Libya
An envoy of Moamer Gaddafi arrived in Turkey on Monday for talks on a ceasefire with the opposition. He would also discuss a “roadmap” of political reform to end the turmoil in Libya. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he would have talks with the envoy, Libya s Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Laabidi, later Monday, adding that opposition representatives were also expected in Ankara soon. “We will do our best so that the suffering in Libya comes to an end in the shortest possible time and that a roadmap is outlined in a way that would include political changes in line with the demands of the Libyan people,” Davutoglu told reporters. Meanwhile, Libyan rebels on Monday took back much of a strategic oil town that has repeatedly changed hands in weeks of battles with Moammar Gadhafi s forces along the nation s northern coast. There were bursts of artillery and shelling from Gadhafi s forces in the west as rebels pushed into eastern sections of the town. Women and children were seen fleeing Brega as the battle raged. "New Brega is under control of our forces and we are mopping up around the university," said Lt. Muftah Omar Hamza, a former member of Libya s air force who had a satellite phone and a GPS around his neck. The uprising that began in February against Gadhafi s 42-year rule has reached a stalemate, with a series of towns along one stretch of Mediterranean coastline passing back and forth multiple times between the two sides. Though the regime s forces are more powerful and plentiful, they have been unable to decisively defeat a poorly equipped and badly organised rebel force backed by NATO airstrikes that have kept the Gadhafi loyalists in check.
Khalid Sheikh to face military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay
The US will try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh and 4 co-conspirators in a military commission. The tribunal would be established at the Guantanamo Bay, US Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Monday. In making the announcement, Eric Holder repeated his belief that federal courts are the best place to prosecute terrorism suspects but said the government s hands "were tied" by Congress, which in December adopted restrictions on prosecuting Guantanamo prisoners in civilian courts. Republican critics have roundly assailed the administration, first for the decision in late 2009 to try the men in New York City, then for a long delay in making a decision on whether to have them face military commission justice instead. The four alleged co-conspirators are Waleed bin Attash, a Yemeni who allegedly ran an Al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan; Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni who allegedly helped find flight schools for the hijackers; Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, accused of helping nine of the hijackers travel to the United States and sending them $120,000 for expenses and flight training, and Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, a Saudi accused of helping the hijackers with money, Western clothing, traveler s checks and credit cards.
Afghanistan
ISAF commander in Afghanistan expressed his concerns over the protests. At least two foreigners have been killed in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on the fourth day of violent protests against desecration of the holy Quran. A group of around 150 men who had taken to the streets to denounce Quran burning set tyres alight, smashed up shops and attacked a photographer, sources said. The reporter was hit over the head and had his camera taken from him and smashed, by protesters who discussed killing him. Police kept other journalists from approaching the crowd, which was shouting slogans including "death to America". Earlier, the United States Army general and commander of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan expressed his concerns over the protests which broke out in Afghanistan against the desecration of the holy Quran.
Ivory Coast
Gbagbo has refused to cede power after a disputed election. Armed militiamen loyal to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo patrolled the streets of the Abidjan in a standoff with forces loyal to rival Alassane Ouattara. Dressed in mismatched Ivorian army fatigues and some in civilian clothing, the militiamen were on the streets and some were seen on board a boat in a lagoon in the capital. Hundreds of pro-Ouattara soldiers are gathered on the outskirts of Abidjan, waiting to launch what they say will be the final assault to unseat Gbagbo. After swiftly taking control of most of the country, pro-Ouattara forces have met fierce resistance in Abidjan where Gbagbo s troops are holding on to positions around the presidential palace.
Yemen
Yemeni security forces shot dead 17 anti-regime demonstrators and wounded scores more on Monday, on the second day of lethal clashes in Taez, south of the capital, medics said. “The death toll has gone up to 17, in addition to dozens wounded,” said Sadeq al-Shujaa, head of a makeshift field hospital at a square in central Taez, updating an earlier casualty toll. The bloodshed came as demonstrators staged a march on the governorate headquarters in the city about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital to demand the ouster of Yemen’s embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Witnesses said the demonstrators stormed the courtyard of the governorate and that plainclothes gunmen and rooftop snipers opened fire in an attempt to push them back. The bloodshed, a day after another protester was shot dead in Taez, sent the death toll to more than 100 in a crackdown on protests in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state since late January. In the western city of Hudaydah, witnesses said dozens of people were wounded by police gunfire and rocks in clashes on Monday, while hundreds of others needed treatment for tear-gas inhalation. Thirteen people were shot and wounded in Hudaydah late on Sunday, witnesses said, as police clashed with thousands of demonstrators marching on the Red Sea city’s main local government building. Thirteen were wounded by live bullets, another 30 from injuries sustained by batons and stones, and 400 others suffering tear-gas inhalation, according to witness accounts. The demonstrations in Taez and Hudaydah, 150 kilometres (100 miles) from Sanaa, form part of a renewed spurt of protests for Saleh to end his three-decade rule.
Reelection Campaign 2012
President Barack Obama launched Monday his campaign for reelection, 20 months before voters go to the polls in November 2012. "We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you - with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build," Obama said on the video announcing the start of his campaign. The president seems unlikely to face a challenge in the Democratic primaries. Despite the difficulties of a presidential term marked by wars and economic crisis, most Democrats continue to view the first black president as a good bet. Perhaps his strategists hope that the "fourth day of the fourth month" for the reelection of the 44th president will mean the announcement is made under a lucky star, but for Republicans it comes at a bad time.
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