Lascivious Sloth posted:

I think it's a lot of factors that ignited this all, including: tech-savyness/internet, large unemployed group of youth, bad economy, high prices for food and basics, large group of oppressed and educated youth etc.


Is that okay?

Fidh, translated from Arabic by Google posted:

Security forces fire at protesters
February 15 (February 2011)

International Federation for Human Rights condemns the severe repression exercised by the Bahraini authorities against peaceful demonstration organized on Monday, February 14, 2011 and continues to some extent today in Bahrain, which led to the deaths of two people in the ranks of the demonstrators and injuring many of them wounded.
Those demonstrations, involving tens of thousands of people as a member of the Bahraini organizations organized federal response to the appeal launched via Facebook to the "day of rage" following the example of the Egyptian and Tunisian Baltejrebtin.

Security forces did not hesitate to use live bullets to disperse the demonstrators, killing Ali Abdel-Hadi Mushaima, a former member of the Committee on the unemployed, and who died in a hospital in Manama Salmaniya his wounds. During the people gathered for the funeral of Ali Mushaima today killed Fadel Ali discarded, 32 years after he was hit by a live bullet fired by security forces.

The International Federation for Human Rights strongly condemns the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators and the use of live ammunition and calls for the authorities to take necessary measures to determine responsibilities in the commission of these crimes and to ensure respect for the right to demonstrate peacefully.

Green Way Path of Hope, translated from Farsi by Google posted:

For months that educators, teachers and scientists have taken the country hostage, students were deprived of the right to education and youth Rashid blood homeland are dormant, but mercenaries and thugs, comfort and dignity of people with the official green light to beat unfit disruption your imagination, call for justice and freedom for people to silence those who fear the funeral, on defenseless citizens clubs and daggers kill them in Bydadgah to accuse War, under protest desecration, torture and justify killing civilians. But this exercise is no object, except that the nation's determination in seeking the right to traverse the path to a more firm.

Radio! posted:

Anyone else watch that interview with the UK advisor on Bahrain just now?

He was saying that the protesters are "malcontents" and a "vociferous minority" who want to change Bahrain away from being a tolerant nation and are basically ruining it for the rest of the Bahrainis.

quote:

Libyan protesters seeking to oust longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi have defied a crackdown and taken to the streets on what activists have dubbed a "day of rage".

There are reports that more than a dozen demonstrators have been killed in clashes with pro-government groups.

Opponents of Gaddafi, communicating anonymously online or working in exile, urged people to protest on Thursday to try to emulate popular uprisings which unseated long-serving rulers in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.

"Today the Libyans broke the barrier or fear, it is a new dawn,'' Faiz Jibril, an opposition leader in exile, said.

quote:

In Ivory Coast, the stepped up financial pressure is starting to spill over into protests. Several hundred angry cocoa farmers set piles of cocoa beans on fire in front of the European Union office in Abidjan on Thursday, protesting sanctions put in place by the international community to try to force Gbagbo out. They say the sanctions have instead paralyzed the industry in the world's largest cocoa grower.
"We aren't politicians, we're farmers," said Patrick Ayemou, a cocoa farmer from the Sud Comoe region. "We own this cocoa, and the European Union shouldn't confuse politicians and farmers. Because of the EU's embargo, we can't live off the fruits of our labor."

quote:

Nine banks, including Ivory Coast's largest, have shut down their operations one after another this week, further squeezing the country's strongman who is refusing to leave office nearly three months after being declared the loser of the presidential election.
Together, the financial institutions halting operations this week hold the vast majority of civil servant bank accounts in the West African country. The move is expected to prevent almost all government employees from receiving their salaries. Panicked people gathered in lines desperately seeking to take out their savings in fear of a cash shortage.
The international community had said it would use financial sanctions to dislodge sitting president Laurent Gbagbo, who is refusing to step down although results issued by his country's election commission and certified by the United Nations showed he had lost the Nov. 28 ballot by nearly 9 percentage points. Among the sanctions slapped on Gbagbo's regime was the revocation of his signature on state accounts at the regional central bank which prints the currency used in Ivory Coast.
Once that happened late last month, the Gbagbo government was no longer able to make deposits into the private banks where government salaries are cashed.

Xandu posted:

It's started today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDHLsU-ik_Y

quote:

@iranproxy
iran proxy
Leader.ir is down ;-) MA HASTIM. #iranelection

quote:

audi intervention possible

Analyst Ibrahim al-Khayyat believes that the "strong tribal alliance" among Gulf states could prompt a "Saudi military intervention" to help the Bahraini monarchy.

Khayyat said fear of instability in Bahrain is not limited to Gulf states, and that the United States will not accept undermining the regime in Bahrain, home of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.

London-based analyst Abdulwahab Badrakhan said "any change in a Gulf state will encourage change in others which is not acceptable to regimes amid a global and Arab environment conducive to change."

"Gulf monarchies feel endangered by any protest demanding a change of regime or even a constitutional change because the regional situation, especially the standoff with Iran, will justify not bowing to demands," he said.

Badrakhan said Gulf states will "go too far to support the regime in Bahrain, the weak point in the region," because of its Shiite majority and limited resources.

Analysts believe the predominance of Shiites in the protests reduces their chance of achieving their goals.

"Shiites in Bahrain should not place their legitimate demands within a sectarian framework but in a national formula ... as this can take out (a perceived) Iranian factor in the protests," Dakheel said.

Although the Bahraini protests can affect Shiites in the neighbouring oil-rich Eastern province of Saudi Arabia "it will not affect the stability of the Saudi political system," he said.

The director of the Far East and Gulf Military Analysis, Riyadh Qahwaji, said the sectarian factor does not favour the protests in Bahrain, adding that the army, which is loyal to the regime, is capable of facing demonstrators.

"The sectarian factor will not aid the Bahraini protests because they are seen from the Iranian angle," Qahwaji said.

He said the Sunni-dominated Bahraini army is capable of facing the protests, unlike the case of Egypt and Tunisia, but OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia must step in in to provide substantial aid to Manama.

quote:

@husambajis
Husám Bajis
Clashes broke out in Sulaimaniya in Iraqi #Kurdistan #Iraq

ChaosSamusX posted:

Um, did you just quote costofwar.com? Because they said the wars cost over 1 quadrillion dollars since 2001. There's no possible way that could be correct. So could someone qualify or clarify this figure?

