Near Tripoli, Rebels in Libya Gain Firepower and Defectors

ZAWIYAH, Libya — The Libyan rebels challenging Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi demonstrated their increasing military coordination and firepower on Sunday, as defecting officers in the east took steps to establish a unified command while their followers in this rebel-held city, just outside his stronghold in the capital, displayed an array of tanks, Kalashnikovs and anti-aircraft guns.

In a further sign of their strength, the rebels also began making plans to tap revenue from the vast Libyan oil resources now under their control — estimated by some oil company officials to be about 80 percent of the country’s total. And in recognition of the insurrection’s growing power, Italy’s foreign minister suspended a nonaggression treaty with Libya on the ground that the Libyan state “no longer exists,” while Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United States was reaching out to the rebels to “offer any kind of assistance.”

The most striking display of strength came here, 30 miles from Colonel Qaddafi’s Tripoli redoubt, one of several cities near the capital controlled by rebels, who have repulsed repeated attempts by Colonel Qaddafi’s forces to retake them. The arsenal they had in Zawiyah was far more lethal than previously seen.

“Army, army, army!” excited residents shouted, pointing to a defected soldier standing sentry at Zawiyah’s entrance as he raised his machine gun in the air and held up two fingers for victory.

A few yards away a captured anti-aircraft gun fired several deafening salutes into the air, and gleeful residents invited newcomers to clamber aboard one of several Army tanks now in rebel hands. Residents said that when Colonel Qaddafi’s forces mounted a deadly assault to retake the city last Thursday — shell holes were visible in the central mosque and ammunition littered the central square — local army units switched sides to join the rebels, as about 2,000 police officers had done the week before.

And on Sunday, scores of residents armed with machine guns and rifles joined in a chant that has become the slogan of pro-democracy uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and across the Arab world: “The people want to bring down the regime!”

The opposition’s display came as a global effort to isolate Colonel Qaddafi and possibly force his resignation gained momentum over the weekend, with the United Nations Security Council moving to impose punitive financial sanctions and NATO allies discussing steps that included a possible no-fly zone over Libya.

But with their increasingly brazen show of firepower, the rebels appeared more willing to engage Colonel Qaddafi’s forces militarily and break the pattern of nonviolent revolts set by neighboring Egypt and Tunisia and now sweeping the Middle East — just as Colonel Qaddafi has shown a willingness to shed far more of his citizens’ blood than any of the region’s other autocrats.

The maneuverings by both sides suggested they were girding for a confrontation that could influence the shape of other protest movements and the responses of other rulers who feel threatened by insurrection movements.

Colonel Qaddafi’s militias, plainclothes police and other paramilitary forces have so far kept the deserted streets of Tripoli under a tight lockdown. And residents of Zawiyah said Sunday that his forces were massing again on its outskirts, and as a caravan of visiting journalists left Zawiyah on an official tour, a rowdy crowd of hundreds of Qaddafi supporters waving green flags and holding Qaddafi posters blocked the highway for a rally against the rebels. “The people want Colonel Muammar!” some chanted.

In interviews with ABC News, two of Colonel Qaddafi’s sons appeared to mix defiance and denial. “The people — everybody wants more,” said Saadi Qaddafi, apparently dismissing the public outcry for a more accountable government. “There is no limit. You give this, then you get asked for that, you know?”

He described the uprisings around the region as “an earthquake” and predicted, “Chaos will be everywhere.” If his father left, he said, Libya would face a civil war “one hour later.”

His brother, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, seemed to challenge journalists to look for signs of unrest. “Please, take your cameras tomorrow morning, even tonight,” he said. “Everything is calm. Everything is peaceful.”

But when government-paid drivers and minders took visiting journalists on an official tour to visit here Sunday morning, they found a town firmly in rebel hands, where Libyan officials and military units did not even attempt to enter. It was the second consecutive day that an official tour appeared to do more to discredit than bolster the government’s line, and questions arose about the true allegiance of the official tour minders, who appeared to mingle easily with people of rebel-held Zawiyah. Others suggested that the Qaddafi government might in fact have believed its own propaganda: that the journalists would discover that Zawiyah had fallen into the hands of radical Islamists, or young people crazed by drugs procured by Osama bin Laden.

But the residents o showed little interest in either Islamist politics or hallucinogenic drugs. They mocked Colonel Qaddafi’s allegations, waved the tricolored pre-Qaddafi flag that has become the banner of the revolt, and chanted, “Free, free, Libya.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/world/africa/28unrest.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp

William B. Robinson

Egypt's military dissolves Parliament, suspends Constitution

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's military dissolved the country's Parliament and suspended its Constitution Sunday following the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, telling Egyptians it would be in charge for six months or until elections can be held.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it would appoint a committee to propose changes to the Constitution, which would then be submitted to voters. The council will have the power to issue new laws during the transition period, according to a communique read on state television.

Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the United States, said Sunday that the generals have made restoring security and reviving the economy its top priorities.

