SANAA (Reuters) - Talks to end a standoff over Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule have stopped without a plan to resume, opposition figures said on Sunday, as clashes erupted between the army and militants in the south.
Saleh, who has been alternately conciliatory and defiant, vowed there would be no more concessions to the opposition, who are demanding he step down after 32 years of authoritarian power in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.
But in a sign that the political back-and-forth on a transfer of power may not be completely dead, the ruling party's governing committee recommended forming a new government to draft a new constitution on the basis of a parliamentary system.
A spokesman for Yemen's main opposition coalition also said the talks had been halted, a development that if it continues would likely raise fears that violence between rival military units could replace the political process.
There was no immediate comment from the government.
Saleh has said he was prepared for a dignified departure but that opposition parties were hijacking the protests to demand he quit without organising a democratic handover.
"I could leave power ... even in a few hours, on condition of maintaining respect and prestige," Saleh told Al Arabiya television. "I have to take the country to safe shores ... I'm holding on to power in order to hand it over peaceably."
But he has seemed to suggest he would stay at least for the short term, sprinkling the interview with warnings that Yemen would slide into civil war and fragment along regional and tribal lines if he left power immediately.
Militants clashed with the Yemeni army in a southern town, feeding Western and Saudi fears the country could slide into chaos that would benefit a resurgent Yemen-based regional arm of al Qaeda if Saleh is forced out.
One soldier was killed on Sunday and jets flew over the town. But residents said militants appeared to have taken control and the army was withdrawing to Abyan's provincial capital, Zinjibar, where witnesses said security measures had been tightened after militants fired rockets at state buildings.
Analysis: "Whether or not President Saleh is using the potential for a widespread armed struggle to delay his stepping down, he is spot-on with his statements of concern. As we have outlined in our past posts, Yemen is a powder keg of militant and separatist groups and, for better or worse, Saleh has been the only person in Yemen's recent history able to stabilize the country. A peaceful and orderly transition would be best for Yemen and the international community."
Read the Full Article here: http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE72H2YX20110327?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Syria to Lift Emergency Law
DAMASCUS, Syria (Al Arabiya News) - The decision to lift emergency rule in Syria, which has been in place since 1963, has "already been made," a presidential adviser said Sunday as dissent against government developed into a spiral of violence that left scores of people dead since March 15.
"The decision to lift the emergency law has already been made. But I do not know about the time frame," Buthaina Shaaban told AFP in an interview at her office.
"The decision to lift the emergency law has already been made. But I do not know about the time frame," Buthaina Shaaban told AFP in an interview at her office.
Syria's emergency law, put in place when the ruling Baath party rose to power in March 1963, imposes restrictions on public gatherings and movement and authorizes the arrest of "suspects or persons who threaten security." The law also authorizes interrogation of any individual and the surveillance of personal communication as well as official control of the content of newspapers and other media before publication.
More than 30 people have been confirmed killed in a spiral of violence that has gripped Syria since a wave of protest broke out on March 15, with demonstrators demanding major reforms.
In a previous attempt to appease increasingly angry protesters, authorities freed 260 political detainees on Saturday. But the reports from Latakia by reformist activists living abroad suggested unrest was still spreading.
Syrian rights activist Ammar Qurabi told Reuters in Cairo: "There have been at least two killed (in Latakia) today after security forces opened fire on protesters trying to torch the Baath party building."
"I have been in touch with people in Syria since last night, using three cell phones and constantly sitting online. Events are moving at an extremely fast pace," he said.
More than 30 people have been confirmed killed in a spiral of violence that has gripped Syria since a wave of protest broke out on March 15, with demonstrators demanding major reforms.
In a previous attempt to appease increasingly angry protesters, authorities freed 260 political detainees on Saturday. But the reports from Latakia by reformist activists living abroad suggested unrest was still spreading.
Syrian rights activist Ammar Qurabi told Reuters in Cairo: "There have been at least two killed (in Latakia) today after security forces opened fire on protesters trying to torch the Baath party building."
"I have been in touch with people in Syria since last night, using three cell phones and constantly sitting online. Events are moving at an extremely fast pace," he said.
Officials have confirmed 27 deaths in clashes between demonstrators and security forces -- 20 of them protesters -- in cities including Homs, Sanamen, Daraa and Latakia since the rallies began on March 15. Activists have put the death toll at more than 126, with upwards of 100 killed on Wednesday alone in a bloody crackdown on protests in Daraa, the southern tribal town that has become the symbol of the protests.