EDIT: My bad, I thought that was 775 trillion, not 775 billion.

Intel5 posted:

I think Bahrain is getting ugly enough for the US to start pulling strings publicly with little or no blowback. I don't know what our ties to them are, and thus what we could/would do, but I hope the administration does something to stop this from turning into a total bloodbath.

quote:

South Korean activists sought to exploit the suffering, firing balloons carrying thousands of leaflets on waterproof pieces of plastic bearing insulting messages about Kim Jong-Il and his three sons. Beneath the headline, “Republic of Fat,” were photos of Kim Jong-Il quaffing a glass of wine and of the puffed-up faces of Kim Jong-Nam and Kim Jong-Un.

“They’re sick because they ate too much,” said the caption. Opposite those were pictures of emaciated children and a young woman whose body was discovered in a field after she starved to death. “This woman is picking clover not for a rabbit but for herself,” the caption says.

quote:

Protest bomber arrested in Yemen
[18/February/2011]

TAIZ, Feb 18 (Saba) – The police arrested on Friday seven people including the main suspect in throwing a grenade at anti-government protesters in Taiz province injuring at least 16 people, all with minor injuries.

A security source said the police rushed to the protest site in Oseifra district after the incident and arrested suspect Muhammad Muqbil, the main suspect, along with six others.

The police are investigating the suspects and the source did not rule the thrower was a saboteur who wanted to inflame violence to divert the attention from the million-people protest in favor of the regime.

The source warned that saboteurs may join protests to illegal acts, affirming the security authorities will face any violent acts strictly as the people continue to express themselves with freedom in various Yemeni cities.

quote:

@JustAmira
Amira Al Hussaini
I am tired, shattered and broken. I saw ppls brain's splattered and men in uniform shooting boys: Why? #Bahrain #Feb14

quote:

@NickKristof
Nicholas Kristof
i interviewed someone at seattle's best coffee, in an empty upscale mall, about the army opening fire on civilians. it's surreal. #bahrain

quote:

This is a screen capture of freezer trucks sent into collect the bodies in Bahrain. I quote what they put -"this proves that the Bahraini army evacuated the bodies into these freezers trucks...70 bodies are missing help us by showing the world how much of monsters they are they killed our brothers,sisters, children where are the human rights from all that have been happening ?"

quote:

@salehnass
Saleh Nass
My last teabag of the day says: "To be calm is the highest achievement of the self"

Potrzebie posted:

Last thread I asked Ham if there was any way to contribute from this side of the internet. I have little time to spare, but I do have money. If any of the current protests will keep up the momentum they too will be in need of food and medical supplies... Is there any way to help out financially, or am I just being a naïve dick?

Brown Moses posted:

This just got posted on the Guardian, the Bahrain army shooting protesters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwnUQcKXmMM&feature=player_embedded

Geek Icon posted:

I just saw that video it's just... depressing. There is no solidarity in the Middle East, none whatsoever.

quote:

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
And countless still unnamed, may they rest in peace #Libya #Feb17
11 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
Names of #Benghazi's martyrs: Moid Fathi Bujlawi 26 yrs old #Libya #Feb17
12 minutes ago

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
Names of #Benghazi's martyrs: Rami Salih Almaghrbi 18 yrs old #Libya #Feb17
13 minutes ago

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
Names of #Benghazi's martyrs: Idris Ali Raslan Almaghrbi 13 yrs old #Libya #Feb17
13 minutes ago

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
Names of #Benghazi's martyrs: Idris Ali Raslan Almaghrbi 13 yrs old #Libya #Feb17
13 minutes ago

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
Names of #Benghazi's martyrs: Mohamed Salem Bu Jnah 21 yrs old #Libya #Feb17
14 minutes ago

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
Names of #Benghazi's martyrs: Marwan Al-ShatShat 20 yrs old #Libya #Feb17
14 minutes ago

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
Names of #Benghazi's martyrs: Fawzi Hussein As-Sabri 36 yrs old #Libya #Feb17

quote:

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The 2011 year commences with interesting and shocking changes in the political arena, begging the mind to reflect upon its underlying significance and contemplate where the future will take us. In just one month the world has witnessed turmoil erupting from the Middle Eastern region of the globe, which has known to be quite complacent and submissive to its leadership. Over the past scores of years, many tyrant rulers and dictator leaders of the Middle East have increased in their arrogance, ignorance, and oppression against their own people. They continue to look after their own interest and work for themselves instead of working for their people. It is no secret that many of these puppet governments report to a higher senior management, succumbing to all their evil intentions to take control over the global economy, distort Islam (if not destroy it), and become the superpower that will take over the world. The injustice and oppression committed against the weak has reached its peak, and the poverty-stricken areas are incomparable in number to the handful of wealthy individuals who have hoarded power and money for themselves.

quote:

@FatiAmeer
Fatima Alarab
in salmanya #18feb one of the police officers resigned & joined us he was held on shoulders the whole way "A MAN & MEN R FEW" #bahrain #fb

quote:

A Polish priest was found dead with his throat slit in a private school outside of Tunis, the interior ministry said Friday, blaming the murder on a "group of fascist extremists".

Marek Rybinski, 34, whose body had also multiple stab wounds, was found dead on Friday in the garage of the religious school in Manouba region, where he was responsible for the accounting, a source close to the ministry told AFP news agency.

Judging by the way the attack was carried out, the interior ministry said a group "embracing extremist orientations is behind this crime," adding that the priest's family and the Polish embassy in Tunisia have been informed.