"This current composition is basically a technocratic government to run the day-to-day affairs, to take care of the security void that has happened, and to also address the issues related to the economy," Shoukry told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

Army, protesters clean up Tahrir Square The next steps for Egypt Monument for martyrs of Tahrir Square Coffee shop debates continue

However, a leading opposition figure said Sunday that the military must explain its plans in more detail or see a resumption of the demonstrations that drove Mubarak from office.

"They need to come out of their headquarters and start talking to the people and tell us what is in store for us," ElBaradei told GPS.

And a prominent Egyptian activist credited with helping spark the revolution warned against taking too long to establish a new representative government.

"Biggest mistake now is to give the Egyptian people too little too slow. Restoring confidence requires a faster pace," Wael Ghonim said on Twitter.

Mubarak stepped down Friday after 18 days of protests against his nearly 30-year rule and is now in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The longtime president was himself a product of the military establishment that has ruled Egypt since the 1950s, but his abdication leaves a council of generals led by Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi in charge of the Arab world's most populous nation.

Sunday's military communique said new elections would be held for both houses of Egypt's Parliament as well as the presidency. Protesters had blasted the November parliamentary elections as fraudulent, and calls for their annulment were among the major demands before Mubarak's ouster.

In the meantime, government ministers are now reporting to the military high command in the same way they reported to Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told reporters Sunday, in remarks that were carried live on state television. He said he was reviewing candidates to fill vacant government ministries, adding that no one who was not acceptable to the public would be appointed.

Sunday marked the first workday since Mubarak's ouster. For the first time since the uprising began January 25, traffic flowed freely around Tahrir Square -- the epicenter of the protests -- and the majority of shops around the square were open. Some protesters remained in the square Sunday, vowing to keep protesting until Egypt is under civilian rule.

The Egyptian junta now has to grapple with the economic problems that fueled the revolt, including massive youth unemployment and economic underdevelopment. The demonstrations virtually shut down Egypt's economy, costing it vital tourism dollars as well.

New protests at the headquarters of the National Bank of Egypt appear to have forced the ouster of that institution's chairman, Tarek Amer, and two top deputies, who submitted their resignations on Sunday, according to an e-mail shared with CNN by a bank employee.

The National Bank's headquarters in Cairo continued to function during Sunday's protests, with disgruntled staff taking turns to work and demonstrate.

It was not clear whether the resignations have been accepted. However, Sunday evening,

Egyptian state television announced banks would be shut down until Wednesday, and urged workers to consider the national interest.Bank workers complained that members of Mubarak's family put their allies into positions of power at the bank with grossly inflated salaries.

Cairo's stock exchange will freeze transactions from former ministers and businessmen who are now under investigation when trading resumes Wednesday, the exchange's chairman, Khaled Serri Siyam, announced in a statement on the government-run website EgyNews.

Outside the Interior Ministry, hundreds of disgruntled police officers demanding higher wages, shorter hours, better benefits and more respect faced off with Egyptian troops. The police officers currently earn 500 Egyptian pounds (about $85) a month -- a quarter of what army troops of comparable rank earn, they said -- and face imprisonment if they refuse to work unpaid overtime. Both low-ranking police officers and administrative staff joined in the protest.

Mubarak's ouster came three weeks after a similar revolt toppled longtime Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. And even as officials hash out the details of Egypt's murky political future, public demands for change have rippled throughout the region.

In Yemen's capital Sanaa on Saturday, protesters chanted, "Yesterday Tunisia, today Egypt -- tomorrow Yemen will open the prison." And in restive Algeria, anti-government protesters chanted, "Change the power" on Saturday. Security forces clashed with the crowds Saturday in Algiers and detained roughly 100 protesters, according to the opposition Algerian League for Human Rights.

Shoukry said it was a "matter of pride" for Egyptians that their revolution was "organized and peaceful," adding, "Egypt has always been a trend-setter in this region."

"The region looks to us in many aspects, and I'm sure also in this regard, many lessons will be learned," he said.

William B. Robinson

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/13/egypt.revolution/index.html?hpt=T1

Egypt Makes New Concessions to Opposition Groups

CAIRO -- Egypt's vice president met a wide representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and agreed to allow freedom of the press, to release those detained since anti-government protests began nearly two weeks and ago and to lift the country's hated emergency laws when security permits.

Vice President Omar Suleiman endorsed a plan with the opposition to set up a committee of judiciary and political figures to study proposed constitutional amendments that would allow more candidates to run for president and impose term limits on the presidency, the state news agency reported. The committee was given until the first week of March to finish the tasks.

The regime also pledged not to harass those participating in the anti-government protests, which have drawn hundreds of thousands at the biggest rallies. The government also agreed not to hamper freedom of press and not to interfere with text messaging and Internet.

Sunday's meeting was the broadest representation of Egypt's fragmented opposition to meet with the new vice president since the protests demanding the immediate ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak began on Jan. 25.