Analysis: "The Syrian government appears to be employing a mixture of tactics in the attempt to slow spreading unrest throughout the country. Offers of substantial concessions in the past few days follow weeks of unrest and violent clashes that have left scores of protesters dead. Following these offers, the Syrian people must now decide what they want to achieve from protests. If they want reforms and freedoms, President Assad appears to be signaling the possibility of changing long-standing policies and practices in return for peace. However, if the people's demands include the collapse of the Assad regime, do not expect the ruling Baathists to relinquish power easily."
Read the Full Article here: http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/03/27/143167.html
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Libyan Rebels Recapture Key Town
AJDABIYA, Libya (AP) - Libyan rebels clinched their hold on the east and seized back a key city on Saturday after decisive international air strikes sent Moammar Gaddafi's forces into retreat, shedding their uniforms and ammunition as they fled.
Ajdabiya's initial loss to Gaddafi may have ultimately been what saved the rebels from imminent defeat, propelling the U.S. and its allies to swiftly pull together the air campaign now crippling Gaddafi's military.
In Ajdabiya, drivers honked in celebration and flew the tricolor rebel flag. Others in the city fired guns into the air and danced on burned-out tanks that littered the road.
Their hold on the east secure again, the rebels promised to resume their march westward that had been reversed by Gaddafi's overwhelming firepower. Rebel fighters already had pushed forward to the outskirts of the oil port of Brega and were hoping to retake the city on Sunday, opposition spokeswoman Iman Bughaigis said, citing rebel military commanders.
"Without the planes we couldn't have done this. Gaddafi's weapons are at a different level than ours," said Ahmed Faraj, 38, a rebel fighter from Ajdabiya. "With the help of the planes we are going to push onward to Tripoli, God willing."
The Gaddafi regime acknowledged the air strikes had forced its troops to retreat and accused international forces of choosing sides.
Air strikes Friday on the city's eastern and western gates forced Gaddafi's troops into hasty retreat. Inside a building that had served as their makeshift barracks and storage, hastily discarded uniforms were piled in the bathroom and books on Islamic and Greek history and fake pink flowers were scattered on the floor.
Saif Sadawi, a 20-year-old rebel fighter with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in his hands, said the city's eastern gate fell late Friday and the western gate fell at dawn Saturday after air strikes on both locations.
The U.N. Security Council authorized the operation to protect Libyan civilians after Gaddafi launched attacks against anti-government protesters who demanded that he step down after 42 years in power. The air strikes have crippled Gaddafi's forces, but rebel advances have also foundered, and the two sides have been at stalemate in key cities.
Analysis: "While promising, news of these rebel advances should be taken with a grain of salt. The end to this conflict is not likely to come for some time. When it does come, a rebel victory will be due to Gaddafi's loss of support within his own forces, not the rebels overrunning loyalists in the heart of Tripoli. With that said, as his forces pull back towards the capital, they become easier and more lucrative targets for coalition air strikes. On the other hand, as the Colonel's forces move back, they are likely to hunker down in heavily populated areas that are less susceptible to attack from the air. This defense by loyalists could signal the beginning of a very different conflict, with plain-clothed militias battling for control of Libya's urban enclaves."
Read the Full Article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110326/ap_on_re_af/af_libya
Ajdabiya's initial loss to Gaddafi may have ultimately been what saved the rebels from imminent defeat, propelling the U.S. and its allies to swiftly pull together the air campaign now crippling Gaddafi's military.
In Ajdabiya, drivers honked in celebration and flew the tricolor rebel flag. Others in the city fired guns into the air and danced on burned-out tanks that littered the road.
Their hold on the east secure again, the rebels promised to resume their march westward that had been reversed by Gaddafi's overwhelming firepower. Rebel fighters already had pushed forward to the outskirts of the oil port of Brega and were hoping to retake the city on Sunday, opposition spokeswoman Iman Bughaigis said, citing rebel military commanders.
"Without the planes we couldn't have done this. Gaddafi's weapons are at a different level than ours," said Ahmed Faraj, 38, a rebel fighter from Ajdabiya. "With the help of the planes we are going to push onward to Tripoli, God willing."
The Gaddafi regime acknowledged the air strikes had forced its troops to retreat and accused international forces of choosing sides.
Air strikes Friday on the city's eastern and western gates forced Gaddafi's troops into hasty retreat. Inside a building that had served as their makeshift barracks and storage, hastily discarded uniforms were piled in the bathroom and books on Islamic and Greek history and fake pink flowers were scattered on the floor.
Saif Sadawi, a 20-year-old rebel fighter with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in his hands, said the city's eastern gate fell late Friday and the western gate fell at dawn Saturday after air strikes on both locations.
