It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Enough Police for A War
A witness told Rooz that there were so many security and military personnel on the streets that it appeared as if a whole army were deployed in Laleh Park with enough personnel to wage a war. Those who came to demonstrate did not get a chance to even stop for a moment. Anyone who stopped walking was detained immediately.
Hourly Iraqi Security Update
BAGHDAD - Four policemen and two civilians were killed during a shootout between police and police and robbers who were attempting a raid on a goldsmith shop in the Binoog district of northern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. The attackers fled the scene without casualties.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police vehicle killed one policeman and wounded three others in Rashad district of eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb went off in front of a shop, wounding one person in the Hurriya District of western Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi federal police patrol wounded one policeman and two civilians in Baghdad's southeastern Zaafaraniya district, an Interior Ministry source said.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded one civilian when it exploded near a liquor store in Baghdad's central Karrada district, an Interior Ministry source said.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded three Iraqi policemen when it exploded near their patrol in Baghdad's western Ghazaliya district, an Interior Ministry source said.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded four Iraqi policemen when it exploded near their patrol in the Saidiya district of southern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
* BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded five people in northeastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
* BAGHDAD - A bomb attached to a car wounded two civilians in Palestine Street, northeastern Baghdad, late on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry source said.
(Compiled by Baghdad newsroom)
Libya Blog
2055 GMT: A snippet of the defiant interview of Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif Al Islam, "Libya is not a piece of cake. We are not Mickey Mouse":
2050 GMT: Three envoys of Libya's opposition National Transitional Council met this morning with Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme.
Leterme said the delegation, which spoke of "thousands" of casualties from regime violence, pressed for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya; however, the NTC did not seek diplomatic recognition from Belgium.
2045 GMT: We will soon post video of the latest interview of Muammar Qaddafi's son Saif Al Islam, but here's the takeaway, as he says Libya is preparing an all-out offensive to crush the opposition and will not stop, even if foreign powers intervene:
It's time for liberation. It's time for action. We are moving now. Everybody in Libya is so excited....We will never ever give up. We will never ever surrender. This is our country. We fight here in Libya. The Libyan people, we will never ever welcome Nato, we will never ever welcome Americans here. Libya is not a piece of cake. We are not a Mickey Mouse.
.
2040 GMT: British Prime Minister David Cameron has joined French President Nicolas Sarkozy in calling on European countries to recognise the opposition's National Transition Council as the sole representative of the Libyan people (see 1230 GMT).
Earlier today, Paris became the first Government to formally recognize the NTC.
2030 GMT: Al Madenah reports that Jordanian authorities have frozen the assets of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, his family, and his staff.
2005 GMT: A Greek Air Force plane is en route to Tripoli to collect three Dutch soldiers held by Libyan authorities.
The oldiers were seized last week as they were on a mission to evacuate Dutch citizens.
1700 GMT: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US has stopped working with Libya's Embassy in Washington: "We are suspending our relationship....so we expect them to end operations as the embassy of Libya."
The Libyan Ambassador to Mali, Moussa Ag Kori, has resigned and gone into exile in Paris.
1600 GMT: AFP reports that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet representatives of the Libyan opposition leaders during her visit to Egypt and Tunisia next week.
1555 GMT: Al Jazeera English's Tony Birtley reconfirms his earlier report (see 14140 GMT) that Ras Lanuf is now held by regime forces. One rebel commander said all his men were killed when Libyan troops arrived. Casualties remaining in the town's hospital were shot dead, according to a source.
1550 GMT: Andrei Netto, journalist for Brazilian newspaper Estado, is soon to be released from detention by the Libyan regime, the paper says. Libya's Ambassador to Brazil says Netto was held "because of mistakes he made in forms he filled out to enter Libya".
There is no word on the whereabouts of Ghaith Abdul-Ahad of The Guardian of London, who was travelling with Netto.
1520 GMT: The New York Times reports a regime victory in the re-capture of Ras Lanuf in north-central Libya:
Rebel fighters fled this strategic refinery town on Thursday under ferocious rocket attacks and airstrikes by forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The rout capped several days of fighting as the undermanned and ill-equipped rebel army improbably held off the advance of the Qaddafi forces, which are seeking to retake several oil cities on the eastern Mediterranean coast that had slipped from the government’s control in the first days of the uprising. Heavy shelling of the city seemed to presage a final assault by government troops.
1440 GMT: Footage of thousands of women marching in Benghazi, the centre of "Free Libya",
1420 GMT: Authorities in Bahrain have warned that demonstrations "near ministries, shopping malls or at any location that can cause a traffic jam" are illegal.
The state news agency also reported that protests "before sunrise or after sunset" are banned.
1410 GMT: Al Jazeera English's Tony Birtley is reporting a "major offensive" by regime forces outside Ras Lanuf:
We were caught right in the middle as his forces out-flanked, and then out-bombed and out-shot the opposition forces. There was sustained aerial and artillery and mortar bombardment, and then following in by a flanking movement.
There have been a number of casualties.
1405 GMT: NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen appears to have ruled out any "support for humanitarian missions" or a no-fly zone in the near-future.
