 Hama massacre, and ex-regime figure Abdul-Halim Khaddam, as well as the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, which has an unpleasant sectarian history and agenda. There's also a contingent of US-based liberals, some of whom play into neoconservative hands.

It's easy to envisage a Saudi deal with Syrian Sunni officers and the Muslim Brotherhood, and a partially democratic, "moderate Islamist" regime presiding over tame social programmes, untrammelled economic liberalisation, and passivity over the occupied Golan Heights. Israel and the west may tacitly support such an outcome, because a properly democratic Syria alongside a properly democratic Egypt would constitute the greatest imaginable challenge to Israel's subjugation of the Palestinians.

It's unlikely that Syrians, after sacrificing so much blood, would want to settle for such a deal.

Militants seize parts of a Yemeni city

Security officials say Islamic militants have seized parts of a southern city in Yemen in a surprise dawn attack.
The officials say the militants who attacked the city of Houta on Wednesday are believed to include members of al-Qaeda. They are now in control of several neighborhoods in the city, which is the provincial capital of Lahj province. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media. Islamic militants, taking advantage of the four month political turmoil gripping Yemen, attacked and seized two other southern cities in late May. Massive anti-regime protests have swept much of the country and rival forces are squaring up to each other in the capital Sanaa after days of fierce fighting earlier this month.

Yemen's Opposition Meets With Government Officials

Leaders of the political opposition met on Monday with Yemen's vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, and two other senior governing party officials here in the first known meeting between the two sides since the beginning of the year.

The United States ambassador, Gerald Feierstein, had pressed both sides to meet after the attack on the presidential palace on June 3. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was seriously wounded in the attack, as were at

least five other senior officials of the governing party. The following day, Mr. Saleh and about a dozen senior political allies were transferred to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. In accordance with Yemen's Constitution, Mr. Hadi became acting president in Mr. Saleh's absence.

Both sides described the meeting as a first step toward reconciliation. The deep distrust between the parties has only grown worse since the popular uprising calling for Mr. Saleh's ouster began in January; bickering

between the two sides has been a factor in preventing a resolution to the political stalemate in Yemen, which has left the country's economy on the verge of collapse. The meeting did not necessarily indicate movement on a transition of power, or that a plan to end the crisis, which was brokered by a bloc of Persian Gulf nations and supported by Western governments, was going to be resuscitated. Meanwhile, questions continue to be raised about Mr. Saleh's health. 

Diplomats in Sana, the capital, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he is being treated, said his condition had grown worse. But a Saudi doctor was quoted by a Yemeni news agency as saying that the president was improving. Senior Yemeni officials are being kept away from him to avoid spreading the word, including at least one minister who flew to Riyadh to talk to Mr. Saleh, according to a Yemeni official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue.

Hostility between the governing party and a coalition of opposition parties known as the J.M.P. is "why he have this crisis," said ohammed Tayeb, a leading official in the governing party.

One of the coalition's leaders, Mohammed Abdel-Malik al-Mutawakil, said that the coalition "now wants to establish a link between them and us." For months, the opposition coalition had refused to meet directly with the governing party, but Mr. Saleh's departure has evidently caused a change in its stance.

After the meeting, Mr. Mutawakil said that when the opposition tried to discuss a transfer of power with Mr. Hadi, the vice president, "he wanted to avoid being frank in that issue." Mr. Tayeb said that a discussion

about a transition of power was not the purpose of the meeting. The meeting was held at Mr. Hadi's home in

Sana. The vice president has not moved into the presidential palace in Mr. Saleh's absence.

Instead, Mr. Saleh's son Ahmed Ali Saleh has moved into the palace, creating serious doubts about whether the president's elatives who hold leading positions in the armed forces have recognized Mr. Hadi's leadership or would be willing to agree to a ransfer of power from Mr. Saleh, who has been president for 33 years.