Citing government sources, the official TAP news agency said that Rybinski was likely assaulted before being killed.

quote:

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
For all those frustrated by reporting on #libya understand this. There is Zero indpt media on the ground. Nothing at all (cont) #feb17

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
(Cont) all reporting thus far has been through eye witness accounts. The authenticity of which is difficult to confirm, esp when (cont)

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
(Cont) witness is afraid to contact media or corroborate a video or picture h/she took, #libya #feb17 (cont)

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
(Cont) don't know if u remember n 1st days of #libya uprising, dris mismari attcked immediately after contacting aljazeera #feb17 (cont)

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
(Cont) catch 22 in libya. You spk 2 media you could suffer, and if you don't get word out by spk 2 media u could suffer #Feb17 (cont)

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
(Cont) the result is that we can generally understand what's happening, but the details that describe magnitude of events (cont)

EnoughGaddafi Enough Gaddafi
(Cont) are virtually impossible to confirm.its frustrating for pple on ground and those that want to report #libya #feb17

Xandu posted:

I added a bunch of pictures and videos in the D&D thread, Here's the post. This video especially is worth watching. Very graphic at end, clash between protesters and army in al-Badya, Libya.

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=103475683065662&oid=179449562095105&comments

edit: very very graphic, a guy gets his head shot off.

quote:

The office of Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, wanted to know if Prince Nasir bin Hamad al Khalifa or Prince Khalid bin Hamad al Khalifa took drugs, drank alcohol or "caused problems" within the monarchy.
Embassy staff in the Bahraini capital of Manama were also asked whether the princes had any friends among the country's Shia Muslim majority, which is behind this week's protests against the minority rule of the Sunni regime.

Fo3 posted:

what happened to the twitter page of IckyEtardo/middle-east-news, anyone know?

quote:

KUWAIT Feb 19 (Reuters) - Kuwaiti police fired teargas at hundreds of stateless Arabs demanding citizenship in a second day of protests in a village outside the OPEC member's capital on Saturday, a human rights activist said.

Around 300 stateless protesters clashed with police, who fired teargas in the As-Salbiya village outside Kuwait City, injuring around seven people according to witnesses.

It was the second protest in the oil-producing Gulf Arab state since a wave of unrest inspired by turmoil in Tunisia and Egypt began sweeping across the Middle East in January.

Maha al-Barjas, vice president of the Kuwait Human Rights Society, said seven people had been wounded in the clashes.

On Friday, more than 1,000 stateless had demonstrated in Jahra, northwest of Kuwait City, demanding citizenship Barjas said between 100 to 140 people were arrested in that clash, but most were released on Saturday.

The stateless Arabs, longtime residents of Kuwait known as bedoun from the Arabic "bedoun jinsiyya" (without nationality), were demanding citizenship, free education, free healthcare and jobs, benefits available to Kuwaiti nationals.

Many of Kuwait's stateless are descendants of desert nomads denied citizenship under strict nationality laws in the small Gulf state, whose citizens are entitled to generous welfare benefits. (Reporting by Kuwait newsroom; Writing by Martina Fuchs; Editing by Alison Williams)

quote:

@Dima_Khatib
Dima Khatib أنا ديمة
Algerian Association for Human Rights: 5000 protesters took part in today's demo in Algiers #algeria #feb12

quote:

Srinagar: To press the demand of job regularization, members of All Jammu and Kashmir, technical and non-technical HDFC association, Saturday, held protest demonstrations, here at city centre Lal-chowk.

Scores of members of (AJKTNTA) this afternoon appeared at Press Enclave here and held a massive anti-government protest to press the demand of job regularization to all the 1500 technical and non-technical employees, working in different hospital across the valley.

Raising slogans “We want justice” the protesters said they have been working in the health sector from last 8 years on temporary basis.

quote:

‘Protests should be done by people who know how to do them’ said a close colleague of mine in regards to recent Kurdish protests, which took place in Sulemani. She said ‘Kurds just don’t know how to protest peacefully, they’re too backward’. But is that really true? Are we incapable of self-expression because we are Middle Easterners?

Far from being backward, the recent protests were done out of solidarity with the brave heroes of the Middle east, namely Egypt and Tunisia. A few hours of violence erupted after the solidarity conference was held, where calls for reform in Kurdistan were echoed. It is unclear why a few protesters targeted KDP headquarters, and why security forces responded with live fire to disperse protesters, which injured 54 people, and killed one. But this should not be a basis for condemnation of peaceful protests organized in Kurdistan.

Protesting is a Human right, and people should be free to signal their dissatisfaction with any system. Their demands must be addressed, regardless of whether they are reasonable demands or not. Those who have condemned recent protests by calling it ‘backward’ and ‘irresponsible’ have forgotten that if this were 10 years ago, the protesters would have been massacred silently.

quote:

@RuwaydaMustafah
Ruwayda Mustafah
Doctored photo's to show #Bahrain protesters as Pro-Iran: http://yfrog.com/gzarq4j #IranElections #Pathetic Thanks @Elizrael

quote:

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
We made fun of Mubarak who outlasted five US Presidents; Gaddafi outlasted three Egyptian Presidents (Arabic joke via @TheSherio @Sarahngb)

quote:

Since the fall of the Egyptian regime, Moroccans have been planning a movement of their own. Taking place tomorrow, February 20, the “movement for dignity” encapsulates some Moroccans' frustration with a government that they believe has done little to combat corruption. The protesters are demanding constitutional reform, the dissolution of parliament, and the lowering of food prices, among other things.

quote:

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
France 24 English speaking to Prof Ali Tarhouni now from University of Washington

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Prof Ali Tarhouni (member of Libyan opposition) to France 24: Uprising is in 60 to 70% of entire mass of the country.

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Prof Ali Tarhouni to France 24: The Benghazi court square was occupied by women, children & the elderly today however 3 or 4 km south of ..

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Prof Ali Tarhouni to France 24: .. that is the last camp of the Khamis Brigade, Khamis is Gaddafi's son, responsible for the killing

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Prof Ali Tarhouni to France 24: That (camp) also hosts the Sahel & the Sahara or so called coast brigade who are mercenaries mainly from ...

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Prof Ali Tarhouni to France 24: .. Chad & Niger. As of 15 mins ago, this camp fell completely, it is under the control of the people.

@SultanAlQassemi
Sultan Al Qassemi
Prof Ali Tarhouni to France 24: The camp fell at a very very heavy price, we don't know, 100s, but the exact number we cannot confirm

quote:

@Raafatology
Raafat- نيويورك
RT"@FlightSim95: RE-TWEET!!! URGENT!!! WE NEED THE MEDIA TO GET INTO #LIBYA FROM #EGYPT NOW!!!! THE BORDER IS FREE AND OPEN!!"

quote:

@feb17voices
Feb 17 voices
LPC #Benghazi: I have worked my whole life, supporting myself. Now I cannot support myself in my own country. #Libya #feb17

quote:

Bahrain’s Special Envoy to the United States, Latif Al-Zayani thinks the force used to attack and sometimes kill protesters in Bahrain has been "proportional" and "legal". The clip above with Suzanne Malveaux this morning. But he said essentially the same thing to Candy Crowley of CNN on Thursday night.