The U.N. Security Council authorized the operation to protect Libyan civilians after Gaddafi launched attacks against anti-government protesters who demanded that he step down after 42 years in power. The air strikes have crippled Gaddafi's forces, but rebel advances have also foundered, and the two sides have been at stalemate in key cities.
Analysis: "While promising, news of these rebel advances should be taken with a grain of salt. The end to this conflict is not likely to come for some time. When it does come, a rebel victory will be due to Gaddafi's loss of support within his own forces, not the rebels overrunning loyalists in the heart of Tripoli. With that said, as his forces pull back towards the capital, they become easier and more lucrative targets for coalition air strikes. On the other hand, as the Colonel's forces move back, they are likely to hunker down in heavily populated areas that are less susceptible to attack from the air. This defense by loyalists could signal the beginning of a very different conflict, with plain-clothed militias battling for control of Libya's urban enclaves."
Read the Full Article here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110326/ap_on_re_af/af_libya
Friday, March 25, 2011
Dozens of Syrians reported Killed in Daraa
(CNN) - Violent protests erupted Friday in Syria, with dozens of people people killed in and around the restive city of Daraa and a boy slain in the coastal town of Latakia, reports said.
"The situation in Syria has worsened considerably over the past week, with the use of live ammunition and tear gas by the authorities having resulted in a total of at least 37 people being killed in Daraa, including two children," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Among the dead were 15 people who tried to march to Daraa, sources said, and nine others who died when security forces fired on demonstrators in Daraa's main square, said Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist. There were many casualties in Daraa, said Abdullah, an eyewitness who asked that his full name not be reported due to security concerns. He said he saw Friday's events in the city, where deadly clashes have taken place in recent days between security forces and protesters.
"Thousands gathered and moved to the governor's building in Daraa, and there they burned a large picture of Bashar al-Assad, and then they toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad in the center of the square," Abdullah said, referring to the current president and his late father, the former president.
Aman al Aswad, an opposition activist, said dozens of people appeared to have been killed or wounded in clashes with security forces in the square, but he could not be precise on the totals. CNN could not independently confirm the accounts as the Syrian government has yet to grant access to the network.
Earlier, more than 100,000 people attended an anti-government demonstration in the town, according to Kamal Aswad, a political activist in Daraa.
The situation has drawn concern from the international community. The United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke by phone with President Assad. In Washington, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday that the U.S. government condemns the outbreak of violence in Syria. "We are making clear from here and from other places what our position is," he said.
Human Rights Watch, among other groups, said Thursday that around three dozen people were killed in clashes in a 48-hour period. "Syria's security forces are showing the same cruel disregard for protesters' lives as their counterparts in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
"President Bashar al-Assad's talk about reforms doesn't mean anything when his security forces are mowing down people who want to talk about them."
Analysis: "Syria is the latest Arab country to experience widespread protests and government-sanctioned violence. In these early days and weeks of political violence, domestic public reaction will direct the future events in the country. If the public is serious about regime change and willing to make to sacrifices necessary in doing so, Assad and the Baath regime in Syria are in for a prolonged period of dissent and violence."
Read the Full Article here: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/03/25/syria.unrest/
"The situation in Syria has worsened considerably over the past week, with the use of live ammunition and tear gas by the authorities having resulted in a total of at least 37 people being killed in Daraa, including two children," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Among the dead were 15 people who tried to march to Daraa, sources said, and nine others who died when security forces fired on demonstrators in Daraa's main square, said Wissam Tarif, a human rights activist. There were many casualties in Daraa, said Abdullah, an eyewitness who asked that his full name not be reported due to security concerns. He said he saw Friday's events in the city, where deadly clashes have taken place in recent days between security forces and protesters.
"Thousands gathered and moved to the governor's building in Daraa, and there they burned a large picture of Bashar al-Assad, and then they toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad in the center of the square," Abdullah said, referring to the current president and his late father, the former president.
Aman al Aswad, an opposition activist, said dozens of people appeared to have been killed or wounded in clashes with security forces in the square, but he could not be precise on the totals. CNN could not independently confirm the accounts as the Syrian government has yet to grant access to the network.
Earlier, more than 100,000 people attended an anti-government demonstration in the town, according to Kamal Aswad, a political activist in Daraa.
The situation has drawn concern from the international community. The United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke by phone with President Assad. In Washington, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday that the U.S. government condemns the outbreak of violence in Syria. "We are making clear from here and from other places what our position is," he said.
Human Rights Watch, among other groups, said Thursday that around three dozen people were killed in clashes in a 48-hour period. "Syria's security forces are showing the same cruel disregard for protesters' lives as their counterparts in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
"President Bashar al-Assad's talk about reforms doesn't mean anything when his security forces are mowing down people who want to talk about them."
