LIBYA: Untrained rebel fighters charge wildly into stronghold of Gadhafi loyalists.
Rockets and mortars rained down where the revolutionaries had retreated on the outskirts of the mountainous stronghold of Moammar Gadhafi’s loyalists. So, in a fury, the fighters charged wildly and unorganized Sunday back into the city for yet another day of fighting.
Fighters for Libya’s new rulers have been throwing themselves into the battle to take Bani Walid for days with no progress against the old regime loyalists, strongly fortified and bristling with heavy weaponry. The frustration is showing among the amateur rebel fighters.
The official, trained military of the National Transitional Council, Libya’s interim government, has pulled away from Bani Walid to regroup and reinforce for a new assault after they were heavily beaten in the city Friday.
MOROCCO: Marchers try to revive democracy movement.
Thousands of people demonstrated Sunday, calling for greater political freedoms as the pro-democracy movement attempted to regain momentum lost over the summer.
At least 3,000 people marched through the streets of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, chanting slogans against government corruption in a demonstration organized by the pro-democracy February 20 movement.
SYRIA: Opposition figures meet to urge Assad to end crackdown.
Dozens of opposition members called on President Bashar Assad to end his deadly six-month crackdown or face an intensification of peaceful protests, and security forces fired warning shots to disperse high school students in a Damascus suburb calling for the regime’s downfall. The opposition’s weekend meeting near Damascus drew more than 200 people. It was notable because it took place inside Syria, rather than in a neighboring country, as most others have.
JORDAN: Defectors from Syria reportedly moved away from border.
A Syrian political asylum seeker said Jordanian security forces have moved 60 Syrian army and police defectors from a compound near the border with Syria to a safer place. Many Syrians fleeing President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on the uprising in their country have sought refuge in neighboring Turkey and Jordan.
Denver Post wire services