The opposition groups represented included the youthful supporters of leading democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, who are one of the main forces behind the protests.

The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, and a number of smaller leftist, liberal groups also attended the meeting, according to footage shown on state television.

Mubarak, Egypt's ruler of nearly 30 years, has rejected calls to step down immediately and instead promised a package of unspecified political reforms -- part of a series of concessions the regime has made in an unsuccessful bid to quell the protests.

The two sides also agreed at the meeting that the government would open an office that would field complaints about political prisoners, according to the state news agency.

The government also pledged to commission judicial authorities to fight corruption and prosecute those behind it. It agreed to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the yet unexplained disappearance of police from Cairo's streets more than a week ago, which unleashed a wave of lawless looting and arson.

Egypt's emergency laws were imposed by Mubarak when he took office in 1981 and they have been in force ever since. The laws give police far-reaching powers for detention and suppression of civil and human rights. Lifting the laws has been a longtime demand by the opposition.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/06/egypts-brotherhood-hold-talks-government/

William B. Robinson

Emotional protests, rampant lawlessness pervasive around Egypt

(CNN) -- By day, tens of thousands turned out in cities across Egypt -- demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, calling for major economic and political reforms and, in multiple spots, bloodily clashing with police forces.

By night, with the security forces seemingly disappeared, some had stepped back to mourn those killed, treat their wounds or gather strength. Other citizens, meanwhile, gathered whatever weapons they could find as they banded together with friends, family and neighbors to protect their communities from roving bands of looters.

"There's no army, no one to prevent (theft and chaos). They disappeared," said one man from a Cairo suburb on Saturday night, who united with friends, cousins and neighbors to protect their property.

Closer to the capital's center, as well as in Alexandria and Suez, the main events earlier Saturday were turn-outs by tens of thousands of demonstrators. For the fifth straight day, they held up signs and shouted for an end to Mubarak's 30-year reign, unsatisfied with his newly shuffled government.

Cairo neighborhoods brace for violence Looting, violence in Cairo

"What's happened to our president?" said one woman in Cairo, wearing a black veil. "We don't want him (because) he's responsible for all this."

But her anger was tempered by satisfaction that people had turned out, in such large numbers, to express their views after decades of silence and suppression.

"I am happy," she said. "I feel yes, we can change."

In Alexandria, protests have gained strength during the course of the week. Throngs chanted Saturday, "We want him out, we want him gone, Mubarak has to go."

One demonstrator told CNN's Nic Robertson that Mubarak, after an early Saturday speech signaling his intent to reorganize his government but stay in power, was trying to challenge demonstrators. He said his decision to implement a curfew, which extended from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., was irrelevant and suggested that the opposition is only getting stronger and bolder.

"He cannot order us, he's not the president anymore," the man said. "He wants to calm us down by saying he will stay. That is not calming us down."

There were also tears Saturday, the result of mounting casualties from sporadic confrontations between demonstrators and police.

At one point, a man's body, apparently killed in a clash near the Interior Ministry, was carried through the streets, wrapped in an Egyptian flag.

Also in Cairo, a mosque was turned into a makeshift clinic. There, a handful of men came in with wounds from what appeared to be rubber pellets fired by police, they told CNN,

And at least 31 people were killed in Alexandria, Egypt, hospital authorities told CNN.

Besides civic discontent and violence, general lawlessness was also pervasive -- especially in areas outside the city centers, which were largely free of any police or military presence.

Looters, some sporting swords and riding motorcycles, had infiltrated numerous public and private buildings. While there were reports of a large gun battle Saturday night, they largely went unbothered by security forces, though not as often by residents.

Fires could be seen in several Cairo neighborhoods, set by people paying no heed to the government-imposed curfew. People also continued to roam the streets, in what was in some ways one of the quietest nights since the protests began earlier this week.

An increasing number of residents, fearful given the apparent absence of any official security apparatus, had taken matters into their own hands. They worked together to set up barricades around some streets. Many -- including the wife of CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman -- handed out clubs, kitchen knives and whatever other implements they could find to trustworthy men and teenagers who could help ward off looters.

Numerous police stations had been burned and ransacked. But private businesses also were hit, including several shops in an upscale Cairo neighborhood.

Residents said they were worried about possible anarchy and prisoners escaping from jails.

Others told CNN they worry that the chaos is President Hosni Mubarak's strategy -- that all the crime could turn people against the protesters, and build favor for the government security forces to restore order.

Shereif Abdelbaki, a resident of Cairo, said he saw people burning cars and taking parts from a junkyard. He said the police had withdrawn or were otherwise occupied, while the Army was downtown, leaving community members to work together or fend for themselves to protect property.

"We have all become vigilantes," he said. "Basically, it's like the Wild West. Where is the security?"

CNN- http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/29/egypt.protest.chaos/index.html?hpt=C1

William B. Robinson