Analysis: "Syria is the latest Arab country to experience widespread protests and government-sanctioned violence. In these early days and weeks of political violence, domestic public reaction will direct the future events in the country. If the public is serious about regime change and willing to make to sacrifices necessary in doing so, Assad and the Baath regime in Syria are in for a prolonged period of dissent and violence."
Read the Full Article here: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/03/25/syria.unrest/
Yemen’s Leader Offers to Hand Power to ‘Safe Hands’
SANA'A, Yemen (NY Times) - As demonstrators for and against President Ali Abdullah Saleh mustered for a new round of competing rallies, the Yemeni leader on Friday said he was ready to yield power but only if he could hand it over to what he termed “safe hands.”
Mr. Saleh was speaking to tens of thousands of supporters at an open-air rally, and while repeating his now frequent offers to relinquish power conditionally, he also made clear that he would remain “steadfast” in challenging what he depicted as violent attempts to oust him.
“I will transfer the power to safe hands, and not to malicious forces who conspire against the homeland,” he said, renewing an offer to open dialogue with young people leading protests against him. The anti-Saleh demonstrators have rejected such offers in the past and have demanded his immediate departure. For his part, Mr. Saleh offered weeks ago to leave office by 2013, but that did not staunch the protests.
Saleh said that his challengers “want to gain power at the expense of martyrs and children.”
Yemeni and American officials said on Thursday that Mr. Saleh was engaged in serious negotiations over the timing and conditions for the end of his 32-year-rule rule, but they cautioned that no deal had been reached. One Yemeni official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the date of Mr. Saleh’s departure appears to be the biggest obstacle. Mr. Saleh’s speech on Friday may have been intended to signal his thinking after a month of protests.
In another television appearance on Thursday, Mr. Saleh struck a defiant pose, referring scornfully to anti-government protesters while offering amnesty to military defectors who return to the government’s side.
“There will be civil war if Saleh leaves early because they (the opposition) don’t want democracy,” pro-Saleh demonstrator Hashis al Asadi said.
Yassin Saeed Noman, the head of the opposition political coalition, has been widely discussed as a possible prime minister in an interim government. He said the terms of Mr. Saleh’s departure were no longer up to the political opposition. “It depends on people in the streets."
Analysis: "President Saleh's bargaining power is slipping as fast as his popular support. With protests continuing to grow and Saleh's traditional power base continually eroding beneath him, the real question now is when, rather than if, Salah will be removed from office. Mr Asadi's warning need be heeded during this process, however. With several organized, motivated, and armed groups spread throughout Yemen, the country is ripe for an extended internal conflict."
Read the Full Article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/middleeast/26yemen.html?ref=world
Mr. Saleh was speaking to tens of thousands of supporters at an open-air rally, and while repeating his now frequent offers to relinquish power conditionally, he also made clear that he would remain “steadfast” in challenging what he depicted as violent attempts to oust him.
“I will transfer the power to safe hands, and not to malicious forces who conspire against the homeland,” he said, renewing an offer to open dialogue with young people leading protests against him. The anti-Saleh demonstrators have rejected such offers in the past and have demanded his immediate departure. For his part, Mr. Saleh offered weeks ago to leave office by 2013, but that did not staunch the protests.
Saleh said that his challengers “want to gain power at the expense of martyrs and children.”
Yemeni and American officials said on Thursday that Mr. Saleh was engaged in serious negotiations over the timing and conditions for the end of his 32-year-rule rule, but they cautioned that no deal had been reached. One Yemeni official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the date of Mr. Saleh’s departure appears to be the biggest obstacle. Mr. Saleh’s speech on Friday may have been intended to signal his thinking after a month of protests.
In another television appearance on Thursday, Mr. Saleh struck a defiant pose, referring scornfully to anti-government protesters while offering amnesty to military defectors who return to the government’s side.
“There will be civil war if Saleh leaves early because they (the opposition) don’t want democracy,” pro-Saleh demonstrator Hashis al Asadi said.
Yassin Saeed Noman, the head of the opposition political coalition, has been widely discussed as a possible prime minister in an interim government. He said the terms of Mr. Saleh’s departure were no longer up to the political opposition. “It depends on people in the streets."
Analysis: "President Saleh's bargaining power is slipping as fast as his popular support. With protests continuing to grow and Saleh's traditional power base continually eroding beneath him, the real question now is when, rather than if, Salah will be removed from office. Mr Asadi's warning need be heeded during this process, however. With several organized, motivated, and armed groups spread throughout Yemen, the country is ripe for an extended internal conflict."
Read the Full Article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/middleeast/26yemen.html?ref=world
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