Opening a two-day summit, Rasmussen set the conditions of 1) a demonstrable need for NATO action; 2) a clear legal basis; and 3) firm regional support. This seems to rule out further action without a UN resolution.
1250 GMT: Regime warplanes have bombed the oil town of Brega, about 90 km (56 miles) east of Ras Lanuf in north-centre Libya. It was the first attack on the opposition-held town in several days.
The regime bombardment of Ras Lanuf has continued today, including a strike on the hospital.
1245 GMT: Journalists Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, of The Guardian of London, and Andrei Netto of the Brazilian newspaper Estado are missing in Libya.
Abdul-Ahad was last in touch on Sunday, when he was on the outskirts of Zawiyah, during fierce battles for control of the city west of Tripoli.
1230 GMT: Back from an academic break to find these diplomatic developments on Libya....
Ali Essawi, the former Libya Ambassador to India, has said in Paris that, as well as recognising the opposition Transitional National Council as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people (see 1020 GMT), the French Government is also sending an envoy to the Council's base in Benghazi in eastern Libya.
The Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado says he used the visit of Muammar Qaddafi's envoy to send a message to the Libyan leader, "The Qaddafi regime is over."
The European Union has agreed to extend economic sanctions against Libya to include the country's sovereign wealth fund and central bank. The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) wealth fund, which holds about $70bn (£43bn) and has stakes in a number of large European companies, is already targeted.
The step following similar action by the US and, earlier today, Germany.
1042 GMT: AFP reports that two shells have landed in the centre of opposition-held Ras Lanuf, hitting the ground near a hospital.
1020 GMT: After meetings with opposition representatives, the French Government has recognised the insurgents' National Transitional Council as the legitimate government of the Libyan people.
0925 GMT: A witness says that bombs or missiles are landing a few kilometres from the Ras Lanuf oil refinery and close to a Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company building. A warplane is reportedly circling over opposition-held Ras Lanuf.
0845 GMT: Latest from Libya....
Crude oil stocks at the opposition-held oil port of Brega in north-central Libya are exhausted, forcing tankers to leave without cargo.
One chartering manager said the last cargo shipped was on Saturday.
Opposition fighters have fired rockets towards the Mediterranean after reports that regime gunboats may have attacked insurgent positions in oil-producing east Libya.
Germany's Economy Ministry says Berlin has closed all accounts belonging to Libya's Central Bank, the Libyan Investment Authority and several other concerns. The news comes as a Qaddafi envoy continues his tour of Europe, meeting Greece's Deputy Foreign Minister.
0710 GMT: Al Jazeera reports that Libya has cancelled delivery of two million barrels of oil to China's Unipec.
0645 GMT: The head of Libya's opposition National Transitional Committee, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, has called on other countries to act quickly to impose a no-fly zone over the country declaring that any delay would result in more casualties,
"It has to be immediate action," Abdul-Jalil said, "The longer the situation carries on, the more blood is shed. That's the message that we want to send to the international community. They have to live up to their responsibility with regards to this."
Abdul-Jalil also declared defiance in the face of the military struggle with the regime, insisting that Libyans would not go back to the days of Muammar Qaddafi's undisputed rule.
The king of Bahrain has declared a state of emergency for three months on the island following weeks of anti-government protests, state television said.
Al Jazeera
pareayh RT @maryamalkhawaja: They are taking over hospitals and not allowing ambulances to reach the wounded. We have no idea how many deaths there are #bahrain #feb14
seerwan7 profile
seerwan7 RT @sultanalqassemi: Al Jazeera: Reuters: Medical Sources: Two deaths & more than 200 injured in clashes in #Bahrain today.
Kingdom's rulers tell police and army to take all measures against uprising but deny Saudi soldier was killed.
Link
AirshipGirl Bahrain and Saudi forces using poison gas(nerve gas - not tear gas) to stop peaceful protestors. Hospitals in Bahrain reporting.
mona_nassar RT @BahrainRights: “@Wefaqsociety: #Bahrain #14Feb #lulu An Urgent Call for Help PLEASE SAVE THE BARAINI PEOPLE
I have spoken to two people in the Shia village of Sitra, south of Manama, who confirmed that security forces, both civilian and police, attacked the medical center there following clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces that began in Sitra at around 11 a.m. Both were at the hospital during the attack at about 4.45 p.m. As we spoke on the phone during calls earlier today I heard shots being fired. I just spoke to both witnesses for a second time and they said that security forces did not enter the center but fired rubber bullets and tear gas inside the hospital. People who had gathered outside to find out what's happening to their loved ones were forced to go inside.
Faraz Sanei, a researcher in Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, reports.
Saudi Arabia's Slap in the Face of the US
For the United States, the intervention is a slap in the face. On Saturday, March 12, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Bahrain, where he called for real reforms to the country's political system and criticized "baby steps," which he said would be insufficient to defuse the crisis. The Saudis were called in within a few hours of Gates's departure, however, showing their disdain for his efforts to reach a negotiated solution. By acting so soon after Gates's visit, Saudi Arabia has made the United States look at best irrelevant to events in Bahrain, and from the Shiite opposition's point of view, even complicit in the Saudi military intervention.
