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Dubai: Scores of
people were killed and wounded as mass unrest demanding more
freedom spread to Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan and Yemen forcing US
President Barack Obama to advocate urgent reforms.
The worst hit were Libya, which Muammer Gaddafi has ruled since
1969, and the Gulf nation of Bahrain.
Renewed protests turned violent across Libya, with opposition
activists saying dozens were shot dead during funerals and marches
for those killed in anti-government demonstrations this week, DPA
reported.
The protests against Gaddafi spread to capital Tripoli by Friday
night. Many people took to the streets in western neighbourhoods.
Sources in the northeastern city of Benghazi told DPA that 25
protesters were killed Friday. Residents of Benghazi reported that
police had been replaced with military troops.
Two protesters were killed in the northern city of Qubah, the
opposition National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) said
Friday.
Emboldened by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt that have sent the
two countries' long-term presidents fleeing, thousands of Libyans
called for the ouster of Gaddafi.
In New York, Human Rights Watch put the death toll in three days
of Libyan clashes at 84.
"Gaddafi's security forces are firing on Libyan citizens and
killing scores simply because they're demanding change and
accountability," said Joe Stork, HRW deputy Middle East and North
Africa director.
Obama spoke by telephone with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa
Al-Khalifa, urging "meaningful reform", after security forces
opened fire at hundreds seeking a better life.
Several protesters were injured in capital Manama Friday as the
army used live ammunition near the central Lulu Square.
This happened a day after three people died and hundreds were
injured in a fierce overnight crackdown on protesters camping in
the square.
Obama told Bahrain's king that the country's stability "depends
upon respect for the universal rights of the people and a process
of meaningful reform responsive to the aspirations of all
Bahrainis".
Troops fired at anti-government protesters in Manama, wounding at
least 66 people, as Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa asked
his eldest son to start a dialogue to resolve the worsening
political crisis.
The protests against the regime began a week ago.
Soldiers fired at demonstrators trying to march into the centre of
Manama Friday after attending the funerals of four people killed
in clashes between demonstrators and police that also left 50
wounded.
Many of the protesters in Manama, which has a Shia Muslim
majority, have been calling for the overthrow of the Sunni Muslim
royal family.
In Jordan's capital Amman, eight people were injured in clashes
between pro- and anti-government mobs.
Jordanians took to the streets Friday demanding constitutional
reform and more say in decision-making, Al Jazeera reported.
About 2,000 pro-democracy protesters were holding a peaceful
weekly demonstration in Amman when they came under attack from
pro-government activists armed with batons, pipes and stones,
Iran's Press TV said.
According to medical sources, the injured, all pro-democracy
protesters, suffered fractures to the skull, arms or legs.
King Abdullah II dismissed his cabinet earlier this month after
massive street protests against the government's economic and
political policies.
In Yemen, about 7,000 protesters stormed into two government
buildings and a police station in the southern port city of Aden
and set them on fire.
The protesters gathered in the neighbouring Shaikh Othman town
Friday, rushed to the two local council buildings and a police
station and set them on fire, leaving several people injured,
Xinhua reported.
Earlier Friday, an anti-government protester was shot dead and 40
were injured in Aden as police opened fire to disperse thousands
calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave.
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