Month: February 2011

Berlin, February 28: The Iranian opposition said Monday that its protests would continue until the release of two of its main leaders, according to messages on its websites.

The protests were aimed at securing the release from custody of Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been kept incommunicado under house arrest for almost two weeks.

The movement known as Green Wave has said it plans to hold protests Tuesday, and again March 15 if the two leaders are not released.

Beirut, February 28: About 500 people waving flags and chanting for national unity have gathered in Beirut in a protest inspired by the wave of demonstrations across the Middle East.

The crowd held signs Sunday criticizing the sectarian makeup of Lebanon’s government. According to Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim.

Each faith makes up about a third of Lebanon’s population of 4 million.

Kabul, February 28: Afghan investigators said Sunday that they were convinced that NATO forces killed 65 civilians in airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan this month, a charge that, if true, would be one of the worst civilian casualty episodes of the war.

NATO officials, who are still investigating the claims, have insisted that the people killed were insurgents.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the United Nations are also investigating and have not completed their reports, which typically are the most thorough investigations and are perceived as impartial.

Somalia, February 28: At least 115 people have been killed, including at least 49 innocent civilians, in the latest offensive by the self-proclaimed Somali government, which years after moving to the nation is still struggling to control more than a tiny portion of the capital city.

A spokesmen for the Burundian soldiers helping the “government” in the offensive insisted that only 6 AU soldiers were slain in the offensive, with 60 militants killed. Such estimates will likely, if history is any indicator, be contradicted by the militant faction.

Tripoli, February 28: The rebel faction in East Libya has established a new “unified” command for the military forces which have defected from the Gadhafi regime onto the side of the protesters, and are looking at a final push against Tripoli.

And despite early warnings from some of the military commanders that they are “not ready” to take on the heavily armed, well-trained mercenaries loyal to the Gadhafi regime, others are suggesting that they are quite eager to end the regime’s hold on its last major city.

Tripoli, February 28: Having played a role in the sanctions against the Gadhafi regime yesterday (actually the role of spoiler, as the US ensured the immunity of most of the brutal mercenaries from prosecution), the Obama Administration is mulling a series of additional options on how to meddle in the Libyan Revolution.

Tripoli, February 28: Though it seems clear that the international community in general and the United States in particular are bound and determined to do “something” about the massive uprising in Libya, the protesters’ leadership is openly spurning those calls and insists it doesn’t need their sort of help.

Hafiz Ghoga, a spokesman for the protesters’ new National Libyan Council, insisted that calls for foreign intervention were entirely unwelcome, adding that the protesters have taken most of the nation and “the rest of Libya will be liberated by the people.”