Yemen's Opposition Meets With Government Officials

Leaders of the political opposition met on Monday with Yemen's vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, and two other senior governing party officials here in the first known meeting between the two sides since the beginning of the year. 

The United States ambassador, Gerald Feierstein, had pressed both sides to meet after the attack on the presidential palace on June 3. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was seriously wounded in the attack, as were at least five other senior officials of the governing party. The following day, Mr. Saleh and about a dozen senior political allies were transferred to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. In accordance with Yemen's Constitution, Mr. Hadi became acting president in Mr. Saleh's absence. Both sides described the meeting as a first step toward reconciliation. 

The deep distrust between the parties has only grown worse since the popular uprising calling for Mr. Saleh's ouster began in January; bickering between the two sides has been a factor in preventing a resolution to the political stalemate in Yemen, which has left the country's economy on the verge of collapse. The meeting did not necessarily indicate movement on a transition of power, or that a plan to end the crisis, which was brokered by  bloc of Persian Gulf nations and supported by Western governments, was going to be esuscitated. Meanwhile, questions continue  to be raised about Mr. Saleh's health. Diplomats in Sana, the capital, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he is being treated, said his condition had grown worse. But a Saudi octor was quoted by a Yemeni news agency as saying that the president was improving.

Senior Yemeni officials are being kept away from him to avoid spreading the word, including at least one minister who flew to iyadh to talk to Mr. Saleh, according to a Yemeni official who spoke on condition of

anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue. 

Hostility between the governing party and a coalition of opposition parties known as the J.M.P. is "why he have this crisis," said Mohammed Tayeb, a leading official in the governing party.

One of the coalition's leaders, Mohammed Abdel-Malik al-Mutawakil, said that the coalition "now wants to establish a link between them and us." For months, the opposition coalition had refused to meet directly with the governing party, but Mr. Saleh's departure has evidently caused a change in its stance.

After the meeting, Mr. Mutawakil said that when the opposition tried to discuss a transfer of power with Mr. Hadi, the vice president, "he wanted to avoid being frank in that issue." Mr. Tayeb said that a discussion about a transition of power was not the purpose of the meeting. The meeting was held at Mr. Hadi's home in

Sana. The vice president has not moved into the presidential palace in Mr. Saleh's absence. Instead, Mr. Saleh's son Ahmed Ali Saleh has moved into the palace, creating serious doubts about whether the president's relatives who hold leading positions in the armed forces have recognized Mr. Hadi's leadership or would be willing to agree to a transfer of power from Mr. Saleh, who has been president for 33 years.

Yemen's Opposition Meets With Government Officials

Leaders of the political opposition met on Monday with Yemen's vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour al-Hadi, and two other senior governing party officials here in the first known meeting between the two sides since the beginning of the year.

The United States ambassador, Gerald Feierstein, had pressed both sides to meet after the attack on the presidential palace on June 3. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was seriously wounded in the attack, as were at least five other senior officials of the governing party. The following day, Mr. Saleh and about a dozen senior political allies were transferred to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. In accordance with Yemen's Constitution, Mr. Hadi became acting president in Mr. Saleh's absence. 

Both sides described the meeting as a first step toward reconciliation. The deep distrust between the parties has only grown worse since the popular uprising calling for Mr. Saleh's ouster began in January; bickering between the two sides has been a factor in preventing a resolution to the political stalemate in Yemen, which has left the country's economy on the verge of collapse. 

The meeting did not necessarily indicate movement on a transition of power, or that a plan to end the crisis, which was brokered by  bloc of Persian Gulf nations and supported  by Western governments, was going to be resuscitated. Meanwhile, questions continue to be raised about Mr. Saleh's health. 

Diplomats in Sana, the capital, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he is being treated, said his condition had grown worse. But a Saudi doctor was quoted by a Yemeni news agency as saying that the president was improving.

Senior Yemeni officials are being kept away from him to avoid spreading the word, including at least one minister who flew to Riyadh to talk to Mr. Saleh, according to a Yemeni official who spoke on condition of

anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue.

