Unrest continues grappling in Mideast, N Africa

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The wave of anti-government protests continued spreading in the Middle East and North African regions in the wake of uprisings that toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.

In Bahrain, four protesters were killed and dozens wounded after anti-riot police stormed the Pearl Square in central Manama on Thursday.

The Bahraini army said in a statement the same day that tough measures will be used to keep stability of the country.

"The military staffs from the Bahraini Defense Force (the army) have been deployed in the capital in order to take all necessary measures to safeguard the security and safety of citizens and to protect their freedom and properties from violence," said the spokesman of the Bahrain Defense Force.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday expressed "deep concern" about deadly clashes in Bahrain and called for restraint.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Thursday also expressed disturbance over the violent raids against anti-government protesters in Bahrain and called on leaders to exercise restraint towards civilians and journalists.

"The reports from Bahrain overnight are deeply troubling, here as elsewhere, violence should not be used against peaceful demonstrators and against journalists." Ban told reporters at the United Nations.

In Yemen, one protester was killed and about 50 were injured Thursday in clashes between police and anti-regime protesters in the capital of Sanaa and southern port city of Aden, local sources told Xinhua.

Recently, several thousands of Iraqis sporadically took to the streets in several provinces across the country protesting unemployment and a sharp rise of food prices, as well as demanding better public services.

On Thursday, Hundreds of Iraqis rallied in southern Iraqi provinces, demanding better living, jobs and public services.

Seven people, including policemen, were wounded by the turmoil, according to a provincial police source.

In the northern African country of Lybia, several hundred people on Wednesday clashed overnight with police and government supporters in the eastern city of Benghazi, demanding the government to resign.

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Germany debates safe haven offer for Mubarak

Politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition yesterday openly supported proposals to offer the Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, temporary sanctuary at a luxury clinic in Germany.

Several MPs in Ms Merkel's conservative CDU party said they were broadly in favour of plans, allegedly put forward by Washington, to invite Mr Mubarak to Germany to undergo a health check.

"The German government should send a discreet message to Mubarak telling him that he can come to Germany if he wants," said Elmar Brok, a German conservative MEP. "If this is a way to bring about peaceful change in Egypt, then it should be done," he told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

His remarks were echoed by Martin Schulz, a Social Democrat MEP. "I am in favour of any measures that would enable him personally to make a worthy exit and facilitate a change of power in Egypt," he said.

Ms Merkel has refused to be drawn on the possibility. Human rights activists and Green MPs said they opposed the idea. "Mubarak must not be allowed to avoid his responsibilities to the Egyptian people by escaping to a German clinic," said Cem Özdemir, the Greens' leader.

* The French Prime Minister, François Fillon, admitted last night he and his family received free flights and accommodation from the Egyptian government just after Christmas. The French government was already reeling from revelations that its Foreign Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, had taken trips in a private jet belonging to a close associate of the ousted Tunisian president, Zine Ben Ali, during protests against his rule.


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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-debates-safe-haven-offer-for-mubarak-2208627.html

Tunisia police fire tear gas at protesters

Tunisian police have fired tear gas at protesters who were demanding the removal of all allies of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

The protesters had defied an overnight curfew to gather outside the offices of Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi - one of the men they want to quit.

Meanwhile, two politicians close to Mr Ben Ali have been detained.

Former adviser Abdelaziz bin Dhia and ex-Interior Minister Abdallah Qallal are under house arrest, reports say.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12265096

Tunisia protesters demand change, prisoners freed

Tunisian opposition politician Moncef Marzouki, the leader of a small opposition party who returned to Tunisia from exile in France this week, attends a protest in Sidi Bouzid, the hometown of Mohamed Bouazizi January 19,2011. Bouazizi, a vegetable seller, set himself alight on December 17, igniting protests that forced ex-president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee Tunisia.

Street protesters in Tunisia kept up pressure for a government free of ties with the old guard while a prominent dissident said he would run for president to sweep the former leadership from power.

The country's interim leaders said they had freed the last of its political prisoners and promised a "complete break with the past" on Wednesday to appease the protesters who forced the strongman of 23 years, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, to flee to Saudi Arabia last week with some of his wealthy entourage.

State television said 33 of Ben Ali's clan had been arrested for crimes against the nation. It showed what it said was seized gold and jewelry. Switzerland froze Ben Ali's family assets.

Demonstrators, though less numerous than during the days of rage which unseated Ben Ali, continued to insist on the removal of all ministers from his once feared RCD party.

Only that, they said, could satisfy the hopes of their "Jasmine Revolution," which has delivered a shock to autocrats across the Arab world.

In Sidi Bouzid, the hardscrabble central Tunisian town where the revolt against Ben Ali erupted after a vegetable seller, insulted by police, set himself on fire, residents said the changes at the top had not gone far enough.

"Ben Ali's gang remains in the RDC and is trying to steal the revolution and the blood of the martyrs," said Lazhar Gharbi, a head teacher and unionist in the town.

"We want the dissolution of this party. This is the solution, and we want to hold its members responsible for their corruption," he told Reuters.

JOURNALIST SAYS TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT

Taoufik Ben Brik, a journalist who spent six months in jail over assault charges which his supporters, including international rights groups, said were trumped up to punish him for writing articles critical of Ben Ali, announced he would run for president.

"Ben Ali's departure was a moment of jubilation and joy for me. It was a big victory for freedom," Ben Brik said in an interview on Wednesday. "I opened the champagne to celebrate that moment."

But like many of Ben Ali's staunchest opponents, Ben Brik said he was not happy that many of the ministers in the new government have a background in the RCD.

"What I say is that the RCD should leave and I also say to these puppets of Ben Ali to go and join him in Saudi Arabia," he told Reuters.

Members of the interim leadership who held senior roles in the RCD have rushed to distance themselves from it. Interim President Fouad Mebazza and Prime Minister Mohamed al-Ghannouchi both quit the part on Tuesday.

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