CASABLANCA, Morocco, Apr. 24, 2011 (Reuters) — Thousands took to the streets of Morocco on Sunday in peaceful demonstrations to demand sweeping reforms and an end to political detention, the third day of mass protests since they began in February.
Desperate to avoid the turmoil that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, authorities have already announced some changes to placate demands that King Mohammed cede more powers and limit the monarchy’s extensive business influence.
Some 10,000 people joined the protest in Casablanca, the largest city in one of the West’s staunchest Arab allies. Marchers in the capital Rabat also denounced corruption and torture as well as unemployment, very high among youths.
Policing has been low-key for protests by the February 20 Movement, named after the date of its first march, particularly compared to the turmoil elsewhere in North Africa.
“This is more about the young ones than it is about us,” said Redouane Mellouk, who had brought his 8 year-old son Mohamed Amine, carrying a placard demanding “A New Morocco.”
“Our parents could not talk to us about political issues. They were too afraid. This must change,” said Mellouk.
Although levels of popular anger have risen, ratings agencies assess Morocco as the country in the region least likely to become embroiled in the type of unrest that toppled Tunisian and Egyptian regimes and led to the conflict in Libya.
In Rabat, several thousand people marched through poor districts with high levels of unemployment and away from the center, where the previous monthly demonstrations have been held. There was no sign of trouble.
DISAFFECTED YOUTH
A 74 year-old man in Casablanca who gave his name only as Ahmed said Morocco’s youths were right to protest. Read more…
Thousands of Syrians called for the ouster of President Assad, while Yemenis demanded their leader step down. In both countries, protesters were shot by security forces.Thousands of Syrian mourners chanted slogans calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad at the funeral of a soldier killed during a recent clash between demonstrators and government troops.
Eyewitnesses and activists said at least two people were shot dead during an anti-government protest in central Syria. The actions could not be independently confirmed, but witnesses said gunmen wearing black clothes opened fire on hundreds of people gathered in the town of Talbiseh, north of Read more…
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Gas prices continued to gallop toward $4 a gallon early this week, both in the area and across the state, as prices in Minocqua and Rhinelander hit $3.99 on Tuesday, even as prices for crude oil eased, at least temporarily.
Across the nation, according to GasBuddy.com on Wednesday morning, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $3.79; in Wisconsin, the average was $3.87. Four states, including Illinois, have seen prices already surpass $4.
Crude oil prices moved downward Tuesday from $113 a barrel – the highest price since September 2008 – to $106, a Read more…
KAMPALA — Fresh battles pitted Ugandan police against students in Kampala, and against opposition supporters in a western province Friday, a day after similar clashes left 57 people injured, officials said.
Opposition supporters are protesting a rise in the cost of living and what they say is bad governance by President Yoweri Museveni. On Thursday police fought running battles with opposition supporters hurling stones in several Read more…
LONDON, April 5 (Reuters) – Oil prices could rocket to $200- $300 a barrel if the world’s top crude exporter Saudi Arabia is hit by serious political unrest, former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani told Reuters on Tuesday.
Yamani said he saw no immediate sign of further trouble following protests last month calling for political reforms but said that underlying discontent remained unresolved.
“If something happens in Saudi Arabia it will go to $200 to $300. I don’t expect this for the time being, but who would have expected Tunisia?” Yamani told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference of the Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES) which he chairs.
“The political events that took place are there and we don’t expect them to finish. I think there are some surprises on the horizon,” he said in a speech.
Saudi King Abdullah offered $93 billion in handouts in March in an effort to stave off unrest rocking the Arab world.
So far, demonstrations in the Kingdom have been small in scale and police were able to easily disperse a Shi’ite protest in the oil-producing eastern province last month.
But Yamani said that the reluctance of people to participate in popular protests was merely concealing underlying discontent.
“Some people relax about the situation in Saudi Arabia because the Saudi Islamic brand prohibits people to go to the street and to talk,” he said in a speech.
SAUDI TIME BOMB
Oil traded at two-and-a-half-year highs above $121 a barrel LCOc1 on Tuesday. Libya’s rebellion has shut its oil exports, stoking fears of disruptions in other major producers.
Based on a proposal by Home Secretary Theresa May, the police may be given new powers to prevent so-called hooligans from attending rallies and marches while officers will also be authorized to force demonstrators, who do not want to be known, to remove their face-scarves and balaclavas.
The announcement has raised concerns among MPs who say no hasty decision should be made on the issue as the police may abuse the “stop and search” powers to target ordinary people rather than “known hooligans”.
May outlined her plans during an emergency Commons briefing on the violent incidents, which marred the Saturday rally Read more…
WASHINGTON — As the United States spearheads the attack against Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi’s military assets, key former officials said an even bigger threat to U.S. national security comes from Yemen, a country that hosts many militants and is now enmeshed in a civil uprising that is threatening to unseat U.S.-backed President Ali Abdullah Saleh (see GSN, Feb. 10).
(Mar. 28) - Protesters on Tuesday chant slogans during a demonstration calling for an end to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule. Unrest in Yemen could threaten U.S. efforts to fight extremism in the country, key former officials said (Ahmad Gharabli/Getty Images).
Saleh has been a crucial American ally in combating al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that chief U.S. counterterrorism analyst Michael Leiter recently called the “most significant risk to the U.S. homeland” and the most poised to successfully attack American cities (see GSN, Dec. 21, 2010). Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and government officials said the current instability in Yemen appears likely to threaten already strained U.S. counterterrorism efforts and could provide new opportunities for AQAP to launch attacks.
“From a security standpoint, our interest in what happens in Yemen is much more significant than our interest in Libya,” Chertoff told National Journal. “In Libya it’s a humanitarian issue — there’s some security issue, but really, Yemen is a critical issue.”
Saleh’s three-decade rule appears to be hanging by a thread, as reports late on Thursday suggested that Saleh could resign “within days,” which would, albeit belatedly, meet protesters’ demands that he step down immediately.
Facing a public outcry, Saleh already promised that he would not seek another term in 2013. With the recent violence, he had reportedly been trying to time his Read more…
MPs back president’s move to suspend constitution, ban street protests and give security agencies greater powers of arrest
Yemeni MPs raise their hands as they vote in favour of a state of emergency declared by the president. Photograph: Mohammad Huwais/AFP/Getty Images
Yemen‘s parliament has approved a sweeping set of emergency laws giving broader powers of arrest and censorship to the president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, despite growing calls from opponents demanding he quit to make way for a military-backed democratic transition.
The emergency law, last evoked during Yemen’s 1994 civil war, suspends the constitution, allows for greater media censorship, bans street protests and gives security agencies arbitrary powers to arrest Read more…
A Libyan rebel grimaces on the frontline near Sultan, south of Benghazi Photo: AP
News agency reports a fighter plane has been shot down and artillery bombardment of the city.
“The explosions started about 2 a.m. Gaddafi’s forces are advancing, we hear they’re 20 kms (12 miles) from Benghazi,” Faraj Ali, a resident, said.
Gaddafi’s forces advance into Benghazi pre-empted an international meeting hosted by France to discuss military intervention in Libya. The meeting will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Arab leaders.
“We saw Gaddafi’s tanks, cars and missile trucks less than five km away,” a rebel figher giving his name as Mohammed told Reuters.
Libya had declared a unilateral ceasefire on Friday after the U.N. Security Council authorised a no-fly zone over Libya.
But the United States accused Gaddafi of defying international demands for an immediate ceasefire, and France’s U.N. envoy predicted military action within hours of the Paris meeting on Read more…
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