Hostility between the governing party and a coalition of opposition parties known as the J.M.P. is "why he have this crisis," said Mohammed Tayeb, a leading official in the governing party.

One of the coalition's leaders, Mohammed Abdel-Malik al-Mutawakil, said that the coalition "now wants to establish a link between them and us." For months, the opposition coalition had refused to meet directly with the governing party, but Mr. Saleh's departure has evidently caused a change in its stance.

After the meeting, Mr. Mutawakil said that when the opposition tried to discuss a transfer of power with Mr. Hadi, the vice president, "he wanted to avoid being frank in that issue." Mr. Tayeb said that a discussion

about a transition of power was not the purpose of the meeting. 

The meeting was held at Mr. Hadi's home in Sana. The vice president has not moved into the presidential palace in Mr. Saleh's absence. Instead, Mr. Saleh's son Ahmed Ali Saleh has moved into the palace, creating serious doubts about whether the president's relatives who hold leading positions in the armed forces have recognized Mr. Hadi's leadership or would be willing to agree to a transfer of power from Mr. Saleh, who has been president for 33 years. 

Libya 'repulses rebels' in Zawiya

The Libyan government says it has repulsed a fresh attempt by rebels to take the western town of Zawiya.

Rebels said there had been heavy fighting in the centre but journalists taken to the town said it appeared calm and under government control.

In March government forces retook the town, 30km (18 miles) west of Tripoli, after two weeks of heavy fighting. Separately the BBC has learned that the rebels are smuggling weapons through Tunisia to fight Col Muammar Gaddafi. Brega attack Reporters taken to Zawiya by government officials said the green national flag was flying in the central square. Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said an attack by rebel fighters had been driven off.

"The wishful reporting of some journalists that the rebels are gaining more power and more control of some areas is not correct," he said. Mr Ibrahim said there was "no serious fighting" in the town. 

"They were defeated after a few hours of scattered skirmishes with the army," he said, adding that about 100 rebels were under siege just outside the town. Rebel spokesman M'hamed Ezzawi told Reuters there had been heavy fighting. "The brigades are using heavy weapons. They are better equipped than the revolutionaries. We have no statistics so far as to the number of martyrs but there are at least seven wounded among the revolutionaries."

Other reports put the rebel losses far higher. Control of Zawiya would allow the rebels to cut a key supply route to the Tunisian border. Rebel commander Col Hamid al-Hasi told Associated Press the attack was part of a coordinated offensive.

"Over the past three days, we set fire under the feet of Gaddafi forces everywhere," he said, adding, "we don't move unless we have very clear instructions from Nato." Nato is enforcing a no-fly zone to protect civilians under a UN resolution and is continuing to strike Libyan government military targets from the air.

The BBC's Wyre Davies in Tripoli says that with clashes now breaking out on a number of fronts, government troops may begin to find themselves overstretched, especially if they have lost much of their heavy weaponry and tanks in 10 weeks of sustained Nato bombing. 

Clashes have also continued around the rebel-held city of Misrata and government- controlled Brega further east. Four rebels were reported killed and dozens wounded in an attack on Brega on Sunday. Rebel fighter Haithan Elgwei told Reuters: "We attacked them first but they attacked us back. We tried to get to Brega but that was difficult."

The government-controlled city of Sabha in the south has also shown signs of anti- Gaddafi protests, reports say. Meanwhile, the BBC's Pascale Harter at the Tunisian-Libyan border says Libyan smugglers have been carrying AK47s and grenade launchers across the border to aid rebels.

Members of the Libyan diaspora are funding the purchase of small arms, said one Libyan smuggler, adding that many Tunisians were sympathetic to the rebel cause.

Al Qaeda operative key to 1998 U.S. embassy bombings killed in Somalia

The death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, mastermind of the deadly Kenya and Tanzania embassy attacks, is said to be a major disruption of Al Qaeda's efforts in the Horn of Africa.

