Pledging a relentless drive to kick Moammar Khadafy out of power, President Barack Obama said Friday that the U.S. and the world community are “slowly tightening the noose” on the leader of Libya and will keep up the pressure.
But he would not commit to intervening at any cost, warning of potential perils in military action.
“It’s going to require some judgment calls, and those are difficult ones,” Obama said.
SAUDI ARABIA: Government averts protests.
A massive show of force by Saudi Arabia’s government snuffed out a Facebook-based effort to stage unprecedented pro- democracy demonstrations in the capital Friday.
The Sunni Saudi monarchy appeared to be taking no chances in its effort to keep the popular push for democracy in the Arab world from spreading to the world’s largest crude-oil exporter.
In the heavily Shiite eastern Saudi province, hundreds of protesters marched in at least four locations, calling for the release of political prisoners and demanding reform.
BAHRAIN: Government foes are attacked near palace.
Security forces reinforced by pro-government mobs fired rubber bullets and tear gas Friday to scatter protesters near Bahrain’s royal palace, witnesses said, as conflict deepened between Sunni Muslims backing the ruling system and Shiites demanding it give up its monopoly on power.
More than 700 people were treated for breathing problems and other troubles linked to tear gas, hospital officials said. Several others were hit by stones or cut by blades.
TUNISIA: Two die in fights.
Clashes between police and protesters in a Tunisian mining town killed two people Friday and injured 20. The deadly protest came as a member of the deposed president’s much- hated family was sentenced to prison Friday, amid efforts by Tunisia’s interim authorities to distance themselves from the former regime.
YEMEN: Several hurt in photo battle.
Yemeni security forces opened fire Friday on demonstrators trying to rip down photographs of the president, and at least six were hurt as the biggest protests in a month of unrest rocked the country in a massive call for regime change.
Protesters ripped down, burned and stomped portraits of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the town of Sheik Uthman, next to the southern port city of Aden, witnesses said.
Security forces hurled tear gas into crowds close to a sports stadium and then opened fire, using machine guns mounted on vehicles. It appeared the forces were mostly firing over the heads of demonstrators, who pushed and shoved in a panic to get away.
EGYPT: Security officials jailed.
Egypt has jailed four top security officials accused of ordering police to shoot and kill protesters during the country’s 18-day uprising, which ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, officials said Friday. Rights activists welcomed the move as a step toward ending the culture of impunity in Egypt’s massive security forces, which are hated and feared in Egypt.
The Associated Press
