Syria
At least two people were reportedly killed in the shooting, raising the death toll to 13 since protests erupted in Deraa five days ago. Mourners were attending the funeral of two of six people killed Tuesday night when security forces reportedly entered the Omari mosque, which has become a field hospital and shelter for casualties of the past week’s demonstrations. Although the chants of the Deraa protesters echo those of other uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt,Yemen, and Bahrain in calling for reforms and freedom, the Deraa residents are also railing against many local grievances. They have demanded the removal of Faisal Kalthoum, the governor of the Deraa Province, whom they accuse of corruption and incompetence, and Atef Nagib, the local head of political security and a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Kalthoum has been dismissed, but Mr. Nagib is believed to still hold office.
Yemen
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed Wednesday to hold presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of the year, the state-run news agency reported. The plan is for parliament be elected first and then form a government which would organize the presidential vote, the official news agency SABA said. It is not clear whether the move would appease protesters who have taken to the streets for more than one month to demand an immediate end to Saleh's 32-year rule. Earlier Wednesday, parliament backed Saleh's request to impose a 30-day state of emergency that suspends the constitution, bans protests, and allows for arbitrary arrests and censorship. The move came a day after the opposition rejected Saleh's offer to step down by January 2012. A number of army generals have defected and pledged their support to the protesters. Violent crackdowns by security forces have left dozens of protesters killed. Journalists and activists have also been harassed and arrested by authorities in the country.
Libya
Just days after Operation Odyssey Dawn was born, there’s little sign of a significant Libyan rebel advance toward the capital of Tripoli. But while the ground war hasn’t yet begun, a low-intensity war of words has broken out within Coalition ranks over who should take over command of the Libyan war. Multinational disagreements over military control within a coalition have been known to break out – before a war. But they aren’t generally expected in the thick of one. The latest diplomatic disagreement pits countries that want NATO to wrest control of the Libyan war from the US against those that don’t. It comes at time when experts are mulling likely outcomes of Operation Odyssey Dawn. While regime change in Libya is something the international community would like to see, Western political leaders are keenly aware that it won't come easily. The Libyans, we’ve been told, must do the bloody work - getting rid of Muammar Gaddafi after 42 tyrannical years in power - themselves. But if they are unable or unwilling to do so, the prospects look bleak - with experts looking to Iraq circa 1991 and Bosnia circa 1993 for possible outcome scenarios. In Iraq, the no-fly zone was in place for more than a decade until the 2003 war finally ousted Saddam Hussein. In Bosnia, air operations eventually expanded to include close air support of UN troops until Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was humbled to the negotiating table. Whether via the diplomatic wrangling off the battlefield or the eventual outcomes on it, Operation Odyssey Dawn seems to already be living up to its name in more ways than one. It may be sometime before dusk falls on this epic international voyage.
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