Al Qaeda's longest-serving and most senior operative in East Africa has been confirmed dead in Somalia, adding to the leadership vacuum in the global terror organization since the killing of Osama bin Laden last month.

The death in Mogadishu of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the mastermind of the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, is a major disruption of Al Qaeda's efforts to expand its hold on havens in the Horn of Africa, U.S. officials and counter-terrorism experts said Saturday.

No leader of Al Qaeda has emerged since Navy SEALs shot and killed the world's most-wanted terrorist. Ayman Zawahiri, long reputed to be Bin Laden's chief deputy, released a video last week condemning Bin Laden's slaying, but he did not make a clear announcement about taking control of the group.

"It's been a bad spring for Al Qaeda," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and currently a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy, a Washington-based think tank.

Senior members of the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan, were quick to trumpet the killing of one of Al Qaeda's most important — if lesser-known — operatives in what seemed to be an attempt to reclaim some of the public accolades the White House received in the days after the Bin Laden killing.

President Obama's approval ratings softened in recent weeks on economic news, down from the highs after the death of Bin Laden, polls have shown.

Mohammed, an East African by birth, was crucial in bringing such groups as the extremist Shabab in Somalia into the Al Qaeda fold, as well as attracting militant movements from other parts of Africa.

He also was a key link between militants in Africa and Al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, immediately across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia.

In recent weeks, violent protests in Yemen have continued to weaken the hold of the U.S.-allied government there. In May, local Islamic militants captured the southern port of Zinjibar.

U.S. intelligence officials are concerned that the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen will be able to operate more freely as the government loses control of more of the country.

In early May, U.S. forces in Yemen fired a missile from a drone aircraft targeting one of the Al Qaeda affiliate's most influential leaders, American-born Anwar Awlaki. He has been linked to active plots against the United States, including mail-bomb packages targeting cargo planes heading to the U.S. in October and the disrupted plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009.

Somali security forces did not immediately identify Mohammed when he was killed during a shootout Tuesday at a checkpoint northwest of Mogadishu. His identity was not confirmed until Saturday.

A Kenyan national, Mohammed had expert computer skills and a preference for baseball caps, according to a State Department report.

Counter-terrorism chief Brennan said in a statement Saturday that Mohammed's death was a "huge setback" for Al Qaeda.

"It is a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents," Clinton said in a statement released during a visit to Tanzania on Saturday.

The 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured more than 5,000 people.

The State Department had offered a $5-million reward for information leading to Mohammed.

White House officials praised the Somali transitional government's security forces for killing Mohammed. The weak, United Nations-backed administration is trying to bring stability to a country that hasn't been run by a central government since 1991.

A suicide bomber killed the Somali interior minister last week. Shabab claimed responsibility for that attack.

Shabab has been at the forefront of radicalizing and recruiting first- and second-generation Somali Americans to join the fight against the Somali government.

Over the last 10 years, Al Qaeda has placed "great emphasis" on expanding its operations into ungoverned regions of East Africa, said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.

"Mohammed found ways to take those [militant groups] with more nationalist regional aims and pull them into the broader global jihad," Cilluffo said.

In East Africa, Al Qaeda will have trouble finding a leader with Mohammed's standing and savvy, said Rick Nelson, a counter-terrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

"He will be replaced, but not by another individual with his type of experience and his competence," Nelson said.

There is no indication that information taken from the Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, led to the shootout in Somalia that killed Mohammed.

"It's not a bad thing to be lucky every once in a while," said Nelson.

Lastnight World

4,300 flee Syria crackdown: Turkey

Foreign Ministry deputy undersecretary of Turkey, Halit Cevik said on Saturday 4,300 Syrians, from the northern town of Jisr al-Shoughour, have fled to Turkey to escape a crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad, fearing revenge from security forces. Activists and witnesses said that thousands more are sheltering near the border.