Candy Crowley: "There does not seem to have been any harm done on the other side of this conflict. And yet we’re told that three protesters were killed. Is it possible that this was an overreaction? Could it have been dealt with in some other way?"

Latif Al-Zayani: "No, actually. In our procedure, we always use force that is proportional. The force was proportional, minimum possible. Tear gas were—was used to be effective enough to disperse the people."

No mention of the use of rubber bullets, beatings against women and children during the crackdown at Pearl roundabout. And nothing at all of course about the live ammunition now being used. Watch this video below from earlier today and ask yourself if this looks "proportional".

quote:

Deaths as Ivory Coast forces open fire on protesters

Published: 19th Feb 2011 20:05:43

At least two people have died after Ivorian forces opened fire on protesters demanding President Laurent Gbagbo step down, witnesses said.

Several others were injured in the confrontation, which took place in a neighbourhood loyal to Mr Gbagbo's rival, Alassane Ouattara, in Abidjan.

Mr Ouattara is widely recognised as the victor of presidential polls last year, but Mr Gbagbo refuses to cede power.

Tensions have been high in the West African nation since the elections.

Hundreds of youths gathered in the neighbourhood of Abobo before security forces opened fire and used tear gas in an effort to disperse them.

A resident told AFP news agency that forces had "fired into the crowd leaving people running for cover, but they chased them".

Another resident, 30-year-old Tieba Doumbia, said a tear gas grenade had also landed in a local market, forcing dozens of women to flee.

One of those killed was a woman who was hit by a stray bullet, witnesses and an official told Reuters news agency.

Protesters also raided the department store of a Lebanese businessmen who is seen as close to Mr Gbagbo.

The neighbourhood of Abobo has often been the scene of violent clashes between security forces and civilians.

At least 300 people have been killed in violence since the polls, mostly supporters of Mr Ouattara killed by pro-Gbagbo forces, the United Nations says.

November's presidential vote was supposed to reunify the world's largest cocoa producer, which has been divided between north and south since a conflict in 2002.

quote:

@Dima_Khatib
Dima Khatib أنا ديمة
Witness tells AlJazeera.net: a plane full of mercenaries leaves Harare Airport in Zimbabwe headed to #Libya #feb17

quote:

@Jan25voices
Jan25 Voices
RT @feb17voices: LPC #Benghazi: "Ghaddafi could drown in Libya's oil and money. But not a drop for the people." #Feb17 #Libya

quote:

@feb17voices
Feb 17 voices
Audioboo: ENGLISHTRANS LPC #Benghazi man: "Muammar's special forces are executing doctors." #Libya #Feb17 http://boo.fm/b282959

quote:

Islamic hardliners plan Jakarta march
February 20, 2011 - 1:29PM
AAP

Hardline Islamists are planning a second mass rally in the Indonesian capital as they continue to threaten to oust President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unless he outlaws a minority Muslim sect.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), linked to recent deadly acts of religious violence in Indonesia, has called for a revolution like that seen in Egypt and claims thousands of its members and supporters will march on the State Palace next month.

On Friday, several hundred members of the group carried banners as they protested in central Jakarta calling for Dr Yudhoyono to disband Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim sect, shouting that they wanted an "Islamic revolution".

Members of FPI have been linked to the murder of three Ahmadiyah during a violent rampage involving 1500 people in west Java's Banten province two weeks ago, which prompted the president to call for extremist groups to be brought into line and for greater religious tolerance in Indonesia.

quote:

China in revolution call crackdown
(UKPA) – 56 minutes ago
Chinese authorities have cracked down on activists amid a call for people to gather in more than a dozen cities for a "Jasmine Revolution" apparently inspired by the pro-democracy protests sweeping the Middle East.
The source of the call was not known, but authorities moved to halt its spread online and police detained at least 14 people, by one activist's count.
Searches for the word "jasmine" were blocked on China's largest Twitter-like microblog and the website where the request first appeared said it was hit by an attack.
Activists seemed not to know what to make of the call to protest, even as they passed it on. They said they were unaware of any known group being involved in the request for citizens to gather in 13 cities and shout: "We want food, we want work, we want housing, we want fairness."
Some even wondered whether the call was "performance art" instead of a serious move in the footsteps of recent protests in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria and Libya.

quote:

A turning point?
Gbagbo’s administration nationalises foreign banks

Yesterday (17 Feb), Laurent Gbagbo's government announced on state TV the forced nationalisation of Societe Generale des Banques de Cote d'Ivoire (SGBCI, the local branch of Societe Generale) and Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l'Industrie de Cote d'Ivoire (BICICI; a unit of French BNP Paribas), although it was not immediately clear whether Standard Chartered and Citigroup's domestic branches would be affected by this decision. As expected, the French government condemned this step and said it had no legal basis since France does not recognise Gbagbo as the Ivorian head of state. The pro-Gbagbo authorities intend to reopen SGBCI and BICICI on Monday, but it remains to be seen whether this can be implemented in practical terms given that financial institutions are short of cash and will still be unable to perform basic inter-bank transactions, as has been the case since the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) cut off the Ivorian branch from the head office based in Dakar, Senegal, in Jan 11.

quote:

Thai Red Shirts rally in Thailand’s capital
by Harry Oldfield
Thousands of Thai “Red Shirts” massed in Bangkok to mark the nine-month anniversary since a bloody crackdown took place on their anti-government protest and call for the government to release their detained leaders.
Approximately 25,000 protesters gathered in the capital and paraded from the core of Bangkok’s retail centre to the Democracy Monument. Both of these sites were the actual sites of bloodshed during last year’s demonstrations.
Decked out in their trademark colour, the protesters were seen waving flags, banners and plastic clappers as the movement’s key leaders addressed them. Thida Thavornseth, leader of the Red Shirt movement, said that the people came on this very day to ask for justice for those of their comrades who had died exactly nine months ago.
A group of 4,500 policemen were dispatched in the city to make sure law and order was maintained during the rally. Many of the Red Shirts protesters came into Bangkok from neighbouring provinces on pick-up trucks, motorcycles and cars formed a procession through the city centre to the Supreme Court. They then headed towards the Democracy Monument where they were due to remain there till midnight.
In 2010, the two-month rallies demanding for immediate elections saw the clash between the Red Shirts and the army, leaving more than 90 dead and nearly 1,900 injured.

quote:

Plainclothes police mingled among the demonstrators in Rabat, though police were generally discreet. Most marches took place peacefully, officials said.