Gangs with clubs attack Only Opposition Bahrain newspaper
A gang armed with clubs and butcher knives has attacked the printing press of Bahrain's only opposition newspaper Al Wasat in the early hours of Tuesday morning in an effort to stop its publication.
So thats why the US wants to give up Leadership for Lybia so badly...drag the NATO into a long War with Lybia,so they have something to do when the US pounds Iran and Syria etc...
Vitch,i hope im not the only one who thinks this Year is getting worse and worse...
The Syrian regime's concessions package didn't include anything about the Prisoners of conscience & the political detainees. The regime demonstrated clear fear from our fellow Syrian Kurds through flattery and amendment of Decree 49
AlArabiya_Eng : West should treat Syria & Iran like Libya: Lieberman...Says Tehran & Damascus pose greater threat than Tripoli
Syrian Troops has intentionally pointed to the heads of most Martyrs killed in Daraa
Six Syrian citizens have been detained arbitrarily after Bouthaina Shaaban speech
Confirmed: more than 700 Ppl believed to be arrested from Daraa last 3 days
Breaking: President #Assad issued a decree that increases salaries 1500 SP ($30)
Breaking: #Syria state-run news agency: President #Assad ordered to release all detainees in #Daraa incidents
Al Jazeera: Reuters: Eyewitness: Syrian forces retreat from Omari Mosque in Daraa in southern Syria (100km/60miles south of Damascus)
Al Arabiya: Senior Syrian opposition figures reject reform studies committee formed by Bashar regime, saying it does not go far enough.
URGENT: EYwitness Ayman Alaswad, more than 200 people killed in yesterday clashes in Daraa
Heavy clashes between security foces and protestors in maidan area, damascus right now. People protesting in support for daraa. 1 killed, 20 injured so far
#Daraa released prisoners received as heroes few minutes ago in Main Square
Media denied access to #Daraa and sent back to #Damscus
Media is denied access to Umayyad Mosque In #Damascus
Urgent: Security forces Shotting live ammunition in Zabadani Mahata Area
People chanting "Peaceful Peaceful" #Syria is UPRISING #Daraa
#Aleppo uprising in #Syria thousands chanting "Freedom Peaceful Peaceful"
Confirmed: 3 thousand Pple are protesting near by Municipal Circle in #Duma in #Damascus
Urgent: Hundreds are protesting in #Mezaa Street in #Damascus #Syria chanting #Freedom #Freedom
Urgent: Security forces start arresting Ppl from #Mezza protest in #Damascus
URGENT: Thousands participating in funerals happening now at the southern cemetery in #Daraa #Albalad
URGENT: Massive protests happening now at #AlMarja square #Damascus #Syria and forces trying to stop it!
Al Jazeera: Reuters: Syrian security forces break up demonstration of hundreds of protesters demanding freedom in Damascus.
Breaking: Heavy gunfire heard in deraa main square where thousands of protestors is gathered/AJA from Reuters
Shooting in snumein, mosques calling for doctors and nurses asap
Army surrounding daraa and now firing at everything moving
Confirmed deaths in the citys of Deraa, Lathkia, Homs and Sanamein/AJA
Daraa downtown.. Statue of assads father on fire. Army opening fire at all protestors
"Israel is ready to act with full force to stop missile attacks launched from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday." - haaretz
AlArabiya_Eng : Yemen's Saleh vows to 'resist' in speech to huge rally #Yemen #Saleh
AFP: Yemeni leader in speech to supporters: The opposition are "drug dealers", money launderers, "small minority"
Reuters - Yemeni soldiers fire in air to prevent Saleh supporters from reaching anti-government protest area - witnesses
Al Jazeera: The meeting between Yemen president & General Ali Mohsen al Ahmar fails to find a solution to crisis
Bahraini authorities have razed to the ground a hospital west of the country for providing medical services to injured anti-government protesters.
The Shahrakan Maternity Hospital was bulldozed over by army forces on Friday and there are no reports about the condition or whereabouts of the injured.
Bahraini authorities earlier destroyed the Pearl Square in the capital Manama, which was the epicenter of anti-government protests.
Witnesses say authorities have closed all medical centers in the area and no ambulance is allowed to take wounded protesters.
Police have broken up small scattered protests in Manama, Bahrain's capital, using tear gas after calls for a "Day of Rage" were quashed by a heavy security force presence.
Helicopters, extra checkpoints on major highways and visible security forces appeared to have prevented any major demonstrations from gathering support.
A 71-year-old man died of asphyxiation in his home after police fired tear gas in the village of Mameer, the main Shia protest group said.
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Manama said: "As far as we can see there are clouds of tear gas that have been rising in recent minutes.
"People will march down the streets and a helicopter will appear, the police will move in, and people move indoors.
"Quite a tense situation here, but the call for the big protests ... seems to have been quashed by the authorities here.
"Some protesters tried to mess with the statue and at that point the police opened fire."