Eight teens jailed for rape, robbery

HANOI: A court in Vietnam’s capital has sentenced 8 teenagers to up to 30 years in jail for luring women into hotel rooms and then gang raping and robbing them. Tuoi Tre newspaper said that a 15-year-old girl was sentenced to 12 years, while her 19-year-old boyfriend was given 30 years. Six other boys were given from four years to 30 years on the same charges.

Twin blasts in Peshawar of Pakistan kill 35, injure over 100

 

People transfer an injured person to a hospital in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, June 12, 2011. (Xinhua/Saeed Ahmad)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 12 (Xinhua) -- A twin bomb attack at a supermarket in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar late Saturday night has so far claimed 35 lives and injured over 100 others, said local officials on Sunday.

Rescue team members and hospital sources said that the death toll could further rise as there could be still some people trapped in the debris of the collapsed buildings following the blasts and many of the injured admitted to the local Lady Reading hospital were still in critical conditions.

The attack came at about 23:50 p.m. local time Saturday when a first bomb, which was relatively small in intensity, went off at the Khyber market in the downtown area of Peshawar, leaving three people injured.

As the rescue team rushed to the blast site, a 17-year-old suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle laden with an estimated 10 kg of explosives into the crowds of the people gathering at the site, killing many people right on the spot.

Over 20 shops near the blast site were destroyed. A two-storied hotel collapsed following the huge blast and many people inside the hotel were buried under the debris.

Some local media office buildings near the blast site were also damaged. At least one journalist was killed and three other media personnel were injured in the explosion.

The blast also triggered off a big fire, which burned to death at least three people.

During the search operation following the blasts, police have arrested three suspects and the bomb disposal squad has found the head of the suicide bomber on the spot.

Shortly after the twin blasts, Pakistan Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Both Pakistani president and prime minister have strongly condemned the terrorist attack.

Saturday night's twin bomb attack in Peshawar is the most serious of its kind in Pakistan since this month. Following the killing of the al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden by the U.S. special task forces in Pakistan on May 2, both al-Qaida and Pakistan Taliban have vowed to avenge the death of bin Laden.

Since then Pakistan Taliban have launched a serious of terrorist attacks in the country, including a twin suicide bomb attack at a training center of armed border police forces in Charsadda in northwest Pakistan on May 13, which killed 98 people and injured more than 140 others.

On May 20, a bomb attack was reported in Peshawar. The target was the diplomats of the U.S. consulate in the city. During the attack two U.S. diplomats were injured and several others were killed.

Two days later, on late night of May 22, Pakistan Taliban launched a surprise attack at a naval air base in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, which killed 13 security personnel, destroyed two U.S.-made P3C Orion surveillance planes and one helicopter.

On May 26, 36 people were killed and over 50 others injured in a suicide blast in Pakistan's northwest city of Hangu. Most of the killed and injured were police.

Local watchers believe more bigger terrorist attacks could follow in the country in the near future.

A security official inspects the blast site in Peshawar, northwest Pakistan, June 11, 011.

Twin bomb blasts kill 15 in Peshawar in Pakistan: Police

At least 15 persons were killed and 60 others wounded when two blasts went off in a crowded market here in northwest Pakistan on Saturday night, officials said.

The explosions occurred at Khyber Super Market in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that has repeatedly been targeted by militants over the past few years.

Officials at the Lady Reading Hospital said they had received nine bodies and 45 wounded. The condition of nine of the injured was described as serious.
Doctors made an emergency appeal for people to donate blood.

Witnesses said the second blast was more powerful and caused most of the casualties. The explosions occurred within minutes of each other at about midnight.
No group claimed responsibility for the blasts. The nature of the explosions could not immediately be ascertained.

The blasts triggered a blaze that was extinguished by fire fighters. Rescue efforts were hampered by a power cut in the area. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.