However, in the city of Marrakech in central Morocco, vandals besieged a McDonald's restaurant and a clothing store in spillover unrest, said a security official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

And in the northern city of Larache, roaming bands set upon the regional governor's house and set fire to a gasoline station, prompting firefighters to intervene to put out the blaze, the official said.

The self-styled "February 20 movement" — apparently not for any particular historic reason — was largely summoned through social media like Facebook.

Xandu posted:

quote:

Gaddafi vows not to flee Libya- sources

20/02/2011
By Mohamed Abdul-Rauf

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Libyan sources told Asharq al-Awsat that the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, will not flee the country if the situation escalates, and that he intends to die on Libyan soil. Sources affiliated with the Gaddafi family spoke to Asharq al-Awsat via telephone, saying that the city of al-Bayda [east Libya] is witnessing riots and widespread violence, led by armed militias. [These groups] began their activities by storming a prison, releasing the inmates, and ended by surrounding an army battalion belonging to the younger son of the Libyan leader.

Mr Plow posted:

Unconfirmed reports:

-Ambulances, loaded ships, and other forms of medical aid being sent to Libya by Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey

-Helicopters being used by the regime in Tripoli

-Soldiers "burnt alive in barracks" for refusing to remain loyal to the regime with video evidence of the bodies being discovered: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=164752430243044

Nuclear Spoon posted:

WARNING: REALLY loving GROSS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFNmlGYmaeA&feature=player_embedded#at=15

THAT WAS loving GROSS WASN'T IT?

I couldn't actually bring myself to watch after the first really gross thing.

I am so angry right now that someone can do this to so many people. So angry.

quote:

Huge Bahraini counterprotest reflects rising sectarian strife
Share

By NANCY A. YOUSSEF
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 - 12:00 am
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Tens of thousands of Bahrainis rallied in support of their beleaguered government Monday, dwarfing the opposition's movement and raising new questions about whether the calls for major reforms will lead instead to more sectarianism for a key American strategic ally.

What began a week ago as a call by Shiite Muslims for a constitutional monarchy has instead opened a rift between the majority Shiites and Sunni Muslims in a nation that up until now enjoyed some the best relations between the sects in the region.

Sunnis said they didn't talk to their Shiite colleagues anymore about the protests because it led to arguments and broken friendships. The Sunnis also said they resented the Shiite tactics, and that they thought reforms already were happening at a reasonable pace.

Meanwhile, Shiites complained that the deaths of six protesters, allegedly by government forces, have forever marred relations with the Bahraini leadership. Rather than calling for a new constitution, some have chanted for death to the king.

Both sides bemoaned that their nation increasingly was divided along sectarian lines.

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Iraq: Vulnerable Citizens at Risk
Women, Journalists, Detainees, Marginalized Groups Under Threat 8 Years After Invasion

FEBRUARY 21, 2011

Abed Mahsan fled his house in 2006, the day after his Shi`a neighbor was killed and two hours after he and his family received a death threat for living in a Sunni neighborhood north of Baghdad. Because of his displacement, none of his six children is able to attend school.
© 2010 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Eight years after the US invasion, life in Iraq is actually getting worse for women and minorities, while journalists and detainees face significant rights violations. Today, Iraq is at a crossroads - either it embraces due process and human rights or it risks reverting to a police state.

Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch
(Beirut) - The rights of Iraq's most vulnerable citizens, especially women and detainees, are routinely violated with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch conducted research in seven cities across Iraq during 2010 and found that, beyond the country's continuing violence and crimes, human rights abuses are commonplace.

The 102-page report, "At a Crossroads: Human Rights in Iraq Eight Years After the US-led Invasion," calls on the government to protect the rights of vulnerable groups and to amend its penal code and all other laws that discriminate against women and violate freedom of speech. The report also urges Baghdad to open independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of abuse against detainees, minorities, and journalists.

"Eight years after the US invasion, life in Iraq is actually getting worse for women and minorities, while journalists and detainees face significant rights violations," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Today, Iraq is at a crossroads - either it embraces due process and human rights or it risks reverting to a police state."

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By ELAINE GANLEY | 0 comments
Pro-democracy protesters in Algeria vowed to hold a march Saturday even though thousands of police blocked their path a week ago.
The new march comes amid weeks of strikes and scattered protests in the North African country, which has promised to lift a 19-year state of emergency by month's end in a nod to the growing mass of disgruntled citizens.
University students and nurses are among those who have held intermittent strikes, joined by the unemployed. Even the richest region, around the gas fields of Hassi Messaoud, was not spared as around 500 jobless youth protested Wednesday, the daily El Watan reported.
Rising food prices led to five days of riots in Algeria last month that left three people dead.
An estimated 25,000 police blocked marchers from their route in a similar protest in Algiers a week ago. But organizers, the Coordination for Democratic Change in Algeria, still called it a success, claiming 10,000 people took part. Officials put the number at 1,500.

