Gunfire and explosions echoed through the Syrian border town of Talka lakh on Sunday, as hundreds of frightened civilians poured into neighboring Lebanon to escape a harsh crackdown against anti-government protests. Those fleeing Talkalakh are among more than 5,000 Syrians who have fled to Lebanon as Syrian President Bashar Assad’s security forces try to crush the protests.
LIBYA: Oil-port attack points to widening NATO assault.
NATO aircraft blasted an oil terminal in the key eastern city of Ras Lanouf, Libyan TV reported, after Britain urged the alliance to widen its assault on areas controlled by ruler Moammar Khadafy. The Libya TV report said bombs hit methanol tanks at the oil port, causing leaks. NATO officials had no immediate comment. The reported attack came as the Libyan conflict appears largely stalemated, with each side claiming gains one day, only to be turned back the next. Rebels say they have taken full control of Misrata, the only major city in western Libya with a significant rebel toehold.
YEMEN: Gunmen kill one soldier, injure another.
Gunmen opened fire on two soldiers in southern Yemen, killing one and wounding the other. Also, a security officer was snatched by unknown gunmen while in a taxi. Yemen is reeling from three months of protests demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. Protesters in Taiz peacefully seized a government building, a police headquarters and a ruling- party office.
QATAR: Al-Jazeera’s ties with government prompts bias charges.
For months, Qatar- based al-Jazeera provided intense coverage of the uprisings that have rocked the Middle East, often almost cheering along the protesters. But when tanks from Saudi Arabia rolled in to quell anti- government demonstrations in neighboring Bahrain in March, the Arabic-language news network’s reporting was only sporadic and markedly neutral, critics say.
That contrasting approach has brought fresh attention to al-Jazeera’s close ties to the Qatari government, which owns the influential network, and prompted charges that the broadcaster is serving as an instrument of Qatar’s ambitious foreign policy.
Al-Jazeera executives say its Arabic-language channel and the global news channel al-Jazeera English operate independently of state control. But the broadcaster is the most prominent outlet of the government-owned Qatar Media, which is led by a cousin of the emir.
EGYPT: Christian leader calls for end to sit-in after violence.
Egypt’s top Christian leader called on followers to end a week- long sit-in in front of a government building on the Nile after a mob attacked the protesters and their supporters, injuring 78. The sit-in aims to draw attention to the plight of Christians, who have been the target of several attacks by Muslim fundamentalists since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was forced from office. Pope Shenouda III, head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, said outsiders have infiltrated the sit-in, and he warned that the country’s military rulers and interim civilian government are losing patience with the protesters.
