Middle East Today: Libya --- Armed Groups Increase Pressure on Government

Libya:Armed Groups Form Alliance to Pressure Government

Armed groups surrounding two ministries in Tripoli have formed an alliance with a list of six demands including the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.

The groups initially demanded that Parliament pass the "political isolation law" banning from public service any senior official who held a position under the ousted Qaddafi regime.

They presented the expanded list of demands to Reuters late Wednesday. The conditions include the freezing of a recently-released state budget and the right to form a committee to take charge of the Foreign Ministry.

Click to read more ...

Middle East Today: Libya --- Minister of Defense Quits

Troops Protecting Government Buildings in LibyaEgypt: Cabinet Reshuffle

Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has said 11 new ministers will be announced in a Cabinet reshuffle today.

The ministries affected include oil, higher education, and agriculture. A replacement will also be named for the Minister of Justice, Ahmed Mekky, who has resigned.

Libya: Minister of Defense Quits Over Gunmen's Siege

Minister of DefenseMohammed al-Bargathi has resigned after last week's siege by gunmen of Government ministries.

The armed group was calling for the exclusion from official positions of those involved with the Qaddafi regime, which was toppled in October 2011.

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) Live: Car Bomb at French Embassy in Tripoli

This morning's car bomb outside the French Embassy in Tripoli (Sabri Elmhedwi/EPA)

---

1936 GMT: Iraq.

At least 36 people have been killed and more than 70 have been injured in clashes in Iraq. Sunni protesters clashed with police this morning in Hawijah this morning, sparking the violence. That, in turn, has sparked protests across the country. The Independent reports:

As news of the clashes spread through Sunni Iraq, street protests erupted in solidarity with Hawijah, a Sunni bastion 30 miles west of Kirkuk. Some 1,000 people took to the streets in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, after calls for protests broadcast from the minarets of mosques. “War! War!” was the chant of some. In Ramadi, capital of Sunni Anbar province, crowds threw stones at a military convoy, overturning and setting fire to a Humvee.

The violence in Hawijah started at 5am when security forces, backed by helicopters, entered the protesters encampment. The Defence Ministry claims the demonstration had been infiltrated by militants, of whom it says 20 were killed along with an army officer and two soldiers. The army reported finding weapons including 34 Kalashnikovs and four PKM machine guns, and made 75 arrests. In response to the raid there were attacks on two army checkpoints near Hawijah in which 13 people died.

Click to read more ...

Egypt (and Beyond) Live: The Perpetual Hope of the $4.8 Billion Loan

IMF's Lagarde & Egypt's President Morsi1530 GMT: Egypt.

On Friday, throngs of protesters called for the "purging of the judiciary," as most judges were appointed by the Mubarak regime, and recent decisions have acquitted top-ranked members of the Mubarak regime of any wrongdoing.

Today, Ahram Online reports that current Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has met with the Prosecutor-General Talaat Abdullah and the Supreme Judicial Council today, a day after the Justice Minister resigned.

1335 GMT: Egypt

A Cairo criminal court has accepted the prosecution's appeal against a release order for former President Hosni Mubarak in his trial on graft charges.

Mubarak, who was in court for the hearing, will remain detained for at least a 15-day period pending further investigation into the case.

The judge ruled against the release because the order was issued by the misdemeanor court, which has no jurisdiction over the matter.

Click to read more ...

Kuwait (and Beyond) Live: Riot Police Break Up Protests

1445 GMT: Bahrain. As journalists convene to cover the Formula 1 race, the Bahraini police have detained a team of foreign journalists as well as a Bahraini reporter.

Just after 2:30 pm local time, an ITN news team, along with Bahraini journalist Naziha Saeed and their driver, were stopped at a checkpoint and taken to Budaiya police station.

This is hardly the first time foreign journalists have been detained inside Bahrain. It's unknown whether or not the journalists will be released soon.

1010 GMT: Libya

A Libyan passenger plane with about 150 passengers on board was hit as it prepared to land at Tripoli airport on Wednesday evening but sustained no major damage.

The Buraq Air Boeing 737 was a few miles (kms) from the capital's airport when the incident occurred.

It was not immediately clear whether the episode was accidental fire or an attack.