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God have mercy on the martyrs of Libya, O you who wronged
O God, raise their scourge
God and that tears in the eyes of the heroes are you, Libya
Brother Omar Al-Masri

Kowkowl 25 minutes ago two

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The Perils of a “No Fly Zone” for Libya

February 21, 2011
Mark Leon Goldberg
Category: Security
Topics: Libya, No Fly Zone, Security Council
The crisis in Libya is shaping up to be what those in the industry call a mass atrocity event. Marc Lynch captures the mood among several commentators who are rightly calling for some sort of intervention to halt the ongoing atrocities.
We should not be fooled by Libya’s geographic proximity to Egypt and Tunisia, or guided by the debates over how the United States could best help a peaceful protest movement achieve democratic change. The appropriate comparison is Bosnia or Kosovo, or even Rwanda where a massacre is unfolding on live television and the world is challenged to act. It is time for the United States, NATO, the United Nations and the Arab League to act forcefully to try to prevent the already bloody situation from degenerating into something much worse.
By acting, I mean a response sufficiently forceful and direct to deter or prevent the Libyan regime from using its military resources to butcher its opponents. I have already seen reports that NATO has sternly warned Libya against further violence against its people. Making that credible could mean the declaration and enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya, presumably by NATO, to prevent the use of military aircraft against the protestors. It could also mean a clear declaration that members of the regime and military will be held individually responsible for any future deaths. The U.S. should call for an urgent, immediate Security Council meeting and push for a strong resolution condeming Libya’s use of violence and authorizing targeted sanctions against the regime. Such steps could stand a chance of reversing the course of a rapidly deteriorating situation. An effective international response could not only save many Libyan lives, it might also send a powerful warning to other Arab leaders who might contemplate following suit against their own protest movements.
There has been a sort-of coalescing around the idea that a No Fly Zone is useful way to intervene to stop the killing. I am not so sure. While it is true that some of the slaughter has been perpetrated by Libyan air force, air assets alone are not responsible for the killing. If Qaddafi and his inner circle are intent on violently suppressing this revolt, they will use their superior ground forces as well.
A No Fly Zone is a humanitarian half measure. It would let the international community say that it is doing something, but there is very little a No Fly Zone can actually do to stop ongoing slaughter. Using Lynch’s comparisons to slaughters of the 1990s, people need to ask themselves: would a no-fly zone have stopped the Machete wielding Interhamwe from perpetrating the Rwandan genocide? Definitely not. In Bosnia, there was an effective NATO enforced no fly zone over in 1995 when Srebrenica occurred. During the 1999 Kosovo air campaign, as NATO was bombing Serbia, Serb forces accelerated their ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. No Fly Zone’s may be good at enforcing a stalemate like interwar Iraq, but it is lousy at preventing slaughter.
This is not to say there is no utility in trying to enforce one over Libya—as Marc Lynch says, it could be one of several demonstrations of the resolve of the international community (along with multilateral sanctions and, perhaps, a Security Council referral to the ICC.) But we should not delude ourselves into thinking that a no-fly zone is an effective humanitarian response to a mass slaughter event. It is a gesture. Not a response.
If stopping a slaughter is our top priority, then a more robust response is probably required. That means not just preventing airplanes and attack helicopters from flying over Libya, but defeating the Libyan military infrastructure that is perpetrating the violence. The word for that is war.
While a U.S/NATO backed military intervention might be effective at halting the ongoing violence, it may also undermine some of the longer-term goals of a nascent democracy movement in Libya. After all, the United States/NATO would be intervening on behalf of one side of a civil war (that’s true, even if the level of intervention is only to enforce a No Fly Zone). Given the level of mistrust of the United States, such overt support for the anti-Qaddafi side may backfire — not to mention the fact that people generally don’t like to be bombed by foreigners.
This is the big policy dilemma facing the international community—and especially the United States. Intervene forcefully to stop the slaughter and risk undermining the long-term prospects for democracy, or “stand by” and watch the Libyan military massacre hundreds or even thousands of people.
That’s probably why half measures like a No Fly Zone seem so attractive right now. But we are deluding ourselves if we think that this alone will stop the slaughter or serve the long term interests of Libyan democrats.

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Saudi Arabia: Political Prisoners Released, New Ones Arrested
Authorities Offer No Reforms, Recycle Critics in Detention

FEBRUARY 22, 2011
Recycling political prisoners won't appease demands for democratic change. While Arab rulers topple and reforms get underway elsewhere in the region, Saudi princes have offered no concessions.

Christoph Wilcke, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch
(Munich, February 22, 2011) - Saudi authorities have released four political prisoners and lifted a ban on foreign travel on a blogger, since February 15, 2011, but arrested other critics, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities are also keeping other dissidents in long-term detention or under long-term travel bans.

"Recycling political prisoners won't appease demands for democratic change," said Christoph Wilcke, Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "While Arab rulers topple and reforms get underway elsewhere in the region, Saudi princes have offered no concessions."

On February 20 Saudi authorities released three Shi'a activists held solely for publicly demanding equal rights for Shi'a Saudis. The Saudi domestic intelligence service, the General Directorate for Investigations, had arrested Munir al-Jassas in November 2009, and Muhammad Al Libad in January 2010 and detained them without charge since. A third, Ramzi Jamal, was held since November 2010.

On February 15 the intelligence service released Dr. Muhammad al-‘Abd al-Karim, arrested on December 6, apparently for an article he posted on his Facebook page analyzing the political fault lines of the ruling family. Al-‘Abd al-Karim, a professor of Islamic jurisprudence at Riyadh's Imam Muhammad University, wondered aloud whether the kingdom would remain a political entity if the Saud family ceased to rule. He had also served for the past year as a part-time consultant for the Human Rights Commission, a government ministry. The commission did not publicly comment on his arrest.

Also on February 15, the well-known blogger Fu'ad al-Farhan, whom intelligence forces arbitrarily detained from November 2007 until April 2008, tweeted that his ban on foreign travel had been "officially" lifted. Earlier in February al-Farhan met the governor of Mecca Province, Prince Khalid al-Faisal, to discuss the repercussions from the recent deadly floods in Jeddah.

On February 16 the General Directorate for Investigations arrested six of the founders of Saudi Arabia's first political party.

