Date:   2/18/2011 6:57:34 PM ( 13 y ago)
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/19/3143191.htm


Middle East rocked by deadly uprisings

By Middle East correspondent Ben Knight

Updated 3 hours 27 minutes ago

A week after Egyptian protesters ousted their president, other parts of the Middle East are grappling with deadly uprisings.

The mood is dark in Bahrain and Libya, where dozens are dead and hundreds have been injured in anti-government demonstrations.

Libyans are calling for the end of their leader Muammar Gaddafi's long rule.

Footage posted on YouTube purportedly shows demonstrators marching through the streets of Benghazi, chanting anti-government slogans.

There have also demonstrations reported in other cities, including the capital, Tripoli, which have led to clashes with security forces and pro-government supporters.

Libyan state television has been showing pro-Gaddafi protests but there has been very little to see or hear from those who oppose him.

Rida Mohamed, a pro-government supporter, says many people are backing their leader.

"We came here to the Green Square because we love our leader," he said.

"Everybody, from educational institutions and the general public administration, came here to the square because of their love for the leader. We cannot do without our leader."

Once again it is YouTube and Twitter that are showing the other side of the story, although the information they provide is impossible to verify.

Mobile phone videos show protesters lighting fires and stopping traffic. Up to 50 demonstrators are reported to have been killed.

Bahrain deaths

There have also been deaths in Bahrain, after security forces staged a brutal assault to clear protesters gathered in Pearl Square early on Thursday morning.

Bahrain's capital Manama is now under police control.

The demonstrators' focus has turned to the hospitals and morgues, where many of their comrades ended up. At least four people were killed and hundreds injured.

One protester who has gathered at the hospital showed the ABC pieces of shrapnel.

"More than 200 piece inside his body. He was sleeping, they shoot him when he was asleep, this man and this man," he said.

"That man, he was speak with police 'please don't shoot, don't shoot.' They shoot him in his head, see what they do in his head, see, put the camera on his head, let all people in the world what Al-Kalifa, they are doing."

The raid has earned Bahrain's government a rebuke from its ally, the United States.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called for an end to the violence.

"I called my counterpart in Bahrain this morning and directly conveyed our deep concerns about the actions of the security forces," she said.

"And I emphasised how important it was that, given that there will be both funerals and prayers tomorrow, that they not be marred by violence."

But Bahrain's foreign minister Sheikh Khaled Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa says the actions were justified.

"The country was walking on the brink of a sectarian abyss. So it was a very important step that had to happen. Police took every care possible," he said.

The minister was speaking after a meeting of foreign ministers from the Gulf, called to discuss the growing tensions in the region.

The outcome they all feared was on clear display in Egypt.

Thousands of Egyptians are again on the streets of Cairo, but this time it is a celebration, marking a week since protesters ousted their own dictator, Hosni Mubarak.

Following Mr Mubarak on the way out will be three of his ministers, who've been arrested on charges of corruption.

It is a move that many hope will show that the interim military government in Egypt intends to implement at least some of the changes demanded by the protesters.
 

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