Month: March 2011

Tripoli, March 03: Concerns over Libya’s oil output amid growing clashes between anti-government protesters and forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi have pushed oil prices up in global markets.

The price of sweet US oil for delivery in April on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed to 102.23 dollars per barrel, up USD 2.60 on Wednesday.

Tensions in the oil-exporting nation also sent the West Texas Intermediate futures contract soaring at above 103 a barrel — the highest level since September 2008.

Cairo, March 03: Egyptian opposition activists have called for another million-man march on Friday to pressure interim Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to step down.

The call comes as a military tribunal has sentenced a man who took part in last Friday’s anti-government protests to 5 years in prison.

An Egyptian rights organization says the man was convicted and sentenced in an unfair trial, which only took five minutes.

Thousands of Egyptians protested in downtown Cairo last Friday, demanding that the government be purged of all remnants of ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

Kirkuk, March 03: Iraqi authorities have imposed a temporary curfew in the city of Kirkuk to prevent planned demonstrations as tensions escalate among Kurd, Arab and Turkmen residents.

Many experts have warned that a political crisis caused by the ongoing tensions among the Iraqi minorities might lead to a civil war in the northern oil-rich city, a Media correspondent reported from Kirkuk.

Ankara, March 03: Thousands of people in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have staged a demonstration in Nikosia to protest austerity measures which they say Turkey has imposed on them.

As in late January, the Wednesday rally protested sharp cutbacks in the public sector, seen by the unions as being imposed by the Turkish government, which exercises considerable control over the economy in Northern Cyprus, a Media correspondent reported.

Cairo, March 03: Two senior opposition leaders in Egypt have been released following popular calls on the ruling military to extricate all political detainees.

Eng Khairat al-Shater, the deputy chairman of main opposition group Muslim Brotherhood, and the group’s executive member Hassan Malek were released on Wednesday, al-Jazeera television reported.

A military tribunal had sentenced Shater and Malek to seven and five years in jail respectively.

Dubai, March 03: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has extended its support to Bahrain’s ruler in handling the political situation there and said maitaining peace in Bahrain is essential for regional stability.

During a meeting with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Eisa Al Khalifa who is on a visit to UAE, President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan said his country will not spare any effort to provide all forms of support to Bahrain to help it restore stability and growth.

Abu Dhabi, March 03: The United Arab Emirates branch of the Bank of Egypt has waived money transfer charges for Egyptian expatriates sending money home, it announced Wednesday.

Regional Manager of Bank of Egypt Branch in the UAE, Hassan Al Buhairi, said the move aims to support the Egyptian economy by encouraging Egyptian expatriates in the Gulf region to transfer their savings home.

Egypt, hit by high rate of unemployment and poverty, saw a mass uprising which led to the exit of president Hosni Mubarak Feb 11 after his 30-year-rule.

–IANS–

Tehran, March 03: Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce says four Iranian private and government banks have applied to get permission to set up their branches in Iraqi cities.

“Four banks including Parsian, Karafarin, Keshavarzi and Post Bank are to open their branches in Iraq and they are trying to get permission from central banks of Iran and Iraq,” Fars news agency quoted Yahya Ale-Eshaq as saying on Wednesday.

Sanaa, March 03: In Yemen, two anti-government protesters have been shot dead in the southern province of Lahaj as President Ali Abdullah Saleh has come under intensified pressure to resign.

Security forces in the town of Sadr, in the province of Lahaj, shot at demonstrators and fired tear gas to disperse them resulting in the death of two protesters late Wednesday, AP quoted witnesses and medical staff as saying.

Gaza, March 03: Palestinians have strongly condemned a UN plan to teach the “Holocaust subject” as part of its human rights curriculum to Palestinian students in UN-run schools in Gaza.

Hamas said on Wednesday that it would do everything in its power to prevent children from being taught about the Holocaust in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a Press TV correspondent reported from Gaza.

Press TV tried to get more clarification on this matter but UNRWA officials declined comment on the issue.