Still in detention since June 2010 is human rights activist Mikhlif al-Shammari, whom officials locked up for "annoying others."

translated from arabic by Google Chrome posted:

Interview Saif al-Islam receives universally decried and rejected children of Benghazi

Not one of the Libyan citizens are expected to be a modern Islam, which was broadcast recording after long hours of its announcement to this effect which was brought by.
This was strong reactions around him, and candid, all in the box boos and grumbling and discontent.
Some citizens Adsth much the tone of the threat, which came in the speech and commented saying that Muammar Gaddafi wants to burn everything and everybody paid for his stay at the helm.
A number of citizens, that the speech did not come too late but after that they felt a loss of control on their sites.
The citizens, that the letter came as a reaction to violent and non-calculated on the fall of the battalion security area of the pond in Benghazi, while others Asthjnoa described the protesters as heroes Hacasheun and drug users.
Censure
The large number of citizens about their disapproval of the severe lack of Saif al-Islam said a single word in memory of the martyrs.
He said the citizen, Mohammed Saad, said Seif al-Islam did not recognize that the system is a mercenary who came from abroad to kill people, expressing surprise at the governor who did it with his people.
He added, Saad, Saif al-Islam fake facts and talking about the Army Libby while the Libyan army has been filtered and eliminate it because of the fear of it and that the existing force is the Brigades armed security a good track and one of Gaddafi's sons, and expected speakers do an armed conflict between these battalions .
And what's more Astahjnth masses of the Libyan people is playing use the sword of Islam on the tribal structure to terrorize the people by inciting the explicit and implicit war tribal and regional, and that his father lead the battle himself, and that this war would make him and his traveling by virtue of the western region of Libya.
Intimidation
Saif al-Islam and threatened during his televised address yesterday evening, Libyans living in the East and their families in the western region is not possible to meet their families again, citing the example of South and North Korea.
He was astonished that a threat to citizens Saif al-Islam the return of colonialism to the extent that his carries in the core calls for Western countries occupation of Libya.
He said that this citizen did not say Saif al-Islam is that Israel will not allow the demise of the rule of Libya, Muammar.
At the beginning of surprising for an interview, said a citizen he gives thanks to Saif al-Islam because it is talking Asamj and unexpected, which broke through the two red lines which he had set himself provided a great service to the people's revolution through provocation Liberals in Tripoli to get out and call for the overthrow of the regime in a major step means a loss Saif al-Islam to bet on the fact tribal configuration in Libya and the fact that Libya was before independence consists of three separate states.
Others went as far as saying, what has been said about the conflict between the brothers had actually happened and that the sword of Islam has been shot by his brother Thurs after recording of the speech, which was said to have been at seven in the evening was made public as it is known only after five hours of it.
Cyrene - Benghazi

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by Southwest Initiative for the Study of Middle East Conflicts on Monday, February 21, 2011 at 4:14pm
Multiple news sources reported that a pair of Libyan Air Force jets landed at Malta's main airport in Valletta on Monday morning (02/20/2011), local time.SISMEC has identified the aircraft from serial model numbers (502 and 508) as French-manufactured Dassault Mirage F1ED fighter-bombers from a squadron stationed at the enormous Uqba ibn Nafi airbase (the former Wheelus Air Base under US control from 1943 to 1970), east of Tripoli.

The pilots, a pair of senior colonels, had been reportedly ordered to bomb civilian protesters in Benghazi and refused.

From photographs it is also clear that each of the two aircraft was equipped with a pair of what appear to be French Matra rocket pods, each in turn fully loaded each with twenty-four 68mm SNEB rockets. Although the exact target is unknown at this time, a weapons load of 96 rockets with high-explosive or armor-piercing warheads would have caused immense carnage amongst any crowd caught in open or even sheltering in buildings such as mosques.

Airstrikes by helicopters and aircraft have been reported from Tripoli and Benghazi, although the extent of casualities are not clear.

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Libya unrest: Gaddafi's warplanes bomb protesters in Tripoli

Libyan warplanes were bombing indiscriminately across Tripoli on Monday, a resident of the Libyan capital told al Jazeera television in a live broadcast.

"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said.

Saleh, who called himself a political activist, said the bombings had initially targeted a funeral procession.

"Our people are dying. It is the policy of scorched earth." he said. "Every 20 minutes they are bombing."

Asked if the attacks were still happening he said: "It is continuing, it is continuing. Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car they will hit you."

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It's fifth time lucky for Red Shirt leaders
05:55 AM Feb 23, 2011
BANGKOK - Thailand's Criminal Court yesterday freed on bail seven leaders of the anti-government Red Shirt movement who were detained last year after leading mass protests that triggered a violent military crackdown.

The seven had been detained on terrorism charges since surrendering to the government on May 19 after weeks of clashes in Bangkok.

The surprise ruling came after Red Shirt allies had vowed to stage mass rallies next month against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva if their latest request for bail was denied. The court had rejected four previous bids.

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Beijing, Feb 22 (AP) China expressed concern today about the safety of Chinese citizens and businesses in Libya after one of its construction companies was reportedly looted and its workers run off by gunmen.

The official Xinhua News Agency said President Hu Jintao ordered "all-out efforts" to protect Chinese in Libya and the State Council, China's Cabinet, ordered an emergency team be set up to coordinate the evacuation of any stranded Chinese.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters at a regular news briefing that some Chinese citizens have been injured amid the unrest and businesses damaged.

Ma urged Libya to "restore social stability and normalcy as soon as possible and spare no effort to protect the safety of Chinese people, organizations and assets in Libya." Unidentified gunmen entered a construction site in the northeastern Libyan city of Ajdabiya on Sunday night, looted computers and other goods and drove off the 1,000 workers employed by the China Huafeng Company, said reports on theSina.com web site and in other media.

China has a large and growing presence in Libya, as it does in much of Africa. The China Youth Daily and other statemedia said some 30,000 Chinese nationals were in Libya.

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In "Free Libya," the people are laughing at Muammar Gaddafi as he goes on and on in a speech, dressed in a traditional outfit called a jard. A dozen men gathered in a roadside cafeteria in the town of Tobruk, about 100 miles from the Egyptian border, to watch the spectacle in one of the few buildings lit up on Tuesday night. The towns here are poorer and sparser than their Egyptian counterparts. But the locals now have the luxury of poking fun at the man who once had the power of life-or-death over them. "He has a hole in his shirt," one said. "Now he is a poor man!" another shouted. They all laughed.

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Gaddafi's Next Move: Sabotage Oil and Sow Chaos?
By ROBERT BAER Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011

There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos.

Two weeks ago this same man had told me the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt would never touch Libya. Gaddafi, he said, had a tight lock on all of the major tribes, the same ones that have kept him in power for the past 41 years. The man of course turned out to be wrong, and everything he now has to say about Gaddafi's intentions needs to be taken in that context.