"As the plane prepared to land at Tripoli airport, it was hit on the bottom, in the lavatory at the front of the plane," a Buraq Air source said. "The plane landed safely afterwards."

A second airline source added: "We do not know exactly what happened but we believe this was accidental fire. Security at the airport has been stepped up and so far nothing suspicious has been found."

Click to read more ...

Bahrain (and Beyond) Live: Protests Build Again Before Grand Prix

Police fear tear gas into a market in Sanabis on Thursday

See also Syria Live: Assessing the Insurgency
Saturday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live: Mubarak Retrial Opens

---

1605 GMT: Iraq. Two more Sunni Muslim election candidates have been killed less than a week before local votes.

At least 13 candidates, most of them Sunni, have been slain.

Saturday's election to select provincial council members is seen as a measure pf strength of the largely-Shia national government before the Parliamentary elections in 2014.

No group claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks in Baiji town, 180 kilometres (112 miles) north of Baghdad.

Another Sunni candidate escaped a roadside bomb in Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of the capital, on Sunday.

Click to read more ...

Egypt (and Beyond) Live: Mubarak Retrial Opens

See also Syria Live: "We Are Stronger Than Those Who Would Divide Us"
Friday's Israel (and Beyond) Live: A Quiet "Freeze" on Settlement Expansion?

---

1925 GMT: Palestine. West Bank Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has submitted his resignation to President Mahmud Abba, despite US efforts for him to stay on.

"Fayyad met Abbas for half an hour in the president's headquarters in Ramallah in the West Bank and officially handed him his written resignation," a Palestinian official said.

Abbas tasked Fayyad with the role of caretaker for the current government until a new Prime Minister is appointed, another official said.

Late Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Abbas to press him to find common ground with his prime minister over economic policies, Palestinian officials said.

A senior Palestinian official said Fayyad had had his letter of resignation prepared since 23 March but put off submitting it because of a visit to Israel and Palestine by US President Barack Obama and Abbas's overseas trips.

Click to read more ...

Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live: Israeli Jets Strike Gaza for 1st Time Since November

See also Egypt Video Discussion: The Political and Economic Struggles
Syria Live Coverage: A Snapshot of the Cost of War in Aleppo
Tuesday's Bahrain (and Beyond) Live: An Agenda for a National Dialogue?

---

1705 GMT: Egypt. Defying the judiciary, President Morsi has said Public Prosecutor Talaat Abdallah will remain in his position.

A Presidential spokesperson said a challenge to the court ruling ordering Abdallah's dismissal and the return of former Public Prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud is still being considered.

Last week, the Cairo Court of Appeals reinstated Mahmoud to his post, annulling a decree by Morsi replacing him with Talaat Abdallah.

Click to read more ...

Mali (and Beyond) Live: At Least 7 Killed in Timbuktu Fighting

See also Syria Live: The Deaths on Easter Sunday
Sunday's Mali (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Suicide Bombing in Timbuktu

---

1525 GMT: Morocco. Several thousand people marched through the capital Rabat on Sunday to protest against unemployment and the cost of living.

In a "national march of protest" for greater freedoms and rights, yellow-clad marchers moved through the streets of the city.

Protesters challenged government plans to reform laws dealing with labor unions, including docking the pay of strikers. Chanting "people want the fall of the government" and “Morocco is witnessing social regression", they called for the departure of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane.

Other slogans denounced government policies, corruption, and the high cost of living.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Writes from Prison

See also EA Video Special: Intelligence, the Iraq War, and What's Next --- Key Questions and Some Answers
Saudi Arabia Feature: Regime's Historic Decision "To Ban Everything"
Syria Live Coverage: Who Represents the Opposition?
Sunday's Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: US Restarting Negotiations?

---

1950 GMT: Libya. Oman has granted the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s widow and her family asylum on humanitarian grounds, an official at the Foreign Ministry has said.

The move was co-ordinated with Libya and Algeria, where the Qaddafis had lived after the fall of the Libyan ruler, following a pledge by the family that they will not use Oman as a base for political or media activity.

The group --- Qaddafi’s widow Safiyyah Farkash, daughter Aisha and sons Mohammad and Hannibal, as well as their children --- has been living in Oman since October 2012, and their expenses are being covered entirely by the Omani Government.

Click to read more ...