SYRIA: Russian envoy suggests wavering support for Assad.
A Russian envoy told Syrian opposition members Tuesday that “leaders come and go”an apparent signal to President Bashar Assad that he cannot count on his ally’s unconditional support after months of protests demanding his ouster.
It remains to be seen, however, whether Mikhail Margelov’s comments indicated a change in Moscow’s opposition to tough U.N. action on Syria for Assad’s bloody crackdown.
“Leaders come and go, politicians come and go, social systems come and go, but for Russia there remains a single reliable and trusted friend: the Syrian people,” Margelov told a Syrian delegation in Moscow, calling for an end to “any and all forms of violence.”
The opposition estimates that 1,400 people have been killed as Assad tries to crush a pro-democracy movement inspired by successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
LIBYA: Gadhafi aides urged to turn him in.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, urged Moammar Gadhafi’s aides Tuesday to surrender the Libyan leader for trial on murder and persecution charges or risk prosecution themselves. The court has issued arrest warrants for Gadhafi, his son Seif and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for crimes against humanity, but the court has no police force to detain them.
BAHRAIN: Saudis plan to pull out some troops.
A Saudi Arabian military official said that next week, the kingdom plans to pull out some units of the 1,500-strong force sent to Bahrain to help quell a Shiite-led uprising demanding more rights. An adviser to Bahrain’s king says there are no plans for a full withdrawal.
EGYPT: Court orders end of local councils linked to Mubarak.
A court ordered the dissolution of more than 1,750 municipal councils, seen as one of the last vestiges of deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Members of the councils were chosen in 2008 in elections said to be widely rigged in favor of the former regime, and the ruling to dissolve them meets a main demand of the protest movement that ousted Mubarak.
OMAN: Protesters get jail terms.
Fifteen protesters were sentenced to jail terms for taking part in violent demonstrations calling for more jobs and other reforms from Oman’s rulers. The sentences of one month to one year are linked to unrest that included looting and damaging government buildings after protests broke out in February.
YEMEN: Planes, artillery pound tribes opposed to government.
Government warplanes and artillery pounded several villages of anti-government tribes north of the capital Tuesday, killing at least three people, a senior tribal leader said.
The Naham mountain area has seen clashes between government forces and the tribes since Yemen’s popular uprising against Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule began in mid-February. Tribesmen there frequently have prevented government troops stationed at bases in the area from deploying to the capital.
Denver Post wire services