The market was crowded at the time of the blasts as it has several popular eateries and hotels.
Footage on television showed debris and bloodstained clothes lying at the site of the blasts.

An electricity transformer burst into flames and the fire engulfed nearby buildings. The blasts blew out the windows of nearby residential buildings.

Afghanistan: Fifteen dead in Kandahar blast

Fifteen people, including children, died when their vehicle was blown up in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the Interior Ministry says.

The attack took place in Arghandab district, an unstable area with a strong Taliban presence.

The ministry said another woman was injured in the attack.

This is the latest of several deadly attacks. The UN says May was the worst month for civilian casualties in Afghanistan since 2007.

US condemns 'brutality and violence' in Syria

The US has strongly condemned Syria's "outrageous use of violence" against anti-government protesters.

The White House said the government was leading Syria down a "dangerous path" and called for "an immediate end to the brutality and violence".

Activists say at least 32 people were killed in fresh clashes on Friday.

The violence came as government forces moved into the town of Jisr al-Shughour, where it said 120 security personnel had earlier been killed.

Hundreds of civilians have fled north into Turkey to escape the assault.

Assad 'unavailable'

In a statement, White House spokesman Jay Carney repeated calls for the Syrian security forces to exercise restraint.

"The Syrian government is leading Syria on a dangerous path," he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, described the use of military force as "unacceptable".

A spokesman for Mr Ban said he was "keen to speak to" Syria's president, but that Bashar al-Assad had repeatedly been "unavailable" in recent days.

Syria has prevented foreign journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the country, making it difficult to independently verify reports from there

In the most serious of Friday's incidents, anti-government activists said about 15 people had died in the northern province of Idlib.

They said most of the deaths were in Maarat al-Numan, where tanks and helicopters are said to have fired on protesters who had taken to the streets after prayers.

State TV and opposition figures said police stations in the town had been attacked by protesters.

Correspondents say it is the first reported use of air power to quell protests in Syria's three-month uprising.

'Mutiny'

Both state media and activists on the ground also reported troops and tanks advancing on Jisr al-Shughour.

Resident of Jisr al-Shughour have been fleeing to camps in Turkey

Most residents are believed to have abandoned the town.

The government blamed "armed groups" for the deaths of 120 security personnel in Jisr al-Shughour earlier this week, but some reports said the troops were shot after a mutiny.

Syrian TV said troops had arrived at the gates of the town after securing nearby villages, and that they had killed or captured a number of armed men.

Activists said they had blasted the town with tank fire, but the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says there is little indication as to how much resistance the troops are facing in an area whose population has largely fled.

Witnesses said troops had been bulldozing homes and torching crops and fields.

"They said they even killed animals," one man who had fled Jisr al-Shughour told AP news agency.

"The people have no weapons, they can't defend themselves. The only thing they can do is escape."

The Syrian government says local people requested military intervention to restore order.

'Slaughtered like lambs'

There were reports of large demonstrations against President Assad in many parts of Syria after prayers on Friday.

Security forces are reported to have opened fire in some areas - activists said there were deaths in the coastal town of Latakia, in Deraa in the south, and in a suburb of Damascus.

Friday protests have become a regular event since March, but government efforts to quash them have escalated in recent weeks.

Human rights groups say more than 1,300 people have died in the crackdown, mostly unarmed civilians. The government denies this and says about 500 security forces have died.

More than 3,000 Syrians - mostly women and children - have crossed the border into Turkey to escape the violence, many of them from Jisr al-Shughour. An unknown number of people are thought to have fled to other locations within Syria.

"People were not going to sit and be slaughtered like lambs," one refugee in Turkey told Reuters news agency.

Some of those arriving at the temporary camps have serious gunshot injuries - including a Syrian Red Crescent worker who said he was shot in the back as he tried to help the injured in Jisr al-Shughour.

With the unrest showing no sign of abating, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has set up a new camp in Turkey capable of housing up to 5,000 people.