The source went on and told me that Gaddafi's desperation has a lot to with the fact that he now can only count on the loyalty of his tribe, the Qadhadhfa. And as for the army, as of Monday he only has the loyalty of approximately 5,000 troops. They are his elite forces, the officers all handpicked. Among them is the unit commanded by his second youngest son Khamis, the 32nd Brigade. (The total strength of the regular Libyan army is 45,000.)

My Libyan source said that Gaddafi has told people around him that he knows he cannot retake Libya with the forces he has. But what he can do is make the rebellious tribes and army officers regret their disloyalty, turning Libya into another Somalia. "I have the money and arms to fight for a long time," Gaddafi reportedly said.

As part of the same plan to turn the tables, Gaddafi ordered the release from prison of the country's Islamic militant prisoners, hoping they will act on their own to sow chaos across Libya. Gaddafi envisages them attacking foreigners and rebellious tribes. Couple that with a shortage of food supplies, and any chance for the rebels to replace Gaddafi will be remote.

My Libyan source said that in order to understand Gaddafi's state of mind we need to understand that he feels deeply betrayed by the media, which he blames for sparking the revolt. In particular, he blames the Qatari TV station al-Jazeera, and is convinced it targeted him for purely political motivations. He also feels betrayed by the West because it has only encouraged the revolt. Over the weekend, he warned several European embassies that if he falls, the consequence will be a flood of African immigration that will "swamp" Europe.

Pressed, my Libyan source acknowledged Gaddafi is a desperate, irrational man, and his threats to turn Libya into another Somalia at this point may be mostly bluffing. On the other hand, if Gaddafi in fact enjoys the loyalty of troops he thinks he has, he very well could take Libya to the brink of civil war, if not over.

Baer, a former Middle East CIA field officer, is TIME.com's intelligence columnist and the author of See No Evil and, most recently, The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower.

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Book lovers who have long thirsted for more "lashings of ginger beer" or further "jolly japes" could be in for an unexpected treat – more than 40 years after the death of Enid Blyton.

To the delight of her fans of all ages, an unpublished novel by the late children's writer is believed to have been discovered in an archive of her work.

Mr Tumpy's Caravan, a 180-page fantasy story thought to have been unknown previously, was found among a collection of manuscripts auctioned in September.

A charity, the Seven Stories children's book centre in Newcastle, paid around £40,000 at the time for the haul, which included Malory Towers and Secret Seven books.

However, it took archivist Hannah Green to discover the unpublished work, which follows the adventures of a caravan with feet and mind of its own. "It's really exciting. It's not a short story. It's around 200 A4 pages, all written with a typewriter," said a spokeswoman for the centre.

"It's a very clean manuscript with no spelling mistakes. Hannah read it and really enjoyed the story."

The manuscript was initially believed to be a version of a picture book called Mr Tumpy and His Caravan, which was compiled using comic strips, but the Enid Blyton Society confirmed it appeared to be a completely different book.

Imogen Smallwood, Blyton's youngest daughter, told BBC News: "It's a whole book, written with words, about a completely different Mr Tumpy and indeed a completely different caravan.

"There's always excitement when an unknown typescript is found of anybody's who is well known.

"Because this wasn't even known about, it has to rank quite high."

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Gun battles erupt in Ivory Coast's main city

2011-02-23 08:15:00

ABIDJAN - Gunfire and explosions shook an area of Abidjan that supports Ivorian presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara on Tuesday, and at least three soldiers died in clashes with protesters calling on his rival to step down.

The clashes carried on most of the day in Abobo, residents and the military said, while African presidents met with Ouattara on a trip aiming to end his violent post-election power struggle with incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.

The election that was meant to heal the wounds of a 2002-3 civil war and years of economic stagnation since, but looks increasingly likely to reignite the conflict.

A day earlier the delegation -- the presidents of South Africa, Chad, Mauritania and Tanzania -- met Gbagbo, who has defied international sanctions and pressure to yield to the results of a November 28 poll that showed he lost to Ouattara.

The military that supports him has crushed dissent in a series of bloody crackdowns, but military officials say they have been provoked because some Ouattara supporters are armed.

"Since this morning, there has been constant shooting between the military and the people here," said Abobo market trader Sephora Konate, who said she heard explosions and machinegun fire, but that later in the night it calmed.

"Everyone is terrified. Children are crying but there's nothing we can say to comfort them."

A commander at army headquarters who could not be named said three soldiers were confirmed killed in the clashes, but thought there were up to five dead. The military rarely gives civilian casualties, but previous clampdowns have left a trail of dead.

More than 300 people have been killed since the poll and the turmoil has driven cocoa futures to their highest level in more than three decades.

Ivory Coast is the world's biggest cocoa producer, and a spokesman for Ouattara said he would extend the ban he had ordered on cocoa exports to March 15.

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'Abdallah Salman Mohammad Hassan told Amnesty International that he and his friend were stopped in their car at a checkpoint near Manama's Pearl Roundabout.

The police searched the vehicle and found a Bahraini flag with the words "We are staying in the Martyrs (Pearl) Roundabout until our demands are met" written on it.

The pair were beaten and taken to a police station in the district of al-Na'im where they were again assaulted.

'Abdallah Salman Mohammad Hassan was also blindfolded and beaten with a wooden stick after being taken to another police station in the district of al-Gadhaibiya.

He said: "They tied my hands behind my back and then put me on a chair; I was standing on the chair. Then they put my arms behind the door from the top and pushed the chair away. I was left suspended: my body on one side of the door and my arms on the other side. It was very painful.

“I asked for water and they didn't give it to me. I wanted to pray and they refused. I didn't sleep. I was left suspended on the door for a few hours."

'Abdallah Salman Mohammad Hassan was interrogated about the protests and held for 30 hours before being released.

He went to al-Salmaniaya hospital for X-rays and his right arm was put in plaster. He said his friend was released earlier than him but did not give any details.

The unrest in Bahrain started with a “Day of Rage”, organized on Facebook and Twitter, on 14 February and apparently inspired by popular protests in Egypt and Tunisia.

Exitlights posted:

Must be a common police torture tactic: