Libya protests: 140 'massacred' as Gaddafi sends in snipers to crush dissent

Snipers shot protesters, artillery and helicopter gunships were used against crowds of demonstrators, and thugs armed with hammers and swords attacked families in their homes as the Libyan regime sought to crush the uprising.

"Dozens were killed ... We are in the midst of a massacre here," a witness told Reuters. The man said he helped take victims to hospital in Benghazi.

Libyan Muslim leaders told security forces to stop killing civilians, responding to a spiralling death toll from unrest which threatens veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi's authority.

Mourners leaving a funeral for protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi came under fire, killing at least 15 people and wounding many more. A hospital official said one of those who died was apparently struck on the head by an anti-aircraft missile, and many had been shot in the head and chest.

The hospital was overwhelmed and people were streaming to the facility to donate blood. "Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here," he said. "They are crying and I keep telling them to please stand up and help us."

Saturday's new deaths are in addition to the 84 people believed to have been killed by Friday night, in the brutal government response, with fears that the eventual toll will prove much higher.

The five-day uprising in eastern Libya has been the greatest challenge to the 42-year rule of Col Gaddafi, the world's longest-serving ruler. With internet and phone lines to the outside world disrupted, it was unclear whether the revolt inspired by the revolutions in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt was spreading from the impoverished east of Libya to the capital Tripoli, or whether it was being successfully extinguished.

It was centred on Benghazi, 600 miles east of the capital, where a human rights activist lawyer was arrested on Tuesday. Chanting crowds, tens of thousands strong, filled the streets and police reportedly fled or joined the protesters, as unrest spread to surrounding towns. Fighting also broke out in the cities of Al-Bayda, Ajdabiya, Zawiya, and Darnah, with witnesses reporting piles of dead. Hospitals made frantic appeals for blood to treat wards full of wounded people.

Libyan special forces launched a dawn attack on Saturday against hundreds of protesters, including lawyers and judges, camped in front of the courthouse in Benghazi. "They fired tear gas on protesters in tents and cleared the areas after many fled carrying the dead and the injured," one protester said by phone from the city.

Video clips on the internet showed jubilant crowds at the start of the protest smashing down concrete statues of their ruler's Little Green Book, containing his sayings, and fighting running street battles with security forces. There were smaller protests in Tripoli, a stronghold of the Gaddafi family whose population received a much better share of Libya's oil wealth.

Colonel Gaddafi himself was shown on state-run television driving in a motorcade through Tripoli, surrounded by cheering supporters pumping their fists in the air and chanting slogans of support.

The pro-government Al-Watania newspaper praised Colonel Gaddafi, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1969, and insisted the people were uniting with the government against "traitors of the West". Foreign media were exaggerating the scale of the violence, it said.

Reports from Benghazi gave a very different picture of the crisis, describing how the city's residents battled brutal security forces sent from the capital. One man, who gave his name only as Mohammed, told the BBC: "The army are joining the people, the people are going out of their homes and fighting street by street and they are winning."

A Benghazi cleric, Abellah al-Warfali, said he had a list of 16 people who had been killed, most with bullet wounds to the head and chest. "I saw with my own eyes a tank crushing two people in a car," he said. "They didn't do any harm to anyone."

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8335934/Libya-protests-140-massacred-as-Gaddafi-sends-in-snipers-to-crush-dissent.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d6160096b34e051%2C0

Libya ruling dictator has been in power for over 42 years and says he is for the people. The obvious lie is clear and his tactics against the protesters show how much he is there to serve the people.

Sending snipers and ordering to shoot to kill, many of the protesters consider him insane and libya is not the beautiful place Gaddafi wishes to display.

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Cairo protesters: 'we're not Muslim Brotherhood'

The Telegraph reports from Tahrir Square in Cairo where, despite the violence this week, Egyptian demonstrators are determined to continue their protest until they see the back of President Hosni Mubarak.



Adrian Bloomfield talks to the demonstrators about the motivations behind their protests to end President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-rule why they are prepared to put their lives on the line to bring change to their country.

Egypt has now faced from 11 days of unrest and protests, with more than 100,000 anti-government demonstrators filling Cairo's giant Tahrir Square chanting after Friday prayers "today is the last day" for President Hosni Mubarak.

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Bouazizi has become a Tunisian protest 'symbol'

SIDI BOUZID, TUNISIA // The day started normally for Mohamed Bouazizi, 26, an impoverished vegetable-seller in this rural Tunisian town: shower, prayer and his pushcart. By midday he had doused himself in petrol outside the regional governor's office and set himself alight.

"He was my soul, my life, my heart," said his mother, Mannoubia Bouazizi. "Now he's a symbol."

Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation on December 17 after authorities confiscated his produce triggered a wave of protests over unemployment that is still shaking Tunisia, the worst unrest facing the president, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali since he took power in 1987.

Yesterday Mr Ben Ali fired the interior minister, Rafik Belhaj Kacem, and ordered the release of people arrested so far during protests, save those proven guilty. An evening a curfew was imposed in Tunis, the capital, as soldiers were deployed there and in other areas that have seen clashes between protesters and police.

Tunisia has a growing economy and living standards often on par with western Europe, but has failed to curb 14 per cent official unemployment that is believed to approach double that number among young people.

Jobs are also most scarce in rural towns such as Sidi Bouzid, a strip of low houses and a handful of government offices along a high road in the country's agricultural heartland.

The region lacks key industrial infrastructure, while corrupt officials have long siphoned off state funding meant for development, said Rachid Fetini, a leading businessman in Sidi Bouzid and president of the orientation council at the Centre d'Affaire, a state agency supporting local entrepreneurs.

"For example, milk produced here must be sterilised in Tunis; a local milk factory would double our production," Mr Fetini said. "As for corruption, it's been particularly bad in Sidi Bouzid."

Regional officials could not be reached for comment. Yesterday the prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, said the government would investigate claims of official corruption.

Mohamed Bouazizi grew up in a white stuccoed house down a dirt road near the edge of Sidi Bouzid, one of seven siblings. From the age of 10, he worked selling vegetables in the street to help support his family.

"Mohamed hoped most to buy his own van," said his sister, Samia Bouazizi, 19. "But he wanted it for work, not for himself. Even his private dream was to help his family."

The family was drinking tea at home on Tuesday.

Sidi Bouzid has been under heightened security since the day last month when authorities confiscated Mohamed Bouazizi's vegetables, slapping his face in the process, according to the lawyer, Lotfi Tlili, who is representing the Bouazizi family.

Authorities have said that Mohamed Bouazizi lacked a required permit. However, no permit is needed to sell from a cart, said Hamdi Lazhar, the head of Sidi Bouzid's state office for employment and independent work. Siblings Salem and Samia Bouazizi accused authorities of trying to extort cash from their brother.

After the run-in, Mohamed Bouazizi apparently snapped: he quickly acquired petrol, drenched himself in it, and set himself alight in the town's main street before shocked observers.

"An ambulance took him away, and people starting gathering," said Mr Tlili, who was at the scene. "By the afternoon it was a demonstration, and the police intervened with clubs and tear gas."

Mohamed Bouazizi was later transferred to a hospital in Tunis, where he died last week from his burns. His family has filed a complaint against the Sidi Bouzid municipality for the alleged assault on him by authorities, Mr Tlili said.

Meanwhile, protests have rippled across Tunisia, captivating a generation that is following news of unrest via online networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook.

While few openly blame Mr Ben Ali for Tunisia's woes, the internet has buzzed with anonymous support for the Tunisian rapper, Hamada Ben-Amor, briefly arrested this month after releasing a song seen as an affront to the president.

Authorities say that 23 people have been killed so far as protesters have clashed with police, whom they say have only used force in self-defence or to protect lives and public property. Union officials quoted by wire services have put the death toll as high as 46.

The National

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Police join protests in Tunisia

Thousands of demonstrators, including police officers, lawyers and students, have taken to the streets of Tunisia's capital, Tunis, in another day of unrest in the North African country.

At least 2,000 police officers participated in Saturday's demonstrations, according to the Associated Press news agency. They were joined by members of the national guard and fire departments.

Crowds gathered in front of the office of Mohamed Ghannouchi, the interim prime minister, and on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the main street of Tunis.

The rally was the latest in a month of turmoil that toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's longstanding ruler, sending him into exile in Saudi Arabia on January 14.

While many demonstrators are continuing to demand the dissolution of the interim government, the police officers who have joined the protests are seeking better working conditions and an improvement in what they call unfair media portrayal.

Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from Tunis, said that the police officers marched with protesters, wearing red armbands in solidarity with the marching crowds.

"They said they want to be with people now, they want to be part of the revolution," she said.

"They no longer want to be persecuted - they say, 'Please don't blame us for the deaths of the protesters'."

Indeed, the protesters have changed tactics.

At the prime minister's office, Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reported, protesters broke through barricades but no violence occurred.

He reported that the anti-riot squad pleaded with the crowd, saying: 'Do whatever you want to do but please don't storm the office of the prime minister. That is a red line."

But protesters were already starting to break the barricades by late afternoon.

Masoud Romdhani, a trade union activist who was at the demonstration, told Al Jazeera that the protests must continue in order to oust the Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD), the former ruling party, entirely.

Many Tunisians are angry over the inclusion of several prominent members of Ben Ali's cabinet in the new interim government.

Romdhani said labour activists feel that "nothing is done" until the RCD is removed from the cabinet entirely.

Countering such criticism, Sami Zaoui, the Tunisian secretary for communication technologies, told Al Jazeera that "civil society" and opposition parties account for more than two-thirds of the transitional government.

He also rejected the view that Ghannouchi was "in a difficult situation" and played down the ongoing protests as "very local demonstrations".

"We cannot say that the entire country is currently demonstrating," Zaoui said.

Dissolution demanded

A day earlier, hundreds of protesters took to the streets seeking the dissolution of the interim administration.

In an effort to dampen the anger, interim prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi, who is a former ally of Ben Ali, pledged to quit politics after elections that he says will be held as soon as possible.

In an interview on Tunisian television on Friday, Ghannouchi said he would leave power after a transition phase that leads to legislative and presidential elections "in the shortest possible timeframe".

Despite resigning his RCD membership, he has been struggling to restore calm under a new multiparty government that the opposition complains retains too many members of the party.

"My role is to bring my country out of this temporary phase and even if I am nominated I will refuse it and leave politics," Ghannouchi said.

He did not say why he was leaving politics or specify when the elections would be held. He said the elections must be a success "to show the world that our country has a civilisation".

Ghannouchi also said that all of the assets held abroad by Ben Ali's regime had been frozen and would be returned to Tunisia after an investigation.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Tunis, said that Ghannouchi also announced that the state would provide compensation to those who died during the uprising, as well as their families.

The army and the justice department have been ordered to preserve any documents and evidence that can be gathered so the old government can be implicated throughout the investigation, our correspondent said.

The transitional government has also said that it would lift a ban on political groups, including the Ennahda (Renaissance) party.

The leader of the formerly banned party, Rachid al-Ghannouchi, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Ennahda is democratic and should not be feared, and he rejected any comparison between him and Iran's late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

"We are a moderate Islamic movement, a democratic movement based on democratic ideals in ... Islamic culture. Some people pull Khomeini's robe over me, while I am no Khomeini nor a Shia," he said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011122133816146515.html

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12-Year-Old Des Moines, IA Peace Activist Faces Trespassing Charge for Antiwar Protest at Offices of Sen. Harkin

12-Year-Old Des Moines, IA Peace Activist Faces Trespassing Charge for Antiwar Protest at Offices of Sen. Harkin


We turn now to an antiwar mother and daughter from Des Moines, Iowa. Last week, Renee Lynn Espeland was charged with “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” after her twelve-year-old daughter Frankie Hughes refused to leave Senator Tom Harkin’s office while protesting the war funding in the current appropriations bill. This week, the Des Moines police dropped the charges against Espeland, but her daughter still faces a trespassing charge.

We turn now to an antiwar mother and daughter from Des Moines, Iowa. Last week Renee Lynn Espeland was charged with “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” after her 12-year-old daughter Frankie Hughes refused to leave Senator Tom Harkin’s office while protesting the war funding in the current Appropriations bill. Frankie Hughes was also charged with trespassing.

At the time Police Sgt David Murillo told the Des Moines Register: “I understand and fully appreciate a person’s constitutional right to free speech. However, this was a case of brining a child into a criminal arena.”
Well, this week the Des Moines police dropped the charges against Renee Espeland. Her daughter will still have to see someone in Juvenile Court over the delinquency charge of trespassing.
For more on this story we’re joined now via Democracy Now! video stream by twelve year old Frankie Hughes and her mother Renee Espeland.
Frankie Hughes, twelve-year-old who was charged with trespassing after protesting war funding at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin’s office last week.
For more on this story we’re joined now via Democracy Now! video stream by twelve year old Frankie Hughes and her mother Renee Espeland.
Renee Espeland, charged with “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” last week after her twelve-year-old daughter refused to leave a protest at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin’s office. The charge was dropped this week.

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Protest held in East Jerusalem- Stop The Occupation of Palestine

JERUSALEM — Israel's battered pro-peace camp is showing signs of life with a weekly Jerusalem protest by a motley collection of anarchists, intellectuals and radical rabbis, but they face a public increasingly hostile to their point of view.

Activists have gathered each Friday since November in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes to make room for Jewish settlers. The demonstrations have become a rallying cry for the shrunken left and freedom of speech advocates who say their country has become increasingly intolerant of dissent since waging a bruising winter war in Gaza.

Activists point to a recent campaign vilifying a prominent human rights campaigner, arrests of protesters and attempts by government officials and right-wing groups to halt international funding of Israeli organizations they deemed disloyal.

"It's about time the left in Israel protest against the way the right-wing is kidnapping our future and our life," said Israeli author David Grossman, a leading dove, at a recent protest.

In the latest protest Friday, some 250 demonstrators assembled by a road blowing on shrieking whistles and loudly banging on drums. "You have no shame!" they chanted at Jewish settlers.

Several police officers watched warily across the road, backed by riot police wielding batons and assault rifles.

The weekly demonstrations in Sheikh Jarrah began after Israeli police evicted Palestinian families from the flash point neighborhood and allowed Jewish settlers to move into their homes.

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Anti-Wall protest in West Bank/ Palestine

Hundreds of Palestinians and international activists have been protesting against the construction of Israel's separation wall in the West Bank.

The demonstration in the village of Bi'lin on Friday marked five years of opposition to the barrier, which cuts Palestinian villagers off from about two square kilometres of their land.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports. [20 Feb 10]

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