The State Department has secretly financed Syrian political opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV channel that beams anti-government programming into the country, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables provided by WikiLeaks.
The London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, began broadcasting in April 2009 but has ramped up operations to cover the mass protests in Syria as part of a long-standing campaign to overthrow the country’s autocratic leader, Bashar al-Assad. Human- rights groups say scores of people have been killed by pro-Assad security forces since the demonstrations began March 18; Syria has blamed the violence on “armed gangs.”
Protests in Syria turned violent Sunday night when security forces shot at demonstrators in two towns, killing at least 13 people and detaining many more, activists said.
The shootings came at the end of a day in which thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities across Syria, calling for an end to Assad’s regime, a day after he vowed to lift emergency laws that have been in place for almost 50 years.
YEMEN: Forces fire on protesters.
Security forces fired on anti- government protesters in Yemen’s capital, as hundreds of thousands of marchers — including many women — packed cities around the country to denounce the president and remarks he made against women taking part in rallies demanding his ouster.
EGYPT: Corruption charges for former officials.
Egypt’s ex-prime minister and two other former Cabinet members were charged with corruption Sunday in the latest step in a campaign to bring officials of Hosni Mubarak’s toppled regime to justice for years of corruption, rights abuses and other crimes.
Egypt’s attorney-general for public funds charged former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, ex-Finance Minister Yousef Boutros Ghali and former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly with wasting more than $15 million in public money and profiteering, the official news agency reported.
